The subways, the Straphangers Campaign would like you to know, are not that clean. While the number shows improvement, only 50 percent of all subway cars are clean, according to the advocacy group’s 2007 Subway Smutz survey. The MTA, meanwhile, counters that 87 percent of all subway cars are clean. Who do you believe?

To assess the cleanliness of subway cars, Straphangers trained 45 people to survey 100 subway cars on each of the 22 subway lines. They used a similar scale to the one employed internally by the MTA, but as the MTA notes, the Straphangers perform their surveys during the a.m. and p.m. rush hours as well as evenings, overnights and weekends while the MTA conducts its surveys between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. The MTA would have us believe that subway cars are a lot messier during those overnight and weekend time periods.

According to the Straphangers’ findings, the L and 7, the two pilot lines for the line manager program were the cleanest, clocking in with cleanliness levels of 88 percent and 78 percent, respectively. The E and the Q with 29 percent of their cars rated as clean tied for last. A full table complete with comparisons between now and the most recent survey from 2005 is available on the Straphangers’ website.

The campaign used the survey results to urge the MTA to implement the following procedures:

• Devote more resources to cleaning subway cars, as they are now applying to station and track cleaning.
• Produce more detailed and timely information on cleanliness. The MTA does not publish the results of its cleanliness ratings by line, even though it maintains such information internally.
• Post the results of its surveys where riders can see them.

In defense of their rolling stock, the MTA noted the discrepancies between the Straphangers’ numbers and their internal surveys. Using New York City Transit’s Passenger Environment Survey, the MTA noted a few key differences:

As examples of contradictions in survey results, the E train continues to be the Straphangers’ worst performing line (29%), while the L train is their best performing line (88%). In contrast, the M train is the worst performing PES line (70%) while the 3 train is the best performing line (97%). Although the Straphangers use the same standards as PES, the overall results demonstrate that these indicators are not comparable, given that the PES result was 87% versus 50% for the Straphangers.

The agency also promoted the seemingly positive effects of the line manager program. “We are pleased to note that the Straphangers Campaign has recognized our efforts along the 7 and L, the two lines that have been the focus of a shift in management philosophy that places a high priority on the customer concerns of cleanliness by making certain that cars are cleaned at both terminals,” the agency’s press release said.

In my view, subway cars are, by and large, dingy but clean enough. The 3 train and the E I find to be the dirtiest, but otherwise, for the most part, I can’t complain. Outside of shutting down the system entirely, and cleaning everything at once, the MTA has managed to keep its train cars relatively clean. The stations are another matter entirely.

When speaking about the best subway line in the city, it’s all relative. Which line arrives generally on time, is fairly clean and features mostly audible announcements?

The winner this year, according to the Straphangers Campaign newest State of the Subways Report Cardin the race to mediocrity is the 1 train. The worst trains are the C and W, a fact to which anyone who ever tries to take either of those trains can attest. Here’s what the report had to say:

• The best subway line in the city is the 1 for the first time since we began these rankings, with a “MetroCard Rating” of $1.25. The previous top-rated line – the 6 – dropped to a third-place tie. The 1 ranked highest because it performs above average on four of six measures: frequently scheduled service, arriving with more regularity, fewer dirty cars, and better announcements. The line did not get a higher rating because it performed below average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hours, and delays caused by mechanical breakdowns…
• The C and W were ranked the worst subway lines, with a MetroCard Rating of 65 cents. The C and W lines both have a low level of scheduled service, and each performs below average on three additional measures: car breakdowns, chance of getting a seat during rush hours and announcements…
• Overall, we found a mixed picture for subway service. On the plus side, the cleanliness of the interior of cars improved form 79% rated clean in the second half of 2005 to 87% for the same time period in 2006. But car breakdowns worsened from a mechanical failure from every 178,085 miles in 2005 to one every 156,624 miles.

The report itself is a labor of love. The Straphangers use MTA data to grade the subway lines. As SUBWAYblogger noted earlier today, isn’t it a little fishy that the MTA is grading itself? The Straphangers say the MTA has signed off on their methodology. Well, of course, they have. It’s their own data being manipulated to grade the subways.

Of concern to me are the overall trends found in this year’s report card. The subway system is, in the words of the report, “a stalled system.” Cars — even the newer, supposedly more reliable ones — are breaking down more frequently. The timeliness of the system hasn’t improved and neither has the PA system. While cars are cleaner, this is a small victory as the entire city seems to be clamoring for more service.

The Straphangers’ conclusion is rather dire too. “Continued progress will be a challenge,” the report reads. “The MTA is struggling to obtain all the planned funding for its current rebuilding program, including rising construction costs, a weak dollar and realizing $1 billion dollars from the sale of its assets, such as its valuable Manhattan rail yards.”

It certainly makes it sound like the MTA could really use that money from the congestion fee and that upcoming fare hike. But at what cost to the riders?

For all of that fun stuff like cleanest lines and most often on time, check out either this post at amNY’s Tracker blog or this one at The Times’ CityRoom blog. The individual breakdowns are fun to peruse but not as interesting as the overall trends seen in a system staggering under its popularity.

The Straphangers Campaign has released their annual State of the Subways Report Card, and the 1 train is their number 1 train. I’ll have a rundown of the survey results later on tonight.

Poetry and the subway go hand-in-hand. The motion of the subways has long been translated into the rhythm and beat of poetry. So the Straphangers Campaign, public advocate of subway riders everywhere, decided to combine the two.

NY1 has more:

“Since the subway is something that people use every day, and so many people complain about it for various reasons, I thought that we could do something much more fun than writing a complaint letter and actually have a community event to have people express what they want to change on the subway,” said event organizer Susanna Zaraysky.

The Straphangers Campaign is sending the winning poems to the MTA and Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, asking them to address the issues the poems bring up, including issues about air quality, service, station and train conditions.

It’s an interesting way to bring transit problems to the attention of the powers-that-be. Everyone likes a little poetry from time to time. And the winning entries are all online. My favorite is in the Route Diversion winner in category four. It’s about halfway down this page.