METHODOLOGY

This report is intended as a follow-up to two previous Straphangers Campaign surveys. In February 1999, we released a report in which we tested the payphones in 100 randomly-selected subway stations; in December 2000, the campaign tested payphones in the 25 most-used subway stations. In replicating these two surveys, campaign volunteers tested 1264 payphones at a total of 115 stations. A complete breakdown of the methodology used in each sub-report is listed below.

The Straphangers Campaign trained and deployed 6 volunteers over the period between June 18 and August 8, 2001. Volunteers were instructed to test each payphone in the subway station and record all data on portable hand-held electronic devices. This is the first time that the campaign has collected data electronically.

A telephone was rated as "non-functioning" if any of the following applied:

• The handset was missing or unusable;
• there was no dial tone;
• surveyors were unable to connect to each of 411, 0 and 555-1212;
• the coin slot was blocked;
• coins deposited did not register; or
• if the telephone would not return a coin after no call was connected.

All data was consolidated and analyzed in the aggregate in the period following the survey.

1. Survey of payphones in 100 randomly-selected stations–a follow-up to our February 1999 report

Campaign staff selected 100 of the system’s 468 stations at random by computer, and sent volunteers to each of these stations. For this portion of our survey, 884 payphones were tested throughout 100 stations.

Collected data was analyzed in the aggregate by borough and by system:

Borough	Number of Payphones tested	Percent of functioning payphones	Confidence interval at .05 level
Bronx	78	72%	+/- 9%
Brooklyn	271	73%	+/- 5%
Manhattan	391	84%	+/- 4%
Queens	144	84%	+/- 6%
Total	884	80%	+/- 3%

The lower rates of functioning payphones in the Bronx and in Brooklyn as compared to Manhattan/Queens rates are statistically significant at the .05 level.

In our February 1999 report, we found that 73% of the phones tested in our sample of 100 randomly selected subway stations (plus or minus 4%) functioned correctly. The improvement shown in payphones between the time of that survey and this one (80%) is statistically significant at the .05 level.

2. Survey of Payphones in 25 most-used subway stations–a follow-up to our December 2000 report

In October and November 2000, the Straphangers Campaign surveyed payphones at 25 of the system’s 27 most-used stations. Two stations–34 Street/7 Avenue and 42 Street/5 Avenue–were not surveyed in late 2000 due to large construction projects which interfered with the functioning of the payphones in the stations.

In the random selection of 100 subway stations, 10 of the most-used 27 stations were incidentally selected for observation. Thus, in order to replicate our December 2000 report, Straphangers Campaign volunteers then additionally surveyed 15 of the remainder of these stations. Two stations among the top 27–42 Street/6 and 7 Avenue and 72 Street/Broadway–could not be surveyed due to construction.

In 25 of the 27 most-used stations, a total of 639 payphones were tested. Of these, our surveyors found 81% of these were found in functioning order. This result is consistent with the rate of functioning payphones–82%--found in our 2000 survey.

Among the 23 stations common to the 2000 survey and this one, we found that payphone functioning rates deteriorated in 13 stations and improved in 10. Each change is statistically significant.

Independent Auditing and New York City Passenger Environment Survey

Currently Verizon is under contract with MTA New York City Transit to guarantee 95% of phones to be "fully operative and in service at all times."

New York City Transit conducts its own quarterly telephone rating in its respected Passenger Environment Survey (PES). Results cited in the PES are not comparable to those in this report, as PES surveyors do not use a coin to test the functioning of a telephone. PES rates a telephone as functioning if the surveyor notes an undamaged handset and is able to contact a specific 800 test number.

Table Two: Stations Surveyed

	100 Randomly-Selected Stations
Station Code	Station Name	Borough	Lines
1	Van Cortandt Park-242nd Street	Bronx	1
2	Woodlawn	Bronx	4
3	183rd Street	Bronx	4
4	176th Street	Bronx	4
5	161st Street-Yankee Stadium	Bronx	4BD
6	Nereid Avenue-238th Street	Bronx	25
7	Freeman Street	Bronx	25
8	82nd Street-Jackson Heights	Queens	7
9	Third Avenue-149th Street	Bronx	25
10	Pelham Bay Park	Bronx	6
11	Buhre Avenue	Bronx	6
12	Elder Avenue	Bronx	6
13	Bedford Avenue	Brooklyn	L
14	Marcy Avenue	Brooklyn	GR
15	Graham Avenue	Brooklyn	L
16	Montrose Avenue	Brooklyn	L
17	Morgan Avenue	Brooklyn	L
18	Broadway Junction/Broadway-East New York	Brooklyn	JLAC
19	Marcy Avenue	Brooklyn	JM
20	Central Avenue	Brooklyn	M
21	Gates Avenue	Brooklyn	J
22	Jay Street-Borough Hall	Brooklyn	ACF
23	Court Street-Borough Hall*	Brooklyn	2345MNR
24	Clinton-Washington Avenues	Brooklyn	C
25	Nostrand Avenue	Brooklyn	AC
26	Bergen Street	Brooklyn	2,3
27	Seventh Avenue	Brooklyn	(Q),<Q>
28	Kingston Avenue	Brooklyn	3
29	Crown Heights-Utica Avenue	Brooklyn	34
30	Junius Street	Brooklyn	3
31	Van Siclen Avenue	Brooklyn	3
32	Union Street	Brooklyn	NMR
33	Fourth Aveune-Ninth Street	Brooklyn	MNRF
34	Beverly Avenue	Brooklyn	25
35	Brooklyn College-Flatbush Avenue	Brooklyn	25
36	Newkirk Avenue	Brooklyn	(Q),<Q>
37	Avenue J	Brooklyn	(Q)
38	Neck Road	Brooklyn	(Q)
39	Ocean Parkway	Brooklyn	(Q)
40	Church Avenue	Brooklyn	F
41	Ditmas Avenue	Brooklyn	F
42	Bay Parkway	Brooklyn	N
43	Bay 50th Street	Brooklyn	W
44	Bay Parkway	Brooklyn	W
45	79th Street	Brooklyn	WM
46	55th Street	Brooklyn	WM
47	50th Street	Brooklyn	WM
48	25th Street	Brooklyn	MNRF
49	59th Street	Brooklyn	NRW
50	Bay Ridge-95th Street	Brooklyn	R
51	86th Street	Brooklyn	R
52	8th Avenue	Brooklyn	N
53	West 8th Street-NY Aquarium	Brooklyn	(Q)F
54	Inwood-207th Street	Manhattan	A
55	175th Street	Manhattan	A
56	168th Street-Washington Heights	Manhattan	1AC
57	145th Street	Manhattan	ABCD
58	135th Street	Manhattan	BC
59	116th Street	Manhattan	BC
60	72nd Street	Manhattan	BC
61	34th Street-Penn Station*	Manhattan	ACE
62	59th Street-Columbus Circle*	Manhattan	1ABCD
63	14th Street-8th Avenue	Manhattan	ACEL
64	Canal Street	Manhattan	ACE
65	Chambers Street-Park Place-WTC*	Manhattan	23ACE
66	207th Street	Manhattan	1
67	145th Street	Manhattan	1
68	116th Street	Manhattan	23
69	135th Street	Manhattan	23
70	Central Park North-110th Street	Manhattan	23
71	86th Street	Manhattan	1
72	Canal Street	Manhattan	1
73	Rector Street	Manhattan	1
74	28th Street	Manhattan	NR
75	86 Street*	Manhattan	456
76	51st Street-Lexington Avenue*	Manhattan	6EF
77	Grand Central-42nd Street*	Manhattan	4567
78	Astor Place	Manhattan	6
79	Canal Street	Manhattan	6JMNRQW
80	Fulton Street-Broadway Nassau*	Manhattan	2345ACJM
81	East Broadway	Manhattan	F
82	Second Avenue	Manhattan	F
83	14th Street-6th Avenue*	Manhattan	123FSL
84	Bowery	Manhattan	JM
85	42nd Street-Fifth Avenue*	Manhattan	7BDFS
86	Queens Plaza	Queens	EFGR
87	39th Avenue	Queens	N
88	Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard	Queens	N
89	40th Street	Queens	7
90	Willets Point-Shea Stadium	Queens	7
91	67th Avenue	Queens	GR
92	75th Avenue	Queens	EFGR
93	Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike	Queens	EFGR
94	Jamaica-Van Wyck	Queens	EFGR
95	85th Street-Forest Parkway	Queens	J
96	Rockaway Boulevard	Queens	A
97	111th Street	Queens	A
98	Aqueduct-North Conduit Avenue	Queens	A
99	Beach 44th Street	Queens	A
100	Beach 105th Street	Queens	A
*denotes stations in top 25 by ridership
	Additional 'Most-Used’ Stations Surveyed
101	96th Street	Manhattan	123
102	5th Avenue-53rd Street	Manhattan	EF
103	77th Street	Manhattan	6
104	68th Street-Hunter College	Manhattan	6
105	59th Street-Lexington Avenue	Manhattan	456NRW
106	47-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center	Manhattan	BDFS
107	42nd Street-Times Square-Port Authority	Manhattan	1237ACENRQW
108	34th Street-Penn Station	Manhattan	123
109	34th Street-Herald Square	Manhattan	NRBDFQWS
110	14th Street-Union Square	Manhattan	456NRQWL
111	West 4th Street	Manhattan	ACEFS
112	Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall-Chambers Street	Manhattan	456JM
113	74th Street-Broadway-Roosevelt Avenue	Queens	7EFGR
114	Flushing-Main Street	Queens	7
115	Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer	Queens	EJ

chart 1 | chart 2 | table 1 | methodology

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