NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release :
Wednesday, August 10, 2005, 10:30 a.m. |
For info, contact:
Gene Russianoff at (212) 349-6460 or (917) 813-1022
|
Riders Group Issues Yearly “State of the Subways” Report Card;
Best: 6 with “MetroCard Rating” of $1.35; Worst: N with 60¢ Rating
Big Disparities Among Lines;
Group Urges Continued Funding of Repairs
The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign today issued its eighth annual “State of the Subways” Report Card, rating the 6 as the best of 21 subway lines with a “MetroCard Rating” of $1.35 and the N as the worst with a rating of 60 cents.
The 42-page report is based on an extensive review of official data on subway
service, much of which has not been released before on a line-by-line basis.
It includes detailed one-page profiles of 22 lines and a Straphangers Campaign “MetroCard
Rating” for 21 of the lines. (See profiles here.)
The profiles report six measures of service, based on recent data from MTA New York City Transit, largely covering the last half of 2004. The measures for each line are: the amount of scheduled service and the regularity of train arrivals; mechanical failures of subway cars; chance of getting a seat at the most congested point; cleanliness of subway car floors and seats; and adequacy of announcements.
The MetroCard Ratings are a shorthand tool to compare lines and are based on a formula developed in consultation with independent transportation experts. A line could receive a rating of $2.00 if it scored, on average, in the top 5% on the six measures of service.
“Some riders get a lot more for their money than others,” said Gene Russianoff, Straphangers Campaign staff attorney. “The big gaps we found show either the need for better management (as in car cleanliness and announcements) or the unfair distribution of resources, such as in the rate of car breakdowns and chance of getting a seat.”
Russianoff noted that the report was being issued at a critical time for the city’s subways, with concerns about a looming financial crisis and fears for subway security; Albany’s failure to approve the MTA’s 2005-2009 capital program; and a recent rash of fires and major delays.
Among the key findings of the report:
1. The best subway line in the city is the 6, with a “MetroCard Rating” of $1.35.
The 6 ranked high because of its frequently scheduled service and above average performance on three other measures: arriving with regularity, car breakdowns, and announcements, where it had a perfect record. The line did not get a higher rating because it performed below average on two measures: the chance of getting a seat during rush hour and cleanliness.
This is the second time in a row that the 6 has ranked first in the Straphangers Campaign Report Card. The top performance is due in part to the new technology subway cars, which began replacing the line’s aging fleet in recent years. For example, automated announcements result in a 100% performance, and new cars mean fewer breakdowns. The 6 runs between Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and the Brooklyn Bridge subway station in lower Manhattan.
2. The worst subway line is the N, with a MetroCard Rating of 60 cents.
The N line has a low level of scheduled service and it performs below average on four other measures: arriving with regularity, seat availability, cleanliness and announcements. The N line did not receive a lower rating because its cars break down less often than the system average. The N line operates between Astoria, Queens and Coney Island, Brooklyn.
The N was also the worst performing line last year in the 2004 Straphangers Campaign Report Card. Many of its riders had waited nearly two decades for the express N to midtown be restored in February 2004, but the new service remains poor. “That is a direct reflection of New York City Transit’s decision not to adequately address issues of cleanliness and announcements on the N, as well as to run crowded service,” said Russianoff. “We are disappointed that New York City Transit did not take actions after the N’s poor showing in our 2004 report.”
3. There are great disparities in how subway lines perform:
Breakdowns: The cars on the 5 line had the best record on delays caused by car mechanical failures: once every 400,791 miles. The G line cars had the worst, experiencing breakdown delays more than eight times as often: once every 53,795 miles.
Cleanliness: The 1 & 9 and the W were the cleanest lines, with only 6% of their cars having moderate or heavy dirt, while 33% of cars on the dirtiest lines — the L and N — had moderate or heavy dirt, a much worse performance.
Chance of getting a seat: We rate a rider’s chance of getting a seat at the most congested point on the line. We found the best chance is on the V line, where riders had a 84% chance of getting a seat during rush hour. The L ranked worst and was much more overcrowded, with riders having only a 26% chance of getting a seat.
Amount of scheduled service: The 7 line had the most scheduled service, with two to three minute intervals between trains during rush hours. The M ranked worst, with ten-minute intervals between trains during this period.
Regularity of service: The 6 line had the greatest regularity of service, arriving within two to four minutes of their scheduled interval 95% of the time. The most irregular line is the 5, which arrived with regularity only 80% of the time.
In-car announcements: The 2, 5 and 6 lines had the highest rate of adequate announcements made in its subway cars, 100% of the time. The N was the worst, at 82%.
4. The big contrasts between lines we found can show either the need for
improved management — in the cases of cleanliness and in-car announcements — or
the result of unfair distribution of resources (car breakdowns and chance of
getting a seat).
Some results are the subject of debate, such as what should be the maximum waiting times on a line during rush hour. And some are based on the nature of a line, such as the higher regularity of the 6, G, and J/Z, who do not merge with other lines.
5. MTA New York City Transit’s own basic data indicate an ongoing trend
of fewer breakdowns as new technology cars come on line: The December 2003
fleet-wide 12-month moving average breakdown rate was once every 139,960 miles
and improved to 156,815 compared to the fleet-wide 12-month moving average
breakdown rate. (Unfortunately, changes in methodology and new data collection
by MTA New York City Transit make it impossible to directly compare our findings
for this year with previous reports. For the differences in how these measures
were calculated in previous, see section on methodology.)
The Straphangers Campaign’s work to rate the quality of subway and bus service is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which is a leader in supporting the assessment of government services. To read the full report click here.
