| Ridership growth on the New York City Subway more than doubled in 2025 from 2024, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC) found in a new report released today entitled: Ridership Returns: Mapping Post-Congestion Pricing Ridership Trends.
Largely driven by the implementation of the Congestion Relief program, almost 93 million more subway trips were taken in 2025 than in 2024, bringing overall ridership to 1.3 billion. This 7.7% rider increase was up from 3.7% in 2024, showing a strong bounce back a year after slowing post-pandemic growth.
Looking station-by-station at ridership trends across the city, PCAC identified and mapped neighborhoods and subway stations where growth far outpaced the average, and examined both overall ridership trends and those in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ), as defined by the area below 60th Street in Manhattan.
The report also found that weekend ridership growth continued to outpace weekday ridership, especially outside Manhattan. The rider advocacy group also makes a number of recommendations for data-driven service improvements the MTA should consider implementing as ridership growth continues.
“Our rider councils have long wondered how the implementation of the Congestion Pricing would impact ridership around New York City,” said Brian Fritsch, Associate Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
“While it’s not possible to ascribe all the ridership increases last year to the start of the program, clear trends have emerged that show the program’s influence on ridership increases, which we detail. We hope our report illuminates yet another aspect of the congestion pricing program that has positive implications for the MTA and New York City, and hope the agency will continue to support the ever-increasing number of frequent riders through enhanced fare incentives and programs that continue to make transit the most affordable way to get around our city and region.
Above all: Congestion Pricing is working!”
Created by the New York State Legislature in 1981, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC) represents transit and commuter rail riders in the 12-county MTA region. PCAC regularly researches issues, recommends viable solutions, and advocates on behalf of the region’s subway, bus and Staten Island Railway riders, and Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad commuters through its three rider councils – the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC), the Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council (MNRCC), and the New York City Transit Riders Council (NYCTRC). These councils and their non-voting MTA Board members were created to serve as the official independent voice for users of the MTA system in the development and implementation of policy, and to hold the MTA Board and management accountable to riders. |
