The New York City subway system is seeing the highest number of riders in the last 65 years and officials say much of the increase has come from population increases in rapidly developing neighborhoods.
The MTA says subway ridership grew 2.6 percent to 1.751 billion customers in 2014, a number that hasn’t been seen since the post-World War II boom.
The uptick in ridership was seen across all boroughs and all lines, but the highest percentage increase came from growing neighborhoods like Bushwick in Brooklyn and Long Island City in Queens. Weekday growth in ridership was also strongest during off-peak hours.
Brooklyn had the largest borough-wide spike in riders, with every station on the L line, with several stations on the nearby M line seeing a higher percentage in ridership.
The MTA admits surge in ridership comes with a surge in delays and crowding as the agency works to improve maintenance work and upgrade train signaling systems.
