There’s still a long way to go for the nation’s busiest transit system to get back to pre-pandemic ridership levels, but New Yorkers crossed at least one symbolic threshold in 2022.
“The MTA announced Tuesday that subway ridership has passed the billion mark in 2022, the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic,” reports Ben Brachfield.
The billionth rider on the system this year was greeted with fanfare—including a press conference with MTA officials, a new OMNY card pre-loaded with $100, a free membership to the Transit Museum, and a framed work of subway art, according to the article.
Brachfield provides more background on the relative significance of the benchmark:
Crossing the billion threshold is a major COVID-era landmark for the authority, which has struggled to return to its pre-pandemic ridership levels. Annual ridership between 2016 and 2019, the four years before the onset of COVID-19, averaged more than 1.7 billion, according to MTA statistics. But ridership plummeted to 639 million in 2020 as most New Yorkers were urged to quarantine at home, rising to just under 760 million in 2021.
See the Planetizen archive for more on the recent history of transit ridership in New York and elsewhere in the United States.
FULL STORY: MTA surpasses 1 billion subway riders in 2022, a first in COVID era
The NYC Subway's Uneven Recovery
As subway riders return in fits and starts, some stations are experiencing a much faster recovery than others.
New York Subway Sets Pandemic Ridership Record
With school back in session and Broadway shows open to the public, subway ridership is surging in New York City, but still well below pre-pandemic levels.
Subway Ridership on a Post-Omicron Rebound in New York City
Checking in with the New York transit system amid a period of relative recovery.
Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
Paris Voters Approve More Car-Free Streets
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the city will develop a plan to close 500 streets to car traffic and add new bike and pedestrian infrastructure after a referendum on the proposal passed with 66 percent of the vote.
Making Mobility More Inclusive
A new study highlights the challenges people with disabilities continue to face in navigating urban spaces.
Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service