MTA: Rail-ly not that bad
Subway service has gone from awful to adequate over the last year, new MTA data show.
The agency's top brass on Thursday trotted out what they consider impressive statistics — 81.5% of weekday trains ran on time in June, marking the subway's best monthly performance in six years.
The numbers still mean that an average rider with a daily two-way commuter will be delayed about twice a week — but MTA officials say they're proud of the progress. The subway's weekday ontime performance was a dismal 68% last June.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Pat Foye attributed the improved service to a combination of Gov. Cuomo's $836 million Subway Action Plan and NYC Transit President Andy Byford's “Save Safe Seconds” plan, which focuses on raising cumbersome subway speed limits.
Not all riders see the benefits from those programs, though.
More than 30% of weekday trains running on the A, D, Fan dR lines were late in June, in large part due to the creaky signal system on those lines.
“Resignaling the subway is the most transformative thing that we can do,” said Byford, citing the impressive performance of the No. 7 line, which had its signal system overhauled this year.
Weekday on-time performance on the No. 7 hit 90% in June, up from 61% the same time last year. The L train — the only other tracks with modern modern communications-based train control — had a weekday on-time performance of 94% last month.
The MTA has spent all $836 million of its Subway Action Plan money, but the agency will continue to have funds for the program for years to come. The surcharge on taxis and for-hire vehicles in Manhattan that went into effect in February will dump at least $300 million into the plan account each year moving forward.
Foye said that additional money will be spent “institutionalizing” work done under the plan, like clearing clogged subway drains and aggressively cleaning stations. He added that will include bringing in outside contractors, where appropriate.
“The key thing here is to keep going,” said Byford. “The worst thing that you can do — I've seen other places fall into this trap — is to think the job is done, to effect improvement, and then once again to let the system slide back into a state of disrepair.”