Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
MTA

MTA Service Bump Next June Won’t Keep Up With Growth in Subway Trips

Subway-ridership-graph-for-Komanoff-post-_-26-Oct-2015

Talk about running in place: At current growth rates in subway ridership, the service increases that NYC Transit is promising to roll out next June will probably be used up by April.

That doesn’t mean the increases are a bad idea, of course. Rather, it underscores the need for transformational increases in subway capacity, rather than incremental moves like the bump announced by the MTA last Friday.

Here’s the deal: Annual subway ridership increased every year from 2009 to 2014. (Data for 2015 aren’t in yet.) The 11 percent rise, to 1.75 billion trips last year from 1.58 billion in 2009, works out to an annual average increase of 2.1 percent. There are now 6 million subway trips on a good weekday, with some 90 percent of those trips, or 5.4 million, happening between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Just a single year’s growth, at 2.1 percent, amounts to 113,000 rides during that 15-hour peak.

By comparison, the 36 additional trains that NYC Transit intends to run on weekdays -- 10 on the 1/2 line, six on the A/C/E, six on the J/M/Z, and 14 on the 4/5/6 -- will add room for 45,900 additional passengers (multiplying 36 trains by 10 cars per train by 127.5 riders per car). Throw in 5,000 to 10,000 more spaces for the greater frequency promised on the 42nd Street Shuttle, and the total gain in capacity reaches 55,000 -- enough to handle a mere six months' worth of ridership growth.

The takeaway is that enhanced service commitments like last Friday’s will be needed much more frequently. The only way that will happen is through transformational change, like implementing Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) on every line.

CBTC supplants the century-old analog "fixed block wayside signal" system for monitoring and controlling train movements. In its place will be fiber-optic communications that link tracks and vehicles into a seamless system, as the Regional Plan Association summed it up in its comprehensive report on CBTC earlier this year. In a nutshell, where subways currently run at 20-25 trains per hour, CBTC would allow at least 30.

If that could be done across the system, a simple calculation -- 14 lines (I exclude the L, which was already upgraded to CBTC) times 7.5 more trains per hour times 15 hours per day times 1,275 additional passenger capacity per train -- suggests an increased capacity of 2 million passengers per day. That means subways could carry at least one-third more passengers than the estimated 5.4 million riders now traveling between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., when the trains are most crowded. Or some of the new capacity could alleviate crowding, not only making subway travel more humane but reducing delays caused by crowding itself as passengers struggle to enter and exit packed trains and stations.

The calculation here doesn’t address logistical concerns, not to mention costs of buying, staffing, servicing and running the increased trains. But it underscores the vast potential and need to begin bringing subway infrastructure into the 21st Century now -- a process that will require full funding of not just the current MTA capital plan but future five-year plans as well.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Likely Mayor Mamdani Supports Daylighting as DOT Digs In Heels

The next mayor will have to overcome a deeply entrenched bureaucracy opposed to the common-sense policy.

October 6, 2025

Under Pressure: Uber’s Navigation System Endangers the Public With Reckless Driving Directions

An Uber driver made an illegal u-turn and hit someone, but the in-app navigation told him to do it and the company won't give up the code.

October 6, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Trump Games Continue Edition

Trump restored some security grant for New York, but billions of dollars in grants remain on ice. Plus more news.

October 6, 2025

Friday Video: Meet the Subway’s Straphanger-Free Trains

We've all seen them. Now, thanks to YouTube's "Half as Interesting," we can tell you the purpose of each one.

October 3, 2025

The MTA Is Headed To The Lab To Design The Ridgewood Busway

A filthy private road underneath the elevated M tracks could become a gleaming bus-first corridor.

October 3, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Good News Edition

The Department of Transportation reports that traffic deaths are way down through the first three quarters of 2025. Plus other news.

October 3, 2025
See all posts