NYC Subway Service is Either 'Deteriorating' — Or Not
Tuesday, May 06, 2014 - 11:47 AM
City Hall subway station
(Kate Hinds/WNYC)
Delays on the New York City subway are on the rise — which could be be a harbinger of deteriorating service.
That's according to the Straphangers Campaign, which analyzed years of MTA alerts. According to their report, the number of alerts of delay-generating incidents increased by 35% in two years — from 2,967 alerts in 2011 to 3,998 in 2013. (The group removed 2012 from the equation because Sandy greatly affected the delay numbers — to to mention the ongoing health of the subway system. It also removed so-called 'uncontrollable' incidents, like sick passengers.)
"There's a problem," said Gene Russianoff, the head of the Straphangers Campaign. "And it can't just all be attributed to Sandy. I think maintenance and overcrowding are factors."
Sitting atop the list is the F line, which had the most alerts sent to subscribers. The J/Z had the fewest.
"F train riders who complain about the quality of service have a real beef," Russianoff said.
(photo by Kate Hinds)
But the MTA disputed the premise of the report, saying service alerts aren't meant to be used as a performance metric.
The agency released a statement that said, in part: "Our wait assessment metric, which includes BOTH controllable and non-controllable incidents and measures the amount of time customers have had to wait for a train, provides a more comprehensive picture of service quality...Since 2011, the amount of time customers have had to wait for a train throughout the system has remained flat.”
To read the Straphangers report, go here.
That's according to the Straphangers Campaign, which analyzed years of MTA alerts. According to their report, the number of alerts of delay-generating incidents increased by 35% in two years — from 2,967 alerts in 2011 to 3,998 in 2013. (The group removed 2012 from the equation because Sandy greatly affected the delay numbers — to to mention the ongoing health of the subway system. It also removed so-called 'uncontrollable' incidents, like sick passengers.)
"There's a problem," said Gene Russianoff, the head of the Straphangers Campaign. "And it can't just all be attributed to Sandy. I think maintenance and overcrowding are factors."
Sitting atop the list is the F line, which had the most alerts sent to subscribers. The J/Z had the fewest.
"F train riders who complain about the quality of service have a real beef," Russianoff said.
(photo by Kate Hinds)
But the MTA disputed the premise of the report, saying service alerts aren't meant to be used as a performance metric.
The agency released a statement that said, in part: "Our wait assessment metric, which includes BOTH controllable and non-controllable incidents and measures the amount of time customers have had to wait for a train, provides a more comprehensive picture of service quality...Since 2011, the amount of time customers have had to wait for a train throughout the system has remained flat.”
To read the Straphangers report, go here.
-
Kate Hinds
Kate Hinds is an Associate Producer for WNYC News. She also reports for WNYC and Transportation Nation, a public radio reporting project that combines the work of multiple newsrooms to provide coverage of how we build, rebuild and get around the nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered