NEWS RELEASE

"SUBWAY SHMUTZ II" SHOWS SLIDE IN SUBWAY CAR CLEANLINESS;
7 LINE IS CLEANEST, WHILE 99% OF E LINE CARS ARE FILTHY

GROUP BLAMES MANAGEMENT FOR SPOTTY PERFORMANCE;
URGES MTA TO HIRE NEW CLEANERS

A survey by NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign found that nearly three of four subway cars were filthy in July, August and September 1998, the group announced today.

The campaign also charged that the MTA has neglected its responsibility to riders because it did not hire any new subway car cleaners in 1998 and noted that there is widespread skepticism that a plan to use Work Experience Program workers would succeed.

"The growth in grime isn't a question of misbehavior by subway riders but of mismanagement at New York City Transit," said campaign coordinator Joseph G. Rappaport.

The campaign gave failing grades to 73 percent of the 2,066 subway cars it surveyed--a worse grade than it gave subway cars in a similar 1997 survey.

In that survey, released in April 1998, the campaign said that 68 percent of subway cars surveyed in the same period during 1997 were filthy. The group blamed the MTA's lackluster performance on its reduction in the budgeted number of budgeted cleaners by 22 percent between 1995 and 1997.

The campaign found that riders on the 7 line enjoy the cleanest cars, with 61 percent of the trains rated as clean or extraordinarily clean. (See attached charts.) The E is the worst line of the 20 surveyed--with only one in 120 cars rated clean or extraordinarily clean. The M, G, L, 6, 3 and the F were also filthy, with no more than 14 percent of the cars on each line considered clean. (The survey is intended to measure subway grime--whether subway cars are getting mopped and whether particularly offensive litter is picked up--rather than litter.) . See Graph 1, Graph 2, and Table: Clean Cars by Line.

"The MTA has made a mess of its efforts to clean the city's subway's cars," said Joseph G. Rappaport of the Straphangers Campaign. "It's time transit managers rolled up their sleeves, hired new workers and put an end to their spotty record."

WEP doubts

A plan to use Work Experience Program recipients to clean subway cars, announced in December by the MTA, has not yet begun. The plan faces widespread skepticism. Among the pitfalls the agency faces are a promised lawsuit by the National Employment Law Project if the program moves forward; a likely challenge from the Subway Surface Supervisors Association if regular cleaners are used as supervisors; and concerns about whether workfare participants will receive adequate training in how to deal with toxic substances.

"The MTA has chosen a path fraught with peril rather than simply rehiring cleaners with its substantial budget surplus," said Rappaport. "Riders have put up with the shmutz for far too long."

The authority retains a surplus of at least $113 million that could be used in part to hire new cleaners immediately.

Survey findings

Modeled after one of several cleanliness measures the MTA uses in its own surveys, the campaign's survey focused on subway floor and seat cleanliness, along with the presence of bottles, cans and exposed food. (The MTA considers rolling bottles and cans a safety hazard and exposed food particularly offensive to riders.) The campaign did not rate the amount of general litter because it believes the floor and seat cleanliness measure is a fairer way to determine if there is regular cleaning.

Findings include:

-- Nearly three of four subway cars (73%) had either a "heavily dirty" or "dirty" level of filth. Nearly half (47%) of the cars warranted what we call a "heavily dirty" filth rating--the worst rating the campaign gave.

-- Only three lines--the 7, B and R--won ratings indicating that more than 50% of the cars we surveyed were clean or extraordinarily clean. Six in 10 cars on the 7 line were clean or extraordinarily clean.

-- Riders on the E, M, G, L and 6 travel on the filthiest lines, according to our survey. Only one in 120 cars on the E line won a clean or extraordinarily clean rating.

-- There is no clear difference between the numbered, or A division, lines and the lettered, or B division, lines. In the 1997 survey, the A division clearly outperformed the B division.

Adding cleaners is only the foundation of moving toward cleaner subway cars, Rappaport said. The campaign recommended that the MTA monitor the cleaning operation more carefully, set meaningful goals, post the results of its own surveys and review its cleaning procedures to make sure cars are getting mopped and otherwise cleaned. (See Recommendations.)