They’re on the right track!
Long Island Rail Road ridership soared to pre-pandemic levels for the first time in June, thanks in part to the Knicks NBA Finals victory and the US Open golf tournament.
Nearly eight million travelers used the LIRR last month, a whopping boost of about 102% from the same time in 2019, officials said.
The spike, which included five million riders not among the traditional Monday-to-Friday commuters, marks the first time one of the MTA’s services exceeded pre-COVID numbers.
“That’s the highest non-commutation ridership in the history of the Long Island Rail Road since we’ve been keeping track,” LIRR President Rob Free said during an MTA meeting on Monday.
The boost in ridership numbers was greatly influenced by the summer crowd, with many using the LIRR to attend the four-day US Open tournament in Southampton.
The trains also carried Long Islanders to New York City for the Knick’s NBA Finals run in June that culminated in a massive parade in Manhattan to celebrate the historic victory.
Ridership reached a peak of 190,009 riders on Friday, June 19, when many parties were held across the city for the Knicks the day after the championship parade.
“It was aided by the US Open at Shinnecock Hills and the Knicks’ championship run, but there’s some positive numbers within that as well, so, very encouraging ridership numbers,” Free said.
July is likely to see a boost in ridership as well thanks to the continued summer surge and World Cup games.
Meanwhile, subway ridership is still lagging below pre-pandemic levels, with June’s weekday ridership hitting 4.18 million.
Although it represents a nearly 4% increase from the same time last year, it’s still below the average weekday ridership of more than 5.5 million before the pandemic.
Read the full article here