BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

More Reductions Proposed in Subway and Bus Service


By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: June 20, 2010 The New York Times


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is preparing additional service changes for the fall and winter, including trims to rush-hour service on several popular buses and the No. 7 train, even as New Yorkers are bracing for the loss of two subway lines and dozens of bus routes in less than a week.

The proposed changes, which must be approved on Wednesday by the authority’s board, would be far less severe than the cuts scheduled to take effect on Sunday. But they would reduce service on dozens of bus routes and increase commuting time for riders on the No. 7 line.

The plans, which appeared in documents on the authority’s Web site over the weekend, are described by transit officials as routine adjustments to account for trends in ridership, which has sagged in the weak economy. And on some bus routes, service will actually increase.

But the proposals, which are projected to save $3.7 million a year, come as the authority steps up its attempts to close a $400 million budget gap.

With state legislators unwilling to commit more money to transportation — and tax revenue continuing to fall short of projections — the authority will be forced to consider more stringent cost-cutting measures as it prepares a budget to be presented in July.

“This is just the beginning,” said John H. Banks III, a member of the authority’s board since 2004. “Unless there is a dramatic change in what is anticipated from Albany and the city — which I don’t expect — we’re in for a bumpy ride, no pun intended.”

Starting in December, the authority plans to remove four early-morning express trains from the No. 7 line, which runs between Queens and Midtown Manhattan. Express service would start at 6:20 a.m. instead of 5:30 a.m.

A local train would be added for riders during that time slot under the plan, and two additional local trains would run between 9 and 10 a.m.

The bus changes would take effect in September on 38 routes. About two-thirds of the changes are reductions. Among the routes where buses would run slightly less frequently are the M1 and M4 in Manhattan.

To close its budget gap, the authority has renegotiated contracts, revised obsolete work practices and announced plans to lay off thousands of transit workers throughout the system.

Subway riders may already be feeling the effects. A survey by the Straphangers Campaign, to be released on Monday, found that half the city’s subway lines were dirtier in 2009 than the year before.

Of 2,200 subway cars examined by the riders’ group, half were deemed unclean, a category that ranged from a “dingy floor” to “heavy dirt,” “malodorous conditions” and “sticky wet spots.”

The M train, which is about to replace the V train in Manhattan and Queens, was found to be the system’s dirtiest: only a third of its cars were determined to be clean. The C and No. 6 trains tied for the top spot as cleanest.

Transit officials acknowledged the troubles. “Some subway car floors may not be as clean as our customers expect or deserve,” a spokesman for New York City Transit, Paul J. Fleuranges, said in a statement. “We will monitor conditions and shift forces as necessary.”

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York