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In December 2001, the MTA made major changes in the E, F, G and V lines. For many, the new routes have been bad news, forcing bad choices among trains that are too crowded, too slow or too out of the way. This fact sheet explains the changes—and why transit officials need to re-think their plan.
What’s the history?
Five subway lines serve riders on what’s called the Queens Boulevard line, which carries more than 600,000 daily weekday riders. There are two express lines—the E and F—and three locals, the G, R and V. For many years, this corridor has been overcrowded, as ridership grew and no new subway lines were added. In 1969, transit officials began work on a plan to relieve crowding and increase service, constructing a tunnel under the East River between Manhattan and Queens at 63rd Street. The original intention was to also build a new line across Queens, but that didn’t happen; the proposed line was the victim of financial limits and community opposition. Instead, when the tunnel opened in 1989, the line only went one stop into Queens, earning it the nickname “the tunnel to nowhere”. In 1990, officials proposed building a 1,500 foot tunnel to connect the Queens Boulevard line with the 63rd Street tunnel. The project won federal funding and was completed in 2001 at a cost of $645 million.
How were the E,F, G and V routes changed in December?
The highlights of route change—shown in detail at www.straphangers.org/v.html—include:
- The F express no longer goes to the 53rd/Lexington Avenue, 53rd Street/Fifth Avenue and Queens Plaza stations, three highly used destinations. Instead, the F skirts the heart of Manhattan’s East Side business district, stopping instead at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue.
- The E and R routes were unchanged.
- A new local V line runs from Forest Hills in Queens to the East Village in Manhattan, serving 53rd/Lex and Queens Plaza. The route is 12 to 15 minutes and 10 stops more than the E between Forest Hills and the East Side of Manhattan.
- The Brooklyn-to-Queens G line was cut in half. It now terminates in Long Island City instead of Forest Hills. G riders must make an inconvenient transfer to crowded trains at the Court Square-23rd Street/Ely Avenue station. The G does run to Forest Hills on nights and weekends and trains on the line run more often, although trains have been shortened to only four cars in length.
What’s wrong with the new routes?
The new routes offer many Queens Boulevard line riders poor choices: Those seeking the East Side business district can either pack onto crowded E expresses, or take a slow local V, or ride an F express to a Manhattan stop few want to go to.
- The new V is unpopular: The V is operating at only 49% of capacity during peak hour. If New York City Transit were to follow its own guidelines, service would be cut drastically.
- The V is slow: Riders aren’t taking the V because it’s a local and too slow. So said 66% of those New York City Transit surveyed at the Roosevelt Avenue subway station in April 2002. Transit officials argue that there’s only a five-minute difference in scheduled running time between the E and V going from Roosevelt Avenue to 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue. But that still adds up to nearly an hour of extra commuting time a week. Many of those riders already having long bus-to-subway daily rides and also find the many extra local stops inconvenient.
- The new routes are providing only minimal relief of crowding: In January and February 2002, crowding on the E was still above capacity (116% and 104% respectively.) Only in March did crowding fall below guidelines (96%), a month filled with holidays. In addition, there’s above-guideline crowding on the E at Roosevelt Avenue in all but the two middle cars out of ten. That’s because many riders want to be at either the front of the train (to get off near the escalators at the 53rd Street/Lexington Avenue Station) or the back of the train (to get off near the Madison Avenue exit at 53rd Street/Fifth Avenue Station.) New York City Transit’s future plans call for a re-design of Roosevelt Avenue station to make people walk to the middle of the platform. But many will go back to where they want on the platform. Those that do not will just have an even longer commute, as they get on the back of the huge lines at the 53rd Street/Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street/Fifth Avenue stations.
What are riders saying?
In January, we polled riders on the line on their opinion of the new routes. Out of 335 responses, nearly two-thirds rate the plan poor or fair. Overall, the ratings were: 38% poor, 27% fair, 25% good and 9% excellent. Here are some typical comments:
“Terrible, plain and simple. Much longer for me and E train is SUPER jammed now.”
“It’s been pretty bad. The V and F leave Roosevelt Avenue fairly empty and the E is packed.”
“On average, my commute is now longer and more crowded, which I didn’t think was possible.”
“They not only shortened the length of the G route, there are less cars. This has led to more crowded cars and less comfortable rides.”
“The G is more crowded, the E is packed. Hardly anyone is on the V.”
“Friday night, 6pm, again the platform at 53/Lex was packed. I went down the escalator, there was no place to go, so I just turned around and went right back up again. Such a dangerous situation, which has only gotten worse since the V came along. Do we really have to wait for someone to get hurt before they do something about it?”
“The whole V thing is ridiculous. Leaving Queens, the F is relatively empty since it now runs down a stupid route. No one wants the V since everyone is in a rush to get to work and doesn’t want a local. It is nearly impossible to squeeze onto the E train since it is the only logical game in town.”
Of the 34% giving good-to-excellent marks, some found that the new routing was more direct for them, such as the rider who wrote:“What really matters to me, is that the V train means that the F now takes the 63rd St tunnel. My home’ station is Roosevelt Island, and service is now much improved, in terms of frequency and predictability (if not seating room).” A West 4th Street-to-Rockefeller Center rider wrote: “The V train has been a pleasure. It’s empty.”
What should be done?
The Straphangers Campaign appreciates that New York City Transit feels it is doing its best in the absence of what’s really needed: a new subway line through Queens. But we respectfully disagree with offering riders poor choices.
We support changing the plan, so that the F express would go to 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue and the V local would go through the 63rd Street tunnel. Transit’s prediction that this“flip” would“not reduce crowding on express trains as effectively as the current plan.” But this routing would be providing its riders with the service that the large majority of riders on the line want.
For more information: straphangers@nypirg.org or (212) 349-6460
EFGV facts | Take our poll! | E, F, G, and V rerouting info
| Take action!
News articles: Daily News | New York Times | Gotham Gazette
www.straphangers.org | www.nypirg.org
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