Straphangers Group: 6 is Top Ride, While W Is Rated the Worst

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The New York Sun

Maybe J. Lo was onto something when she titled her album “On the 6.”

For the third year straight, a rider advocacy group has labeled the Bronx superstar’s favorite subway line the cleanest and most dependable.

As in 2005, the N line again has a prominent place on the list: With the W line, it was rated the worst.

“Who knew ‘W’ stood for worst?” the senior staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, the group that commissioned the survey, Gene Russianoff, said.

The ninth State of the Subway report said the N and W line trains were sporadically scheduled and were less than reliable. When they did arrive, the report says, announcements tended to be inaudible and seats were less available than on the average line.

Mr. Russianoff attributed some of the accolades he showered on the no. 6 to the R142 subway cars, explaining that the newer cars tend to require less service and that the announcements, recorded by professional voice artists, tend to be considerably more audible.

The R142s apparently helped fuel an improvement in the car fleet breakdown rate: they went an average of about 21,000 more miles than last year without a breakdown.

In addition, the report found:

• The no. 7 is the filthiest, the no. 2 and the C the cleanest.

• Riders are most likely to get a seat on the V and to stand on the 5.

• Announcements are most audible on the 2, 5, and 6, and least on the J and Z.

Hours after the report cards were released, MTA New York City Transit skewered the grades as “flawed,” “misleading,” and “hardly a helpful tool.” The MTA said in the same statement that the survey “demonstrates a fundamental inability to understand how the New York City subway system actually operates.”

Mr. Russianoff, who called his findings a “mixed picture” for the subways, responded that the report is based solely on the agency’s own data from the second half of 2005.

The survey’s scores, expressed as percentiles, are scaled to be a fraction of a regular MetroCard fare. They’re based on weighted performance standards, ranging from dependability to comfort to the amount of service on the 22 lines, excluding shuttles. The survey said the no. 6 is worth $1.40; the N and W lines, 75 cents.


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