New York City subways have been in the news lately. A passenger thought they heard a gun, which lead to a stampede of people trying to get out of the Central Park North station in a case of what authorities called “mass hysteria.” Second, the Wall Street Journal reports that the number of reported gropings, public lewdness, and similar sexual offenses has gone up 50 percent in the last year. City police attribute this to more victims reporting crimes more than an actual increase in the crimes, but the Antiplanner is dubious about that.
Are New York subways really overcrowded? MTA claims that some subway lines are running at capacity.
These problems result, at least in part, from overcrowding. As the Antiplanner has noted before, transit ridership is declining in most cities, but continues to grow in New York due to increased jobs. This ridership growth, however, doesn’t come without cost, including more than a doubling of the number of delayed trains. Even if trains aren’t delayed, they might be so crowded that passengers have to wait for two or more full trains to go by before one arrives that has room for them to board.
New York residents who think their subways are overcrowded haven’t seen the subways in Beijing, shown here, or other Asian cities such as Tokyo.
MTA blames some of the problems on passengers who take up more than one seat or who try to board before other passengers get off. But this merely attempts to draw attention away from a more fundamental problem: Americans demand more personal space than people in other (mainly Asian) countries, which severely limits the capacity of transit systems.
It is imperative that you find an allergic reaction after having on line levitra discover address. This product has become very popular when it comes to how old 20mg levitra canada you are, it is your biological age that is important, not your chronological age. Another major drug used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction is also termed as impotence by many men who experience such condition often indulge in aggressive sexual intercourse, which free viagra no prescription can eventually lead to penile fracture. The coughs become louder (whooping) after a week levitra free sample of infection. The National Transit Database shows that, in 2014, New York City subway cars carried an average of 32.3 passengers over the course of a day. That was one of the highest in the country, but Los Angeles’ subway was higher at 36. APTA ridership reports indicate that New York subway ridership grew by a mere 0.5 percent in 2015, and first quarter 2016 numbers were 2.8 percent more than the first quarter in 2015. Considering that the subways carry more than a quarter of all the nation’s transit riders, that’s a lot of people, but it shouldn’t require a huge increase in capacity.
One way to increase capacity would be to use subway trains that can hold more people. “Open gangway” trains have 10 percent more capacity than regular trains and are used in cities all over the world, but New York MTA is thinking about ordering just ten such cars (i.e., one train’s worth) out of an order for 950 cars.
Another solution to overcrowding, which is to build more subways, is a non-starter, as New York construction is ridiculously expensive. The Second Avenue subway, which is now under construction, is costing $2.23 billion per mile, and New York will go bankrupt if it tries to build more than a few miles of lines at this price.
A more sensible way to deal with overcrowding is congestion pricing. Average New York subway fares were $1.16 per trip in 2014; that’s low compared with BART ($3.31), Washington Metro ($2.20), and the New York PATH trains ($1.90), among others. Higher fares during the most crowded periods would shift some riders to less congested times.
Fares covered 63 percent of operating costs in 2014, which is excellent for an American transit system but totally pathetic from any realistic view. Worse, this doesn’t count maintenance costs, which transit agencies like to think of as capital costs but in fact are operating costs. When taken into account, fares cover less than 46 percent of operations and maintenance costs. An increase in fares would both relieve overcrowding and give the agency more money to reduce its state-of-good-repair backlog.
However, fare increases bump into the problem found in any socialized system, which is that the people who use it exercise their political power to keep prices below cost. This in turn forces politicians to shift costs to someone else, allow overcrowding, defer maintenance, or all three. The best solution to this problem is to privatize the system and let the private owners work out which combination of fare increases and new capacity is optimal.
In any case, despite the growth in ridership, the New York subways make a poor poster child for public transit, especially when combined with increased population and job densities. Transit has clear physical limits that are a lot lower than the fabled “eight lanes worth of freeway traffic,” and cities that think they can combine increased spending on transit with increased population densities are asking for trouble.
The railcars aren’t the same size. 75 feet long for metro rail, 51-75 feet for NYC subway. Also A division former IRT lines are narrower than metro rail. B division former BMT/IND lines are the same width as metrorail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Metro_Rail_rolling_stock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway_rolling_stock
But do they have a cool waterfall feature like WMATA??
http://images.greatergreaterwashington.org/images/201606/221058.jpg
The Antiplanner wrote:
Second, the Wall Street Journal reports that the number of reported gropings, public lewdness, and similar sexual offenses has gone up 50 percent in the last year. City police attribute this to more victims reporting crimes more than an actual increase in the crimes, but the Antiplanner is dubious about that.
I also wondered if that was more about increased reporting of lewd acts. Not sure what to think.
Another solution to overcrowding, which is to build more subways, is a non-starter, as New York construction is ridiculously expensive. The Second Avenue subway, which is now under construction, is costing $2.23 billion per mile, and New York will go bankrupt if it tries to build more than a few miles of lines at this price.
Yes, building anything in New York (especially New York City) is remarkably expensive, though the New York MTA is also building new tunnels so that some of its Long Island Railroad (LIRR) trains can run to Grand Central Terminal, effectively adding some capacity to the transit system, even though the LIRR is not a subway (in some ways it acts like a subway). That project is also way behind schedule and way, way over budget, as described in this 2015 story from the N.Y. Daily News: MTA walks back targets on East Side Access yet again, completion now not expected until 2023.
OFP2003 wrote:
But do they have a cool waterfall feature like WMATA??
http://images.greatergreaterwashington.org/images/201606/221058.jpg
IMO, WMATA is not to blame for this mishap. Blame should properly be assigned to the municipal government of the District of Columbia for not having adequate stormwater drainage capacity on the street near this entrance to the Cleveland Park station (Red Line), as properly draining away stormwater on the streets is beyond WMATA’s responsibility.
NYC is wealthier than almost anywhere else so the subway fares are ridiculously low. The fare is basically another entitlement.
One of the great water trips in the US, the Staten Island ferry, is FREE.
People in other parts of New York State, and probably in the rest of the country, are subsidizing these entitlements.
The Antiplanner spake forth:
In any case, despite the growth in ridership, the New York subways make a poor poster child for public transit, especially when combined with increased population and job densities. Transit has clear physical limits that are a lot lower than the fabled “eight lanes worth of freeway traffic,” and cities that think they can combine increased spending on transit with increased population densities are asking for trouble.
Yes, in New York City some subway lines carry the equivalent of 15-20 freeway lanes, but less capacity in other cities.
One solution to the fare issue is to raise fares to cover operating costs, but fund income-based subsidy vouchers for poor people from social service funding, not transportation funds. This is starting to happen in some places, and is long overdue.
@John1000
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone discus how upstate New York or even the rest of the country is “subsidizing” NYC bc it’s usually the other way around.
As to fares, I don’t know that the metrocard system can do time of day pricing. The replacement they’ve asked contractors to put together is supposed to be able to. Getting the politics to support it would be a different matter.
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5267e7b86bb3f77a3945272c-800-580/mta-fares-a.jpg
The fares listed here are per metrocard swipe. The lower number AP has is based on an estimated number of transfers within the fare control areas of the subway system that NYCT reports. There was an effective fare cut in the 90s when the MTA drastically expanded free transfer options, including between buses and subways. In part it was an attempt to save the bus system, buses were slowing down with worsening traffic congestion so people weren’t riding them as much. For anyone who took a bus to the subway, and anyone who started to take a bus instead of walking to a subway station, the subway system took a revenue hit of 50%.
One problem with hiking fares is that they are the same for short and long trips. Ride a bus 7 miles, transfer to the subway for the next 18, and it’s the same fare as riding a bus or subway for one mile then getting off. You can only raise this sort of flat fare so much before it gets unreasonable for short trips.
The politics can’t be waived away by saying privatize the system. Because you still need the politics to allow for privatizing of the system.
https://www.nymtc.org/Data-and-Modeling/Transportation-Data-and-Statistics/Publications/Hub-Bound-Travel
In 2014 during peak hour the three lane FDR drive carried at peak hour 6712 peak in autos, vans, taxis, and trucks, 2237 per lane. The nearby Lexington avenue express carried at peak hour 27,244 people. Just over ten times as much.
“You can only raise this sort of flat fare so much before it gets unreasonable for short trips.”
Exactly. Get the short trippers off or make ’em pay. They’re clogging the subway with their laziness. NYC is the most walkable city in the world. Walk!