Man getting out of a subway train
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) continues to see fewer New Yorkers taking the subway to get to work on weekdays due to Covid, but the number of people riding the train on weekends to visit a museum, go to a bar, or even to head upstate for a hike is bouncing back more quickly. The mass-transit provider continues to struggle to boost ridership as many office workers have settled into working from home, depriving the MTA of what was once a crucial source of revenue – millions of weekday commuters.
On Aug. 1, about 2.7 million people rode the NYC subway, which is about half the ridership on a comparable Monday before the pandemic, according to agency data. A senior agency official added that the MTA may not regain 100% of pre-pandemic crowds across its entire system until about 2035. Meanwhile, organizations continue to grapple with ways to bring workers into the office as Covid variants continue to emerge, and employees are reluctant to give up remote work. Only 38% of workers were at their desks in NYC in the last 10 days of April, according to a survey conducted by The Partnership for New York City.
In New Jersey, the weekday vs. weekend ridership discrepancy is even more pronounced, with average weekend transit ridership reaching about 80% to 90% of pre-pandemic levels, while weekday transit hovers at about 55%.
Source: Crain’s New York Business
