The Subway System Will Be Fixed… by 2057
If you are an active user of New York’s public transportation system, it’s likely you have a general awareness of which subway lines are the absolute worst. But in case your internal ranking system has been swayed by grim memories of smelly weirdos, constant travel delays, and derailed trains to the point where you’re not sure which lines are bad and which lines are actually the worst, the Citizens Budget Commission released a report yesterday that might elucidate exactly where your train stacks up on the city’s transportation totem pole.
Constantly keeping the MTA on its toes (or in an effort to highlight the agency’s problems), the CBC’s report released NYC subway power rankings, finding that the 7 line is indeed the city’s worst train, even despite the recent extension added at 34 Street Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Using its criteria for a “State of Good Repair” (SGR), which surveys station infrastructure like stairs, platform edges and ventilators, the 7 line ranked last overall among the 467 train stations snaking throughout New York, because “its 21 stations have 37 percent of their 618 structural components not in SGR.”
Also bad news for North Brooklyn: The L and G trains ranked third and fourth respectively, as 24 and 23 percent of their stations fail to meet a minimum state of good repair. This should come as no surprise to those affected by the elusive G and jam-packed L, the latter of which services a relatively high proportion of the city’s daily MTA commuters.
Also of importance among the CBC’s findings: under the auspices of its current budget, it’s unlikely the MTA will bring the majority of NYC subways stations to a state of good repair until about 2057. So at the very least, when you’re old and gray, your great-grandchildren will have no way of relating to your ancient stories of urban travel headaches. If they’re lucky that is.
Follow Sam Blum on Twitter @Blumnessmonster