NY Subway Ridership Skyrockets, City Unprepared
by Judd WileyMay 5th, 2008, 4:44 pm
New York commuters are switching from cars to subways/light rail at a rapid clip, according to the NY Post.
In March, 4.8% fewer drivers (roughly 15,000 per day) took Port Authority’s six crossings between New York and New Jersey, compared with the same month last year. Likewise, 2.9% fewer drivers used MTA’s bridges and tunnels.
At the same time, 9% more riders took the subway in February compared to the same month last year. Long Island Rail Road had 12% more riders. Metro-North, 15% more. New Jersey Transit, 5.3% more over the first three months of this year.
Why? The Post cites a combination of rising gas prices and increased bridge and tunnel tolls.
So are the NY subways/light railways equipped to handle this massive uptick in riders? Did they think any of this through before they jacked up bridge and tunnel tolls?
Of course not. Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman: “At the peak of the peak there is simply no more room.”
Posted in Bridges, Gas Prices, Light Rail, Mass Transit, Subways, Tolls, Tunnels |
the situation in new york is absurd right now. yesterday, at about 6pm on a sunday, i rode a packed-to-the-brim 6 train locally from 59th Lex to canal. it was a nightmare of rush-hour proportions, and on a sunday!
what should have been a quick in-out trip took the better part of an hour. why? cuz we kept stopping every 10 ft for “train traffic ahead of us.” yeah right. oh, and the conductor deplored everybody that there was no express service running between grand central and brooklyn bridge, in other words: “stay on the train, don’t switch over.” i foolishly listened, and watched seething as 3 sparsely populated express trains blew by me on our wait between astor place and spring.
complete disaster. for the $81 i pay each month i’d like to see the mta actually step up and provide its customers with competent solutions to the problems that plague new york’s leaking and failing system.
The stopping and starting every 10 feet is a characteristic of the DC Metro as well.
For the life of me, I don’t understand it. I realize that the subway operators are on a green-red light system, i.e. when green, go, when red, stop. Hence the occasional stoppage in mid-tunnel. But these green-red lights aren’t every 10 feet.
My guess is that - barring some sort of train malfunction - this entire problem is a function of the stupidity of the individual operator.
I say this because every once in a while I get on a train that does the stop-start funky chicken routine throughout my entire trip. There’s no way that the green-red lights are wigging out and causing the operator to accelerate and then immediately jam on the brakes over and over again along the whole route for just this one train. It has to be because the operator is incompetent and doesn’t know how to drive his train properly.
I am very comfortable assuming the worst about these people.
The New York City subway system has not seen any major expansion or capital project in the last 70 years. The MTA was deliberately underfunded for most of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Even today, the MTA has to run up huge debts just to paint the walls.
Given these conditions, is it any surprise that trains are overcrowded? The lexington avenue line has been packed ever since the 3rd ave and 2nd ave elevated trains were dismantled. At that time the 2nd ave subway was promised to replace them. Where is the subway now? Still on the planning books. In the meantime, we got the FDR, the BQE, the Verazzano-Narrows and Pulaski bridges, the Bronx River Parkway, and more.
It should be of no surprise to anyone that when you starve a particular mode of investment, it deteriorates. The only surprise is that despite this neglect, most people still take the subway.
Ian, Just saw your response here. I completely agree with everything you write. The NY subway system is a national embarrassment, and the history of its underfunding is shameful. It’s really quite amazing that so many people still ride the subway.
Moving forward, what to do?
Two options jump off the page. First, you can cut spending elsewhere and shift the dollars to subway modernization and expansion. Second, you can raise taxes, fees, etc.
I believe NYC should do the first. Going through their 2009 budget, there’s plenty of less important spending that can be eliminated.
Of course, cutting spending is never fun for the current recipients of that funding. But from my analysis, modernizing and expanding the NY subway has a greater societal benefit than many of these other programs.
What do you think?