This Map Tells You How Frequently NYC Subways Actually Run

April 7, 2016

This New York City Transit Frequency map, from Ft. Collins, Colorado-based public transit enthusiast and urban adventurer Tyler A. Green, is a mapped visualization of how frequently the city’s subways and buses travel along each line. You can use it to see where—and on which days—trains and buses run most and least often. The darker the color of a transit line on the map the more frequent your prospects are going to be. Four viewable data layers on the map represent buses and trains on Fridays and Saturdays. Hover over lines to see exactly how many trains or buses run in an hour between any two stops.

Manhattan and BK Subways All subway lines

Some caveats from Green: “One thing to keep in mind: the trips per hour numbers that appear when you hover over lines on the map are not specific to a transit route. They encompass all transit services, potentially multiple routes and even modes, between the two stops that create an edge.”

Friday Subway Friday subway frequency

Saturday Subway Saturday subway frequency

In visualizing all this transit data, some findings were more obvious—like the fact that transit in general runs more frequently on weekdays (Fridays in this case) than weekends. Green also found that even in dense areas, bus frequencies are higher in areas that have less subway service and vice versa, and that inter-borough connections between Queens and Brooklyn are weak for both subways and buses.

Subway Frequency L train

We compared a few highlights: Taking a look at the much-discussed L and G subways, on a Friday, the L train between First and Bedford Avenues clocked 14 trains an hour; from Halsey Street to Myrtle/Wyckoff, 18 trains an hour; Morgan to Jefferson Avenues, 12 trains an hour.

Subway Frequency G Train

However, the G line between Clinton/Washington and Greenpoint Avenue never runs more than eight trains an hour, sometimes running only six, which is kind of a bummer, because we’re really starting to like the G. We know there are way more trains on the line than there used to be but, hey, MTA, step it up a little, please.

Friday subways do tend to run more trains in Manhattan, with lines running 18-24 trains an hour in a lot of places, and rarely dipping below 12, though that could be because there are more trains running over the same line.

Friday bus frequency Friday bus frequency

Saturday Bus lrg Saturday bus frequncy

As for buses, there are definitely fewer of them, too, on Saturdays than weekdays.

Read more from the map’s creator here on his blog with updates as he adds more info or figures things out.

[Via Googlemapsmania]

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