MBTA Ridership Recovery
GitHub (external site)

MBTA monthly trips vs. 2019 · through Aug 2026

Commuter rail is back. The subway isn't.

Six years after the pandemic emptied the system, the MBTA's three main modes have recovered at very different rates.

Average of the last 12 months (Sep 2025–Aug 2026) as a share of 2019

Ridership by mode since 2019

Monthly trips as a percent of each mode's 2019 monthly average (100%)

  • Commuter rail
  • Bus
  • Subway
COVID-19Orange Line shutdownGLX MedfordFree Blue LineSouth Coast Rail0%20%40%60%80%100%120%20192020202120222023202420252026Commuter rail 107%Bus 95%Subway 67%

Show data table
Ridership by mode since 2019: monthly trips and percent of 2019 average
MonthCommuter railBusSubwayEvent
Trips% of 2019Trips% of 2019Trips% of 2019
Jan 20192,705,418102%9,092,40494%17,223,81896%
Feb 20192,384,85790%8,487,44288%16,223,21190%
Mar 20192,628,82899%9,610,036100%17,871,826100%
Apr 20192,689,704101%9,724,388101%18,735,579104%
May 20192,702,198102%10,127,801105%18,747,584104%
Jun 20192,465,90693%9,352,12797%17,719,40099%
Jul 20192,768,443104%9,764,228101%19,242,695107%
Aug 20192,800,661105%9,819,745102%18,687,613104%
Sep 20192,553,90396%9,982,198104%19,257,919107%
Oct 20192,911,497110%10,903,484113%19,661,987109%
Nov 20192,592,17798%9,655,395100%16,491,50692%
Dec 20192,679,997101%9,000,32693%15,623,21987%
Jan 20202,751,882104%9,791,009102%17,638,89298%
Feb 20202,415,97691%9,245,19796%16,070,30289%
Mar 20201,638,63462%6,145,18364%8,656,93548%COVID-19: Massachusetts declares a state of emergency; ridership collapses
Apr 2020493,05219%2,336,19124%1,441,2308%
May 2020496,15219%2,884,87730%1,650,6309%
Jun 2020659,33125%3,686,07438%2,726,04815%
Jul 2020772,91929%4,347,33945%3,797,57021%
Aug 2020784,50530%4,264,65244%4,246,13324%
Sep 2020649,65924%4,505,98047%5,007,30828%
Oct 2020656,42225%4,641,28248%5,145,53329%
Nov 2020916,17134%4,171,27643%4,327,35224%
Dec 2020632,39424%4,098,87043%4,048,62023%
Jan 2021371,33314%3,853,80840%4,214,49923%
Feb 2021276,00810%3,761,70439%4,161,21823%
Mar 2021353,46613%4,711,36349%5,087,03428%
Apr 2021419,70716%4,790,80050%5,494,88731%
May 2021520,54920%5,153,56554%6,430,77136%
Jun 2021642,28024%5,522,43257%7,636,33143%
Jul 2021724,46227%5,735,32560%8,047,60445%
Aug 2021791,17630%5,974,55462%8,431,89447%
Sep 20211,068,35840%6,822,85671%10,068,71456%
Oct 20211,310,60149%6,969,34272%10,530,20059%
Nov 20211,265,19048%6,452,57367%9,493,03253%
Dec 20211,158,11144%6,227,25965%8,509,97847%
Jan 2022955,13436%5,145,75353%6,868,71138%
Feb 20221,030,81339%5,551,91758%8,190,24946%
Mar 20221,454,65255%7,032,17973%10,040,33456%
Apr 20221,445,99054%6,839,66271%9,943,59255%
May 20221,463,41455%7,487,17578%9,886,30055%
Jun 20221,642,88462%7,257,35775%10,112,70556%
Jul 20221,569,69859%6,868,59771%10,064,69356%
Aug 20221,753,82666%7,808,37281%9,227,46951%Orange Line shutdown: 30-day full Orange Line shutdown for track and signal work
Sep 20221,839,59169%8,261,60786%9,345,08052%Orange Line shutdown
Oct 20222,042,22477%7,767,67081%11,277,42963%
Nov 20221,938,19673%7,176,69575%10,451,49258%
Dec 20221,848,00170%6,555,25668%9,342,17152%GLX Medford: Green Line Extension opens the Medford/Tufts branch
Jan 20231,948,41873%6,871,49771%9,784,89554%
Feb 20231,773,17767%6,387,92366%9,052,17850%
Mar 20232,195,70783%7,801,05281%10,540,44159%
Apr 20232,061,04178%7,317,85676%10,262,37257%
May 20232,287,11286%8,055,50784%10,966,20461%
Jun 20232,237,80284%7,524,43578%10,751,69060%
Jul 20232,167,94182%7,261,41975%10,906,33961%Free Blue Line: Sumner Tunnel closed; Blue Line fares free
Aug 20232,397,88290%7,640,62479%11,510,83064%Free Blue Line
Sep 20232,159,00481%7,883,48682%11,038,95061%
Oct 20232,595,08398%8,533,44589%10,762,57060%
Nov 20232,407,50391%8,041,48284%9,627,02954%
Dec 20232,213,14383%7,403,10377%8,708,63148%
Jan 20242,483,92893%9,194,90296%8,756,87849%
Feb 20242,311,14987%8,730,83791%8,771,22249%
Mar 20242,528,79095%8,815,34492%9,871,61755%
Apr 20242,558,90896%8,270,07686%10,756,85360%
May 20242,717,296102%8,911,97993%10,628,62259%
Jun 20242,645,383100%8,091,58984%10,101,17656%
Jul 20242,709,856102%8,396,10587%10,881,30061%
Aug 20242,700,800102%8,154,20985%11,009,67761%
Sep 20242,670,352101%8,361,59487%12,137,38968%
Oct 20242,975,757112%9,193,16495%13,319,69874%
Nov 20242,391,31790%7,996,32483%10,844,93560%
Dec 20242,272,73586%7,217,21675%10,358,54758%
Jan 20252,396,67590%7,624,83479%11,276,78363%
Feb 20252,154,97281%7,243,60675%10,560,11859%
Mar 20252,461,58193%7,879,55782%11,808,36666%South Coast Rail: Commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford begins
Apr 20252,522,42295%8,011,54683%12,876,54872%
May 20252,505,96794%8,281,90386%12,785,92671%
Jun 20252,424,27791%7,967,28983%11,593,99665%
Jul 20252,551,43996%8,110,66984%12,256,70668%
Aug 20252,403,95390%7,877,18082%11,211,66262%
Sep 20252,430,26091%8,366,98587%12,550,97070%
Oct 20252,705,839102%8,719,63991%14,108,58079%
Nov 20252,557,77096%7,639,61179%12,340,83169%
Dec 20252,682,774101%7,595,52079%10,709,66260%
Jan 20262,470,05593%7,118,79274%10,729,00760%
Feb 20262,218,21883%6,829,23971%10,811,04460%
Mar 20262,807,991106%8,548,27089%13,350,19074%
Apr 20262,809,730106%8,738,33591%13,875,78677%
May 20262,736,257103%8,850,08592%12,957,29672%
Jun 20262,656,356100%8,853,99892%14,475,32881%
Jul 20262,956,995111%9,007,16694%13,321,70674%
Aug 20262,843,007107%9,183,58395%12,110,52267%

Over the twelve months through August 2026, commuter rail averaged 100% of its 2019 ridership, and in the latest month it was at 107%. Buses averaged 86%. The subway, the system's busiest mode before the pandemic, averaged 70%.

That's the reverse of what I expected going in. Commuter rail is the most nine-to-five mode, so it should have lost the most to remote work. It did bottom out at 10% in February 2021, but it has come all the way back. The gap that remains is on the subway, which averaged 58% in 2023.

How it's built

Each line is a mode's monthly trips divided by its own 2019 monthly average, so 100% means back to normal for that mode. Subway is heavy plus light rail; bus is motor, rapid and trolley bus. The RIDE and ferries are left out.

  1. NTD workbookFTA monthly ridership, UPT sheet
  2. Extractscripts/extract.ts (external site) → ridership.csv (external site)
  3. Seedscripts/seed.ts (external site) → Supabase ridership_raw
  4. GroupSQL view ridership_monthly (external site)
  5. ChartCached server component, drawn with visx in ridership-chart.tsx (external site)