As you may have noticed, subway fares rose from $2.50 to $2.75 per ride on Sunday, which is still a bargain considering how much time we get to crochet during our lengthy commutes. But if you're thinking, "Man, it seems like subway service has gotten shittier and now I'm paying more for it?" you are not wrong. Subway riders have been enduring more delays and more crowded conditions, according to the latest report from the MTA.
26% of trains arrived at their final destinations late on weekdays in 2014, on average, compared to 19% arriving late in 2013. (The MTA defines a train as "on time" as long as it arrives less than five minutes late—or less than five minutes early—so it's technically possibly some of these trains were actually ahead of schedule LOL.) The most-delayed subway line was the 5 train, which was on time just 43% of the time in 2014. The line with the best on time performance (other than the S shuttle lines) in 2014 was the L, which still struggles with overcrowding issues.
Overcrowding remains the biggest source of delays by far, but the MTA says you can't really blame them for being so darn popular. "We are seeing a system that is bursting at the seams in terms of increased ridership," one MTA spokesman told the Times last week. MTA officials blame the increase in delays to ongoing repairs resulting from Hurricane Sandy and tighter track inspections, among other things, like the miserable weather.
To be clear: this latest fare hike won't do anything to make more trains run on time. The MTA is highly subsidized—subway fares only amount to 40% of the system's operating budget, and the MTA's proposed 2015-2019 capital plan features a $15 billion budget gap. Yet this plan, which must be approved at the state level, has been called "bloated" by Governor Cuomo. (The MTA's debt is also bigger than many nations.)
You can read the MTA's full report on its own inadequacies here. And if you're looking for something to do while you wait for the 5 train, consider writing a tortured memoir about your commute and sharing it with the Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group. They've collected over 400 sob stories since they put out the request last week, according to City Room.
The mood on the Fulton Street A/C platform this morning was predictably grim. Asked how she felt about the fare hike, Taina Arroyo spoke for everyone when she told us, "Well, first of all it sucks. They raised the prices. A lot of people are only making $8.75 an hour... Some people have two or three kids. I have a kid. Pampers and wipes, those cost way more. And the service completely sucks. The A line sucks, the F line sucks, the 7 line definitely sucks."
If you find any of this frustrating, tell your state representatives and Governor Cuomo to stop robbing the MTA of badly needed funding and figure out a way to come up with more cash for a 21st Century subway system.
Reporting by Maud Rozee.
