“As service comes back, it’s very important that they fill those positions,” Utano said. Members and sponsors make THE CITY possible. MTA data shows two days last week where the number of subway trips climbed above 2 million trips, about 34% of the pre-pandemic norm of more than 5 million. Many of the positions opened during the last year, when subway ridership, at its low point in April 2020, plummeted by more than 90%. “Eventually, it is going to have an impact.” “If they don’t fill spots, the tracks aren’t going to be safe, the system is not going to be maintained,” said Tony Utano, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100.

The union for transit workers contends that long-term attrition could affect safety and reliability as more riders return to the subway. Track workers, tower operators, train crews and dispatchers are among those who have exited en masse in the last two years as a hiring freeze, retirements and the COVID-19 crisis helped reduce the number of subway workers at the MTA to 27,248 by February.įigures reviewed by THE CITY, and confirmed by the MTA, show the subway division has 2,623 fewer jobs from a little more than two years earlier. The MTA is operating a pared-down workforce that’s shed more than 2,600 subway jobs since 2019, figures obtained by THE CITY show - leaving fewer employees to operate trains and maintain a system struggling to rebound from the pandemic.ĭata from internal New York City Transit “personnel strength” reports reveal the number of workers within the Department of Subways has shrunk by nearly 9% since January 2019, when there were close to 30,000 employees on the payroll.

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