Ridership on G Line Jumps—But Not Enough

The the G line had the greatest increase in ridership last year, but the increase doesn't appear to be enough to add service on the line. 

According to station-by-station ridership information for 2012 released by the MTA Tuesday.

Ridership jumped by 4.2 percent on the G line due to riders using the Fulton Street station to get to the Barclays Center, an increase in new apartment buildings along the line as well as all those people flocking from the hip activities in Carroll Gardens and Clinton Hill to the hip activities in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, according to the MTA.

One day following the release of the numbers, politicians representing areas served by the G-train, as well as the advocacy group Riders Alliance, put out the call for more G-train service.

“The MTA’s new numbers show what G train riders already know.  These trains are overcrowded, and we need to run more of them,” John Raskin, executive director of the Riders Alliance, said in a joint press release.

More than a dozen area pols added their voices to the call, including Congresswoman Yvette Clark, state Senator Velmanette Montgomery, and Counciwoman Letitia James, who suggested the MTA look also into connecting the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center with the G line at Fulton Street.

In February, the MTA agreed to launch a full-line review of the G train. 

Yesterday, an MTA spokesman responded that the authority would continue to review ridership levels and add trains if needed. But he noted that the decision to add service has more to do with peak ridership levels than overall ridership figures (so don't go expecting more frequent service late at night, for example). 

"The last time we looked at ridership trends, the level of service on the G was sufficient, but we will continue to analyze," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said in a statement.

Other notable (though predictable) changes include a 7.5 percent increase of ridership at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center  in 2012, moving the Prospect Heights station to the honor of busiest in Brooklyn, ahead of Jay Street-Metro Tech and Court Street-Borough Hall.

Stations near Barclays also saw a hike in straphangers, with ridership at the Bergen St. 2/3 station going up 5.3 percent and ridership at the Fulton St. G station increasing by 8.6 percent, according the MTA.

Here are the figures for all of Prospect Heights' stations:

NYC-wide

Ridership Ranking 

Change in Ridership

2011-2012

Seventh Avenue

Bergen Street

Grand Army Plaza

Eastern Parkway

Franklin Avenue

Park Place

171

30

186

285

90

392

-4.4 %

+5.3% 

+3.7%

+0.6%

+4.7%

-3.5%