The map above comes to us from GOOD Magazine. It shows the total system length (represented by subway cars) and the total daily ridership in millions (represented by the silhouettes). Cleary, as the enlarged version shows, United States transit ridership lags far behind European and Asian systems in terms of ridership.
As the City grapples with the need to fund transit, we could muse on how absurd it is that this debate is even happening. As the end of the first decade of the 21st Century draws to a close, America has not come to grips with urban life and urban methods of travel. The MTA is fighting tooth and nail just to stay afloat, and while the agency is trying to expand its system, the reality of those plans is no sure thing.
One day, maybe, we’ll see urban transit systems receive the same level of commitment as roads. After all, more people take the subway in New York in one day than they do driving along the city’s roads. It’s far better socially, environmentally and economically, but it looks like it will take nothing short of an MTA collapse for New Yorkers — and Americans — to realize it.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, downtown 1 trains skip 96th Street due to station rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, 2 trains run in two sections (due to switch renewal at Nostrand Avenue):
- Between 241st Street and Franklin Avenue and
- Between Franklin and Flatbush Avenues
Note: In the early morning hours between 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m., trains run every 30 minutes between Franklin and Flatbush Avenues.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, downtown 2 and 3 trains skip 96th Street, then run local from 86th to Chambers Streets due to tunnel lighting.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, uptown 2 and 3 trains run local from Chambers Street to 96th Street due to tunnel lighting.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8, Manhattan-bound 2 trains skip Burke Avenue, Allerton Avenue, Pelham Parkway and Bronx Park East due to rail repairs.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, Manhattan-bound 2, 3 and 4 trains run express from Utica Avenue to Atlantic Avenue due to track chip-out at President Street.
From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8, Manhattan-bound 4 trains skip Bedford Park Blvd., Kingsbridge Road, Fordham Road and 183rd Street due to switch work north of Kingsbridge Road.
From 12:01 a.m. to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 7, from 12:01 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 8, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, Brooklyn-bound 4 trains run local from 42nd Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to rail work.
From 12:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday, March 7, from 12:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 8 and from 12:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. Monday, March 9, Crown Heights/Utica Avenue-bound 4 trains run local from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue due to switch renewal at Nostrand Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Utica Avenue due to the Jay Street rehabilitation project.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, A trains run local between 168th Street and Euclid Avenue with free shuttle buses replacing A trains between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Utica Avenue due to the Jay Street rehabilitation project.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, there are no C trains running due to the Jay Street rehabilitation project. Customers should take the A instead and note that free shuttle buses replace A trains between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Utica Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, Bronx-bound D trains run express from 145th Street to Tremont Avenue due to signal work.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, Bronx-bound D trains run local from 59th to 145th Streets due to switch renewal south of 81st Street.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, Manhattan-bound E and F trains run local from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to track chip-out.
From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. March 9, Jamaica Center-bound E and F trains run local from Roosevelt Avenue to Forest Hills -71st Avenue due to track chip-out.
From 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9 (until further notice), there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square. Customers should take the E or R instead.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, free shuttle buses replace L trains between Rockaway Parkway and Broadway Junction due to track panel installation at East 105th Street.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 8, N trains skip Prince, 8th, 23rd, and 28th Streets due to switch at Queensboro Plaza. Customers may take the Q or R instead.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 8, N trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street in both directions due to switch renewal at Queensboro Plaza.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Manhattan-bound N trains skip 30th Avenue, Broadway, 36th Avenue and 39th Avenue due to switch renewal at Queensboro Plaza.
From 5 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, March 7 and from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 8, there are no N trains between Lexington Avenue-59th Street and Times Square-42nd Street due to switch renewal at Queensboro Plaza. Customers may take the 4, 5, 6, Q or R instead.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 8, there are no N trains between Queensboro Plaza and Lexington Avenue-59th Street due to switch renewal at Queensboro Plaza. Customers may take the 4, 6 or 7 instead.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 10 p.m. March 8, Q trains run on the R line between 57th Street-7th Avenue and DeKalb Avenue due to switch at Queensboro Plaza.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, Coney Island-bound Q trains run express from Prospect Park to Kings Highway due to Brighton Line station rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 9, R trains are extended to the 179th Street F station due to a track chip-out.
6 comments
Okay, that graphic is amusing. Our tack length is quite literally off the chart!
The chart gives track length figures in New York and Chicago, but route length elsewhere. Since track length is at a minimum twice route length, it distorts the entire scale. If New York has 660 miles of track, then Tokyo has 408, Moscow 363, and Seoul 360.
Where did they get those population numbers, I’m pretty sure Tokyo is the largest city in the world yet the chart says its only slightly larger then NYC and smaller the Seoul.
“City proper” populations such as these are kind of meaningless because you can’t compare them due to the different definitions of a “municipality” around the world. Metropolitan populations would have been more meaningful here, and by that measure Tokyo would be the largest in the world. It also might have been more meaningful to include local commuter trains too because in many cities these are quasi-subway systems which fill in the gaps in the subway system. That would probably put Tokyo ahead in mileage and even farther ahead in ridership.
The only cities where commuter rail is a significant percentage of total transit are Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Paris.
Good magazine always has the best informational diagrams.