The New York City subway, during ‘normal’ times, transports more than 30 million riders a week. This transportation lifeline enables the city to thrive — shuttling an immense amount of people from their homes to wherever they need, and want, to get to. But what happens when the city begins to grapple with a global pandemic?
During the first half of 2020, MTA ridership plummeted across the city (dropping by up to 90%) as more and more people quarantined in their homes. Despite this strong trend, not everyone was able to stay at home and different communities experienced this same period in vastly different ways.
As we start begin to look back and process the trauma that occurred to the city, the subway system provides a critical window for us to better understand the varied effects of this period. By looking at different communities’ changes in ridership during the first half of 2020, we are able to explore questions of privilege during an urban pandemic — Who gets to stay home? Who has to continue working? Who is put most at risk?
You can also read more about the process of designing and developing this project in our Medium article.
Winner of Communication Arts Magazine’s 27th Interactive Annual Competition (2021).
Winner of Information is Beautiful Gold Award - 2022 Special Category: COVID-19 Visualizations (2022).
