After Fare Hike, MTA Says It is Boosting Non-Peak Subway Service on 1, 6, N, R, other Lines
Thanks to the recently-passed 2024 New York State Budget, Manhattanites won’t need to wait as long for a train showing up at the platform in non peak hours. The #1 and #6 lines will be running every six minutes on weekends instead of eight minutes and the J, M, C, N and R mid-day service will also slice two minutes off wait time. But the B and D lines will have to wait until next to see non peak wait times cut to ten minutes, from the current 12 minutes. On the downside, construction delays will snarl the F train.
Sure the single ride subway fare may have jumped from $2.75 to $2.90 on Aug. 20, but the MTA says it is cutting the wait time on non-rush trains on the #1, #6, N, R and C lines and other service improvements are on schedule for December. Riders on the B and D lines will have to wait until July next year for service improvements.
Improved non rush hour service begins on the N and R lines on Aug. 28. “Customers on the N and R lines have told us loud and clear in surveys that more frequent weekday service would improve their satisfaction, and I am thrilled to say that we are delivering just that,” said New York City Transit President Richard Davey.
On Aug. 12, the #1 and #6 trains began operating every six minutes on the weekends down from every eight minutes. These service additions follow previous service increases on the G,J and M lines that began on July 2, with weekend trains arriving every eight to 10 minutes instead of 10 to 12 minutes. On Monday, Aug. 7, C trains began running every eight minutes instead of 10 minutes on weekdays.
The service improvements come after an infusion of funds from NYS.
“We’ve said this whole time that once the funding is there, we’d look to expand service outside of the weekday peaks,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber noted. “Now, thanks to the budget passed by Governor Hochul and the State Legislature, we have the money and we’re keeping our promise.”
On an average weekend day, the #1 sees a ridership of 285,000, the #6, 270,000. Each line on a weekend carries more people than the three combined Boston subway lines do during the week.
In December, three important lines in Manhattan, the C, N and R will see evening schedules enhanced with a frequency of every eight minutes, instead of the usual 10-12 minutes. On the 1 and 6 lines, evening service will then operate every six minutes.
Under the new funding, there will be more weekday trains on the B, D, J and M trains, starting next July. Trains will arrive every eight minutes, additionally, weekend travel on the 3 and 5 lines will then be every 10 minutes.
These service enhancements were made possible through $35 million of funding in the FY 2024 New York State Budget. It’s part of more than $1.1 billion to the MTA through an increase in the NY State Payroll Mobility Tax, passed through the NY State Legislature. Other funding included $300 million in one-time state aid, a mandatory $165 million contribution requirement by New York City for paratransit services funding, and $65 million from NYS to help hold down the new fare increase on the MTA. The MTA also said it is implementing cost savings of $400 million in cost efficiencies.
Ridership continues to rebound in the post-COVID era, particularly on weekends which are hitting 80 percent of pandemic numbers, with 2.2 million riders on an average Saturday or Sunday, the MTA said. Weekday ridership with 3.85 million riders is still higher, but that number is at only 65 percent of its pre-COVID-19 numbers.