The last few weekends have been heavy on the service announcements. With the holidays behind us, the MTA has been stepping up the weekend work as it continues the seemingly endless Capital Rebuilding Program. Often, these weekend service changes lead to some very odd results.
Take, for example, the changes from two weeks ago. That weekend, service to Lower Manhattan resembled what it will be if the service cuts come to be: The stations along the Broadway line were shuttered as the N and R were running over the Manhattan Bridge.
At the Q stop at Seventh Ave. in Brooklyn, the station announcements were warning passengers of the changes. The instructions though were rather odd. To provide service to Lower Manhattan, went the announcement, passengers were encouraged to take the Q to DeKalb Ave., exit the system and board the 4 train a few blocks away at Nevins St. The walk is about 0.1 miles according to Google Maps and should take all of two minutes.
Now, that seems reasonable, right? The 4, after all, stops near enough to Whitehall St., Rector St. and City Hall to mirror the N and R. Well, of course, but take another look at the MTA’s directions. The authority was urging people to exit the system at DeKalb and reenter at Nevins St. when one stop earlier — at Atlantic Ave. — straphangers can take advantage of a free, in-system transfer between the Q and the 4.
I certainly understand that the MTA is facing a budget crisis of epic proportions, and I’d love to see them get out of this without cutting service or drastically raising fares. But it seems rather disingenuous to urge riders to transfer out of the system for a second fare when a free transfer between the train lines in question is in place just one stop down the line. That’s just not right.