Subway Delays Increase as MTA Mulls Fare Hike
Subway delays have increased significantly system-wide this year, according to a new report released just as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board is mulling a proposal to hike fares for the second time in two years.
In a monthly operations report presented at the MTA board's transit committee meeting yesterday, the agency's president, Howard Roberts, said the number of subway delays so far in 2008 has increased by more than 24% as compared with last year's statistics.
The morning rush hour on the numbered subway lines that primarily serve Manhattan saw the biggest rise in delays — more than 10%. Mr. Roberts attributed much of the problems to increased ridership, customers holding doors, and track work.
An MTA board member, Andrew Albert, said blaming customers was unreasonable, citing the consistent on-time performance of commuter railroads that have seen similar increases in ridership.
"It just seems to be a management issue because this decrease in on-time performance is astonishingly bad," Mr. Albert said in response to the report's findings.
Mr. Roberts said the agency is considering a plan that would have selected trains skip stops on the most overcrowded lines, to get them running more closely on schedule.
In addition, the report said trains are breaking down more frequently. The average mileage between breakdowns of city subway cars dropped dramatically, to every 133,825 miles in May, from every 177,850 miles in May 2007. Mr. Roberts blamed that result on poor decision-making in the repair process.
The board's finance committee voted unanimously in favor of a proposal to defer $2.7 billion in current capital program improvements that would have included 19 station renovations and the modernization of signal and repair facilities.
The Capital Program Review Board still must approve the amended 2005-09 capital program.
The MTA plans to unveil its 2009 preliminary budget, which could include a second fare hike in as many years, tomorrow morning.
