A skyrocketing number of straphangers are claiming they were injured on the subways, most of them in slips, trips and falls.
March, the most recent month covered by MTA data, saw 20.8 percent more customer accidents than in March 2008.
Many of the claims can turn into lawsuits that could cost the agency big bucks.
Perhaps the most famous slip-and-fall jury verdict came this year, when Brooklyn resident Dustin Dibble won $2.3 million after drunkenly toppling onto the subway tracks and getting run over by an N train.
Not long after, Army vet James Sanders, was awarded about $7 million after being hit by a 2 train after he drank rum and fell onto the tracks.
Both Dibble’s and Sander’s cases are under appeal. But officials said many of the claims eventually turn out to be trumped-up or bogus.
The MTA paid out $57.6 million on 1,187 personal-injury claims last year.
About 2,750 claims are filed against the agency every year.
Of 150 personal-injury jury decisions that involved the MTA in 2008, 96 fell in the agency’s favor, according to a recent report.