As mentioned in another thread, the MBTA has released FY19 (July 2018-June 2019) ridership data for the gated subway stations. (
Spreadsheet is here, feel free to download and play with the data.) Assembly is not in the FY13 data (not yet open); Wollaston was closed for reconstruction in the FY19 data. The only other substantial changes in service were the 2014 promotion of Bowdoin to full-time, and the 2018 addition of SL3 service.
Compared to FY13 (the 2014 Bluebook data), overall ridership at the 64 gated stations was down 7.4%. Change by line (change including transfer stations in parentheses):
- Blue: +7.6% (-0.4%)
- Green: -16.8% (-15.1%)
- Orange: -7.8% (-5.8%)
- Red: -8.9% (-7.6%)
- Silver: +43.5% (+3.0%)
- Subway transfer stations: -6.7%
- CR transfer stations: -9.4%
- Major bus transfer stations: -8.4% (excluding Blue Line stations, -10.3%)
Big losers
The biggest drops in ridership were Harvard (-4,671), Government Center (-3,151), Park Street (-3,082), Forest Hills (-2,622), and Back Bay (-2,454); these represented drops between -13.6% and -29.1%, and together were almost half of the decline in ridership. It's notable that three of the five (and the next three - Hynes, Kenmore, and Sullivan) are major modal transfer stations. Considering the greater-than-average drops for modal transfer stations, I would speculate that unreliable service means that transferring between subway and bus or CR has become undesirable.
Biggest percentage drops were Suffolk Downs (-53.7%), Government Center (-29.1%), Boylston (-22.9%), Hynes (-21.3%), and Harvard (-20.1%). Out of the top 15, 8 were Green Line stations. Not surprising given that one-sixth drop in ridership.
Biggest rank drops were Boylston (-9), Government Center (-7), and Hynes (-6).
Big winners
The biggest gains in ridership were Kendall/MIT (+1,585), Orient Heights (+1,467), North Quincy (+1,453), Courthouse (+1,247), and Maverick (+1,087). Maverick probably benefits from the new developments nearby, and Kendall/MIT and Courthouse are fast-growing areas as well. North Quincy was likely Wollaston ridership. The ridership growth on the SL was fueled entirely by Courthouse; WTC didn't change at all. Assembly ridership was 3,977 - not bad considering that before opening 2030 projections were 5,000 daily.
Biggest percentage gains were Courthouse (+97.2%), Orient Heights (+51.8%), Bowdoin (+39.4%), North Quincy (+20.8%), and Broadway (+14.4%). Six of the top ten were Blue Line stations. For Bowdoin, this was likely a return to its pre-reconstruction ridership, which was fairly steady in the ~4,000 range prior to that FY13 count.
Biggest rank gains were North Quincy (+10), Broadway (+8), Wonderland (+8), Courthouse (+7), and Orient Heights (+7).
It's worth noting that although transfer stations lost a lot, that's driven by the Green Line drop. DTX, State, and South Station had a collective drop of -0.2%, much better than the system average.