Subway Cleanliness Study Spoiler: More Dirt Than Ever!

Shiny! Photo via plemeljr's flickr

It's that time of year again—the Straphangers Campaign has released its 11th annual report on subway cleanliness. The latest and greatest "Shmutz" Survey found that between 2008 and 2009 there has been a steady decline in underground cleanliness, which probably means this hairball is still at the West 72nd Street 1/2/3 station. Of 22 subway lines, 50% were found dirtier than the previous year, when the R train was rank. Avert your eyes, D and M train riders, here's the basic breakdown (full tables after the jump):

The eleven subway lines that experienced statistically significant deterioration were the 1, 4, 5, 7, B, D, F, G, J, M and V.
Five subway lines showed statistically significant improvement: 6, C, N, Q and R.
Six lines remained statistically unchanged: 2, 3, A, E, L and W.
The most deteriorated line in our survey was the D, which fell from 80% in 2008 to 38% in 2009.
The most improved line in our survey was the N, going from 29% clean cars in 2008 to 63% in 2009.
The survey found major disparities in cleanliness among the lines, ranging from a low of 32% clean cars on the M line to a high of 65% on the 6 and C lines.

These car cleanliness rankings were based on 2,200 observations by the Straphangers Campaign between September 3rd and November 24th, 2009. Cars were rated on cleanliness of floors and seats (clean = “basically dirt free," not clean = “moderately” to "heavily" dirty); litter was not taken in to account.

Last year's budget cuts included trimming down the size of the cleaning staff; the Straphanger Campaign's Gene Russianoff says, "It’s as clear as the grime on a subway car floor: MTA Transit cuts in cleaners has meant dirtier cars. And more cuts to come means more dirt for subway riders.” Recently the city's rodentologist suggested that the MTA start cleaning outside of the cars more frequently to curb the ratdemic underground (which, of course, doesn't really exist).

NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges told the Daily News, "With the current budget challenges...we acknowledge that some subway car floors may not be as clean as our customers expect or deserve. We will monitor conditions and shift forces as necessary. We also take the opportunity to remind customers to pitch in and help keep the subway as clean as possible by utilizing proper refuse receptacles."

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

By Jen Carlson in News on June 21, 2010 8:44 AM

Comments [rss]

Janitor

I Run a website that sells janitorial supplies. If anyone has connections with in the custodial team for new york's subways i'd love to talk to them about selling them cleaning supplies that can fit the budget.

theLtrain

New York is a shithole. Who cares? Whatever. Deal with it, or don't.

dajamg

I've done community service in train stations before so I know why the trains are so filthy. They use this homemade all purpose cleaner on everything that is super greasy and doesn't seem to actually clean anything other than leaving filmy streaks. Secondly, the MTA cleaners are extremely lazy. They mop a line down the center of the subway car and pronounce the job done. It's BS to say that trains are dirtier because of budget cuts. Why not give all misdemeanor offenses community service in the trains? That solves the so called budget issues with cleanliness and besides, the comm service people clean much more diligently than the actual paid MTA workers.

aspiringrapper

Riding the D daily, I find it disgusting. I get on at the Fordham Road station, which smells like urine to begin with & then deal with subhumans who think it's acceptable to clip their fingernails (& even toenails) on the train, throw their food, bottles & newspapers beneath the seats & spit on the subway floor. Some gothamist readers surely have dogs that are better trained to function in polite society.

shovel

Over the past couple of winters, it was easy to tell they hadn't been cleaning the car seats as before. My winter coat would develop an awful smell very quickly (this didn't happen when the train wasn't involved in my schedule), and needed to be cleaned all the time.

Kitty Graves

is it my reading comprehension.. or?

holy crap.

r1b2

Eww, blech, this is so gross. Not surprising to see the F line, the line time forgot, on any list of diminished service.

Sheila Tenant

I just returned from Europe and in comparison, NYC appears like a 3rd world city. I understand our need maintain that image of grit and toughness that makes New York, New York. However, do we have to be subject to constant rate increases to maintain such low standards?

MT

"We also take the opportunity to remind customers to pitch in and help keep the subway as clean as possible by utilizing proper refuse receptacles."

Good point. Maybe people can stop being such slobs and throwing chicken bones and sunflower seeds and a billion copies of AM New York all over the place. The subway would be 1,000 times cleaner if people weren't such pigs.