A Way Too Generous Grade If You Ask Me
Uncoupled R trains laying up at the Parsons Boulevard station. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit
The overall grade for the R train “Rider Report Card” grade is in & as usual we get another C-. However this grade was way too generous if you asked me. I am pretty sure there are a good number of others who would agree. Lets get straight to the breakdown before I offer my analysis.
Top 10 priorities that 
train riders’ would like to see improvement on:
01. Reasonable wait times for trains
02. Minimal delays during trips
03. Station announcements that are easy to hear
04. Train announcements that are easy to hear
05. Cleanliness of stations
06. Adequate room on board at rush hour
07. Sense of security in stations
08. Sense of security on trains
09. Cleanliness of subway cars
10. Station announcements that are informative
Now here is the entire order of train riders’ priorities:
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. Train announcements that are easy to hear
06. Cleanliness of stations
07. Cleanliness of subway cars
08. Sense of security in stations
09. Sense of security on trains
10. Station announcements that are informative
11. Train announcements that are informative
12. Working elevators and escalators in stations
13. Comfortable temperature in subway cars
14. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel
15. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars
16. Signs in stations that help riders find their way
17. Ease of use of subway turnstiles
18. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way
19. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines
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 D+
Adequate room on board at rush hour C-
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 C
Cleanliness of stations D+
Cleanliness of subway cars C-
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-
As I said, this grade was way too generous. While I feel the 7.821 riders accurately ordered the 3 top priorities, I feel they were generous in their grades. In my honest opinion, the R deserved a big fat F in the top 3 priority categories. While the D+ earned for “Reasonable wait times for trains” was close to a F, it failed to earn the grade it deserves. There is a good reason why many transit buffs & riders say the R stands for “rarely” as that describes the R train to a tee!
I have spent many times riding the R all over its long route between Forest Hills/71st Avenue & Bay Ridge/95 Street. Every time I have ridden that line with the exception of one time, I was waiting for at least 10 minutes for a R to arrive. The lone time was that infamous Saturday when I went to go see my friends The Pervs play at Matchless in Greenpoint. I shall refer to that commute as “The Miracle On Pervs St.” from now on! On that night, the longest wait I had on my 3 train ride was 5 minutes. As one would guess, the longest wait was for the R train!
The R is a line that is slow as molasses & unfortunately for the riders who depend on it, this is a feeling they are definitely used to dealing with. I feel the biggest problem that leads to delays on the R is the fact it shares trackage on just about every part of its long route between Forest Hills/71st Avenue & Bay Ridge/95 Street. The only part of the line where it can spread its wings is between the 59th Street & Bay Ridge/95th Street stations. Unfortunately by time the R gets to that portion of the line, it has usually been delayed beyond belief. This is what happens when you share trackage with the 
, 
, 
, & 
at some point along your route.
The “adequate room on board at rush hour” issue which seems to have order inconsistencies based on the information the MTA posted on their site clearly stems from the delays & wait times I just described. Many straphangers have the mentality that the train they see is the last one that will ever come so they must squeeze on even when there is no room for them. Now take that mentality & couple it with the typical performance of the R train & you can clearly understand why the line does not have “adequate room on board at rush hour”.
You know the R is bad when the only good grade it could get was the “free square B or B-” earned for the “Availability of Metrocard Vending Machines”. I will say that I was somewhat surprised by the amount of report cards received by the MTA for the R. However……
Realistically speaking the major issues the R faces are ones that do not have an easy fix. There is no band-aid solution for the R’s problems. You have a line trapped on trackage that is quite full to begin with coupled with being susceptible to any little delay on a few select lines & this is what you get! Unless additional trackage magically becomes available, look for the R to continue to under perform in the most important categories.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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