New York City Subway - Overview

Overview

Stations are located throughout the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. While Staten Island does have a rail line, the Staten Island Railway, it is not officially considered part of the subway. In addition, the Staten Island Railway does not connect to any other trains, so any passengers wishing to visit another borough must take a ferry or bus.

Almost all routes pass through Manhattan (the exceptions being the G, Franklin Avenue Shuttle and Rockaway Park Shuttle trains), and all but five of the 468 stations are served 24 hours a day. Contrary to its name, the New York City Subway system is not entirely underground. Large portions of the system (especially outside of Manhattan) are elevated, on embankments, or in open cuts, and a few stretches of track run at ground level.

Many lines and stations have both express and local services. These lines have three or four tracks. Normally, the outer two are used for local trains while the inner one or two are used for express trains. Stations served by express trains are typically major transfer points or destinations. The BMT Jamaica Line uses skip-stop service on portions, where two services (J and Z trains) operate over the line during rush hours in the peak direction and many stations are only served by one of the two.

In 2005, the New York City Subway hit a 50-year record in usage with a ridership of 1.45 billion. The trend toward higher ridership continued into 2008; MTA released figures that subway use was up 6.8 percent for January and February as higher gasoline prices encouraged riders to use mass transit over automobiles.

The Citizens Budget Commission reported in 2011 that the subway system was among the most cost-efficient in the country, with the lowest cost per passenger trip and second-lowest cost per passenger mile.

According to the United States Department of Energy, energy expenditure on the New York City Subway rail service was 3492 BTU/passenger mile (2289 kJ/passenger km) in 1995. This compares with 3702 BTU/passenger mile (2427 kJ/passenger km) for automobile travel. However, the figure for automobiles is averaged over the entire United States. Driving a car in New York City is significantly less efficient due to the highly urbanized environment.