Straphangers Campaign Subway Line Ratings
 

$1.05	$1.00	$1.00	$.95	$.85	$.85	$.80	$.75	$.75	$.75	$.75	$.75	$.75	$.75	$.75	$.70	$.65	$.65	$.60

Last Tuesday, the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign issued its annual "State of the Subways" report, rating the 7 as the best line and the 5 as worst. The findings were mixed, with cars more crowded, arriving more irregularly and having poorer announcements, but also breaking down less often and cleaner.

The 44-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 20 lines and a "Line Rating" for 19 of the lines.

"Our report has bad news and good news for riders," said campaign staff attorney Gene Russianoff. "You are more likely to be packed in like sardines or kept in the dark on the subways. But you are also less likely to ride on a dirty car or get kicked off a malfunctioning train."

Russianoff said service has not kept up with an explosive 17% increase in ridership since 1997. There's been a gain of 630,000 riders on an average weekday day, but service has only increased 4%.

As a result, the report also found no improvement in the length of scheduled waits during rush hour. The average rush-hour "headway"- the scheduled interval between trains - remained at more than six minutes. Russianoff renewed the campaign's call for no more than a four-minute wait on all lines.

The profiles report six measures of service, based on recent data from MTA NYC Transit, largely covering the last half of 1999. The measures for each line are: the amount of scheduled service and the regularity of train arrivals; mechanical failures of subway cars; the chance of getting a seat at the most congested point; the cleanliness of cars; and the adequacy of announcements.

The Straphangers Campaign Line Ratings (see next page) are based on a formula developed in consultation with independent transportation experts. A line could receive a rating of $1.50 if it scored, on average, in the top 5% on the six measures of service.

1. For the fourth year in a row, the best subway line is the 7 - with a "Line Rating" of $1.05. The line ranked high because there is much more scheduled service on the 7 than on most lines; riders have a greater chance of getting a seat at a peak period; its cars break down much less often than average; and it performed above average on in-car announcements.

2. The worst subway line is the 5-with a Line Rating of 60 cents. This is the first time in the four-year history of the report card that a numbered line came in last. The 5 replaced the A, B, and M as the worst lines since our last report. The 5 line performed below average on four measures: regularity of service; chances of getting a seat during rush hour; hearing adequate subway car announcements and car breakdowns.

3. The overall picture for the subways is mixed: Line Ratings improved for seven of 19 subway lines; ratings declined on six; and stayed the same on six. The seven lines with better ratings are the: A, B, D, J/Z, M, Q and R. The six lines with worse ratings are the: 1/9, 2, 4, 5, C and N. The six unchanged lines are the: 3, 6, 7, E, F, and L. This is better than last year, where nine of 19 lines grew worse and only three improved.

4. The subways grew more crowded in the last year. A rider's chance of getting a seat during the most crowded rush-hour point dropped from 31% to 28%. Twelve lines grew more crowded; six lines grew less. One line was unchanged; there's no data for the G.

5. There has been no improvement in scheduled times between rush hour trains, despite a massive increase in ridership. Despite a slight improvement at midday, average scheduled time between trains in morning rush hour remained at 6 minutes, 6 seconds and in the evenings at 6 minutes, 36 seconds. Average noon-time "headways" improved by 18 seconds from 1998 to 1999.

6. Subway cars grew significantly cleaner in the last year, but announcements were slightly poorer. Sixteen of 20 routes grew cleaner; four grew dirtier. Systemwide, the percentage of cars with clean seats and floors increased from 59% to 75%. This improvement comes after transit officials restored more than 200 subway car cleaners that had been cut in 1994. Eleven of 20 lines provided fewer correct and understandable announcements; eight improved on announcements; one stayed the same. Systemwide, the percentage of cars with correct and understandable announcements declined slightly, from 61% to 60%.

7. Subway cars broke down less often, but the regularity of service worsened slightly. Sixteen of 20 lines experienced fewer delays due to mechanical problems; four lines had a greater breakdown rate. Eleven of 20 lines grew more irregular, with more gaps in service and bunching; eight improved; and one stayed the same.

8. The most improved line is the M, which was tied for the worst line in last year's survey. Its Line Rating went from 65 cents to 85 cents. The M showed improvement on five measures: greater regularity, a lower car breakdown rate, less crowding, cleaner cars, and better announcements. Three lines-the 5, C and N-had the biggest drops in performance: The line rating for the 5 line declined from 70 cents to a 60-cent rating; the C line dropped from 75 cents to 65 cents; and the N line declined from 80 cents to 70 cents. All three lines broke down more often.

9.There are great disparities in how subway lines perform. For example, the 4 had the best record on delays caused by mechanical failures: once every 163,227 miles. The R line had the worst, experiencing breakdown delays nearly three times as often: once every 56,852 miles. The same wide disparities among lines could be seen for all of Straphangers' measures.

The full report is on-line at www.straphangers.org.