* Return the 1 train to express service along the West Side and into Brooklyn and make the 3 train local in those places
* Close very closely spaced stations–do we really need stations at 18th St and 28th St when we have them at 14th, 23rd, and 34th? How about 103rd, 116th, and 163rd St? Alon Levy’s idea of using 15 block spacing is an even more radical approach, which might work well outside of the CBD and, one hopes, speed up service while decreasing costs (fewer stations to maintain).
* Make Columbus Circle an IRT express stop
* Create an uptown connection between the Lexington Avenue lines and the west side lines (travel between Inwood and the UES by subway is currently a real drag, generally involving a trip along the west side and a hike across Central Park)

“From what I’ve seen on the line, most people take the first train that comes and transfer at 59th St. if necessary, where there’s a lot more service available (A and D and 1). Some might even stay on the train the whole way – it’s not like 6th and 7th and 8th Avenues are miles apart.”

My point is that local passengers aren’t tied to only the B or only the C. They’ll take whichever one comes first, and if it’s not the one they want, they’ll get off at Columbus Circle, where the A and D and 1 are also available. Those people count for much of the transfer flow at Columbus Circle.

As for the people who will take either line and not transfer, I’m not thinking so much of people who work on 6th or 8th themselves – I’m thinking more of people who work in between, around 7th, for whom the two lines are basically equidistant, and it’s probably not worth getting off and waiting for the 1 to save a one-block walk. For people going to 23rd and 14th, the breaking point would be even further east, since the B and D don’t serve those stops directly; somebody who arrives at Columbus Circle on a C is still two transfers away from the appropriate 6th Ave. station.

Coming back the other way, of course you have to pick a trunk line first. But, again, if the A or D comes first, people take that to 59th St. and wait there for the local, which at that point runs every 5 minutes.

Seats may be a bit harder to come by, but I don’t think most local passengers mind standing for a few stops.

The only people who would wait specifically for the C along CPW are those going to 50th St. and I suppose to local stops in Brooklyn.

The B and C combined run about every 5 minutes, and the trains are larger than on the 1.

And Central Park West only draws people from the west; Broadway draws people from the west and east. So one would expect ridership to be higher on Broadway, especially near express stops (which serve as even more of a draw).