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A report compiled by New York City Transit indicates that delays in on-time performance by subway trains have increased every since 2004. According to The New York Times, the delays are worst during the subway rush hour, when 8% of trains fail to perform according to schedule. The NYC Transit report cited track work as by far the largest cause of delays, as transit employees attempt to modernize or even repair the subway. But there are some more reasons: "Other causes include signal and switching problems, trains held in a station for sick passengers, and riders’ holding the doors open, often during rush hour."
The graph (below) from NYC Transit illustrates how on-time performance every month for the first half of the year lagged behind the prior year. Transit officials consider a train late when it arrives at the end of its line more than five minutes past schedule. The authority is considering steps to ameliorate its tardy train syndrome, including cutting back on the number of rush hour trains to prevent backups.
Earlier this year, the Daily News compiled a top-ten list of reasons trains get delayed that ranged from track work/ work crews at #1 (1,640 times a month) to emergency brakes triggered by cause at #10 (229 times a month). A more far-fetched theory behind subway delays is that they are caused by dieting women, who become undernourished and faint during their commute, causing the train to wait for EMTs to help revive the person.
And in October, the Times ran an interesting profile Michael A. Lombardi, who worked for NYC Transit for 45 years and retired as the senior vice president for subways at the authority. He managed to improve the reliability of subway service by instituting a preventative maintenance program for subway cars, which were constantly breaking down.
(The never ending rush to be #1, by badison at flickr)
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At the Manhattan public meeting about the fare hike, one Harlem resident complained about this very issue - ridiculous train delays during the rush hour.
What's also interesting is that the MTA/NYC Transit created a graph where the baseline on the Y axis starts at 89 - it makes the fall-off in on-time performance look THAT much worse.
Define on-time...by the definition the NYT/MTA/Straphangers are using, it's probably +/- 3 minutes...which is too broad to consider as on-time.
Define on-time. I very much doubt that trains arrive even 89% on time. 1% is more like it. If you give them too much leeway (as in more than half a minute from the scheduled time), it's just giving them a free pass to keep doing the stupid things they do.
Oops, thought my first post didn't get through. Ah well...
I have the definition of what's considered on time in the body of the post. NYC Transit feels that a train is on time if it reaches the end of its line within five minutes of its scheduled arrival.
And Jen, you're right about that graph. It looks like it was scaled by someone at NYC Transit who wanted to embarrass someone higher up. They could have easily base-lined it at 0% and any declines would look insignificant.
Some facts about the NY subway that strike anyone who has used subway systems in other cities:
- people get off & on the train a fast as snails
- they stand in the doorways, oblivious to other passengers (even at rush hour)
- you are told to "keep away from closing doors" way before the doors actually close
- the doors try to close while people are still trying to get on the train
- then the conductor berates people for holding the doors open, but won't open the door to let the trapped passenger out
- we all lose valuable time while this screwed-up production unfolds every day.
Between the zombie-speed passengers and the trigger-happy conductors, I don't know who's worse. I do know it's retarded. Perhaps the whole city needs training?
D'oh. That's what I get for glancing over that.
Hrm...five minutes behind schedule---that doesn't at all address what happens in between. Sometimes trains do make up some time by running them faster (which honestly should be done in the first place, but that leaves less margin for error).
"Between the zombie-speed passengers and the trigger-happy conductors, I don't know who's worse. I do know it's retarded. Perhaps the whole city needs training?"
Well...that's what happens when we're afraid to teach discipline and no one has manners. *sigh* I miss Osaka and Tokyo.
Perhaps the whole city needs training
The whole city needs training. In Tokyo, there really is no eating or drinking on the subway. And people actually wait in line to get into the train and they wait on the side of the door so passengers can get out through the middle. Also it seems to me that the trains in Tokyo come more often and there are big signs that tell you when the next train is coming. People in NYC rush into trains and push people out of the way because (1) the trains don't come often enough and (2) people have no idea when the next train will come because nobody knows the train schedule or what other delays are going on that line.