As if the hellish sight of thousands of commuters trying to get out of the World Trade Center PATH station weren't convincing enough, the Port Authority has gone and confirmed earlier reports that PATH ridership is—despite that fare hike—way up. How up? 3.6 percent from to an all-time high of 76.6 million riders a year.
The previous high had been 74.9 million riders in 2008 and Port Authority officials say that the bump this year was due to a investment of over $1 billion in upgrades to service. The end of the year increase in bridge tolls into Manhattan, which pushed many drivers to park and ride, didn't hurt either. Which, great! Now with all those extra riders, maybe the Port Authority can work on better explaining to riders why they have been stuffed like sardines into a station? Because the hell of waiting to walk up a stopped escalator is far less when you know there is a reason for it.
