Every weekend, New Yorkers suffer through massive work-related service changes that turn subway service often incomprehensible and leave many travel stranded. According to the Transit, the changes are a necessary part of an “ongoing $11.2 billion Capital Rebuilding Program aimed at upgrading and maintaining our tracks, stations and signal systems in order to continue to provide our customers with safe and reliable service,” but both the New York State and City comptrollers are beginning to question this claim. The two announced today a joint audit that will examine both the necessity and fiscal impact of the myriad service changes. While I’ve often criticized Liu, I think the two comptrollers are on the right track here.
“It often seems that the MTA is most reliable for its perennial shutdowns of subway service, citing necessary track work,” Liu said in a statement. “There’s little question that repairs and upgrades are needed throughout the system. But people need far greater assurance that the MTA is planning the shutdowns and actual track work tightly so as to minimize the disruptions to riders and the economic impact to small business owners. Our examination of the MTA will shed light on whether ‘necessary track work’ has become an overused black hole of an excuse.”
According to the release sent out by DiNapoli’s office, this audit is the first joint effort between city and state comptrollers in ten years, and the two will examine service disruptions since January 2009 with an three questions in mind: (1) Is the maintenance and capital work scheduled to promote efficient, cost effective maintenance? (2) Is the maintenance and capital work scheduled to minimize service disruption? (3) Is the riding public adequately informed of potential service disruption? Although the examination will take a few months, I’m eagerly anticipating the findings.
The poor, poor V train is not long for this world. A child of 2001, the V runs only during the week and only for around 18 hours on a lonely local run between 2nd Ave. and Forest Hills. All of its stops are serviced by other trains, and in a few short months, it will become a part of subway history, doomed to be forgotten until the MTA has money to expand service.