citylab

The MTA claims overcrowdedness is causing delays. But what's causing overcrowdedness?   Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo Overcrowding Is Not the New York Subway's Problem LAURA BLISS   JUN 28, 2017 Yes, the trains are packed. But don’t blame the victims of the city’s transit meltdown. SHARE TWEET The New York City Subway, scoliotic backbone of the country’s most powerful urban economy, is snapping. On-time performance has dropped from 85 percent in 2011 to 63 percent today. A dissection of the issue in today’s  New York Times  shows that trend hitting every subway line over the past 10 years, with only a handful of routes running with on-time rates above 70 percent. What gives? The system’s  antiquated signals are one culprit , a systemic issue that the  Times  has investigated in depth. But decrepit technology isn’t the main issue, according to the article: The major cause of subway delays is a factor that basically did not exist 15 ye...

MTA/Wikipedia/CityLab To Fix the New York City Subway, Fix the Schedule LAURA BLISS   AUG 3, 2017 A forensic transit scientist says the MTA needs timetables its human operators can manage. SHARE TWEET On a recent Monday afternoon at Grand Central Station, strings of subway cars clatter up to the 4/5/6 platform. As trains arrive every four minutes or so, doors open and shut quickly, rarely parting longer than the 10 seconds they’re supposed to. They stick to schedule. But as afternoon melts into evening, larger numbers of passengers surge onto the platform. “Dwell times” brim over their scheduled mark, as doors linger open and conductors bark at riders to press toward the center of the car. As trains hang longer than they’re supposed to at successive stations, running times stretch further and further past what’s planned. The steady accretion of micro-delays during peak hours can unleash all manner of subway chaos. But it’s not necessarily the fault of the dri...

New York City bus drivers have something to say about improving service.  Keith Bedford/Reuters To Build a Better Bus System, Ask a Driver ALON LEVY ERIC GOLDWYN   JUN 18, 2018 The people who know buses best have ideas about how to reform the system, according to a survey of 373 Brooklyn bus operators. SHARE TWEET The facts are stark: Bus ridership in New York City is in a state of free fall. Ridership losses in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan are even more  alarming . This isn’t a secret. Advocacy groups have agitated for reforms for years. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently released a bus action plan intended to increase service quality, and with it, ridership. So far, the plan has few details, but it primarily focuses on technological and technical improvements, including all-door boarding, transit signal priority, and the distance between stops. While these improvements are needed, we believe any plan could benefit from inp...

New York City bus driver David Smith points out how to use the fare system to a passenger.   Chris Hondros/Getty There's a Bus Driver Shortage. And No Wonder. LAURA BLISS   JUN 28, 2018 Why doesn't anyone want to drive the bus? SHARE TWEET Hauling passengers on a 40-foot city bus has never been glamorous. But Ryan Timlin could at least see the potential back in 2006, when he was earning nearly minimum wage at a St. Paul hardware store and hungry for a change. A friend who worked at Metro Transit, the public transportation agency for the Twin Cities, convinced him that driving buses meant good pay and a stable future. So Timlin donned the striped Metro uniform and got behind the wheel, ferrying passengers around Minneapolis and St. Paul every day for 11 years. Timlin, now 38, recently settled into a new role as president of his local Amalgamated Transit Union chapter. He has no regrets about his career. But if he was younger and searching for a new job toda...