By Joseph Morales

The L Train is one of the busiest and most critical lines in the NYC Subway system. The route connects some of Brooklyn’s rapidly growing neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Bushwick and East New York to each other and Manhattan. Additionally, key transfer points at Myrtle-Wyckoff Av and Broadway Junction provide riders with a plethora of connections to areas of Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island via other subway routes and the LIRR. In Brooklyn, only 45% of households have a car according to data from the New York City Department of City Planning. Hence, many people rely on the L Train and mass transit as a whole as their primary mode of transportation.

By Joseph Morales

     The Borough of Manhattan is by far the most transit-dependent place in the United States. Given its status as the cultural and commercial hub of New York City, mass transit is essential to ensuring that people in Manhattan can get around quickly and reliably. As subways are faster than buses, most New Yorkers ride the subway when traveling in Manhattan. According to data from the NYC Department of City Planning, only 23% of Manhattan households have access to a car. Hence, public transportation is essential to the mobility of most Manhattanites. Even those that do own a car often do not drive within the borough due to Manhattan’s sheer congestion coupled with lack of street parking. Outside of residents, many from around the NY Metropolitan area enter Manhattan for work, recreation and other purposes on any given day. With how many people enter Manhattan coupled with its notorious gridlock, mass transit is truly essential to alleviating congestion. 

By Joseph Morales

                   The 9 Train is a defunct New York City Subway line that used to be a skip-stop version of the 1 line that made select stops north of 137th St-City College, while the 1 train made other stops. Particularly busy stations such as 181st Street, were all-stop stations where both the 1 and 9 train stopped to provide adequately frequent service to a large number of riders. This is different than traditional express service, where only one or more train routes skips stops on a line while another route or routes makes all stops on a line(Ex: 4,5,6 Lexington Avenue Line, B,D,F, M Sixth Avenue Line). The purpose of this route configuration was to provide subway riders in the Northwest Bronx and Upper Manhattan with faster trips, as no matter what train they rode, it would not make all stops. In addition, the MTA wanted to decrease wait times at particularly busy stations that would be become all-stop stations. The service ran from 1989 to 2005 until it was ultimately discontinued due to less riders benefiting from the service as a result of the longer wait times it caused at many stations.

By Joseph Morales

Washington Heights near 181st St is arguably one of the busiest and most vibrant areas of Upper Manhattan. The area is home to variety of chain retailers, small businesses and restaurants along with a high residential density. The area also has ample access to mass transit, with 181st St having stations for both the 1 and A trains. Several Bronx bus routes also serve 181st St and provide access to destinations throughout The Bronx. As a result, many Bronxites from areas with little access to subway service use these buses to get to stations on 181st St. All forms of public transit on 181st St are also important to Washington Heights residents, as only 24% of households in the community district in which Washington Heights is located in own a car.

By Joseph Morales

The NYC Subway is by far the busiest subway system in the United States. Despite ridership still being below pre-pandemic levels, 3.2 million people rode the rails in the city in 2022. That is about 500,000 more people than there are residents in the City of Chicago. 

                 The NYC Subway has so many riders in large part because of how transit-dependent the city is. According to data from the NYC Department of City Planning, only 46% of households in the city have cars. Even for households that do have cars, most people still rely on the system to get into Manhattan due to the time and money associated with congestion and parking in the core of the city. The number of subway riders going into Manhattan will likely only rise even more once congestion pricing is implemented, where motorists are expected to be tolled $15 to drive in Manhattan below 60th Street. 

By Joseph Morales

The Flushing Main-St(7) subway station is the busiest subway station in Queens and is one of the busiest stations in the entire city, with ridership ranking 11th out of all 472 subway stations in 2022. It is likely also the busiest station in the subway system that is served by a just a single line. This makes sense as the station is located directly in the heart of Downtown Flushing, one of Queens’ most vibrant residential and commercial destinations attracting visitors from across the city. In addition, given the lack of subway coverage in Northern and Eastern Queens, many Queens residents take the bus to the Flushing-Main St(7) in order to take the train to Western Queens and Manhattan. Inversely, many from Western Queens ride the subway here to transfer to buses that traverse Queens and/or enter Nassau County.

By Joseph Morales

Park Slope is a densely populated neighborhood in Western Brooklyn that is one of if not the most well known neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Just a 15 min subway ride from Lower Manhattan, the neighborhood is famous for its brownstone residential buildings, which are considered part of quintessential Brooklyn and New York. Park Slope is also adjacent to the popular Prospect Park, which is one of New York City’s largest parks with a plethora of green space and sports fields. The neighborhood is well served by mass transit with the D, N, R, F and G trains stopping in the area along with several bus routes.