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Having ridden most major US and European subway systems, I've long maintained the fact that NYC's 24 hour service, combined with flat-rate fares make it the best system in the world. Now, time has caught up with the MTA, and the system isn't reliable at all. Delayed maintenance plays a big role in the system's decline.
A recent trip to Asia showed me just how clean and reliable a subway system can be with a 4-5 hour maintenance window every night.
Now, I don't live in NY any more, so I don't really have a horse in this race. I also understand that late night subway service isn't all about nightlife. NY is a 24hr city, and some people's daily commutes happen in the wee hours. That said, I think the city could really benefit by increasing night busses and ending 24 hour train service.
Yes, absolutely. At least for Sunday-Thursday evenings unless there is a special event. On the other nights from something like 1:30 am to 4:30 am, it makes more sense to run buses that get signal priority.
People have to go to and from work at all hours and buses wouldn't cut it at all. When I first started working for transit I sometimes would get off work at 12 at night and depending on where I was it could take me 2 hours to get home with the subway and ferry. Without the subway who knows how long it would have taken me. Many people have jobs that require they travel in the off hours. Not everyone works 9 to 5.
People have to go to and from work at all hours and buses wouldn't cut it at all. When I first started working for transit I sometimes would get off work at 12 at night and depending on where I was it could take me 2 hours to get home with the subway and ferry. Without the subway who knows how long it would have taken me. Many people have jobs that require they travel in the off hours. Not everyone works 9 to 5.
Night buses seem to work in London, Tokyo and Seoul.
A recent trip to Asia showed me just how clean and reliable a subway system can be with a 4-5 hour maintenance window every night.
The problem is that even if there is a maintenance window, the system wouldn't even come close to the standards of Asian metros. Heck, even the stations that are rebuild from ground up already look bad by world standards even before they are open to the public... A lot of underground stations don't have proper ceilings, instead we see leaking metal pipes and mold, naked steel beams, etc. I wouldn't even go into stuff like outdated signaling that is causing train delays, no complete coverage of countdown clocks for trains, most stations are not handicap accessible, a lot of stations do not have proper clearances/platform space between the platform and the train, no platform screen doors to prevent people from falling onto the tracks/prevent litter from falling onto the tracks, no proper ventilation/lighting/air conditioning, etc etc etc. Any upgrades costing 10 times more and for some reason require 2x more workers to do the job. 4 hour maintenance windows wouldn't fix those problems.
The problem is that even if there is a maintenance window, the system wouldn't even come close to the standards of Asian metros. Heck, even the stations that are rebuild from ground up already look bad by world standards even before they are open to the public... A lot of underground stations don't have proper ceilings, instead we see leaking metal pipes and mold, naked steel beams, etc. I wouldn't even go into stuff like outdated signaling that is causing train delays, no complete coverage of countdown clocks for trains, most stations are not handicap accessible, a lot of stations do not have proper clearances/platform space between the platform and the train, no platform screen doors to prevent people from falling onto the tracks/prevent litter from falling onto the tracks, no proper ventilation/lighting/air conditioning, etc etc etc. Any upgrades costing 10 times more and for some reason require 2x more workers to do the job. 4 hour maintenance windows wouldn't fix those problems.
They would in conjunction with reforming the procurement and contracting processes. It would if contractors were held liable for delays, including being denied the right to bid for future MTA projects.
Having ridden most major US and European subway systems, I've long maintained the fact that NYC's 24 hour service, combined with flat-rate fares make it the best system in the world. Now, time has caught up with the MTA, and the system isn't reliable at all. Delayed maintenance plays a big role in the system's decline.
A recent trip to Asia showed me just how clean and reliable a subway system can be with a 4-5 hour maintenance window every night.
Now, I don't live in NY any more, so I don't really have a horse in this race. I also understand that late night subway service isn't all about nightlife. NY is a 24hr city, and some people's daily commutes happen in the wee hours. That said, I think the city could really benefit by increasing night busses and ending 24 hour train service.
I agree for a 4 hour subway shutdown on certain days that allows cleaning. Cleaning from 2-6 am at least.
Cleaner subways? If certain riders didn't act like animals, this would be far less of an issue.
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