To: Governor Andrew Cuomo

From: Talike Bennett

Subject: Overcrowded Subway Platforms in NYC

Date: May 20, 2021

(Note to Reader: This proposal is an extension to the “Overcrowded subway platforms in NYC and a potential solution” memo composed by Talike Bennett, Md Islam, and Artem Sokol.)

Purpose

The purpose of this research proposal is to address the issue of overcrowding in NYC subway stations and to present possible solutions to this issue that were found by conducting research.

Summary

Many New Yorkers depend on the subway to get from one place to another. However, overcrowding makes it hard for people to board trains safely and get to their destinations on time. In an effort to resolve this issue, my team would like to propose our Swift Speeds project, which consists of several tasks of improvement. Each task tackles a different aspect of subway overcrowding in order to maximize the effect of this project. The estimated time and budget to complete this project are about 50 years and $51.5 billion, respectively.

Introduction

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority was known for transporting over 15 million people who reside in the five boroughs, Long Island, the southeast portion of New York State, and Connecticut (“About Us”). But even though the pandemic has greatly reduced the MTA’s daily ridership, many people still depend on their services. This is why it is important to make sure that all available modes of transportation provided by the MTA run smoothly. However, delay-free transit experiences are very rare. The subway is the most used mode of transportation provided by the MTA, but riders still experience severe delays. In fact, according to Emma G. Fitzsimmons from The New York Times, overcrowding in subway stations has been the cause of “nearly 75,000 subway delays across the system each month” (Fitzsimmons, “Every New York City Subway Line Is Getting Worse. Here’s Why”).

There are several ways to tackle this issue. After months of research, my team and I found that overcrowding in NYC subway stations can be greatly reduced by (1) improving the functionality of the train signals, (2) creating trains with an “open gangway” design, and (3) opening subway entrances that have been closed for years. In an effort to combine these three tasks, we would like to propose our project called Swift Speeds (SS). With that said, this proposal explains the general concept behind SS and argues why this project should be put into action.

Proposed Tasks

The research that my team has conducted helped us formulate a list of solutions that will help reduce overcrowding if we are authorized to carry them out. Each section below describes a key task of SS. Included in each section is the context and significance of each task and their expected outcomes.

Task 1: Improve the functionality of the train signals

Outdated and dysfunctional signals are one of the main causes of overcrowding in our subway stations. But with the COVID-19 pandemic pushing a lot of people to stay home, MTA workers have had ample time to make improvements to the train stations. In fact, Stephen Nessen from Gothamist reveals that “train speeds have recently increased at nearly 300 locations throughout the subway system due to ongoing work during the COVID-19 pandemic to fix and replace the faulty signals” (Nessen).

The motive to fix the subway signals derives from an observation made by former Transit President Andy Byford. Back in 2018, Byford announced to his workers the negative impact that the old train signals have on our train service. Changes were not really made until the end of Byford’s term. However, when changes were made, the subway service drastically improved. Since his departure, “the MTA announced it has increased speeds at 270 locations throughout the subway system, and digitized 900 signals, making them more reliable than the older mechanical ones” (Nessen). These statistics prove that replacing old train signals with newer, more functional ones will reduce the likelihood of overcrowding taking place.

Task 2: Create trains with an “open gangway” design

Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. (KRC) is a subdivision of the Japanese vehicle manufacturing company, Kawasaki. KRC is well-known for its production of train cars for the MTA. Since the first NYC subway system opened in 1904 (“New York City Transit – History and Chronology”), KRC has built numerous train car models for the city. The most commonly used model as of now is called the R-model. This is a classification of cars that are similar in structure and have “R” at the beginning of their names. One notable feature of these train car models is the set of doors at both ends of the car, the traditional “closed-ended” passageway. These doors allow passengers to travel from one car to the next without having to wait until the train reaches the next train station.

For several years now, the MTA has considered running trains with an “open gangway” design. Similar to the articulated buses, these cars are expected to have an accordion-style connection that replaces the set of doors that allow inter-car transport. Inspiration for this design came from trains used in other regions of the world such as London and Tokyo; most of the trains there incorporate some variation of the open gangway (Barone). This form of train car connection is expected to permit faster travel from one car to the next. Not only that, but implementing this design will allow trains to “fit 10 percent more riders” (Fitzsimmons, “Why Is Subway Service in New York Getting Worse?”). Since this design is fairly new for our train system, it will take several years to acquire the necessary parts and get these kinds of trains running in our city.

Task 3: Open closed subway entrances

As stressed in our memo, my team believes that opening closed subway entrances will be the most effective solution to overcrowding in our train system. Due to high crime rates in the 1980s, over 100 subway station entrances were permanently closed in an effort to make the subway safer (Rivoli). However, this only decreased the number of people that can enter and exit the subway, ultimately exasperating the effects of overcrowding.

Accessing Currently Closed Entrances to Subway Stations (ACCESS) is an organization that, like our team, aspires to open some of the subway entrances that have been closed off for decades. Alan Minor, the co-founder of ACCESS, presents an observation that supports his organization’s goal. He states, “We found that roughly over a million people live or work closer to a closed access point than an open one” (Rivoli). If straphangers reside in areas that have closed subway entrances in them, they are forced to spend extra time finding an accessible station. And since it is likely for a large number of people to search for the same station(s) as a result, overcrowding is inevitable. Therefore, this justifies opening closed subway entrances. With more accessible entrances, the movement of people into and out of the stations will be smoother, and fewer people will have to worry about reserving about 15 minutes just to find the closest open subway entrance.

Budget

Since SS is made up of different tasks, we estimated the amount of money required to carry out each task based on the MTA’s proposed capital plan. Before the end of his term, Byford helped come up with this capital plan, estimating that the MTA will need approximately $51.5 billion in order to carry out as many forms of improvement as possible. From this $51.5 billion, about half of these funds should be reserved for repairing and replacing signal lights and roughly $3.7 billion will be needed to order over 1,000 train cars that support the open-gangway design. The remaining funds can be used towards the restoration of closed subway entrances. According to the Regional Plan Association, the signal task alone might not be applied to the entire train system until 2067 (Peçanha and Singhvi). But with enough effort, we are confident we can also tackle the refurbishment of train cars and the restoration of station entrance by then as well.

Experience + Qualifications

All of my team members – myself included – are students at the City College of New York (CCNY) pursuing a variety of engineering majors. As New Yorkers, everyone in my team is affected by subway overcrowding. We often use the trains to travel across the city, but we have experienced poor train service just as much as every other New Yorker. That is what inspired us to come up with Swift Speeds. We spent the last few months researching the effects of subway overcrowding and derived each task of SS from a variety of reputable sources. Our “Overcrowded subway platforms in NYC and a potential solution” memo – which is centered around the same topic – was sent to Mayor Bill de Blasio. However, despite his approval, we are redirecting this issue to you since we discovered that it was actually the state that controls the MTA, not the city.

References

“About Us.” MTA, new.mta.info/about-us.

Barone, Vincent. “Subway Cars with New, Open-Gangway Design to Arrive in 2020.” amNewYork (AMNY), 22 Jan. 2019, www.amny.com/transit/new-subway-cars-1-26287915/.

Fitzsimmons, Emma G., et al. “Every New York City Subway Line Is Getting Worse. Here’s Why.” The New York Times, 28 June 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/28/nyregion/subway-delays-overcrowding.html?searchResultPosition=1.

Fitzsimmons, Emma G. “Why Is Subway Service in New York Getting Worse?” The New York Times, 31 May 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/nyregion/why-is-subway-service-in-new-york-getting-worse.html.

Nessen, Stephen. “Subway Trains Are Going Faster As MTA Upgrades Century-Old Signals.” Gothamist, 23 Mar. 2021, https://gothamist.com/news/subway-trains-are-going-faster-mta-replaces-century-old-signals.

“New York City Transit – History and Chronology.” MTA, http://web.mta.info/nyct/110Anniversary/history.htm#:~:text=New%20York%20City’s%20first%20official,Manhattan%20on%20October%2027%2C%201904.

Peçanha, Sergio, and Anjali Singhvi. “What Would It Take to Fix New York’s Subway?” The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/22/nyregion/what-would-it-take-to-fix-new-yorks-subway.html#:~:text=The%20technology%20is%20outdated%20and,upgraded%20at%20the%20current%20pace.

Rivoli, Dan. “Why Transit Advocates Are Pushing to Reopen Shuttered Subway Entrances.” Spectrum News, 20 Nov. 2019, www.ny1.com/nyc/brooklyn/news/2019/11/21/why-transit-advocates-are-pushing-to-reopen-shuttered-subway-entrances.