Are there more dogs on NYC subways (or is it just us)?

This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.

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NYC subways have gone to the dogs

More and more big dogs are illegally riding the trains amid dwindling enforcement of the MTA’s rules for canine commuters.

While subway ridership remains stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, the authors of this newsletter – and numerous commuters we spoke to – have noticed a recent uptick in New Yorkers bringing their furry friends on trains.

The MTA says it’s impossible to know how exactly many dogs ride the rails — but it’s been hard to miss the increase in large pooches flouting the agency’s rule that any animal on the subway must be “enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers.”

“I agree with your anecdotal observation, particularly the part about noticing more dogs and fewer in bags,” MTA board member Norman Brown wrote to Gothamist.

The MTA does track the number of complaints it receives about dogs on subway trains. The agency received 31 of them during the first two months of 2019 — compared to 38 during the same period of 2023. There were 23 complaints in the first two months of this year.

The “bag rule,” which had been the work-around for people who wanted to bring pets onto the subway, dates back to 2004. That’s when the MTA first officially banned free roaming dogs on trains.

But the dog decree has been openly mocked by many riders who pushed the bag rule beyond its logical limits.

The MTA press office had no comment on the perceived increase in dogs, or whether the agency has changed its pet policy.

“No one will want to comment out of fear of being labeled an anti-dogite….