Last night on my way home, I saw a headline on a newstand, "The Coming Subway Crisis". I was anxious to read it, and thought of it just this morning, as my room-mate and I stood wedged between other riders on the crawling, Manhattan Bound F out of Brooklyn. We compared horror stories from the previous weeks, during which one or the other of us had experienced trains skipping our station with no posters warning of ride changes, or simply horrendous delays. We're not alone in the city, as service cuts and fare hikes go together to create just one more (at least twice) daily insult to the working people of NYC.
Let me share my stories. On Jan 27th, the first day of classes at CUNY, I left the house at 12:20, leaving ample time to get to my 2pm class. However, once I was in the train we moved a few feet and sat in the tunnel, moved a few feet and then sat in the tunnel. This went on until we got to the FIRST express stop....50 minutes later. Realizing that I would miss my class, I left the train, ran out of the station and called my office, asking them to put a note on the door for the students. I got done with the conversation and went back to the station only to find that the same train, complete with all the riders I'd seen on the way was still sitting there, only now the doors were closed and several people were standing on the platform, waiting to get on. I did finally make it to Chambers street at exactly 2pm. What I find especially outrageous about all this was that there were absolutely no indications that there were going to be delays. About a week ago, I was on another F train that sat and sat and sat in the tunnel, then spit us out at Bergen street and went out of service.
"It gets worse every day," a man on the platform said.
And yet, where is the news about the egregious service on the F train? I heard a lot about disrupted A/C service, but there was nothing so bad on those lines during the track fire repairs as there were on the F train during "regular" service. With today's snow, I don't know whether I'll be able to get back from Manhattan tonight, as the trains will no doubt be backed up on that rickety bridge over the Gowanus canal. Yes, D, the Smith and 9th street stop is the highest point in the subway system, according to the people at nycsubway.org, and that is why our train is the little engine that couldn't.
Why is the service getting so shitty? Most of the articles I found say that this is beyond MTA corruption, which was the focus of protest in the 2003 fare-hike, but that it is the more general problem of lack of state support. The state and city have reduced the amount of money given to subsidize the subways, leading to crappier service and higher fares. It's the same problem that we face in most public institutions, like public universities and the Post Office (which, in my neighborhood, is falling apart and has an average wait of 45 minutes whether you're picking up a package or mailing something). This article today's Newday, for example, says that the state subsidy to the MTA has gone from 19% to zero since the 1980s.
Soon after the fare-hike proposal was made, Bruce Schaller explained the situation well,And of course, there's also the corruption and fraud in the MTA. Remember this? and don't forget the close ties between the MTA head and ALfonse D'Amato. However, there is something about Alan Hevesi's ideas that I don't trust. He seems like one of those fiscal conservatives, and I guess that's the program, since he's comptroller. Anyone out there have any comments on this?...any far left policy analysists reading?
After reading the Straphangers' campaign web-page I learned that my impression that service is better in wealthier neighborhhoods is supported with evidence. The 6 train, which serves the Upper East Side (and apparently the Mayor) got the highest rating. Once again, the G (cross Brooklyn) got the worst. The F, which gets worse with every passing week, actually rated 12th out of 21. I suggest that if you ride the F train and have complaints that you take action. Here is the straphanger's campaign, where you can read more and get involved.
As regular service has gotten exponentially worse since the snow storm followed by the track fire, I feel daily that I am being ignored and disregarded by the city as Manhattan remains the playground or the super-wealthy while the rest of us are crowded in Brooklyn/Queens/Bronx and forced to ride trains that feel as if any minute they will shudder right off the tracks.
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