Yesterday not only marked the end of the transit strike here in New York, but also a milestone in transit ridership 59 years that has not been matched since then. On Monday December 23rd 1946, almost nine million (8,872,244) trips were made on NYC transit subways and buses. Since then mass transit ridership has declined and recent made a comeback with the drop in crime, but has never come close to reaching the levels of ridership 59 years ago.

From the NYTimes:

The system was providing about eight million rides a day in the 1940's. With the postwar population booming, it would register an annual record in 1947 of 2.05 billion passengers.

On July 1, 1948, the fare was raised to a dime, but ridership had already begun to decline as private cars proliferated, wartime shortages of gasoline ended and the economy slowed. By 1982, the annual number dipped below one billion for the first time since World War I. With the city's population growing again and billions of dollars invested in subway improvements, ridership began to rebound. Today, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with MetroCards replacing coins or tokens, subway ridership averages 4.5 million on weekdays and about 1.4 billion a year.

Happy Holidays Readers and enjoy your time with Family, Friends and Neighbors.