Subway Frustration After Continued Problems

Yesterday, the subways were plagued by problems, from a track fire in Brooklyn that caused problems for the 2, 3, 4, and 5 trains to an investigation at Columbus Circle that held up B and C service. So, in the past week, the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains, plus B and C, have been affected. Number 1 train, you're next! (Gothamist actually hopes not.) The Brooklyn track fire was caused by garbage ignited by the third rail. Gothamist implores any inventors, tinkerers or high school students who want to win science competitions to please please please develop a machine that can sweep garbage off subway tracks. It's unclear who has been leaving garbage in subway tunnels (the MTA crews? the mole people? the rats?), but it is clear that track fires suck. The City Council will be convening a special meeting to discuss the state of the subways next week; at this point, it seems like the state of the subways needs to be a monthly meeting.

Besides making passengers wonder if they should budget an extra 15-20 minutes of commuting time to account for these problems, subway riders are pissed off about the perceived declining quality of service in the wake of higher subway fares. The NY Times notes that the on-time performance of the subways has declined "for the first time this decade": A .5% drop from 2002 to 2004. There's also a nice graph associated with the story; we liked the stats about what delays the subways (right): Most the problems have been signal and switch related, which isn't quite reassuring. Gothamist always marvels at how we really hate it when people hold the doors when we're inside the train car, but we love those people who hold the doors open for us when we're sprinting to make the train.

And the MTA is trying to get some more money from Albany, but given that the MTA and state are $6 billion apart, who knows what all this means.

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By Jen Chung in News on March 23, 2005 8:51 AM

Comments [rss]

sp

sick riders is on the list actually.

what i think is interesting is that all the factors rose, except for the one legitimate and excusable one: rebuilding

Mike

I love the mysterious F train delays for no reason during rush hours. They don't list the F train anymore because it's just Standard Operating Procedure.

Jen W

Or the "sick passenger."

kim

How come "Police Investigation" isn't on their list of subway delays? This seems to me to be the most common reason trains are delayed - at least from the mostly garbled information that train conductors sometimes provide.

Keith

Hey let's not leave the Q train out of the fun. Yesterday's Atlantic Avenue problems meant you had to take the Q to Pacific and then walk over to Atlantic to transfer...to the Q, as it happens.

MT

I think everyone from the MTA cut backs to passengers who decide to be slobs (you know who you are) are to blame for the track fires. Unfortunately my shooting dirty looks at people has so far been of little effect when they toss their McDonald's bags on the tracks. It's not like there aren't garbage cans everywhere in the subway. Just walk the extra 20 feet! Let's have a little respect for the facilities we use and we can all benefit in the long run.

jk

The MTA has vacuum trains that vacuum the tracks. They're the big yellow ones.

Tim N.

Trash fires are caused by people throwing their crap on the tracks. Some of this is inconsideration and thoughtlessness, but some of it is also budget cuts necessitating less people to keep the tracks clean as well as less trash cans on platforms and less people to empty them (there's nothing more useless in the world than an overfilled trash can).

Like everything else, it all comes down the money. And with the MTA, the higher the fares, the poorer they get.

S.D.

Now that it's getting warmer (Not counting the Snow tonite...) maybe there will be less trash on the tracks? Assuming that trash is left by people escaping the cold, that is.