Transit Blogger

Straphangers Say The E Is Far From Excellent!

 

E train layup at the Kew Gardens-Union Tpke. station; Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit

Most of the NYC Subway lines earned a barely passing grade in the “2007 Rider Report Cards”. Unfortunately for the E train, it failed to earn a spot in that category. The straphangers have clearly spoken & their message is “The E Is Far From Excellent” as the line earned a D+ from the 6,301 who filled out the report cards. Lets go straight the full breakdown:

Top 10 priorities that train riders’ would like to see improvement on:

01. Reasonable wait times for trains
02. Minimal delays during trips
03. Adequate room on board at rush hour
04. Station announcements that are easy to hear
05. Cleanliness of stations
06. Train announcements that are easy to hear
07. Sense of security on trains
08. Cleanliness of subway cars
09. Sense of security in stations
10. Comfortable temperature in subway cars

Now here is the entire order of train riders’ priorities:

01. Adequate room on board at rush hour
02. Minimal delays during trips
03. Reasonable wait times for trains
04. Cleanliness of subway cars
05. Comfortable temperature in subway cars
06. Train announcements that are easy to hear
07. Station announcements that are easy to hear
08. Cleanliness of stations
09. Sense of security on trains
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations
11. Sense of security in stations
12. Station announcements that are informative
13. Train announcements that are informative
14. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel
15. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars
16. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines
17. Ease of use of subway turnstiles
18. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way
19. Ease of use of subway turnstiles
20. Lack of graffiti in subway cars
21. Lack of graffiti in stations

Now here is the graded breakdown of all 21 categories:

Minimal delays during trips C-
Reasonable wait times for trains C-
Adequate room on board at rush hour D
Sense of security in stations C
Sense of security on trains C-
Working elevators and escalators in stations D+
Signs in stations that help riders find their way C
Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way C-
Cleanliness of stations D+
Cleanliness of subway cars D+
Station announcements that are easy to hear D
Station announcements that are informative D
Train announcements that are easy to hear D
Train announcements that are informative D+
Lack of graffiti in stations C+
Lack of graffiti in subway cars C
Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C-
Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C-
Comfortable temperature in subway cars C-
Ease of use of subway turnstiles C+
Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B-

I have to say I think the straphangers graded this line pretty accurately outside of the top priority which I question a bit. I have many years of experience riding this line especially dating back to my days of riding it to Jamaica Station for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) after hanging out somewhere in Manhattan. The while serving as one of the big two along Queens Blvd with its express partner, the train, does have its fair share of problems which prevent it from being what it could be.

While I feel the line was graded pretty accurately, I do question the top priority. I am questioning why the riders feel that reasonable wait times is the #1 priority that needs improvement. What time of the day are they basing these feelings on? My years of experience riding the line tell me that wait times are not the #1 problem for this line. The E seems to have the most frequent arrivals along the Queens Blvd. corridor & definitely along the 8th Avenue corridor locally, hell possibly including the express.

In my opinion the clear #1 priority that needs improvement is  “Adequate room on board at rush hour”! This line is a complete nightmare to ride during the rush hour especially if you are not boarding at one of the first couple of stations on either end. I spent many trips standing from Lexington Avenue all the way out to whatever my destination was in Queens, usually anywhere from Kew Gardens-Union Tpke. & after!

Unfortunately I don’t know what can be done about crowding on the E as there is little or no room for additional trains as the corridor is pretty much at capacity nowadays. If anything maybe 1-3 more trains could be added per hour & that is stretching it. Even if they were added, I don’t know how much relief it would provide as the line is truly that packed pretty much all times of the day especially rush hour! The E was lucky to only get a D in this category as a F would be the most accurate grade for it.

Delays along the Queens Blvd. corridor are what most likely lead to “Minimal delays during trips” being the 2nd highest priority in need of improvement. With so many expresses running along the corridor, any little hiccup causes repercussions that are felt up & down the corridor. I also notice that the expresses have a huge habit of catching up with each other which causes minor delays here & there.

Not surprisingly the only good grade the E earned was for the “Availability of MetroCard Machines” as it was the lone shiny grade earned that was above a C. Seriously did the MTA just paint in a B or B- for that category on every line? The only screwup in that category was the Staten Island Railway which earned a C. However I won’t count that since it is not a NYC Subway line.

The amount of responses for this card was in line with what I thought it would be. With the E being one of the big 2 along the Queens Blvd. corridor, I assumed the least amount of responses received would be 5,000. Hopefully next year the total will be close to or more than double that! Maybe I should stop listening to Blink-182 as I write this entry & put on “Daydream Believer” instead!

xoxo Transit Blogger

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Sitemap
Copyright 2007 - Present Transit Blogger. All rights reserved