Subway Ridership Stats And Income

The MTA released its Annual Subway Ridership data for 2012 last week, showing some interesting fluctuations at the stations in our area. Here’s the breakdown:

• The Beverley Rd. Q station lost 13.3% of its riders, as figures sunk from 1,095,502 in 2011 to 950,243 last year.
• The Cortelyou Rd. Q station lost 6.7% of its riders, going from 2,135,444 in 2011 to 1,992,781 last year.
• The Newkirk Plaza B/Q station received 0.7% more riders, with 2,999,870 in 2011 and 3,021,079 last year.
• The Avenue H Q station gained 57.8% more riders, going from 521,818 in 2011 to 823,237 last year.

The huge jump in 2012 Avenue H numbers is a consequence of the station’s extensive renovation process (which ended in December 2011), but what about the other data? The New Yorker’s Subway Income Map gives us some insight by charting the respective median incomes for residents near each of the aforementioned stops:

• Beverley Rd. $78,125
• Cortelyou Rd. $50,408
• Newkirk Plaza $50,408
• Avenue H $54,250

With the largest income disparity falling between Church and Beverley ($33,856 to $78,125), as well as the largest difference in percentage changed (+6.8% to -13.3%) from 2011-2012, is it safe to assume more Ditmas Park residents around Beverley Rd. are buying vehicles and/or traveling increasingly by car?

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It’s also interesting to note the lack of increase in ridership at the Newkirk Plaza station as a result of the construction at Avenue H. Surrounding stations Avenue J, Ditmas Ave., Avenue I, 18th Ave., and Bay Parkway all either lost a percentage of their riders from 2011, or gained a very small percentage of riders. Makes you wonder how many thousands of people must have switched to bus service, cars (it’s the second-highest median income area of stations in Ditmas Park), or other modes of transportation.

Why and how has your ridership changed in the last year?