So What The Hell Happened With The Subways

Photographs of frustrated subway riders by md76 on Flickr

While this morning's commute seems better, most mass transit riders are still confused, frustrated and even betrayed by the subway system and other rail service coming to a stand still during the Wednesday morning rush hour. The MTA admitted that the service was not acceptable on many accounts, from the flooding to the fact that the MTA's website was overwhelmed. Then there's also the fact that the MTA was urging people not to take the subways and opt for a bus instead, only for buses to be (A) few and far between and (B) crowded as anything.

MTA CEO Lee Sander said, "We really are sorry about the inconvenience that New Yorkers had to deal with. In terms of how it happened, we had three inches of rain in an hour. The system is designed to handle 1.5 inches." The MTA put some fault on the city's 19th century sewage system. The sewage system can "double as a storm drain" and "handle steady rain," but the DEP says that "intense, high inch-count rain events, over a short period of time" can challenge the system. (The DEP says it's spending $300 million a year to upgrade its systems and build a better drainage system.) Governor Spitzer ordered a review of the MTA's drainage systems within 30 days, but we bet we can already predict the results - the drainage systems are screwed and the only way to fix them is millions of dollars the MTA doesn't necessarily have (hello, fare hike!).

People attempting to get onto a bus by Unlisted Sightings on Flickr

Yesterday's storm, and ensuing subway mess, echoed what happened when Hurricane Frances visited on September 8, 2004. Rain paralyzed the subway system, and people attempted to get onto buses or share taxis during the deluge. What's really helpful is knowing that the MTA refused to take blame for that incident. The MTA even suggested that free newspapers clogged up drains.

Here's a description of why heavy rains totally mess up the city's subways from the NY Times:

Paul Fleuranges, a spokesman for New York City Transit, said that the subway tunnels were prone to flooding during heavy rains in the same way as the basements of many homes. Even without rain, groundwater routinely gets into a subway system and on a typical day with no rain, 13 million gallons of water are pumped out of the subway.

During very heavy rains, Mr. Fleuranges said, additional water pours into the system through grates in the sidewalk and through the subway entrances. Water then collects in the tunnels, and once the water reaches the rails, the trains cannot run.

That is because the rails contain electrical circuits that communicate with the signal system, indicating when a train is on a particular section of track. If the rails are covered with water, the signal system cannot work.

And if water reaches the third rail, which is 10 inches above the track bed, power must be shut off.

Okay. So why don't other subways of the world and of the U.S. flood? Well, some explanations/excuses are that much of NYC is built under sea level, that it's surrounded by water, and many stations are close to the surface.

Photograph of people walking to work instead of taking mass transit by dietrich on Flickr

What did the mayor, a sometime-subway rider, think? The Sun had this Mayor Mike quote, from his Bay Ridge tornado press conference, "I don't know that God has rush hour in mind when storms hit."

MTA CEO Sander also said that the National Weather Service did not predict the level of rain that came and suggested that MTA build its own weather center, "I take the system basically daily and so I certainly appreciate it. The fact is we have a 100-year-old system, and that is a constraint. We may be dealing with meteorological conditions that are unprecedented. It certainly looks that way in the last seven months." Some recent rain-to-subway flooding incidents occurred on June 28 and July 18.

The funny thing is that the mess occurred the day after City Comptroller Bill Thompson issued a report saying that the city and state have been shortchanging the MTA out of money for over a decade. He said that there was $728 million in revenue from a number a sources, which would help defray the billion dollar deficit the MTA is facing. Yesterday, Thompson issued a press release pointing out that the MTA has been delaying repairs to infrastructure for too long, "Time and again, the riding public has been inconvenienced because the State has not appropriately invested in New York City Transit’s infrastructure." We can only hope that given other incidents, it's time to inject infrastructure into every single conversation an official has.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on August 9, 2007 10:10 AM

Comments [rss]

guest

"Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, ! That's all you people are doing ! Stop Bitching about the MTA and work on dealing with the circumstances afforded too you ! Posted by; "Still Not Amused"

guest

Excuse Reality Czech. He wears diapers.

Reality Czech

Nope, sorry dipshit, but I biked to work and made it ON TIME, now you shoudl get a job because obvioulsy your just a republican moron dumbass.

guest

This is totaly unacceptable in a first world city. I hope all of you deduct the amount of mopney you lost from this off of your NYC tax bill

the depths of your stupidity hits new lows days after day. You act as if the rest of the world doesn't have bad days. Shit happens sometimes. I know that sounds like making excuses but nothing in life is perfect.

And reality czech doesn't have a job so he can't deduct any lost income.

guest

@53: Well, if that's what you meant to say, you said it really poorly.

Do you really believe that it's fair to pin the current state of global warming on SUV drivers and George Bush? As if the past 100 years of industrialization never happened? and as if hopping on the Prius bandwagon in 2003 suddenly absolves you?

I think I said it perfectly well and that your reading comp skills suck balls.

Reality Czech

Personally, I'd like to hear Reality Czech's opinion on this.

Well...I think the MTA is fugged up to expect that everytime it rains the subway will be flooded. I actually thought MY subway wasn't working due to a fallen tree on the tracks. I was a bit surprised to hear about the flooding. This is totaly unacceptable in a first world city. I hope all of you deduct the amount of mopney you lost from this off of your NYC tax bill.

Oh,and yes, everyone who can should try riding a bike. And scooters should not be in the same boat as cars, they take up a lot less space and use a lot less gas.

Any other questions?

guest

@53: Well, if that's what you meant to say, you said it really poorly.

guest

#50 So you admit you are putting words in my mouth. At least we're making progress.

I'm just taking issue with the idiot that implied that if we all drove hybrids and had signed the Kyoto treaty none of this would have happened. The reality is that some people need to demonize others.

As to why we should still try to cut emissions so that in 100 or 200 years things aren't hotter still.

So yes, I can have it both ways.

guest

I just realized I posted almost exactly the same thing as guest #45.

guest

I think the biggest problem here was that there was absolutely NO communication.. no one in the token booths even knew what was going on with that train line, much less any OTHER train line. There was no central command center directing MTA employees on what to tell the straphangers, because the antiquated communication system doesn't allow that. I had MTA employees at the A train telling me that the F train wasn't running (when it was), and other commuters told me that they had been directed to the A train from the 2/3 and 4/5, which wasn't running.

Even with the pumps failing and the train lines shutting down, this debacle could have been avoided or at least alleviated with better communication and some sort of contingency plan.

guest

#43: No, you never said "don't cut CO2 emissions". You just made every excuse in the book for why it won't make a difference. And if something won't make a difference, why bother doing it?

Can't have it both ways, tool.

guest

you're all a bunch of big babies!!!! oh gee the train was delayed for a few hours due to flooding. this happens like once or twice a year. big damn deal. so you go home put on the news and relax and wait it out.

no wait...

you can run around and get mad and complain and blame the mta for making you miserable. that's better. of course.

what was i thinking?

guest

I'd like to know what all of you do for a living so I can come down to your place of work and berate you for not being 100% perfect.

guest

You all need to stop with all the Bitching ! You all know what happens when we get any type of measurable rainfall so what's the problem ? So you had to walk a little in the hot sun ! So you could get to work and stayed home, Gud for you ! Free day off ! The problem with the MTA is the same as it's always been . They run the business like Mobsters and take all they can from us . If you want change then make sure you vote, & Save all Ur Bitching for Ur local politicians ! After all, It is their job to Fight for us correct ? The MTA management has little interest in making those types of changes for some reason, I'd think that using the guise of "Improvement" to fleece more tax dollars would be luring enough ! Apparently not . Posted by; "Still Not Amused"

jtg

Personally, I'd like to hear Reality Czech's opinion on this.

guest

The MTA's biggest problem is contingency and communication. The city should shut down major avenues and provide police support during emergencies like this and the MTA should be prepared to unleash sufficient shuttle buses along these routes to replace train lines. Furthermore, their customer communication is just insanely poor. Agents should have been everywhere helping explain the situation and helping passengers get to where they need to go, and we are so amazingly/ridiculously/infuriatingly overdue for a public address system which can audible and visually communicate delays and service changes in every station. Dispatchers should be able to audibly address and post information on digital screens in every affected station about service changes. The web site has got to be overhauled to provide real-time information and be able to handle the traffic during emergency situations.

The drainage problem probably won't be solved overnight but there are big changes they could make NOW to make this less of such an abysmal and embarrassing situation.

guest

i agree with #32. there was no reason that i had to pay $2 for the pleasure of waiting on a hot and humid platform for 1.5 hours while packed train after train went by. there were no announcements at 7th ave for all of rush hour and none of the conductors had any information. i had to exit the station and go home to find out that the whole system had been FUBARed. ridiculous.

guest

#41 is a moron. I never said "don't cut CO2 emissions". I was just ridiculing whoever was trying to blame the SUV drivers (I assume it was you?) for heavy rain.

And by all means, build all of the green roofs you want. and when it soaks up 1/8 of an inch of rain and the remaining 2 7/8 goes spilling into the sewers and subways don't act shocked. Again, not saying the green roof isn't a nice addition to the city but to think it actually does anything for rain is moronic. The benefit of the green roof is to cut cooling and heating costs.

ed_Extinct

*But the subway barely works on an average day!!*

bwhahahahaha! that was really funny. stupid funny, but funny nonetheless.

guest

Wow... some of you people have very limited cognitive capacities...

#33: "there is no such building roof that can catch three inches of rain water in one hour."

Yes, and therefore nothing should be done to try to catch >some

#16: "There are plenty of studies that say if we cut all CO2 ouputs today the planet would keep warming for 50 more years."

Yes, and since you'll be dead by then, I guess there's no sense in trying to do anything to alleviate the situation now...

To review: if a solution doesn't solve a problem in its entirety right now, it should be dismissed summarily instead of analyzed for cost/benefit.