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Absurd New York #83: Bad Subways Edition

As a flurry of investigative reports in the New York Times depicted this week, we haven’t been imagining it at all: our transit system has been unraveling for a decade now. Take the graphic above, for instance. In 2007, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) own data, trains ran “on time” over 90% of the time on weekdays. Today, they’re only 65% likely to operate on schedule. What’s even more extraordinary is that some lines don’t even appear to be trying anymore. (I’m looking at you, Number 2!)

For MTA statisticians, a train is “on time” if it arrives at its final destination no more than five minutes behind schedule and doesn’t skip a stop. So, for example, if an N Train leaving Ditmars Blvd-Astoria arrived at Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island three minutes behind, it’s considered “on time.” If it by-passed 14th Street-Union Square, however, it’s marked “late” since it didn’t run its entire route. Too bad there’s no data on the average amount of time a train is late when it comes in as such. Suffice it to say, the results would probably be less than admirable.

To make matters worse, when compared with others around the world, our transit system ranks 21st in on-time performance so far this year. Which ones are better? Well, the ones in Mexico City (71%), San Francisco (86%), Washington D.C. (88%), Madrid (91%), Miami (92%), Baltimore (95%), Chicago (96%), Vancouver (96%), Toronto (96%), Atlanta (97%), and Boston (97%). The remainder--those in Montreal, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Seoul, Los Angeles, Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong--have efficiencies over 98%!

“We Apologize for Any Inconvenience.”

So what gives? Well, as the Times uncovered, what’s happening today is the direct result of “a perennial lack of investment in tracks, trains, and signals.” It’s as simple as that. Despite an increase of 77% in ridership between 1991 and 2015 (from 1 billion to 1.8 billion annual riders), the system has suffered a loss of total track mileage (dropping from 493 to 488 miles) and added only 27 new cars to the fleet (from 5,255 to 5,282 cars) during that span.

Moreover, the State Legislature has kept the MTA’s budget for maintenance and at about the same appropriation since 1991. The consequence? Today, “more than 2,000 jobs in critical areas like repairing signals, tracks, and cars [are] unfilled” because there’s not enough money to pay mechanics. That understaffing has wrought signal problems and has led to subway cars breaking down “twice as frequently as a decade ago.” In 2005, for instance, the average car could travel about 178,000 before having one of its components fail. In 2016, the same car could manage only 112,000 miles.

“Soliciting Money in the Subway Is Illegal. We Ask You Not to Give.”

So where’d all the money for maintenance go? Well, as the Times suggested, it’s been spent largely on cosmetic improvements to the system instead. There are several egregious cases. Take the MTA burning through $1.4 billion to erect the new Fulton Street station, $135 million to refurbish the Bleecker Street station, $66 million to restore the Cortlandt Street station, or nearly $1 billion to support Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2016 “Enhanced Station Initiative”--the one that added “lighting, signs, countdown clocks, and other upgrades to dozens of stations.” Furthermore, Cuomo even persuaded the MTA to spend “tens of millions of dollars to study outfitting [its] bridges with lights capable of choreographed display, install wireless internet and phone-charging ports on buses, and paint the state logo on new subway cars.” Pretty toppings for sure, but none of them improved the system’s on-time reliability.

Additionally, for some unknown reason, the MTA decided to use its resources to bail out other businesses over the years. Most notably, it endowed Belleayre Ski Center, Gore Mountain, and Whiteface Mountain--all state-run ski resorts--with $5 million in March 2016 after each experienced bad winter seasons. It even gifted another $5 million to the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority in 2013 to help that entity cover a deficit it incurred for reducing tolls way back in 2000.

“We’re Being Momentarily Held by the Train’s Dispatcher.”

Since 1968, the city and state have had a vested interest in the subway--the city owns it, the state operates it--so both mayors and governors alike have had a hand in directing its finances. The MTA’s capital handicaps, however, began in the 1990s. According to the Times, when Governor George Pataki (1995-2006) revoked its state subsidies and capital funding for projects, he forced the MTA to depend solely on fares, tolls, and revenue from taxes for its survival. Moreover, when Pataki’s state income tax cut was approved in 1995, he paid for it with $200 million in tax revenue that had been originally earmarked for the MTA. Since then, he and his successors have divested the MTA of “at least $850 million” of its own money. Presumably, some of that could have been used to repair tracks, trains, and signals around the city.

On the other hand, Mayor Rudy Giuliani (1994-2001) decided to break from a precedent too. Instead of continuing to fund 10% of the MTA’s total budget like other mayors before him, Giuliani reduced the city’s contribution by $400 million. Later on, although Mayor Michael Bloomberg (2002-2013) used city funds to help finance bonds for the extension of the 7 Line to 34th Street-Hudson Yards, he kept the city’s supplement for the MTA at Giuliani levels. Their moves had an astonishing effect. Whereas the Dinkins Administration (1990-1993) gave about $1 billion in today’s money to the MTA back in 1990, Mayor Bill de Blasio set aside just $250 million for the MTA this year.

Because of all this disinvestment, the MTA has resorted to printing bonds to pay for things like new construction. Over the past six years, the Times tallied that the MTA has issued “about $15 billion” worth of bonds, a total that now comprises 52% of its overall capital funding. But it’s the interest on those bonds that really hamstrings the agency’s finances. “Every second of the day,” the Times declared, “the MTA pays $83 in interest. That’s $7.1 million in 24 hours...$2.603 billion” for the year. So much for buying a new car or two for the N/W Line.

“This Is the Last Stop on the Train. Everyone Please Leave the Train.”

In 2017, New York City is more populated and even vastly more affluent than it was in 1991. Arguably, its revenue from property taxes alone could fund city after city all over America. With this year’s fiscal year budget hovering around $88.4 billion, how can it possibly justify giving less to support the transit system than it did 27 years ago? The same goes for New York State. With a fiscal year budget of $162.3 billion, why does it need to keep shifting revenue away from the MTA? Neither Mayor de Blasio nor Governor Cuomo may be entirely at fault for the subway’s current condition, but they own it now and must be held accountable. Repair the tracks, fix the trains, and replace the signals. It’s absurd if they can continue to find money for everything else but renewing the essential components of a railroad.

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(Screenshot taken from The New York Times. Graphic of on-time performance for each of the city’s train lines in 2007 and 2017 compiled by Jasmine C. Lee, November 18, 2017. Retouched by Riff Chorusriff.)

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Though you and I are only familiar with a single MTA map, dozens of other maps have attempted to make the NYC subway, er, reasonably comprehensive over the years. It's hard to imagine that the 1, 2, and 3 lines weren't always red, or that the L was once known as the "16 Line," which is what makes these old maps so fun to peruse.