D Train Continues To Be Below Average
205th St. bound D train approaching Bay 50th St. station. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit
To be honest, I have asked myself why I bother with these Rider Report Cards. Don’t get me wrong, I like to see what the grades are & offer an analysis on the entire report card. However if the results will continue to be the same year after year, I will have to consider not covering them as much. So with that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the 
earned the same exact grade it did in 2007, a C-. Lets go straight to the breakdown:
D Train Riders’ Top 10 Priorities; 2007 priority rank will be in ( ):
01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )
02. Minimal delays during trips ( 2 )
03. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 3 )
04. Cleanliness of stations ( 6 )
05. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )
06. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )
07. Cleanliness of subway cars ( 9 )
08. Sense of security in stations ( 8 )
09. Sense of security on trains ( 7 )
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 12 )
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Now here is the entire order of D train riders’ priorities. 2007 priority rank in ( ):
01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )
02. Minimal delays during trips ( 2 )
03. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 3 )
04. Cleanliness of stations ( 6 )
05. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )
06. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )
07. Cleanliness of subway cars ( 9 )
08. Sense of security in stations ( 8 )
09. Sense of security on trains ( 7 )
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 12 )
11. Comfortable temperature in subway cars ( 10 )
12. Station announcements that are informative ( 11 )
13. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel ( 13 )
14. Train announcements that are informative ( 14 )
15. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars ( 15 )
16. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines ( 16 )
17. Ease of use of subway turnstiles ( 18 )
18. Signs in stations that help riders find their way ( 19 )
19. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way ( 17 )
20. Lack of graffiti in subway cars ( 20 )
21. Lack of graffiti in stations ( 21 )
Click here for the breakdown of votes for this category.
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Now here is the graded breakdown for all 21 categories; 2007 grade in ( ):
01. Minimal delays during trips C- (C-)
02. Reasonable wait times for trains C- (C-)
03. Adequate room on board at rush hour D+ (D+)
04. Sense of security in stations C (C)
05. Sense of security on trains C (C-)
06. Working elevators and escalators in stations C- (C-)
07. Signs in stations that help riders find their way C+ (C+)
08. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way C (C)
09. Cleanliness of stations D+ (D+)
10. Cleanliness of subway cars C- (C-)
11. Station announcements that are easy to hear D+ (D)
12. Station announcements that are informative D+ (D+)
13. Train announcements that are easy to hear D+ (D+)
14. Train announcements that are informative D+ (D+)
15. Lack of graffiti in stations C (C)
16. Lack of graffiti in subway cars C (C+)
17. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C- (C-)
18. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C (C)
19. Comfortable temperature in subway cars C (C)
20. Ease of use of subway turnstiles C+ (B-)
21. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B- (B-)
Click here for the breakdown of votes for this category.
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Quite honestly, I will use the same exact opening paragraph from my analysis last year which stated:
I think that the D riders nailed this report card with deadly precision. I have used the D a lot over the years & always felt it needed a lot of improvement. The biggest issues I always had with the line were the wait times & having adequate room on board at just about any time of the day. To be honest, choice #3 in the priority list could easily be #1 & I am sure many would agree.
These words still ring true as not much as changed from 2007 to 2008. As far as the #2 & 3 priorities are concerned, you could make a fair argument that any of them were strong enough to be #1. These issues have been plaguing the line for quite some time now.
As far as the rest of the top 10 goes, it once again is not a good sign to see cleanliness concerns move up the list. I also am concerned about seeing concerns of working escalators & elevators climbing into the top 10. This is a concern that should be looked into as soon as possible.
In terms of overall grades, I consider them to be on point. My only issue is the first 3 priorities deserved a D- or lower. The first 2 do not deserve anything close to an average score. In the end, it was more of the same from the which comes as to no surprise to me nor should it you.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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