Every leaf-peeping season, New Yorkers swap the bustling city for upstate’s apple orchards, breezy breweries, and open-air art galleries. Indeed, Lyft rides in the Hudson Valley are 20% higher in the month of October.
While this is a longstanding tradition, Lyft’s rideshare data reveals that the Hudson Valley recovered from its pandemic slump and became an even more popular destination after 2022, especially among New Yorkers (who take over 50% of the rides upstate). Reports released by Tourism Economics confirm the trend: Upstate regions saw a spike in tourism spending in 2022 and a continued climb in 2023.
Although it’s likely that the pandemic, which put a pause on international travel, encouraged New Yorkers to explore their backyards through 2021, it can’t quite explain why they’re continuing to return in bigger and bigger numbers. Adding to the mystery, according to Lyft’s data, their destinations have shifted.
Pre-2020, towns on the east side of the Hudson River, where the Metro-North’s Hudson Line runs from Grand Central and takes you to spots like Tarrytown (a stone’s throw to spooky Sleepy Hollow) and Beacon (home of the popular Dia Beacon art museum), attracted the most Lyft riders.
Since 2021, however, two towns in particular have seen a spike in rideshare activity: Newburgh and New Windsor, both on the west side of the river, in Orange County. Before rideshare, car-less New Yorkers had three options to get to these destinations: a bus from Port Authority; a train from Penn Station to Secaucus, New Jersey, and then a transfer; or a Hudson Line train to Beacon and then a ferry across the Hudson River. On top of that, visitors would have to figure out how to get to their final destination from their train or bus station or port. “That last mile has always been a challenge,” explains Amanda Dana, the director of Tourism and Film for the Orange County Tourism Office. “The transportation network here isn’t as robust as a true urban center’s.”
But now there’s a third option: a Lyft ride from Beacon station (23 minutes to Newburgh and 29 to New Windsor, to be exact). The frequency of the Hudson Line’s schedule (every 30ish minutes) combined with rideshare’s always-on quality means riders can go where they want, nearly whenever they want. “A lot of rides involve taking riders from the train station to the west side,” says Catherine Donovan, who has driven on the Lyft platform in upstate New York for five years. “There are days when I just go back and forth across the river.”
Indeed, today there are just more destinations on the west side of the river to explore. Dana told Rev that in the last few years, Orange County has seen the openings of a new Resorts World casino, eateries along the Newburgh waterfront, and multiple craft breweries (popular spots for bachelor/bachelorette parties).
Another “big one,” according to Dana, is Storm King Art Center, the outdoor sculpture museum. According to Lyft data, rides to Storm King are 150% of their pre-pandemic levels, and 25% of all rides there come from stations on Metro-North, suggesting that rideshare has opened up Storm King to visitors who may have been daunted by taking the bus or transferring. “Arts and culture tourism is on the rise,” reflects Dana, “and the Hudson Valley seems to be the heartbeat of it.”
Kellie Honeycutt, the chief operating officer for Storm King, agrees and traces the center’s spike in popularity back to the pandemic: “People were seeking enriching outdoor experiences, and Storm King was fortunate to be able to welcome visitors during that time. Interest has remained strong since then.” She also credits Storm King’s recent $53 million redevelopment project, which redesigned the space and grew its exhibitions and programming, for its increased visitation.
Interest was particularly high last October, when Charli XCX performed at the center. Lyft rides to the venue quadrupled on the day of and remained higher than usual the rest of the month.
While Storm King is a favorite destination for visitors, it’s far from the only one, Honeycutt notes: “When visitors come to Storm King, they make a day—or a weekend—of it and often spend time enjoying many of the other wonderful offerings in our area, whether it’s lunch in downtown Cornwall, a hike in Black Rock Forest, or a visit to the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum.”
As rides increase in a region, so does the number of drivers who find it worth it to log onto the platform. It’s a virtuous cycle: the more drivers, the shorter the wait times, which incentivizes more rides. Today, there are 25% more drivers giving rides in Newburgh and New Windsor than there were in 2020. Driver Donovan knows this firsthand: “Five years ago, rideshare was still new up here. I was lucky if I could drive a couple hours a week. But now it’s my full-time job.”