Comments on: Religious leaders advocating free subway rides http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/02/22/religious-leaders-advocating-free-subway-rides/ A New York City Subway Blog Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:37:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Diane http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/02/22/religious-leaders-advocating-free-subway-rides/#comment-200 Diane Fri, 23 Feb 2007 01:48:19 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/02/22/religious-leaders-advocating-free-subway-rides/#comment-200 I think you are forgetting to factor in something as you average out those 1946 figures on subway ridership. To quote you: "But the most accurate ridership information I could find (in [a] PDF presentation) showed an annual ridership of slightly more than 2 billion in 1946, largely considered the busiest year in subway history. That amounts to an average daily ridership of around 5.5 million people." Back in 1946 there were plenty of Jews in New York NOT riding the subways on Saturdays. There were also plenty of people NOT riding the subway on Sundays either because they were simply not going into work anywhere or they were Christians observing their own sabbaths in their own neighborhoods. Therefore I think you should adjust your conclusion that the average DAILY ridership in 1946 was about 5.5 million. It was likely much higher on Mondays through Fridays because on the weekend the number of riders HAD TO BE SMALLER. Interesting topic! I think you are forgetting to factor in something as you average out those 1946 figures on subway ridership.
To quote you:

“But the most accurate ridership information I could find (in [a] PDF presentation) showed an annual ridership of slightly more than 2 billion in 1946, largely considered the busiest year in subway history. That amounts to an average daily ridership of around 5.5 million people.”

Back in 1946 there were plenty of Jews in New York NOT riding the subways on Saturdays. There were also plenty of people NOT riding the subway on Sundays either because they were simply not going into work anywhere or they were Christians observing their own sabbaths in their own neighborhoods.

Therefore I think you should adjust your conclusion that the average DAILY ridership in 1946 was about 5.5 million. It was likely much higher on Mondays through Fridays because on the weekend the number of riders HAD TO BE SMALLER.

Interesting topic!

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