72 St Station: Ridership & Busiest Hours
Manhattan · Q trains · From MTA open data, Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026 · Not affiliated with the MTA
How busy is 72 St?
About 20,697 riders a day enter 72 St (Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026). It is the #31 busiest of 424 subway stations. Ridership at 72 St is down 1% 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 5 PM, with about 2,527 riders entering on an average day. The quietest hour is 3 AM (about 11).
- 12 AM90
- 1 AM27
- 2 AM14
- 3 AM11
- 4 AM13
- 5 AM43
- 6 AM233
- 7 AM902
- 8 AM1,947
- 9 AM1,212
- 10 AM810
- 11 AM812
- 12 PM880
- 1 PM986
- 2 PM1,226
- 3 PM1,722
- 4 PM2,266
- 5 PM2,527
- 6 PM1,890
- 7 PM1,303
- 8 PM858
- 9 PM541
- 10 PM424
- 11 PM292
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 (6) | 98.2% of the time · all stations: 97% |
| Elevators: unplanned outages | 86 · entrapments: 12 |
| Escalators working (10) | 97.2% of the time · all stations: 95.5% |
| Escalators: unplanned outages | 599 |
| Riders vs 2019 | 79% 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 72 St.
- 134 St-Herald SqB D F M N Q R W · Manhattan10.1%
- 2Times Sq-42 St/Port Authority Bus Terminal1 2 3 7 A C E N Q R W S · Manhattan9.8%
- 314 St-Union Sq4 5 6 L N Q R W · Manhattan4%
- 457 St-7 AvN Q R W · Manhattan3.8%
- 5Canal St6 J Z N Q R W · Manhattan1.8%
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.
72 St is served by the Q train.
Nearby stations
Straight-line distance.
| Station | Lines | Riders a day | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 68 St-Hunter College | 6 | 15,788 | 0.3 mi |
| 77 St | 6 | 19,132 | 0.3 mi |
| Lexington Av/63 St | M Q | 11,531 | 0.5 mi |
| Lexington Av/59 St | 4 5 6 N R W | 33,135 | 0.6 mi |
| 86 St | Q | 17,869 | 0.7 mi |
Questions
How many people use 72 St station?
About 20,697 riders a day enter 72 St (Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026). It is the #31 busiest of 424 subway stations.
When is 72 St station busiest?
The busiest hour is 5 PM, with about 2,527 riders entering on an average day. The quietest hour is 3 AM (about 11).
Is 72 St getting busier?
Ridership at 72 St is down 1% in 2026 so far compared with the same days of 2025 (whole subway: +2.9%).
Which trains stop at 72 St?
72 St is served by the Q 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.