3.14 million ride NYC subway on Marathon Sunday, 109% of pre-pandemic level

3.14 million ride NYC subway on Marathon Sunday, 109% of pre-pandemic level NYC subway ridership reached 3.14 million on Marathon Sunday, Nov. 1, up from last year’s 2.81 million and equal to 109% of the pre-pandemic Sunday level. No Sunday in the MTA’s records has drawn more riders, the Governor’s office said on Nov. 2. The total came on the day of the New York City Marathon, which runs through all five boroughs. NYC Transit added subway service through the weekend and posted extra staff at stations near the finish line and at other busy viewing spots. Halloween weekend sets post-pandemic records Halloween fell on the Saturday before the race, and the subway carried 3.59 million riders that day. The total beat the post-pandemic Saturday record of 3.27 million, set on May 16, 2026, and was the highest for any Saturday since 2016. Friday, Oct. 30, brought 4.51 million riders, a post-pandemic Friday record above the 4.4 million carried on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. Over the three days from Friday to Sunday, ridership reached 11.24 million, a new post-pandemic weekend high and 8.4% more than a year earlier. The previous weekend record had also been set over Halloween and Marathon weekend in 2025. Weekday and weekly highs in late October Earlier in the week, on Thursday, Oct. 29, the subway carried 4.72 million riders. That is the highest single-day count since the pandemic and 9.7% above the same day in 2025. Weekly totals climbed too. The week beginning Oct. 26 produced 22.62 million riders over its five weekdays and 29.35 million over seven days. Both figures replaced post-pandemic records of 22.32 million and 27.87 million set the week before, when the weekday stretch ran from Oct. 19 to Oct. 23. Governor Kathy Hochul said in the announcement: “We have made historic investments to run better service and keep riders safe and New Yorkers have responded by riding in ever growing numbers.” Marathon Sunday ridership since 2021 On Marathon Sunday in 2022, the subway carried 2.11 million riders, up from 1.89 million on race day in 2021 and equal to 84% of the pre-pandemic baseline for the comparable Sunday in 2019. Race day in 2023 generated 2,304,683 paid rides. In 2024, the marathon brought 2.6 million subway riders, at the time the busiest Sunday since the pandemic. For the whole of 2025, subway trips stood at 85% of pre-pandemic levels.