State of the Subways 2006: Mixed Bag o' Subways

The Straphangers have released their annual State of the Subways Report Card for 2006, and like last year, the 6 train rules and the N train is the worst. The W also joined the N train as being the worst, confirming everything Queens residents have been saying. The newer subway cars on the 6 line (as well as the 2/3 and 4/5) help elevate scores in breakdowns, cleanliness and announcement adequacy; other factors include regularity of train arrivals and chance of getting a seat. Some fun facts from the report:

- Breakdowns: Cars on the 5 had the best record on delays caused by car mechanical failures: once every 353,904 miles. Cars on the G line had the worst, experiencing breakdown delays more than four times as often: once every 81,095 miles.
- Cleanliness: The 2 and C tied for the cleanest line, with only 10% of their cars having moderate or heavy dirt, while 45% of cars on the dirtiest line — the 7 — had moderate or heavy dirt, a much worse performance.
- Chance of getting a seat: We rate a rider’s chance of getting a seat at the most congested point on the line. We found the best chance is on the V line, where riders had a 91% chance of getting a seat during rush hour. The 5 ranked worst and was much more overcrowded, with riders having only a 31% chance of getting a seat.
- Amount of scheduled service: The 6 and the 7 lines had the most scheduled service, with two-and-a-half minute intervals between trains during the morning rush hour. The W ranked worst, with ten-minute intervals between trains all day.

We suppose the L didn't rank worst for "Chance of getting a seat" because that fluctuates during rush hours and weekends. Anyway, the Straphangers' Gene Russianoff said, "Overall, we document a mixed picture of the subways, with fewer breakdowns, but dirtier cars and more irregular arrivals. We credit the progress in fewer breakdowns to thousands of new cars coming into service. We will continue to get hundreds of new cars only if the MTA is given adequate rebuilding funds, such as from a fair price for its MTA’s Manhattan rail yards.”

Have you noticed any changes in subway service over the past year? The subways do seem a bit more crowded (or are people carrying more junk). Here's the report card and here are PDF's for all the individual lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, Q, R, V, and W.