Subways
Streetsblog Basics
Council Members Press for Investigation of High MTA Construction Costs
City Council members are speaking up about the runaway price tag of subway infrastructure in New York City, pressing the MTA to rein in capital construction costs that outstrip those of peer cities across the globe.
October 16, 2017
MTA Will Start Using Common-Sense Metrics to Show Subway Riders How Their Trains Perform
Starting Wednesday, transit riders will be able to see for themselves how their subway lines are performing, when the MTA launches an online dashboard showing how much time riders lose due to trains that are off-schedule.
September 25, 2017
Council Members Grill MTA Execs on Transit Costs While Cuomo Breaks Ground for Delta
Compared to its international peers, the MTA's capital construction costs are nothing short of outrageous. So with Governor Cuomo asking for more money from New York City to fix the subways, it's understandable that City Council members want to know whether they'll be getting good bang for their buck. But at a hearing earlier today, MTA Managing Director Ronnie Hakim couldn't explain the MTA's cost problem, let alone how to fix it.
August 8, 2017
Five Ways the MTA Can Gain the Confidence of Transit Riders
New MTA chair Joe Lhota is promising a public-facing dashboard that functions as a "report card" on the agency's performance. Here's what would make it a useful tool to improve accountability and build trust with riders.
July 12, 2017
Step One Toward Fixing the Subway: Be Honest
What would it look like if Cuomo and Lhota stopped making gestures and started exercising real leadership at the MTA? Here are three steps that could make a difference for subway service.
July 6, 2017
Riders Turn Up the Heat on Andrew Cuomo to Lead the MTA Out of This Subway Crisis
Speaking in Manhattan this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a "state of emergency" for the MTA, giving his newly-appointed agency chairman Joe Lhota 30 days to redesign the agency's organizational structure and 60 days to address shortcomings in the agency's $29 billion, five-year capital plan.
June 29, 2017
Crowding Is a Symptom of What Ails the Subways, Not a Cause
The Times came out with a piece on subway delays this morning that's getting heavy play on Twitter. It has some compelling visualizations of the rise in ridership and decline in reliability, but it starts off by framing poor service in a way that obscures the root of the subway's troubles.
June 28, 2017
Slower Subways Will Cost New Yorkers $1.4 Billion This Year
New Yorkers are already paying for Cuomo's deteriorating MTA in the form of lost time, increased pollution, and poorer health.
June 26, 2017
When the Going Gets Tough at the MTA, Andrew Cuomo Disappears
Remember when Andrew Cuomo announced that he'd sealed the deal on a new contract with the TWU? Or when he empaneled an "MTA Reinvention Commission" to shape the agency's five-year capital program? Or when he ordered the MTA to quit dragging its heels on cashless tolling, and the agency promptly delivered? The governor would like you to forget all that.
May 19, 2017
Cuomo Drives Old-Timey Car Across Brand New Bridge While Sticking NYers With Old-Timey Transit System
As it happens, FDR's car is the same vintage as many components in the signal system of the New York City subway. The difference is that the signal system isn't a museum piece that Cuomo can commandeer for a day -- it's real equipment that keeps millions of people moving on a 24/7 rail system.
April 28, 2017
