The MTA’s love/hate relationship with its escalators and elevators has continued, according to a report from the MTA Inspector General. The Daily News provides the details:
Straphangers stuck in elevators may have been trapped longer than necessary because a new monitoring system was plagued by false alarms, the Daily News has learned. Instead, staffers on a control desk in the MTA’s Elevator and Escalator department waited for notification from trapped riders or other transit workers before sending mechanics to the scene… “Despite public concern, media attention and demands for improvement by the MTA Board, elevators and escalators remain a problem,” the report said…
Other findings include:
- Some inspection and maintenance work reported as having been done may not have been performed.
- In addition to the many false alarms, the automated monitoring and alert system sometimes failed to send a warning during true entrapments. There were 208 entrapments in the first six months of last year.
- Managers didn’t know false alarms were a problem and wrongly thought staff was immediately dispatched. They weren’t aware that monitoring equipment was disconnected at some elevators – including some with the highest number of entrapments.
For its part, the MTA says it will create a position in charge of escalator and elevator oversight who can spearhead “maintenance and reliability.” “We know we have to,” Caremn Bianco, senior vice president of subways, said. “We know this is a huge source of frustration for our customers.” I think I’ll take the stairs.
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