USA: PATH ridership across New York and New Jersey rose 7.5% in the first half of 2026 to 31.4 million passengers, while the region’s seaport maintained year-earlier cargo volume.

PATH ridership rose 7.5% to 31.4 million passengers in the first half of 2026, while overall regional port volume remained level.
Photo: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

PATH ridership reaches strongest first half since 2020

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the January–June result was PATH’s highest first-half ridership total since 2020.

June accounted for 5.9 million passengers, making it the system’s busiest month since March 2020. Average Saturday ridership reached 144,391 passengers, while the Sunday average was 114,146. Both were the highest monthly weekend averages since PATH began tracking the measure, and each stood more than 25% above June 2025.

Preliminary counts also showed 145,277 passengers used PATH on July 4, an increase of 33% from Independence Day 2025.

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Service expansion provides context for the rise

The ridership increase followed service and infrastructure changes across the cross-Hudson railway. In April, PANYNJ announced completion of the two-year, $430 million PATH Forward program, which included work on stations, railcars, track and other infrastructure.

The authority had presented that program as the foundation for phased service changes in 2026, including the return of seven-day service on all four PATH lines.

Port volume stays level despite June increase

During the same six-month period, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled 4.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, matching its volume in the first half of 2025. One TEU represents the capacity of a standard 20-foot shipping container.

June volume reached 769,422 TEUs, up 11.9% year over year. Loaded container traffic increased 7.6% to 503,016 TEUs. Port officials attributed the June increase to an earlier, front-loaded peak shipping season driven by changes in federal trade policy.

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