Workers at 23rd Street were able to give the track bed a thorough scrubbing with no trains zooming by. (Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin)
“State of Good Repair” isn’t a term used much by the MTA these days. Half a decade ago, it was the nearly unattainable Holy Grail of the status of the city’s infrastructure. We had fancy new rolling stock, but the tracks, signals, switches, shops and stations weren’t up to par. A never-ending cycle of multi-decade investment and work was designed to bring the system into a state of good repair, but as Transit came to learn the Sisyphean nature of their quest, the phrase slowly left the MTA lexicon.
This week, New York City Transit debuted its FastTrack program. For four nights — the last of which is tonight — from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., there is no service along the East Side IRT from Grand Central to Atlantic Ave. as work crews blitz the stations along that route. In a few weeks, the West Side lines will undergo a similar experience as the authority is piloting with a potential once-a-quarter plan to spiffy up the subways.
The origins of this idea remain a bit hazy. Jay Walder had spoken of full line shut-downs as early as May of 2010, and the MTA finally unveiled the current iteration of its FastTrack plan in mid-November. At the time, the authority explained that it could save at least $10-$15 million doing this week all at once rather than piecemeal over night and during weekends.
At the time, it was kinda sorta billed as an alternative to weekend work, but that was seemingly an optimistic interpretation of the MTA’s plans. They had always maintained that weekend work would go on as planned; after all, the capital investment projects never end. But by shutting the stations for a few days, they can get much-needed repairs out of the way quicker and more efficiently than they otherwise would. “This is not a replacement for weekend work,” Transit spokesman Kevin Ortiz clarified to me earlier this week. It does though add up to more inconvenience for many over the course of the week on top of endless weekend diversions.
Overall, the the MTA says these closures impact around 10-15 percent of the 250,000 people who ride the subway each weeknight, and so far, things have gone off smoothly. While a few newspaper reporters drummed up some ill-informed and irate straphangers and Transportation Nation ran a hilariously self-aware series of photo interviews with a balance of viewpoints, riders I’ve spoken with have found it annoying but hardly Earth-shattering. As New York’s subways enjoy an abundance of redundant service, most have found easy alternate routes to connect from Manhattan to Brooklyn. One compared this work to alternate side parking: It just happens, we deal with it and it’s not a major life event.
So what exactly is the MTA doing as they inconvenience 25,000 every weeknight? According to authority’s materials, crews have inspected repaired signals and switches and have replaced third-rail defects. They have cleaned stations, repaired broken tiles and replaced light bulbs. They have cleared the tracks of litter, debris and mud. They have repaired platform edges at various stations and have installed ADA warning strips at others. These aren’t particularly sexy repairs, but station components will look and work better because of it.
Yet, I can’t help but think that we shouldn’t need to cut off all service to make these repairs. Some of the track work requires shut downs, and concentrated access to the tracks requires alternate routing. Yet, by allowing the system to deteriorate, the MTA is forced to fast track its repairs. We still have a 24-hour system, and the MTA has always faced neighborhood opposition when it has threatened to shutter stations and reroute trains during the wee hours of the night. Here we are, though, with less weekend night service for 16 weeks a year. We still won’t enjoy that state of good repair.
48 comments
It’s better that the MTA is addressing the problem(s) in some proactive manner, rather than reverting to the situation from the late 60s to the late 80s, when preventive maintenance was seen as a luxury, especially in areas outside the passengers’ view. Forty years ago, Bill Ronan’s MTA seemed to think as long as they kept painting (and repainting, and repainting) the railcars in the new agency’s corporate colors, riders would think the whole system was being properly maintained.
In a way, the Manhattan/downtown Brooklyn trunk lines are the easy part, because there is so much redundancy and non-rush hour excess capacity. You can do the work and reroute people where it’s only a minor inconvenience. The bigger hassles will be if and when the MTA institutes the same sort of shutdowns on some of the outer borough lines, where there is no nearby alternative route.
Right. The alternative is deferred maintenance. Actually, we will have deferred maintenance, and the alternative is even more deferred maintenance.
There was an article here on the lower real cost of the fare. Then there are the debts, and the penison enhancements, and the fact that most people are getting poorer relative to transit workers and Wall Streeters, with the Wall Streeters perhaps beginning to get their comeuppance themselves.
Bottom line — NYC cannot afford the transit service it once provided. And it cannot afford the replacement bus service. People will just have to deal with it. Anyplace else, the whole system shuts down and “Night Owl” bus service is provided.
Do you think we have more deferred maintenance now than we did in 1972? I really don’t have a yes or no answer for that, except that the leaders of the MTA 40 years ago seemed to think they could get away with deferred maintenance if they just maintained the proper cosmetic touches. Their partial undoing was the agency’s inability to cope with the graffiti artists of the day, which negated the Potemkin Village of the repainted subway cars almost from the moment they hit the tracks.
Today’s MTA leadership (or at least Walder; the jury’s out of Lhota for now) seems to better comprehend the need for preventive maintenance. The problem seems to be 1-2 levels up with the legislators and the governor’s office and their fund allocations decisions. Ronan may have known that as well, but as Rocky’s friend, said nothing close to the statements Walder’s made about the lack of support from Albany (though Bill’s focus always seemed to be more about aesthetics — his vending machine ban was the proper move, but like the railcar paint offensive, seemed more about addressing the image the public could see than the infrastructure it couldn’t).
“Do you think we have more deferred maintenance now than we did in 1972?”
No, they have virtually no deferred maintenance now.
The biggest problem is that they are behind on ongoing normal replacement of the signal system, which means that some parts of it are so old they are getting near impossible to keep fixed. And some of the stations are way overdue, though that mostly affects aesthetics rather than transportation.
The deferred maintenance is just getting started. It isn’t 1972. It’s 1958.
“Bill’s focus always seemed to be more about aesthetics — his vending machine ban was the proper move, but like the railcar paint offensive, seemed more about addressing the image the public could see than the infrastructure it couldn’t”
Exactly what I fear.
the 1970s were a decade before my time. Why were the vending machines removed? Were they located on the platforms and mezzanines? Was vandalism the main reason? Vending machines, especially the newest tech ones out today seem like an easy way to boost coffers since most stations don’t have newsstands.
Aside from my pet peeve — the paper soda cups that always seemed to come out sideways just before the flow of syrup and seltzer arrived to pour over it — Ronan’s main complaint about the vending machines (which included mini gum and candy bar machines strapped to the station support columns) was the discarded wrappers, cups and used gum they left behind.
It was the leftover trash that caused him to trash the vending machines, for the same general reason he was obsessed with giving every rail car that ‘clean’ MTA silver-and-blue paint job (ignoring the gawdawful green-and-gray interiors). The problem was the graffiti artists deflowered his pristine rail cars without hours of them leaving the yard, and the lack of focus on the non-visible infrastructure eventually led to the near collapse of the system after Ronan left the agency.
Interesting. Would the (vending machines) be viable today since; 1.) Litter is already everywhere in the system thanks to slobs and the free dailies that are handed out (2) the machines of today are far more sophisticated and can offer a variety of different things that may not be offered at the few newsstands available (think new cellphone charging machines for example).
Sorry to threadjack, just curious.
I wonder if any of the (at least middle-aged) people here can remember the one-cent gum machines attached to the poles on the platforms? I even remember the choices: Dentyne, California Fruit, and more than one variey of Chiclets. And what was smaller in SIZE than that penny you needed? The 15-cent token of those times, with the cut-out “Y” in “NYC”.
I remember when the nickle candy machines stopped selling Hershey’s and started selling some generic mini-chocolate bar, and they pasted the word “Delicious” over the word “Hershey’s” on the front of the machine (hey, maybe that’s why Ronan demanded the machines be removed from the subway a year or two later…)
The MTA would probably still be concerned about the packaging, though if that could be cut down to a bare minimum it could be an income stream. However, like the coin boxes for the pay phones, you’d have the threat of vandalism unless the vending machines were set up only to accept credit/debt cards (the older machines were subject to vandalism, but if you busted out a penny gum dispenser, you got … pennies. And maybe some Wrigleys or those two Chicklet boxes. Breaking a vending machine that accepts $1s-$5s-$10s-$20s would be more alluring to the modern vandal class).
Ben wrote: Yet, I can’t help but think that we shouldn’t need to cut off all service to make these repairs.
Isn’t he kinda missing the point? Obviously, the MTA doesn’t need to shut down the line to make these repairs, since they’re the kinds of repairs it always made…somehow. It’s just a lot more efficient this way.
I didn’t make my point clearly enough. I understand that it’s about efficiency, and I defended the program on those grounds in November. But the MTA is also about providing service, and it has engaged in a pattern of shirking on its responsibilities over the last few years. A lot of that is money-driven, but at a certain, the authority has to find a way to provide an adequate level of service.
I still support FastTrack, but I see why some people are quite skeptical of it.
I actually agree with this, though I was personally inconvenienced one night. The 10 PM shutdown time is a little early, but you need that to get the trains running again at 5 AM, which is more important because you have a higher number of people who absolutely need to get to work early in the morning than late at night.
That said, I would prefer Walder’s earlier idea of a complete shutdown of a line for consecutive weeks. Its more efficient to start a project and to work continuously until completion than starting it, working, shutting it off, starting it again, working, etc. And for PR purposes, at least by the end of the first day of the shutdown everyone would know that X line has been shutdown and they have to make alternate transit plans (which granted, for alot of people, will be “stay at home”, or in the outer boroughs, “buy a car”). And there will be more pressure on the transit workers to get the project completed and more visibility, which are bonuses. Plus this has been done in other cities, so we can look at their experiences and see what we are getting into.
It strikes me that the weeknight shutdown’s are a watered down version of Walder’s concept.
Every time the mta shuts a line down, they should be providing a GOOD replacement bus service. I know they often provide shuttle bus service, but it’s never effective. For example, I remember when they would shut the L train down, they would have a buds that just connected you to the J at marcy and then you were supposed to catch the M14 at essex. Why not take the opportunity to do something useful? If the 456 is not running, why not have an express bus that runs on the fdr and brooklyn bridge from grand central to borough hall and atlantic-pacific with no other stops? Sure you could find your way to the N or R trains, but it would be nice to see the mta provide something both useful and convenient when it inconveniences people. It would be combined with a local bus for people traveling to the closed stops in manhattan.
Except for along the East Side — and even then only from 42nd south a few blocks — I don’t really see the need to provide a shuttle bus. The N/R/Q are generally a block away from the East Side IRT, and the West Side trains are all just as close together.
The M101 rips down Lex like a banshee most of the time.
Bklyn Br might be a tight fit for buses. 11′ height restriction is in place.
Buses are very costly. When there are subway alternatives, there’s no reason to run a bus, especially if the subway is faster.
Aside from running on roads that don’t allow buses, your proposed bus would only help people traveling from one end of the shutdown to the other. You’d be paying a lot of bus drivers to carry a very small number of riders a long distance. What’s the point when the subway will already take them where they’re going?
A case could be made for a shuttle bus between Grand Central and Union square, since the local stops in between aren’t served well by the BMT. But even there, the existing Lexington Avenue bus runs overnight, with probably more frequent service than on any other bus corridor.
By the way, during L shutdowns, most people don’t catch the M14 at Essex. Most people stay on the M into Midtown. The only reason to transfer to the M14 at Essex is to get to the two L stops east of Union Square.
The last night of Fastrack was Thursday for the 4/5/6, not tonight (Friday) as posted in this article.
Anyone who rides the Lex line daily knows that the repairs they did during the closure had to be done because they were not being done during regular maintenance. Some might argue that this is typical work that gets done throughout the year, but let’s face it…it wasn’t, and some of it couldn’t be done due to complete inefficiency and safety issues.
The Fastrack program makes complete sense to me and ends up with less disruption over the long term.
Just FYI: It was “tonight” at the time I wrote this post last night.
OK. I was confused since it says January 13th. Glad to see someone else stays up too late like I do!
TO BEN (or anybody else who might know): Somewhat off-topic, but I wanted to put this where it will be seen. What is happening with the Bleecker St./B’way-Lafayette project? Is it still scheduled to open this month, as announced a few months ago?
I doubt it will open this month. I would guess that it will take at least another 2-3 months, and maybe longer, before they open the connection, assuming they keep working at the clip at which things have been going. I passed through the station today, and they are making steady progress, but there is still a lot of heavy construction underway. They are just about to finish covering over the hole in the ground at the northeast corner of Houston and Lafayette where the unused IND mezzanine will connect with the new, extended uptown IRT platform. But they’ve just dug a new opening in the middle of Houston St. down to the mezzanine level. And the area where the new elevator to the street at the northwest corner of Houston and Lafayette meets the mezzanine is closed off, with the sound of jackhammers reverberating behind the blue fences.
By the way, the IRT roadbed at Bleecker was noticeably cleaner, and there was a distinct smell of fresh paint. I guess it was part of FastTrack as well.
OK, thanks for answering. Notice how, with the MTA, even the smallest of projects drag on and on. Another example like that is the new entrance to Grand Central on 47th St. between Park and Lexington. Wasn’t it originally supposed to be finished in mid-2011?
Yes, it was supposed to open in September. Ben had a post about the delay a couple months ago. Supposedly they needed to make security-related changes to the entrance (I’m not sure what that means). The new opening date is “first quarter of 2012.”
It looks like they are replacing signs along the platforms as well during these shutdowns. At least at 14th St, those old, yellowed, patched up signs have been replaced with brand new ones.
This is something that can be done quicker and safer in a train-free environment, I assume.
24/7 Service, Maintenance, and Worker Safety
You can only have two
Copenhagen has all three.
Is the 24/7 something new for Copenhagen? I know that at one time, the big difference between the New York subway and European subways was the 24-hour operation.
Copenhagen’s subway only opened in 2002 and went 24/7 in 2009, and single-tracks at night using its automated train running.
And yet, every time I suggest something like “The MTA should install switches at such points as to allow single-tracking at night,” I’m told by the people who barely know what continent Copenhagen is in that it’s impossible. For all I know, it might be e.g. based on tunnel clearances, but would it kill the MTA to send a representative to Copenhagen to inspect its maintenance practices?
You don’t understand. New York doesn’t have the same labor shortage Copenhagen has, so we don’t need automated train running. In fact, we have enough workers to make it possible to staff each train with two people. Automation would cost billions of dollars and just be redundant.
First, I’m not saying that New York should go driverless, just that it should use centralized traffic control and strategically installed switches to single-track at night. Not all driverless systems operate 24/7: Vancouver doesn’t, Paris’s M14 doesn’t, Singapore’s Northeast and Circle Lines don’t.
Second, Denmark doesn’t have a labor shortage. Its unemployment rate, broadly, is about the same as that of the US. When the metro was being built it was a bit higher, but that’s because the US was at the peak of the business cycle whereas Denmark’s peak was a bit later.
Anyway, labor shortage or not, in first-world cities, labor is expensive. Even when there’s high unemployment, labor is expensive; that’s wage stickiness.
That said, full automation of a brownfield system is much more difficult than building a greenfield line to be driverless.
My response was intended to be facetious.
How much do you think it would cost to install new crossovers between tracks? (Hint: There are probably structural columns in the way right now. And don’t forget the signal system upgrades to allow safe use of the new crossovers and to allow trains to wrong-rail.)
And how much do you think it would cost to install a new centralized traffic control system on the B Division? (Hint: Compare to ATS-A.)
Second Avenue and the 7 extension are being designed to allow single-tracking at night. Retrofitting existing lines is a lot harder.
By the way, Copenhagen doesn’t have decades of deferred maintenance to catch up on, including safety-critical components (signals) dating back to the 1920’s and 30’s. Maintenance in Copenhagen and maintenance in New York are entirely different animals.
I don’t have any complaints, but I am curious: why wasn’t this done on a weekend? No Lex from Friday night to sometime Sunday seems about as disruptive for riders (okay, maybe a bit more), but it should allow them to blitz even more – to the point where, I’m making an uneducated guess, they could save about half a shift of setup time to do even more work or finish sooner.
You’re talking about a ten-fold increase in the number of people inconvenienced. Weekend ridership, even with constant service changes, is far higher than overnight weeknight ridership.
Ben, do you know the answer to MY question (the B’way-Lafayette project)?
It’s something they could consider as a test when time comes for work on the Sixth or Eighth Avenue lines. Those are the two lines you could close in the Midtown area with the least amount of rerouting problems on weekends, due to the junctions at 59th, West Fourth and Jay Street, and the dual connections to the 53rd Street tunnel (the only problem would be 63rd Street routing if Sixth Avenue was closed, and you could either add that tunnel to the full weekend closure project or swap E and F trains and route the 63rd Street E via Broadway to Whitehall).
This is despicable. These are nothing but Cuomo service cuts disguised as repairs.
And while I recognize that we shouldn’t take 24-hour subway service for granted, 10 pm is way too early to be shutting down a subway system on a weeknight. Why can’t it be midnight or 1 am like the systems in most other major cities?
Because that only leaves a few hours to get maintenance work done until rush hour (especially from outside Manhattan).
10:00 PM is after pretty much everyone has finished work and gone home and gives enough time to close service down, start the maintenance, and then get things into position for normal service to resume around 5/5:30 without undoing the results of said maintenance.
10 pm is ungodly early to close a subway. Major systems around the world close around 1, giving 4 or 5 hours of shutdown per night. A few close at midnight. I know one that closes at 10:30, Shanghai, and that’s a major source of complaints.
Considering that this is a once-a-year 4-days-only thing, 10 PM is just fine.
Once a year? I thought the plan was to do this on a quarterly basis.
On different lines.
No, four different lines, each four weeks per year.
Still, I’d rather lose service on my line at 10 for 4 weeks than at midnight or 1 for 52.
This has nothing to do with Cuomo.
Clearly this is “prior” management trying to get their last hoorah in before Lhota gets rid of the whole lot of them.
Remember the line general manager program where each gm would run his own little railroad. Well they tried to railroad that idea in before the change of the guard.
JMHO