As New Yorkers begin limbering up for the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and that stuffed turkey, they can also sit back and admire how far the city has come with the September 11, 2001, attacks. The number of people riding the city’s transit system reached an average of 7.5 million daily during weekdays in September, the highest number since June 1971, as our Jeremy Smerd reported yesterday. While that was partly due to the warm weather, high gas prices, and the Jewish New Year taking place in October (rather than in September, so it was business as usual in September in the city), it’s also a sign of confidence people have in the subway system.

Credit goes to Commissioner Kelly and New York’s police officers for working to make the subways safer. The random searching of backpacks, which the New York Civil Liberties Union is opposing, and other measures the NYPD has introduced since September 11 is no doubt contributing to the feeling among New Yorkers and visitors that the transit system is safe to travel. Successes in the war on terror – fighting the terrorists in their homes rather than on the streets of New York – also adds to New York’s improved feeling of safety.

Credit also goes to Mayor Bloomberg and President Bush as the city’s and the country’s economic resurgences have drawn more workers and tourists to the city. According to the city’s tourism bureau, NYC & Company, the city had a “record number of visitors for the third year in a row, reaching 39.9 million person trips.” This was a 5.6% increase on the previous year’s 37.8 million (domestic and foreign) visitors. The visitors spent $21.1 billion in the city, an increase of 14% from $11.3 in 2003. Some transportation experts cited by our Mr. Smerd say this might be the year for breaking the one-day record set on December 23, 1946, when 8.8 million people traveled on the subway.