What’s Wrong with New York’s Subways?
PLENTY! That is the answer you will get from vast multitudes who regularly have to ride New York city’s subway system. Those who do not ordinarily have to travel by subway are hardly authorities on the subject. One has to belong to the subway-commuter class, people who have no alternative, who experience daily the degrading crush at peak periods, in order to be able to speak realistically about the matter.
To be more specific about subway conditions, the commuter can point to a number of glaring faults: the many dirty platforms and stations; lack of modern lighting in many places; many run-down trains that in almost any other city having subways would probably long since have been junked out of shame; deafening noise and bone-rattling jerks; delays resulting from reduced maintenance. And then, always lurking in the mind of the subway rider, the suspicion that overhead costs are far out of line for some unknown reason.
The mood of commuters darkens. Frequently there are complaints of “standing tightly packed in crowded cars—anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour while trains are stalled or doors refuse to close, as power fails or switches get stuck.”
Are They Unavoidable?
Can it be said in all honesty that these hazards and discomforts of subway travel are unavoidable? Surely not when one learns that Mexico City, with its more limited resources, enjoys a new subway system that is practically noiseless, impeccably clean and pleasant, swift, and, above all, economical. As Mexicans wait a few moments for a train in one of their distinctively decorated stations, listening to soft music, New Yorkers wait much longer in some dimly lit station where better lighting would only serve to accentuate the dirt.
As New Yorkers shove and jostle their way up and down the approaches to subway stations, Mexicans enjoy the blessing of one-way traffic, for their exits and entrances are entirely separate. Often in New York one experiences the frustration of delay due to people who come rushing to the platform at the last second and hold the doors open for their friends who are trailing behind them. In Mexico City this is not possible. As soon as the train begins to enter the station, gates close off the platform so that only those already on the platform may board. The train stop is only seventeen seconds.
Then, as to the conditions of trains and stations, it is apparent that much more could be done in the field of cleaning and maintenance. When did you last notice a platform or station getting a good scrubbing down? You may see some litter picked up, but what about the accumulated grime of the years? Is it that many employees are not particularly conscientious about their work? Or is it that there are not enough workers available for cleaning?
When it comes to cleanliness the question must also be raised: What about the public? Are they cooperating with their subway system to keep it clean? Wrappers and papers of all kinds are often thrown onto the tracks or on platforms by littering passengers. Thirty tons of litter are hauled out of New York’s subways every day!
The bid for good relations with the traveling public by Mexico City’s transit authorities points up the fact that in New York subway circles there is a lack of something, call it what you will, imagination, vision, pride or a positive attitude. Can riders be blamed for concluding that nobody cares? Once that idea becomes general, litter and dirt and vandalism are sure to increase.
In Mexico, at least two cleaners are on the job at each station. Vandalism is not tolerated. Guards at all stations stand ready to counsel and correct carelessness or abuses. Instead of advertising in stations, the Mexican authorities display panoramic photographs, underlining progress throughout their land. Each subway station is named for some historic event or personality, somehow connected with the location. That theme is maintained throughout the station’s decor.
And what about the noise? New York’s subways admittedly are noisy, but things could be different. In Mexico trains move along noiselessly. How is this accomplished? By the train’s having rubber tires, each tire with a steel wheel that can be used if the tire loses its pressure.
Another View of Some Problems
If you ask Transit Authority officials what is wrong with the subway, what do they say? As the New York Times reported, a number of them think that the problem “is not in terms of inefficiency or negligence but of inexperience. They trace the difficulties . . . to a provision in the 1968 Transport Workers’ Union contract covering retirement and pensions.” This contract permits employees to retire at half pay after twenty years of service.
Thousands of employees have taken advantage of this retirement provision, and those that replace them, of course, lack experience. According to one supervisor in the Transit Authority’s repair program, out of his own 4,000-man department, 1,400 trained workers retired last year. He also noted that out of 326 supervisors, 270 have left and been replaced in the past fifteen months. “That kind of thing,” he stresses, “has got to take its toll.” But is that the real problem? In Mexico City all the subway employees are new on the job.
Some officials, however, see bright developments, such as a budget increase enabling more men to work on repair of cars. Also a new computerized system is scheduled to keep track of every piece of equipment and simplify the inspection and overhaul of cars. Also a new procedure now permits the speedy hiring of new workers. Yet can such developments remedy what is wrong?
“Cliff-Hanger” Decisions
Every other year the contract between workers and management of New York’s subway system expires and gives rise to a “cliff-hanger” decision, with a strike as the alternative. “Cliff-hanger” aptly describes those dramatic last-minute negotiations by which union representatives hope to gain their demands and transit representatives hope to block them. But multitudes are puzzled.
As one letter to the editor of the New York Times put it: “In the name of common sense, cannot these negotiations be held far enough in advance of a deadline to assure a settlement in good time?” Surely it is not reasonable that any group of citizens, be they union workers or management, should be free to hold a gun at John Public’s head and enforce agreement with their demands! To many persons the chaos and inconveniences that attended the latest fare increase are unjustifiable.
The Fare Issue
It is true that New York has a very old transit system. Work on its first subway began back in 1900. It is also the world’s largest underground system, having some 7,000 cars and 271 route miles, and having the advantage of express and local trains. Also a number of new air-conditioned cars have recently been placed in service, with promise of more. Nonetheless, the passengers that cram its rush-hour trains feel justified in wondering why, with so many customers, the system is not paying its own way.
Yes, and that recent 50-percent rise in the fare has left multitudes of the commuting public with a feeling of outrage. As Comptroller Beame recently said: “It is obvious that the increase in fare is hurting those least able to pay.” Other public figures, including some intimately connected with the whole subway tangle, have spoken out against the increase.
Politicians profess to be concerned about inflation and the wage spiral. Well, there could hardly have been a broader base provided for higher wage demands than this increased cost of city travel. City merchants score the increase, and expect some diminution in business.
In Mexico City the single fare works out at about 10 cents. New York—30 cents. It is true that the wage scale varies from country to country, but is it not in the interest of an urban government to grant to all citizens equal access to its markets, to all of its facilities?
Unanswered Questions
Thus the one question, What is wrong with New York’s subways? raises a multitude of other questions, questions to which there may be no answer under the present system of things. People are wondering about the relative advantages of public and private ownership of such utilities. Others feel that the subway system has come to be a political football, kicked around for purely partisan interests.
Perhaps there is no way of arresting the rise in subway travel cost, even the 100-percent rise since 1965. But is there any expectation that the quality of the service will improve proportionately? Nobody is offering much hope along this line. The statisticians claim that the average wage earner will pay an extra $50 a year as a result of this fare boost. Yet, according to one officer of the Transit Authority, no improvement in service and atmosphere may be expected soon. “There’s no way of fixing this overnight,” he said. “It may be next year or even later before this is straightened out.” By that time higher wage demands may have forced another increase in the fare.
It is quite evident that the complex subway situation is no recent development. State and city officials have inherited a vast problem. Its roots reach back into previous decades. What’s wrong with New York’s subways, it is evident, will not soon be righted.