181 St Station: Ridership & Busiest Hours
Manhattan · A trains · From MTA open data, Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026 · Not affiliated with the MTA
How busy is 181 St?
About 6,475 riders a day enter 181 St (Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026). It is the #162 busiest of 424 subway stations. Ridership at 181 St is up 9.3% in 2026 so far compared with the same days of 2025 (whole subway: +2.9%).
When is it busiest?
Average riders entering per hour, last 56 days (from Aug 28, 2026).
The busiest hour is 8 AM, with about 899 riders entering on an average day. The quietest hour is 2 AM (about 6).
- 12 AM12
- 1 AM7
- 2 AM6
- 3 AM9
- 4 AM32
- 5 AM115
- 6 AM305
- 7 AM785
- 8 AM899
- 9 AM602
- 10 AM427
- 11 AM389
- 12 PM377
- 1 PM391
- 2 PM399
- 3 PM385
- 4 PM402
- 5 PM419
- 6 PM304
- 7 PM167
- 8 PM116
- 9 PM83
- 10 PM49
- 11 PM25
Station report card
Elevators and escalators: share of hours in service over 24 hours, October 2025 – September 2026 (MTA availability). Entrapments = times riders were stuck inside an elevator. Riders vs 2019 compares the last 12 months with 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
| Accessible (ADA) | Yes |
| Elevators working (5) | 97.8% of the time · all stations: 97% |
| Elevators: unplanned outages | 91 · entrapments: 19 |
| Escalators working (3) | 96.9% of the time · all stations: 95.5% |
| Escalators: unplanned outages | 130 |
| Riders vs 2019 | 69% of the 2019 level (October 2025 – September 2026) |
Where do riders from here go?
Share of subway trips starting here that end at each station, September 2026 (MTA origin-destination ridership estimate).
The top 5 destinations take 30% of subway trips that start at 181 St.
- 159 St-Columbus Circle1 A C B D · Manhattan10.3%
- 2Times Sq-42 St/Port Authority Bus Terminal1 2 3 7 A C E N Q R W S · Manhattan7.2%
- 334 St-Penn StationA C E · Manhattan6.2%
- 414 St/8 AvA C E L · Manhattan3.4%
- 5125 StA C B D · Manhattan3.3%
Lines at this station
On time = share of each line's trips reaching the last stop within 5 minutes of schedule (MTA terminal on-time performance), October 2025 – September 2026. The MTA measures this per line, not per station.
181 St is served by the A train.
Nearby stations
Straight-line distance.
| Station | Lines | Riders a day | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 181 St | 1 | 6,787 | 0.3 mi |
| 175 St | A | 6,822 | 0.3 mi |
| 191 St | 1 | 4,794 | 0.5 mi |
| 190 St | A | 2,836 | 0.5 mi |
| 168 St-Washington Hts | 1 A C | 14,593 | 0.8 mi |
Questions
How many people use 181 St station?
About 6,475 riders a day enter 181 St (Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026). It is the #162 busiest of 424 subway stations.
When is 181 St station busiest?
The busiest hour is 8 AM, with about 899 riders entering on an average day. The quietest hour is 2 AM (about 6).
Is 181 St getting busier?
Ridership at 181 St is up 9.3% in 2026 so far compared with the same days of 2025 (whole subway: +2.9%).
Which trains stop at 181 St?
181 St is served by the A train.
Data: MTA Subway Hourly Ridership (data.ny.gov). Riders are entries at the turnstiles and OMNY readers, so transfers inside the station are not counted. Updated Oct 29, 2026. All stations ranked → · All subway ridership →
Source code: github.com/MantieReid/mta-data-analysis · Analysis by Mantie Reid II (CC BY 4.0).
This is an independent data analysis project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Data is sourced from the MTA through the New York State Open Data Portal. Visualizations, calculations, and interpretations are independently produced. Data may be revised, incomplete, or delayed. For official transit information, visit mta.info.