Subway ridership collapses, pushing the MTA toward a fiscal cliff
With millions working from home, fare revenue plummeted and transit officials warned of devastating cuts without a federal bailout.
New York's subways and buses, the circulatory system of the nation's largest city, faced the gravest financial crisis in their history, transit officials warned, as the pandemic drove ridership to historic lows and blew a massive hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget.
Subway ridership had fallen by as much as 90 percent at the height of the lockdown and remained far below normal through the summer, as offices stayed empty and many New Yorkers continued to work from home. The collapse in fare and toll revenue left the MTA facing a deficit running into the billions of dollars.
Agency leaders pleaded for a large federal bailout, warning that without it they might be forced into drastic measures — deep cuts to subway and bus service, layoffs and the suspension of capital projects, including the long-promised modernisation of the signals.
Transit advocates warned that gutting service would be self-defeating, making the system less reliable just as the city needed to lure riders back, and would fall hardest on the essential workers who had kept riding throughout the crisis.
The crisis underscored how central the subway is to New York's recovery. A city cannot function without the trains that move millions each day, and the question of how to keep them running — and who would pay — loomed over the city's uncertain path out of the pandemic.