New York - The MTA New York City Transit network of subways and buses drew 2.3 billion riders last year, the highest annual ridership since 1969 and an increase of 2.7 percent or 60.1 million trips over 2006.

Over the past five years alone, New York transit’s annual ridership has increased 6.1 percent. On average, weekday ridership was a combined 7.4 million, a 2.1 percent gain over 2006. Weekend ridership - Saturday and Sunday combined - also showed impressive gains up to 7.7 million, the highest annual weekend ridership in more than 35 years.

"The continued investment in new subway cars and buses is not going unnoticed by our customers who are responding by increased usage of our system," said MTA NYC Transit President Howard Roberts, Jr. "These historic ridership gains do, however, point out the increasing need for additional funding for continued infrastructure upgrades."

Helping fuel the growth in ridership was a strong city economy including record tourism and MetroCard discounts, specifically use of the 30-day MetroCard which had a 31.3 percent market share, the highest ever for the 30-day pass which was first introduced in July 1998, officials said.