New York Subway Topped Four Million Riders on 14 Summer Days as MTA Starts Its Largest Signal Upgrade
New York City subway ridership topped four million on 14 days across July and August 2026, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reported, up from eight such days in the summer of 2025.
The figure covers the two summer months combined, not 14 days in each month. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority stated the combined total in its September committee materials, and the Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul repeated it in an October announcement on subway ridership.
The summer result was part of a broader rise in the early fall. The governor’s office said the subway averaged more than 4.2 million riders on weekdays in September 2026, with 15 days at or above four million, including every weekday in the week of Sept. 14.
Sept. 23 set a single-day post-pandemic record, the governor’s office said, with nearly 4.7 million passengers.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber linked the 2026 surge to a mix of events and office activity, citing the Knicks championship, the World Cup, America 250 and rising office occupancy.
The governor’s office said 3.16 million people rode the subway on the night of the Knicks championship victory on June 13, a figure it described as 15 percent higher than a typical Saturday in June compared with 2025. The authority added extra service on the 1, C, F and 7 lines for fans headed to World Cup games and watch parties, the governor’s office said.
Separately, the authority began work in October on a long-term effort to modernize the signals that direct trains through the system. On Oct. 22, Gov. Hochul announced the start of the largest signal and track replacement project in Metropolitan Transportation Authority history.
The $1.9 billion Fulton-Liberty project will replace 1930s-era signals on the A and C lines in Brooklyn and Queens with communications-based train control, a system that tracks trains continuously rather than only detecting whether a train occupies a fixed section of track.
The project covers 42 track miles and 23 stations, from High Street to Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard, the governor’s office said. About 350,000 riders use that corridor on a typical weekday, while the A and C lines together carry about 750,000 riders on a weekday across their full routes.
The authority says the newer system will let trains run closer together safely, supporting more frequent and reliable service. Lieber said signal issues are the leading cause of subway delays.
The first phase will replace aging switches and more than 250 feet of specialized track between 104th Street and 99th Street in Queens, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The project is funded with congestion pricing revenue and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2032.
The authority’s 2025-29 capital plan provides an additional $5.4 billion to modernize signals on more than 75 miles of other lines, including the Broadway N, Q, R and W lines, the Liberty Avenue A line, the Rockaway A and S lines and the Nassau Street J and Z lines, the governor’s office said.
The signal project is a multi-year construction program, so it is distinct from the summer ridership result. The summer figures describe travel that already took place, while the signal work is aimed at service in the years ahead.
