NYC Subway had 5 days with > 6 million passengers in September

[afigg]

The NYC subway system had 5 days in September with more than 6 million passengers including a modern record of 6,106,694 passengers on September 23, 2014 which is the most since the World War II era (when record keeping was not as precise and the system included more elevated lines). The NYCT also had the busiest Sunday since the 1940s with 2,953,948 passenger on Sunday, Sept. 21.

A peak of 6.1 million passengers in 1 day is impressive when one considers that it is more passenger trips than the population of 32 states. To put the growth/restoration of the NYC subway system in perspective, in 1985, the busiest day was 3.76 million passengers and the first > 5 million day was in 2004. Dwarfs all other transit systems in the US in the number of passengers.

Saw the news report on Railway Age: New York subways mark days of 6 million riders.

Then pulled up the MTA press release which has peak stats going back to 1985: More Than 6 Million Customers Ride Subways on Five Separate Days in September. Excerpt:

Ridership is breaking records on our subways. The system reached unprecedented milestones in September, breaking the previous single-day ridership record five times in a single month.

Newly available figures show 6,106,694 customers rode the subway on Tuesday, Sept. 23, making it the highest ridership ever since daily figures were first recorded in 1985. Four other September days also saw more than 6 million customers, and the 149 million customers over the month were more than in any other September in more than 60 years.

New Yorkers and visitors alike continue to vote with their feet, recognizing that riding the subway is the most efficient way to get around town, said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast. This is a phenomenal achievement for a system that carried 3.6 million daily customers just 20 years ago. As ridership increases, the MTA Capital Program is vital to fund new subway cars, higher-capacity signal systems and improved stations to meet our customers growing needs and rising expectations.

Subway ridership has grown steadily in recent years, approaching levels last seen during the World War II era when the subway network included more elevated lines, many customers were counted twice as they transferred between different systems, and far fewer New Yorkers owned cars. The previous ridership record of 5,987,595 was set Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013. The five record-breaking dates in September were:

Sept. 23, 2014 6,106,694

Sept. 18, 2014 6,094,684

Sept. 19, 2014 6,073,580

Sept. 17, 2014 6,051,863

Sept. 10, 2014 6,012,270

Record-breaking ridership was recorded on September weekends as well. Fueled by ridership generated by the Peoples Climate March, 2,953,948 customers rode the subway on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014. This was the highest Sunday ridership since daily records began in 1985 and likely the highest since the late 1940s.

 

[Orie]

The sad part is that the MTA is still hemorrhaging money. Accounting for discounted fares... thats still easily 10M+ a day.

 

[Eric S]

As far as the MTA losing money, you could probably try to find information regarding the cost recovery of the various MTA services (subway, buses, LIRR, MNR, etc). Although that could well lead to issues with overhead and allocating costs (similar to what has been discussed in other threads regarding various Amtrak services). I do seem to recall seeing a breakdown showing that the Subway recovered a greater portion of its costs some other MTA services. Also, I imagine that fares are not necessarily set to maximize revenues.