Interactive Map: Proposed Subway Expansions

By Anthony Cardenas, Graduate Research Assistant, NYU Rudin Center for Transportation

July 2025

New Yorkers rely on a vast transit network to travel between their homes, jobs and neighborhoods every day. As the city grows and travel patterns evolve, subway expansion is essential to ensure equitable, efficient access for all New Yorkers and visitors.

While congestion pricing has helped reduce Manhattan traffic, only public transit can move millions with speed, capacity, and seamless connections. The map below shows proposed subway expansions—long-overdue investments that aim to serve neighborhoods left behind by limited service and overburdened buses. Yet, political inertia and funding gaps have delayed these plans for decades. 

Map screenshot

Click here to view the map.

The proposals highlighted in this map aim would close service gaps by:

  • Extending the W train into Red Hook
  • Expanding the 3 train to Flatlands 
  • Building the Utica Avenue Extension 
  • Completing all phases of the Second Avenue Subway
  • Launching the QueensLink and Interborough Express through Queens and Brooklyn (including the Bronx-reaching Triboro variant) 

This map presents multiple layers of insight for each proposed corridor, including an overview; demographic and mobility analysis; evaluations from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Regional Plan Association, and third-party transportation analysts. Station-area profiles highlight disparities in access and help inform smarter, more equitable investments.

With these improvements, real-world impacts become impossible to ignore, for example: 

  • Completing all phases of the Second Avenue Subway is crucial for Upper Manhattan neighborhoods. New stations at 106th, 116th, and 125th Streets will serve neighborhoods where over 50% of residents are minorities, nearly half live below 200% of the poverty line, and median household incomes are under $50,000. Completing the line would connect these communities to economic and educational opportunities, and essential services, downtown.
  • Outer-borough corridors (Near QueensLink, Flatlands 3 Extension, Utica Avenue, and Triboro) are experiencing significant mobility challenges. Nearly half of residents in these areas face commutes of 45 minutes or longer. Car ownership ranges from 21% to 74%, indicating heavy reliance on public transit and a strong opportunity to reduce congestion and emissions.
  • Transit dependency in the Bronx: In some station areas, more than 46% of households have no access to a vehicle. For these communities, every added minute to a commute becomes a barrier to employment, education, and essential services.
  • Demographics and transit reliance can shift dramatically between stops: For example, in the population surrounding the McDonald Avenue station (Interborough Express), roughly 75% of residents identify as white, the median household income is $68,000, and fewer than 30% rely on transit. Just two stops over at Flatbush Ave–Nostrand Ave, only 20% of residents are white and nearly half of households have no vehicle—with 50% of trips relying on transit.

Expanding the subway system can reduce emissions in some areas and provide first-time access in others, where people may have no car, long commutes, or tight pocketbooks. High-ridership corridors may justify investment through efficiency, but equity-driven goals and creative funding strategies are vital for underserved areas.

By blending corridor-wide forecasts with granular station-area data, this map presents a visualization of a more just, inclusive and efficient transit future for all New Yorkers.

 

Click here to view the map by Anthony Cardenas, Graduate Research Assistant, NYU Rudin Center for Transportation.