About NYC Transit

MTA New York City Transit is the largest agency in the MTA network. In fact, New
York City Transit is one of the most extensive and complex public transportation
systems in the world, operating 24-hour-a-day bus and subway service throughout the
five boroughs. New York City Transit has more buses than any other public agency
in North America, and the largest subway car fleet anywhere. Each day, more that
six million people use New York City Transit – almost 2 billion customers annually.

Ridership

The New York City subway system officially opened on Thursday, October 27, 1904.
That Sunday, nearly a million customers tried to use it. Average daily ridership
grew to 8 million passengers in 1946. Ridership continued at this level into 1947
due to post-World War II gas and rubber shortages and economic growth that created
more jobs. Public transit ridership declined due to the car and highway boom of the
’50s and ’60s and New York City’s fiscal crisis in the 70’s. However, ridership figures
for the subway and bus are rising steadily again. One reason is the customer benefits
that MetroCard offers, especially free transfers, free rides, and unlimited rides.

 

Reducing Traffic Congestion

 

Each day, traffic delays cost New York City’s businesses about 500,000 work hours.
That translates into $4 billion yearly in lost production. Public transit helps reduce
traffic overcrowding by keeping an estimated half-a-million cars out of Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD) each day. Without public transit, traffic in the CBD would be more than double, and New York City traffic outside the CBD would increase by about 20%.

 

Air-Pollution Relief

 

By taking the subway or bus instead of a car, our customers keep air from being fouled each year by:

• • 22 million pounds of hydrocarbons (causes coughing and chest pains)
  • 900,000 pounds of soot and particulate matter (damages human lung tissue)
  • 19 million pounds of nitrogen oxides (acid rain, breathing disorders, ozone precursor)
  • 310 million pounds of carbon monoxide (limits the blood’s ability to transport
    oxygen to body tissue, resulting in headaches, impaired coordination and death).

Annual Increases in Vehicular Emissions in 2000 (pounds / year)

 

	Manhattan CBD*	Remaining NYC*	New York Region**
Hydrocarbons	9,835,281	12,670,405	2,711,315
Nitrogen Oxides	6,633,365	12,811,583	2,740,178
Carbon Monoxide	148,113,673	201,836,432	32,521,338
Particulates	271,798	623,034	145,605

 

* Assumes all bus and subway service discontinued

** Assumes all commuter rail service discontinued

Information courtesy of Community Consulting Services, Brooklyn, NY