Why transit matters

Transit is fundamental to all aspects of life in New York

Public transit is vital to the health of New York and all New Yorkers. Our subways and buses carry millions of people every day—to work, to run errands, to see the doctor, to visit friends and family. New York has the largest transit system in the country, regularly carrying 8 million riders every day. 

Transit makes living in New York much more affordable. In a city where the cost of living is already sky-high, public transit saves people time and money. In 2021, the average annual cost of owning a car is nearly $10,000, more than five times as expensive as an unlimited MetroCard.

Transit allows the city to sustainably grow. New York City would need 84 additional Queens-Midtown Tunnels to carry the same number of people to work as our subways and a Central Park-sized parking garage would need 30 stories to accommodate every midtown office worker!

Transit cools the planet. Public transit allows New Yorkers to produce two-thirds less carbon emissions per capita than the average American, helping protect the environment and counteract climate change.

But transit today is not working for riders 

Despite consistent increases in ridership over the past 45 years, our transit system has become slower, less reliable, and has lagged behind accessibility and environmental mandates.  

New York City buses are the slowest in the country, traveling on average just 8 miles per hour. Our bus routes haven’t been meaningfully updated since they were established and many routes actually trace old trolley lines. 

New York’s subway is over a century old and crumbling. Much of the signal system that the MTA runs on is based on 1930s technology and has yet to be updated. That means four out of five morning rush hours are disrupted by signal problems that cause subway delays. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, which depleted MTA coffers, subway delays quadrupled.

And yet the fare keeps rising, so much so that even some MTA board members are concerned that higher fares might raise less revenue as more riders switch to other ways of getting around. 

The impacts create a stratified and segregated New York

Bus and subway riders are primarily from working-class communities of color, and disproportionately experience long rides and unreliable commutes. Making transit work for everyone is key to building a more just, sustainable, and equitable city. 

Who relies on transit? 

• 70% of NYC transit riders are people of color

• 55% of bus riders are immigrants

• Bus riders’ average income is less than $30,000 per year

• NYC households with cars earn twice what transit-dependent households earn 

• 40% of essential workers ride the bus

• Less than one third of subway stations are accessible, shutting half a million people out of the system 

Transit is letting down the communities that rely on it most: 

• Low-income riders: Three-quarters of a million New Yorkers travel more than one hour each way to work, two-thirds of whom earn less than $35,000 a year. 

• Black New Yorkers have the longest commute times, 25 percent longer than white commuters; Latine commuters have rides 12 percent longer.

• Healthcare workers have the longest commutes in the city. 

Why is it like this? 

Every decision behind how our public transit runs is driven by our elected officials— primarily the governor, who controls the budget and operations of our buses and subways. But elected officials don’t always ride transit themselves or understand just how many of their constituents do. And until recently, riders also had no organized voice to push transit up higher on crowded public policy agendas.

Decades of disinvestment has left the MTA chronically underfunded and lurching from crisis to crisis with a growing backlog of maintenance needs. Today, the MTA is so heavily indebted that more than 20 cents from every Metrocard swipe goes to pay interest to MTA creditors and bondholders. And the debt situation has only become worse as the MTA has lost revenue to the pandemic. 

Elected officials have not always embraced transit as an essential public good. Too often, they see the agency as a punching bag or a ribbon-cutting opportunity, instead of seeing transit as a vehicle for a more equitable city. As a result, they have failed to move quickly enough to update our transit system so it’s resilient and affordable. After the 2008 financial crisis, subway delays quadrupled, and on-time performance plummeted to an abysmal 58 percent. 

It is long past time to invest more money in transit and in the systems that enable the MTA to improve service.

What can be done? 

Hold our elected officials directly accountable to riders. That’s why Riders Alliance was formed in the wake of the last financial crisis. Our organizers and powerful constituency of riders build broad support for better subway and bus service and more affordable fares. And when the pandemic slashed ridership everywhere at once, we built an unprecedented national coalition to save transit in cities across the country.

Organize bus and subway riders in the most impacted communities. Our canvassers and organizers are out in neighborhoods across the city listening to riders’ stories and offering solutions. Together, our members and leaders devise strategies to win meaningful and lasting improvements in the public transit service we all depend on.

Educate the public about the challenges riders face. While the name of the governor may change, the fact remains that our elected officials are responsible for better transit for millions of people. No faceless bureaucrat at the MTA determines the quality of our commutes. The decisions that matter are made in the halls of power, whether City Hall, the State Capitol, or Congress.

Envision a world where riders come first, not only because it would save millions of Americans time, money, anxiety, and frustration—but also because it would build a stronger, greener, more welcoming and inclusive city. Our city and nation cannot become more just and equitable without better transit for the people who need it most.

With these broader goals in mind, we move forward, making connections for people, and connecting people with power.

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