There are 23 percent fewer trains running into Manhattan at rush hour than the last time the subways were as crowded as they are today, which was in 1972. In just a week, the MTA will introduce new monthly and weekly passes for NYC subways and buses. Institution of free bus-subway transfers last year and bulk fare discounts early in 1998 have spurred ridership growth of 11% on subways and over 20% on buses, considerably above MTA projections.

Estimates for ridership increases stemming from the transit passes are much higher, possibly 100 million new trips per year. But the MTA is not planning any service increase, even though riders and transit observers say the numbers of buses and subways running is already lagging behind ridership today, before transit passes have been issued.

This week, the MTA aggressively defended its position, saying service is adequate and that the agency would take a wait-and-see approach to transit passes' impact. "...have you heard of any customers who were unable to use our service because there was no room for them? No," an MTA spokesperson said to the NY Times last week. It seems that official has never stood on an E-train platform in Queens on mornings when commuters have to let several trains go by before they can find space to squeeze on.

A WNYC radio program reiterated the comments a day later, prompting calls from a number of former straphangers who told how last year's discounts crowded them out of subways and into cabs. NYC Transit officials have repeatedly told reporters that crowding is slowing service as passenger jams block subway doors and keep buses longer at stops.

NYC Transit in fact maintains an official standard "that seats will be provided for all customers" during "midday, weekday evenings and weekends." That standard is clearly not being met, and reasonable standing room is not available at rush hour on many trains.

The MTA's implicit, working standard was made clear by the MTA official who spoke to the Times: as long as you can cram yourself on, or eventually get on a less crowded train or bus, it's good enough.

The Straphangers Campaign told news organizations the MTA's policy of introducing transit passes without adding service amounted to "using riders as laboratory rats and watching us in our cages."

This week, the Straphangers Campaign released its most recent "State of the Subways" report, which found that subway train frequencies had not been changed to accommodate new riders (although service regularity and breakdown rates improved somewhat from 1996 to 1997). The report found the 7-train is still the best overall line in New York City.

Governor Pataki hopes the weekly and monthly transit passes become a political feather in his cap. But those hopes could become a fiasco later this year if riders flood into the system, only to face further MTA intransigence and the system's long lead time for adding service.