On Demand
MTA's Human Face
Friday, December 07, 2007
Bobby Cuza, NY1 transit reporter, discusses the MTA's plan to introduce managers for individual subway lines.
How would you fix the subway?
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"introduce" or annoint?
MTA officials are out of touch with its riders.
If the MTA members actually used the subway to commute the problems would be immediately apparent and possibly corrected.
Pual McCartney was dating a prototypical MTA board member, a wealthy person who lives in one of the most exclusive areas of Long Island, East Hampton. I doubt this woman ever used the subway even ONCE in her life.
Bringing back an Express F train makes so much sense! Why not?
I would provide full service on the g line, right now the g train ends court square, when it could go to forest hills, also there is another set of tracks that are unused south of bergen st in brooklyn that could be used to alleviate the growing and current overcrowding on the f line
My suggestion for the #1 line: During rush hour there is a big bottleneck at 96th Street downtown station with many people changing to the express. It is so bad that sometimes at the next express stop nobody else can get on. I would have some of the downtown trains run express after 96th street. Many of the people get off at 42nd, 34th or 14th street anyway. This will help lessen much of the congestion. They could even call this train the #9 if they wish ;-)
Okay...people are being way too soft with the MTA.
The main problem with the subways are that they they NEVER run faster to pick up for lost time (door holding, whatever). No wonder they're always late. Safety first, but there's a point at which it becomes ridiculous (i.e. 20mph). Ever take a ride over the Manhattan Bridge? Don't know who made that call, but quite the idiot.
Beyond that, the problems with the subway system are purely infrastructural...whoever thought of shared tracks and shared platforms is another idiot. They need to reroute lines so that as few platforms are shared. Who cares if people need to walk to transfer? That makes people burn more calories, and if they're disabled...well you should have made these stations ADA compliant anyway (most aren't).
Why can't the stations be kept cleaner? Of all the subway systems I've used which included most major cities in Western and Eastern Europe, New York City's is by far the dirtiest.
Mold and dirt hang from the rafters above your head in all stations. I try not to think about, but the air quality underground must be extremely poor.
Can't the MTA have cleaning crews wash the platform areas with high pressure hot water periodically?
The MTA "See Something, Say Something" is the 21st Century equivilent of "Duck and Cover." I use the Kosciuszko stop on the J daily. The MTA can't even protect us from spray paint and the bowel movements (almost daily) that appear several times a week on the platform. And we're supposed to believe they can protect us from terrorists? Please. Oh, and while you're at it, Duck and Cover.
I'm reminded of a Mamet quote that was replayed ad nauseum in WNYC promotional ads:
"And the managers said what managers always say: 'You know what we need? More managers.'"
alright so they are going to add another level of management. So will this person be in charge of the person that manages the individual stations?
We are expected to believe that the MTA evaluating itself is going to improve service. This is not accountability. Let's just give the alcoholic the keys to the liquor store.
He' right it's the pigs (my word not his) that dirty the subway. Sometimes when I see it I want to say something to the slobs but the response I get might cause an increase in crime, if you get my gist. Although the subways can use quite a bit of improvement they have come quite a ways over the past 20 years. I think one of the more important features to improve is to get decent elevators and maybe escalators at all stops for the elderly and "physically challenged" (not my phrase).
Overloaded trains causing backlogs and late trains in midtown is common at rush hour... have they considered "feeding" empty trains into the system (at Times Square, Union Square, West Fourth and other hubs) to restore the flow once it starts to back up?
How about some common courtesy? I am so tired of being yelled at by angry conductors. No other business would get away with treating its customers that way.
It's my park day? Yeah great let me pay a little more for my commute so I can clean the up others garbage. I would love to do this but they better reduce the fare.
There should be some PR using posters and ads on tv and radio about keeping the subways clean, those things do work if not 100% but quite a bit. After all nothing is 100%. We have to change people not stations as much.
If the MTA really wants this plan to work, I'd love to see a pay-for-performance model implemented. I know Howard Roberts wants this to be a competition, but the only way to achieve that level of competition right now is through financial incentives. The subways aren't competing with each other; most riders don't have the luxury of choice in their lines. But if some managers are getting paid more for having cleaner stations with more amenities for their customers, others will be quick to pick up the slack.
Have you ever tried taking the 4,5, or 6 at rush hour? It's insane. You cannot get on the train. You would think that the MTA would know that everyday at rush hour, things get really busy so run more trains. How hard can it be to do that?
on some lines, the C for example, they just need to run more trains!! I like the idea of putting one person in charge of a single so that they can be held accountable for how the C runs 15 DURING RUSH HOUR...
I'm more interested in coordination than competition between subway lines. Once I was going downtown from 181st St. in Manhattan, & because of where I was going I passed the closer A train to go to the #1...& when I got there the station was closed! Shuttle buses are slow, so I walked back to the A. For once I actually called the station manager & asked why they couldn't put a sign up in the A station saying the 1 was closed. The manager said why would they do that, they're 2 separate lines. My point is that they serve the same neighborhood & are alternatives to each other--better alternatives than a shuttle bus.
BTW, I do like the *large* signs they've started putting *outside* stations to announce service changes. You can find out what you need to know without having to go into the station & trying to read what's scrawled on the whiteboard in the booth.
2:
The reason why the F can't be run express yet is because of Culver viaduct rehabilitation project. After that project is completed, the MTA has guaranteed express service in Brooklyn on the F. We're all looking forward to it.
More info here: http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/11/26/nyct-plans-years-of-f-ing-construction-on-culver-viaduct/
Why not have something like "adopt a highway" for subway stations. Businesses would get credit for having employees volunteer to maintain cleanliness.
Haha, wow...wasn't expecting my comment to read on the air but thanks.
Why did I say idiot? It's frustration really, because you would think they would think things out thoroughly, given how much responsibility they have, and apparently they don't. I can go on and on about the follies about the system but the union workers aren't part of it -- they're only doing as they are told.
Kevin,
Your idea to eliminate shared platforms where people can conveniently change/transfer to other trains would add more congestion to the system. I fail to see how this would lead to an improvement in the system. I agree that we could probably all benefit from increased exercise but I don't know if the MTA rush hour gym is the best way to achieve this.
Food on the subways is a major problem now. Is it prohibited? If not, it should be. It is a health hazard and feeds the abundance of rodents now in the system. People come on cars with full styrofoam containers of food and eat as if they were home or in a restaurant. It is really disgusting to watch.
Roger,
I meant to say shared track across lines (i.e. Pacific Street where the D/N share the same track but run on 6th Ave/Broadway); a ton of time is lost because trains need switches to be a specific state and other trains (B/Q in this example) have their own impact. If you put only Broadway trains on the Pacific St exp track and only 6th ave trains at DeKalb, there wouldn't be a problem with the switches.
Granted some people may be inconvenienced, they were inconvenienced for 4 years during construction. From a utilitarian point of view, I think people would greatly benefit if there were less obstacles for trains to run on-time, and this is only one example that can be handled now.
I think the recording that says "Please be patient" is patronizing and inappropriate. It's bad enough for live conductors to make this admonition but to be told what virtue to practice by a recording is really annoying. It's like adding insult to injury. Not only do you have to wait but you have to have "Mommy" tell you what to feel about.
If patience simply MUST be mentioned something like "We appreciate your patience" or "Thank you for your patience" would be somewhat more palatable.
Why can't the D train stop at DeKalb when the B train is not running?
This is an absurd situation that occurred when the the B and D lines were rerouted. Apparently no one noticed that service to the DeKalb Ave. station was being shortchanged. When the B stops running (evenings and weekends) there is no direct service to DeKalb on the 6th Ave. line. Evenings and weekends I frequently travel from DeKalb Ave. to West 4th St., and it is a considerable inconvenience to use alternative routes.
I take the 7 daily. Because I have to catch the 7 at one of the local stations closest to the city, at 40th St, I am constantly shafted by how this train line is run. 3 or 4 mornings a week I have to wait for 2 or 3 trains before I can finally squeeze onto one. Of course one comes and the next one doesn't come for 10 minutes. This guarantees that this next train will also be packed. It also makes what should be a 15 minute journey to midtown a 40 minute nightmare. I have seen my platform become so crowded that people are in danger of being accidentally pushed off the edge of the platform and onto the tracks.
Nick above suggested "feeder" trains, and this is exactly what this line needs. If trains are backed up, to reduce flow, have a local train skip stops and pick up those of us who are at the end of the line before it hits Manhattan.
If the track signal system is old and is holding everything up, the first priority should be update it as soon as possible, no matter the cost. This may require a lot of track work, so what? We don't do it then? Make a campaign to get it done. Run plenty of extra buses to cover for lines that are being repaired, and shut down the late night service those lines ENTIRELY so the work gets done faster.
Then buses should be open entry, honor system paying in the cabin not at the door, with occasional control of payers. They will run soooo much faster! People will use them more.
Taxes should pay for it, especially real estate taxes. The rich benefit more than anyone from the fact that NYC is a dynamic city, they are in NYC because it is the place to be and make money. They don't use the subway, hardly pay for it, and yet they profit the most because it makes NYC what it is.
Europe has been doing this for decades, and the transportation systems there are vastly superior in quality to ours. Yes MTA is an enormous system, but we can pay for it to work properly. It's time we raise our standards.
I'm a transit worker. the appointment of line managers is just another way around the cronism and nepotism rules set forth by the MTA. They're are not only top heavy with supervision but many non-productive jobs are awarded that do little to help the ridership and the effectiveness of the system. Low morale and lack of leadership still permeates our workplace.
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