Even as more people are riding on New York City’s subways following the introduction of congestion pricing for cars entering parts of Manhattan, crime on the system has dropped.

In January, there were 147 major crimes compared with 231 in January 2024, a 36.4% decrease, the New York Police Department said in a release Tuesday.

Part of that reduction, the police said, has been spurred by the addition of hundreds of cops into the stations with the highest incidences of crime and more generally onto platforms and trains as opposed to at entrances. 

Every overnight subway train between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. also now has two officers on patrol, the police said.

“We’re seeing double-digit decreases in both overall crime above ground and transit crime below ground … and we remain committed to ensuring that New Yorkers aren’t just safe but feel safe, too,” New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, told amNY.com.

At the same time that crime has fallen, subway ridership has risen. Congestion pricing was introduced in Manhattan south of 60th Street on Jan. 5, charging cars, trucks and motorcycles a toll to enter the congestion relief zone, so people might be opting to take the subway instead.

Between Jan. 6-28, there were 74,680,439 riders compared with 65,569,613 during the same period in 2024, a 13.1% increase, according to amNY.com.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.