2024 Subway annual ridership rose to 1,195 million, reflecting a 3.7% year-over-year increase and reaching 70% of pre-pandemic levels. Average weekday subway ridership grew by 3% to 3.376 million, which was at 68% of pre-pandemic levels. Weekend ridership experienced stronger growth, climbing 4.3% annually to an average of 4.42 million, equaling 80% of pre-pandemic levels.
Bus ridership in 2024 declined by 4.2% year-over-year, falling to 409 million annual rides. The decrease has been attributed to a rise in fare evasion and the lack of ridership on five bus routes included in the free bus pilot program for 8 months. Average weekday ridership dropped by 5.2% to 1.29 million, while average weekend ridership decreased by 1.8% to 1.46 million.
Overview of New York City’s transit system
We operate the largest public transportation agency in North America and one of the largest in the world. The subway has a daily ridership of approximately 3.4 million and bus has a daily ridership of 1.3 million, representing 68% and 60%, respectively, of pre-pandemic ridership levels.
Our system includes:
- 472 subway stations
- 238 local bus routes, 20 Select Bus Service routes, and 75 express routes in the five boroughs
How we calculate ridership
Subways
We include:
- All passengers who enter the subway system, including passengers who transfer from buses
We do not include:
- Employees
- Passengers who exit the subway
- Passengers who transfer from other subway lines, with the exception of out-of-system transfers, where you use your MetroCard or OMNY to make the transfer
Buses
We include:
- All passengers who board buses using a valid MetroCard, OMNY, cash, transfer, Select Bus Service ticket, or student MetroCard
We do not include:
- Employees
- Non-revenue passengers (such as children under 44 inches tall traveling with an adult)
- B42 riders boarding inside the paid zone of the Rockaway Parkway subway station
- B60, BX18A/B, M116, Q4 and S46/96 fare-free bus routes between September 24, 2023 and August 31, 2024
Average weekday, Saturday, and Sunday ridership includes every weekday, Saturday, and Sunday in the year, except major holidays and days when the subway system was closed or operated fare-free.
Average weekend ridership is the two-day sum of average Saturday plus average Sunday ridership. Ridership on major holidays (New Year’s Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) is included only in the annual total.
Summary of subway ridership
Year |
Average weekday |
Average Saturday |
Average Sunday |
Average weekend |
Annual total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 |
5,493,875 |
3,087,043 |
2,407,152 |
5,494,195 |
1,697,787,002 |
2020 |
2,040,580 |
1,203,072 |
932,240 |
2,135,312 |
639,541,029 |
2021 |
2,369,655 |
1,639,067 |
1,249,552 |
2,888,620 |
759,976,721 |
2022 |
3,189,904 |
2,067,734 |
1,635,751 |
3,703,485 |
1,013,425,465 |
2023 |
3,625,326 |
2,356,521 |
1,880,758 |
4,237,280 |
1,151,998,158 |
2024 |
3,735,571 |
2,456,514 |
1,963,003 |
4,419,517 |
1,194,866,357 |
Top 10 busiest subway stations in 2024
Rank |
Station/complex |
Lines |
Ridership |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
Times Sq-42 St/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
A, C, E, B, D, F, M, N, Q, R, W, S, 1, 2, 3, 7 |
57,743,486 |
2 |
Grand Central-42 St |
S, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
33,496,874 |
3 |
34 St-Herald Sq |
B, D, F, M, N, Q, R, W |
25,012,549 |
4 |
14 St-Union Sq |
L, N, Q, R, W, 4, 5, 6 |
22,811,597 |
5 |
Fulton St |
A, C, J, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
19,221,396 |
6 |
34 St-Penn Station |
A, C, E |
18,393,456 |
7 |
59 St-Columbus Circle |
A, C, B, D, 1 |
16,884,912 |
8 |
34 St-Penn Station |
1, 2, 3 |
16,373,975 |
9 |
74 St-Broadway/Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Av |
E, F, M, R, 7 |
15,086,001 |
10 |
Flushing-Main St |
7 |
14,592,853 |
About our subway data
We have 472 stations, the largest number of public transit subway stations of any system in the world. Note that our table lists 424 stations. We combined ridership data for station complexes, where stations are connected by transfer passageways. (We can't accurately allocate ridership to each station in a complex.) For example, the 14 St
station is combined with the 8 Av station.The station names and lines stopping at each station reflect service at the end of 2023.
In our spreadsheet, stations are listed alphabetically by borough, and the rankings are by 2023 ridership. The “systemwide adjustment” accounts for miscellaneous ridership and other adjustments that are not allocated by station.
In our tables, stations that were temporarily closed (either fully or partially) are denoted with asterisks; go to the “Closures” tab for the closure dates. For these stations, zero ridership was included in the averages for any days when the station was closed, except for the days when the entire subway was closed or fare-free.
Summary of bus ridership (New York City Transit)
Year |
Average weekday |
Average Saturday |
Average Sunday |
Average weekend |
Annual total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 |
1,770,394 |
1,108,809 |
847,931 |
1,956,740 |
557,036,504 |
2020 |
980,374 |
671,835 |
532,002 |
1,203,837 |
316,768,454 |
2021 |
984,865 |
646,302 |
482,090 |
1,128,392 |
311,893,583 |
2022 |
1,094,415 |
662,179 |
523,178 |
1,185,357 |
343,092,963 |
2023 |
1,082,428 |
670,755 |
535,911 |
1,206,666 |
340,766,398 |
2024 |
1,017,160 |
654,368 |
523,612 |
1,177,980 |
323,904,712 |
Summary of bus ridership (MTA Bus Company)
Year |
Average weekday |
Average Saturday |
Average Sunday |
Average weekend |
Annual total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 |
388,075 |
228,364 |
171,762 |
400,126 |
120,551,580 |
2020 |
207,042 |
132,387 |
99,713 |
232,100 |
65,655,990 |
2021 |
228,425 |
142,112 |
102,744 |
244,856 |
71,431,466 |
2022 |
268,124 |
150,399 |
113,157 |
263,556 |
82,609,386 |
2023 |
279,247 |
159,451 |
121,069 |
280,520 |
86,216,666 |
2024 |
273,133 |
160,966 |
121,203 |
282,169 |
85,129,055 |
Top 10 busiest routes by ridership in 2024
Rank |
Route |
Borough |
Ridership |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
M15 Local/SBS |
Manhattan |
11,152,909 |
2 |
Q58 |
Queens |
7,189,253 |
3 |
B6 |
Brooklyn |
5,500,873 |
4 |
Q27 |
Queens |
5,480,039 |
5 |
B82 Local/SBS |
Brooklyn |
5,211,104 |
6 |
B46 Local/SBS |
Brooklyn |
5,103,274 |
7 |
M14 Local/SBS |
Manhattan |
4,977,986 |
8 |
B44 Local/SBS |
Brooklyn |
4,764,508 |
9 |
Bx12 Local/SBS |
Bronx |
4,537,844 |
10 |
B41 |
Brooklyn |
4,445,280 |
About our bus data
Local routes begin with one or two letters corresponding to the major borough of operation (B = Brooklyn, Bx = Bronx, M = Manhattan, Q = Queens, S = Staten Island). New York City Transit express routes begin with the letter “X”, except for “SIM,” used for express routes established under the Staten Island Express Bus Network Redesign.
MTA Bus express routes begin with “BM” for Brooklyn to Manhattan routes, “BxM” for Bronx to Manhattan routes, and “QM” for Queens to Manhattan routes. In the ridership averages, zero was included for any day during the year on which a given route did not operate, except for the days when the entire bus system was closed or fare-free. In the following tables, certain routes that effectively operate as a single route are combined.
Download our bus ridership data for New York City Transit and MTA Bus Company.