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METHODOLOGY: Survey of Subway Car AnnouncementsNYPIRG Straphangers Campaign • January 2005
The survey was conducted by 86 staff and volunteers during the period from January 2, 2004 to January 11, 2005. Volunteers were instructed to complete a survey entry every time they used the subways throughout that period. The survey form was designed to measure how each subway trip conformed to the guidelines laid out for announcements by MTA New York City Transit. Surveyors noted the date and line of each trip, and noted whether the name of the upcoming station and any applicable transfer information was understandably announced:
a. the first stop of the trip; In addition, surveyors recorded whether there was a change in service or delay of two minutes or more. When such a change in service or delay occurred, surveyors noted whether an in-car announcement was made, whether any announcement made was audible and ungarbled, and the exact language of the announcement. Station name and transfer information announcements were grouped and totaled as one category. Both types of announcements together comprise the “basic” in-car announcement, determined only by characteristics of the line and upcoming station. A basic announcement was deemed adequate if the upcoming station name and any applicable transfer information were announced in an audible and ungarbled manner. In our survey, we recorded 300 basic announcement opportunity observations on each of 22 lines. The Times Square, Rockaway and Franklin Avenue shuttles were not included in the survey. Our findings then reflect exactly 6,600 basic announcement opportunity observations; of these, our surveyors noted that for the entire system, 73% of announcements (plus or minus 2%) were adequate. The by-line confidence interval in each case is plus or minus 6%. All results are significant at the .05 level. By-line basic announcement levels measured in our 2004 survey are comparable to those reported in our 2003 and previous surveys; the campaign did not survey basic announcements in 2000. Of the 22 lines we measured in 2004 for basic in-car announcements, eight showed a statistically significant improvement in performance from our 2003 survey: the 1/9, 4, 5, B, C, D, N and V lines. Four lines—the 7, J/Z, L and M—showed a significant deterioration in announcement performance. Ten lines showed no significant change: the 2, 3, 6, A, E, F, G, Q, R and W. In our 2003 report, we noted that 67% of basic announcements were adequate. This improvement in system wide performance is significant at the .05 level. Surveyors were also instructed to record whether there was a change in service or a delay between stations of two minutes or more. When such a change occurred, surveyors noted whether an in-car announcement was made, whether any announcement made was audible and ungarbled, and the exact language of the explanation given. Straphangers Campaign staff members then examined the transcription of each announcement to determine whether the announcement was “useful” or “not useful” to riders.
Our surveyors rated 225 delays and service changes during the survey period, of which 36 were followed by an ungarbled, audible and useful explanation for the disruption in service (16%, plus or minus 6%). These findings are consistent with those published in our 2003 report, in which we recorded 22 ungarbled, audible and useful announcements in response to 93 measured delays and service changes (24%). The difference in results between the two survey periods is not statistically significant at the .05 level. Delay and service change data was not examined on a line-by-line basis. The number of such changes would be too low to permit statistically significant comparisons among lines. According to New York City Transit Passenger Environment Survey (PES), basic announcements remained virtually unchanged between the first half of 2003 and the same period in 2004, going from 89% adequate to 87% adequate. Differences in methodology between Transit’s survey and this one explain the discrepancy. The Straphangers Campaign would like to thank staff and volunteers who assisted in data collection: Arelis Hernandez, Yonason Kimmel, Jelitza Campusano, Waylon Lew, Victoria Sliva, Toyin Ajasin, Tanisha Clark, Steve Ulan, Stephen Jacob, Stella Salaris, Spandana Nallapati, Shek Bangura, Ron Carrington, Riketta Connaught, Renee Toback, Randy Hernandez, Pablo Garcia, Orlando Duverglas, Nidhi Arora, Neysa Pranger, Michelle Bucknor, Michael Mingione, Michael Hernandez, Matthew Termini, Mary Rocco, Marwa Amer, Mark Griffith, Kimberly McCarthy, Kate Freitag, Karen Forest, Justin Webb, Justin Linton, Jose Medina, Joel Serrano, Jesus Baez, Jada Borg, Grace Zita O'Toole, Ewa Banach, Everett Stuart, Ernest Timmons, Enrique Cepeda, Elana Dekaye, Eileen Maldonado, Donna Marie Llewellyn, Demian Fernandez, Delano Aaron, David Harris, Dannya Azem, Dan Botting, Charity Carbine, Carla Sterling, Caren Rojas,
Brooke Winfrey, Brandon Arroyo, Bobby Jones, Augusto Rodriguez, Asi Klein,
Antonio Cruz, Amanda Cherepany, Alicia Graham, Alberto Rivera, Jenny Narcisse, Eric Rosario, Marlene Rodriguez, Lizette Montesino, Ed-Jean Baptiste, Steve Quinn, Kerry Ann Bryan, Brian Metts, Ronnie Neey, Kwame Jones, Chantal Archibald, Jamie Soto, Lynne Bagazonzya, Anthony Kay, Lynn Aswimme, Junior Septimus, Emily Saliaris, Muntazim Khan, Zakia Carr, Mauricio Duque, Kariesa McFarlane, Maisha Gilyard, Scott Schinpper, and Justin Aguinaldo. news release | methodology | tables
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