Public transit ridership has continued to climb this week as the city reopens — but buses remain more popular than subways, according to the MTA.
Subway ridership, which averaged nearly 5.5 million trips per day in 2019, has trailed bus ridership every single day since Monday, March 23 — when the first full week of New York’s coronavirus lockdown began, the MTA said Thursday.
This past Tuesday saw bus ridership climb to 914,000, up nearly 52,000 from the previous day, according to MTA stats shared with The Post. Average daily bus ridership was 2.1 million in 2019.
Subway ridership, meanwhile, hit its pandemic-high on Wednesday of 851,241, and has increased at a faster pace than bus ridership in recent weeks.
An MTA official said the agency expects the number of people using the subway to climb above buses in the coming weeks, but that the agency predicts that the ongoing pandemic may lead some New Yorkers to prefer above-ground transit.
The city plans to install 20 new miles of bus lanes and busways in the coming months to speed up service — though the MTA has called for 60 miles.
Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein told The Post he was “not surprised” that bus ridership has been higher during the city’s coronavirus shutdown.
“A higher percentage of bus riders are essential workers, and a higher percentage of bus riders depend on transit to get around,” Pearlstein said.
“We want to see bus ridership continue to rise, but if buses aren’t effectively prioritized with bus lanes, buses will be trapped in gridlock.”