Results tagged “thestraphangerscampaign”

It's that time again! The Straphangers Campaign has released its annual State of the Subways report, and this year, the 1 train topped all other lines. This is amazing news for the 1 train - it was only in 2005 when the Straphangers found the 1/9 to be the schmutz-iest! The 1 train got high marks for "frequently scheduled service, arriving with more regularity, fewer dirty cars, and better announcements," but it did perform "below average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hours, and delays caused by mechanical breakdowns."

usher the MTA into an era of high ridership and capital improvement and help ed set up many big projects (Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access). But he also oversaw the agency during the transit strike.

You know those "Emergency Exits" at subway stations with the panic bars? And how even though they are "Emergency Exits," they are inevitably the ones that people with big packages or strollers often use, whether with help from a station agent or just setting off the "WEE!! WEE!! WEE!!" alarm? Well, that kind of usage is causing the alarms to break down and malfunction frequently.

Love it! The MTA's board says free newspapers are what caused subway flooding in 2004. Which contradicts an April report from the MTA's inspector general, who found that the agency was at fault for severe flooding that shut down much subway service on a September day (September 8, 2004 - when Hurricane Frances came to town and wreaked transit havoc). The April report noted the MTA's "historic neglect" of valves, difficulties Transit Authority first responders had in arriving to the scene, lack of TA command centers, and trash and muck clogging drains. MTA board member Barry Feinstein, however, said, "These hand-distributed free newspapers have been and continue to be a major cause of clogging the drains."

Interesting news from Albany: MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp told the legislature that the MTA doesn't want to increase fares again, saying, "What we're hoping is that the [2007] fare increase will not be needed." There were fears of fare hikes in 2006 and 2007 even since the 2004 50-cent fare increase. The MTA may not have to raise fares if real estate tax revenues remains sweet, because the MTA does have big budget deficits: The MTA would need "$240 million in additional revenue would be needed in 2007 and again in 2009 to avert the proposed hikes." The Straphangers Campaign is happy, though they pointed out the MTA did have a $1 billion surplus last year. However, as with anything the MTA says or does, hold your breath.

The Straphangers Campaign has released its annual State of the Subways Report Card and yet again, the 6 train is named the best line while the N is the worst. The other trains, from best to worst, were the 1/9, 7, 4, E, J/Z, L, 5, Q, 2, 3, V, F, A, D, R, M, B, W, C. So, overall, it seems that the crappiest grouping of lines are the B, D, F, V - which comes as no surprise, as though cars are really old and crappy. The 6 gets its high rating because the train cars are newer, which means more comfort (if not more seats), more clear announcements and less breakdowns, whereas the N gets slammed because it performed below average on these four measures: "arriving with regularity, seat availability, cleanliness and announcements." If you look at the data (there are a bunch of PDFs available at the Straphangers), it seems to suggest that shorter lines - and ones with the newer subway cars - tend to rise to the top. Newsday, though, gets a quote from MTA spokesman Paul Fleuranges who says, "The subway system was never designed to offer everyone a seat during rush hour, particularly at the most crowded point along the route." Yeah, so suck it up, New Yorkers!