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Finally, proof that public transport is crowded for a reason: The MTA says that ridership has grown 36% in the past ten years. From amNew York:
Trips on New York City Transit subway trains and buses have grown 36 percent, from 1.6 billion in 1995 to 2.2 billion in 2005. Meanwhile, the population of the city grew 7 percent from 7.6 million to 8.2 million.Well, better on-time performance when trains actually come to stations. Kalikow doesn't speak for Queens or Brooklyn residents who get regularly screwed over by various service issues. The Permanent Citizens Advisory says that the free transfers between trains and buses led to the surge in ridership, while the Straphangers Campaign warned, "New York City Transit should abandon plans to reduce off peak service on 10 of 22 lines starting in June 2007 if it hopes to accommodate further increases in ridership." And we hope that the state will support the MTA more, too.Likewise, regular commuter rail trips jumped 14 percent to 155 million between 1995 and 2005, while the suburban population grew just 6 percent.
"There's no question that people in the New York region respond to positive change," MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow said. "And commuters have overwhelmingly responded to MetroCard discounts, new trains and buses, cleaner stations, reduced crime, and better on-time performance."
And those wacky subway enthusiasts Matt Green and Don Badaczewski broke the record for riding around the whole subway system: Their time was 24 hours and 2 minutes (the 1998 record was 25 hours and 11 minutes). The Post, ever the spoilsport, questions whether it's really a true record, since they did not stop at every station (which is what the Guiness rules are). Here's some video from WCBS.
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No L service this weekend.
And the G between Court Sq and the rest of Queens is pretty much always shut down. They say it's for construction but what can they be working on every night and every weekend for 2 years strait? A tiny stretch of track between Court Sq and Queens Plaza? It's absurd the hoops we outer borough types jump through to get around. When the G is running its a 15 minute ride from Astoria (Steinway St or 46th Street) to Greenpoint on the G. With no G in Queens, I have to take the R to Queens Plaza, transfer to the E, take the E to Ely Ave, long transfer to the G, and then take the G to Nassau. It's like we don't even exist to the MTA. I guess the MTA brass can't fathom people not using the subway to go into Manhattan, who would ever want to go from Queens to Brooklyn?
and while we're on the subject, how about the selective upkeep of lines? of course there's the certain subway lines that get thrown by the wayside and allowed to fester, and then there's also the metro north new haven line which has run the same cars for the last 20 or 30 years mostly it seems cause of crappy MTA/NY/CT politics. the MTA- unequivocally committed to customer service and improvement!
A few critical drivers of note:
Less Crime in Subways
One Fare system (1997 I think)
Weekly/Monthly discounts
Completion of the 63rd Street East River Tunnel
Any others folks can think of?