No, really. Stand clear of the doors, jerk.

Let the passengers out first, folks. (Courtesy of flickr user Infinite Jeff)

For the MTA, a “late” subway is all relative. When you have no set schedule, how can a train really be late?

But the trains are supposed to run on time. They’re supposed to enter the station and leave the station in a timely fashion, and when passengers hold up the train, bad things happen. Ever wonder why you have to sit on the Manhattan Bridge for what seems like hours at a time? Blame the train delays ahead of you. And now, you can blame unruly passengers too, the latest reports say.

According to The New York Sun, trains delayed by unruly passengers in December jumped to 313 from a 2006 monthly average of 195. That’s a whopping 45 percent. With ridership nearing record numbers due to an increase in tourist visits to New York, tensions ran high on the trains at the end of last year.

The Daily News had more on the causes behind those pesky delays:

More than 4,270 trains were thrown off their schedules last year because riders blocked subway car doors from closing in stations, according to Transit Authority statistics. It’s now the fifth-leading cause of delays, up from 20th place just five years earlier…

Ridership has continued to rise in the past several years, resulting in more crowded trains. But TA spokesman Charles Seaton said he couldn’t say whether there was a connection to the number of door blocks.

Classifying delays is not always an exact science. Transit officials say that the “holding doors” category includes instances where riders try to squeeze onto crowded trains as opposed to intentionally trying to prevent a train from departing.

Well, come on. More passengers and more crowded trains might probably maybe just possibly result in more delays. And just like SUBWAYblogger, the MTA is trying to blame Mr. Last Minute Arrival Guy.

The top ten leading causes of delays from December 2006 after the jump.

1. Track work
2. Signal Trouble
3. Guard-light trouble (which is fancy talk for the door indicators say the car doors are still open)
4. Sick Customers
5. Customers holding doors
6. Emergency Brakes triggered; no cause found
7. Broken rail
8. Unruly riders
9. System Maintenance
10. Emergency brakes triggered by signal

Interestingly, people holding the doors and people not letting the folks off the train first don’t seem to be listed. Unless “unruly riders” includes the people who won’t move out of the doorways and won’t let the passengers off first, then I’m surprised to see these two culprits missing from the list.

And remember, if you don’t like waiting for the train, just follow the etiquette preached to you by those mechanical voices. Stand clear of the closing doors please and let them off first. It ain’t that hard.