It Deserved Better!
Pelham Bay Park bound 6 entering Parkchester during the Feb. 06 blizzard. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit
Here we are, the final 2007 “Rider Report Card” grade & low & behold it is my home line. The 
earned a C from the 7,261 riders (myself included) who filled out a report card. Let me first say that I am not biased with what I am about to say because the is my home line. The deserved a better grade as this line is not close to being average. Before I get into my feelings about the report card results, let me post the full breakdown.
Top 10 priorities that train riders would like to see improvement on:
01. Adequate room on board at rush hour
02. Reasonable wait times for trains
03. Minimal delays during trips
04. Station announcements that are easy to hear
05. Cleanliness of stations
06. Sense of security on trains
07. Sense of security in stations
08. Station announcements that are informative
09. Train announcements that are easy to hear
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations
Now here is the entire order of train riders priorities:
01. Adequate room on board at rush hour
02. Reasonable wait times for trains
03. Minimal delays during trips
04. Station announcements that are easy to hear
05. Cleanliness of stations
06. Sense of security on trains
07. Sense of security in stations
08. Station announcements that are informative
09. Train announcements that are easy to hear
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations
11. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel
12. Cleanliness of subway cars
13. Comfortable temperature in subway cars
14. Train announcements that are informative
15. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines
16. Ease of use of subway turnstiles
17. Signs in stations that help riders find their way
18. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars
19. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way
20. Lack of graffiti in stations
21. Lack of graffiti in subway cars
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 C
Signs in stations that help riders find their way C+
Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way B-
Cleanliness of stations C-
Cleanliness of subway cars C+
Station announcements that are easy to hear C-
Station announcements that are informative C-
Train announcements that are easy to hear C
Train announcements that are informative C
Lack of graffiti in stations B-
Lack of graffiti in subway cars B-
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 B-
Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B-
Now let me start off by saying that in my honest opinion I felt the deserved at worst a B-. Quite frankly the is the most consistent line in the entire system. The only line that I would consider close is the 
in terms of service. Let me go into a few categories.
I will not disagree with the majority of riders who feel “Adequate room on board at rush hour” is a problem. Even with all the service the has, finding free space is usually an issue. I am a veteran of the line so I know little tricks to get seats such as proper standing location depending on the stop & time of day for starters. However I do not expect many people to think like me so I can see why they feel this is an issue. During the morning rush hour, getting a seat is tough & I board at a station towards the beginning/end of the line.
I will completely disagree with priority #2 being “Reasonable wait times for trains”. As I have said, I feel the is the most consistent line in the system bar none. The service on this line is quite high in terms of the number of trains per hour at one’s disposal. If you consistently ride the line during the rush hour, it is quite common to have trains come every 30-60 seconds for a long stretch of time. The only time I ever waited a long time for a to come during the rush hour is because of an incident that caused delays throughout the line.
I would be curious as to what time of the day were the majority of riders basing their grade on for this category. If the has a weak spot in terms of wait times, it is the weekends where here & there the wait feels like it is about 10-15 minutes during the day. However most times it is less than 10 minutes but I feel there is plenty of room for improvement. I am going to assume the majority of riders were basing their grade on rush hour service. If so they are completely off base as a C is completely out of whack with reality. I would give the a B+ or at worst a B- for rush hour service & a B- to a C for weekend midday service.
Now before I go on to the next grade, I would like to bring up another possible angle for the “Reasonable wait time for trains” grade. I would love to know the grades received by people from a select number of spots. The reason I say this is because for all the experience I have with the , I have picked up all the tendencies for the line. I have noticed that if there is a weak link in service based on line chunks, it would be stops below Grand Central-42nd Street.
I have noticed many times that there seems to be a sizable gap between trains even during rush hour. I know this isn’t the case but one would think some trains were being turned around at Grand Central-42nd Street for uptown service. I have spent many times standing on a downtown platform at a stop below Grand Central-42nd Street & watch 2-4 uptown trains arrive before a downtown does. If that isn’t happening, then I would see a couple of downtown trains doing battery runs & passing us by. Now if the majority of riders were from such stops, I could start to understand their grading it as average at best.
As far as “Minimal delays on trips” are concerned, I don’t think the has much issues. The only weakness I see is the tendency to do a few battery runs of 2-4 stations between Hunts Point Ave & 3rd. Ave-E. 138th St. or ones below Grand Central-42nd Street. I think with so much service on the line, the slightest hiccup forces the train to have to catch up somehow. I think there is definite room for improvement in this area & hopefully 2008 will see those improvements. I admit though I have smiled at saving a couple of minutes because of the battery run. However I know that is a selfish way to think.
Most of the other priorities do not come as much of a shock. Many of the indoor stations in the Bronx are not in the greatest condition. A humongous scrub job might start to scratch the surface as a complete cleaning overhaul is definitely in order. I do not see many cops frequent the but to be honest I feel safe on the line. This is one line that is never really empty even during the overnight hours which is a time I ride the a lot. The crowd size is usually pretty strong especially in Manhattan. While the numbers do decrease when we enter the Bronx, it is not as big of a drop off as one would think. I know that I usually have a decent size crowd get off with me at my home stop.
One category that I feel does not deserve to be in the top 10 is “Train announcements that are easy to hear”. The ‘s fleet is made up 100% of R142A subway cars. As we know, the announcements on these trains are loud, & clear at all times. So why this category is considered a top 10 priority for improvement is unknown to me.
However I feel that one category that did not make the top 10 but should have is “Lack of scratchitti in subway cars”. While I would not have put it in the top 5 most likely, I do think it has a place in the bottom 5 of the top 10. Over the last year, I have noticed a spike in the amount of “scratchitti” on some of the subway cars. This while not shocking to me is quite disappointing. It is truly pathetic how people continue to show no appreciation or respect for the system that millions depend on daily to get around the best city in the world. I hope the MTA can do something to combat this problem as these cars are not cheap & do not need to start looking beat up when they are still fairly young.
In the end, I feel the deserved a better grade & I will continue to believe that until I am proven wrong by the MTA & more specifically New York City Transit. Lets hope that the people in charge do the best they can to fix the few issues the line has & continue to improve on its pretty consistent level of quality service.
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.
[…] January 2008, I blogged about the deserving a better grade for its 2007’s Rider Report Card. The line was considered average by 7.261 riders who helped give it a C. 14 months later & the […]