Ten Investment Priorities to Modernize the Subway
- Aggressively address the “high-risk” critical infrastructure backlog
- Implement and maintain preventive maintenance measures
- Modernize the subway signal system
- “Right-Size” stations to reduce congestion and make them accessible
- Simplify routing to reduce bottlenecks and delays
- Standardize and assign fleet to services
- Add service to reduce overcrowding on trains
- Expand undersized and poorly designed terminals to allow MTA to run more trains
- Correct extreme track geometry issues and poorly designed junctions
- Ensure sufficient yard and power capacity
Modernizing the subway is a combination of major capital investments to restore reliability and add capacity, as well as less expensive changes that would make the experience of riding the subway more welcoming, improve unhealthy environments, and ease use of the system. These changes would also make the subways more affordable and easier to use for low-income riders, the elderly and the disabled. Below we explore some of these recommended improvements, download the report for more.
Modernizing Signals
The current subway signal technology dates back to the 1930s, and though the MTA has replaced much of the oldest pieces of the equipment, the same basic principles of how the system operates remain. Switching to modern, communications based train control technology would provide greater efficiency, reliability and flexibility. Because trains can safely run closer together, they can circulate with greater frequency, reducing bunching and uneven service.
The MTA’s new Fast Forward plan calls for substantially modernizing the signal system over the next decade, instead of the nearly 50 years previously projected by the agency. To accomplish this, RPA recommends the elimination of duplicative or legacy equipment, reducing customization, guaranteeing track access during longer work windows, and accelerating purchase of CBTC-equipped cars.
Creating Healthier Station Environments
Subways fundamentally improve the health of all New Yorkers by promoting physical activity (every subway trip begins and ends with a walk) and improving air quality (by reducing the number of cars on the road). But subway stations themselves could be much healthier. A series of actions, including several that leverage planned upgrades to the subways, would help improve air quality in the stations, reduce noise, and keep the stations cooler in the summertime.
- Leverage regenerative braking and CBTC to reduce the heat generated by trains
- Improve ventilation and evaluate other methods of cooling, such as using pumped groundwater
- Design future subway lines to be more energy efficient and produce less heat
- Eliminate diesel vehicles and equipment from the fleet
- Make the installation of continuously welded rail (CWL) standard system-wide
- Install quiet rail or low-vibration track at all stations
- Add sound absorbing panels throughout all station areas
- Install platform screen doors
- Open up stations to light and air
Untangling and Simplifying Services
Today, subway tracks criss-cross and multiple lines run on one track for long stretches. While this provides flexibility to the MTA, it also confuses passengers and propagates delays as the MTA tries to reroute trains around planned work and other service disruptions. There are several steps the MTA could take to simplify service which could eliminate bottlenecks, speeding up service, as well as reducing confusion for riders. One example of this is on the Q line. For others download the complete report.
Double the Frequency of the Express Q to the Upper East Side
The “Canal Flip”, a capital project switching the alignment of the express and local track feeds at Canal Street would enable the Q to run through Lower Manhattan and out to Brooklyn (following the current R route). This would make the Q the only express service in Manhattan on the Broadway line, eliminating merging services. This would double the capacity of the Second Avenue Subway (SAS) along with improving the reliability of service by straight-lining the services through Manhattan and eliminating the frequent delays caused by changing tracks. The N and R would serve Astoria. Both would run on local tracks and over the Manhattan Bridge and then go express over the 4th Avenue line, while the Q would run along 4th Ave local to Bay Ridge. The N would stay on its current route to Coney Island. The R would head down the current Q service route to Coney Island. The W would be eliminated.
![DSC03545 Canal Station by RPA 1200x675](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=6276e055cbcb1ad1e3ef532a90602d5238b8672b5a88a77b4baa4a22f225e230 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=eac1f0c0c775d1585a6296ae3fb7c044e02e14b0efbd7a72981c31cc555e9008 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=03697f37e8d5bb7a481f45d1395f49ab3c0d75ee7a12cdcd81d968fcf45ff760 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=e34b9a758fab57d35f2513a7c0bfe45f041acc9b35c7ab21c09fd02e4334829b 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=9a99cd071032e67dcb0bcb5a322c60699f3fdd93a3e64eb103772bd1d0a997aa 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=751079bbf9ee533846c32a7e7979c41e8e19b455706be503e477abce8a7a087a 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=7ad5cb5f5e54d6ccf89411e3dec164f8d2c140d96830958eedbc17b30782cbec 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=5145da2c60efcd6ddabbae11a7ab7b9112a4c99b8a9e0f592cf7811d1f47e7b2 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/DSC03545-Canal-Station-by-RPA-1200x675.jpg?bossToken=64949756a51ef00ea6e151cf27816ffab821dc84e7890d6d759a0401e23fe874 1543w)
Using New Technology to Improve Customer Experience
The ten capital investment priorities described above would restore the system, making it more reliable, improving service and giving it more capacity than it has ever had. The MTA should also make complementary policy changes and smaller scale investments that would provide customers with a modern 21st Century transit system. These changes would enable a fully intermodal system that integrates the subway with other existing and emerging forms of transit. They would make the subways more affordable and easier to use for low-income riders, the elderly and the disabled.
Reimagining fares and improving intermodality
The MTA is introducing new fare payment technology that provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve service and foster greater integration with other modes. Riders will be able to use their mobile devices or credit cards as transit passes to directly enter the subway or bus. In addition to making fare payments easier, it opens several possibilities:
- Customize fares to meet public policy goals including: reducing crowding at peak hours; improving social equity by capping fares for low income riders, seniors and students; incentivizing mode shifts between subway, commuter rail and buses to reduce crowding or to provide alternative service during construction.
- Curtail fare evasion by employing enforcement officers with fare-validation scanners.
- Remove high entrance/exit turnstiles and revolving gates and replace them with accessible fare gates with retractable barriers.
![Hong Kong Turnstile by Rich Barone 1200](https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/300x300/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=d8bd9da32edc9b01b48ae57803b6dedd07632b9e6f08316267bca93f69f7fa88 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/600x600/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=335129dbc60dae8819c16eeb466d7df29632ffd709eafcb93d1333d05f14efb3 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/900x900/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=75e5424304a7b551e65427609e811da54117fb74f65ea7ace32e87156099739a 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1200x1200/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=0feed9fda0bf60b3a844c2f90d106e88b1b3cb498e41f3dec3b8ea1b0a0ae701 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1500x1500/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=f46e3bc5d395567430993be0b7a86f5942f038c4f25237b93b519bd86ee045bb 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1800x1800/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=72566ae7fe65c8b5cd67c6b27c24d924e7aebea6eb2aee19e89617521312708d 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2100x2100/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=cbe9ae0bf9ad782d93b6e7e2262d429c63f56666d3b248c31e3699688d0b2762 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2400x2400/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=ee5f8bad2dbf11d389610a69123f613ce299f903363d21b590891ec9a74747d6 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2700x2700/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/Hong-Kong-Turnstile-by-Rich-Barone-1200.jpg?bossToken=f657708b744c8b627de06a903949e3dc6c18f99b176f0b45123d7c3d04008c61 1543w)
New operating technologies for a smarter subway
When the MTA installs modern signals, along with the current work being done to install wireless communications, both riders and MTA employees will be able to interact with the subway in new ways. To take full advantage of this potential will require a new operating paradigm.
- Transition to one-person and eventually driverless train operations. As has been done in other cities, this will require collaboration between labor and management to provide workers with new skills that allow them to transition to having greater responsibility for train operations and customer service and safety.
- Create a “smart subway” that is able to use real-time information to adjust service based on demand and customer destinations.
The current crisis dictates that modernization of the subway must happen at a faster pace.
If the MTA continues with business as usual, it would take a generation or more to implement the recommendations in this report. But using the strategies outlined below the subways could be modernized in just 15 years. They would require major reforms on the part of the MTA, its workers and partners, as well as near-term inconvenience for subway riders.
Implement extended closures on segments of lines
Providing longer work windows is essential to completing work faster and more cost-effectively. This could be done either by closing lines during nights and weekends until the work is completed, as proposed in the Fast Forward plan, or by closing lines entirely for a shorter duration, such as the planned 15-month suspension of L train service to repair damaged tunnels. The MTA should prioritize lines that have a critical mass of issues that affect capacity, and they should provide robust alternative surface transit service options during the closures. Read our full report for more details.
Replace late night weekday service with high frequency bus service
Only a handful of cities aside from New York run 24/7 service and in most of these cities it’s not the entire system, just one or two lines. If New York City decides to use overnight closures to accelerate modernization efforts they would be taking advantage of the fact that only 1.5 percent of weekday riders use the system between 12:30 am and 5 am. However, the MTA must provide robust alternative service for these riders, many of whom depend on subways to get to and from work and other late night activities. For these riders, the MTA should offer frequent high-speed bus service. This may even provide superior service for most riders given that late night service subway service is already infrequent and unreliable, and that buses could run frequently on largely uncongested streets overnight.
![RPA 4 RP Subway Charts Daily Ridership](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=7474345fe2ef17b574fac20117ca6ae0d75b22ddb43f2252689310ff7cc80802 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=9d64df51790941479bd5e77eeb1fa36305cfeb769d004c0e10fb6df1bb5e8933 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=693bb3d4d34239343eaae24bb675a1c1bd2055612bea7cec066d86f7a518d229 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=4c6c84c3ecacaf0fb1c8543ee9aed4344ab01c866be1dce6f38863c825323850 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=7e29ffe0f6a49f93ed6dee24efedab531add7d87e920622e6efb2a10a490355d 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=98928ac3b8de7aa5e271bfcae514c9abf811361486ed26e972a2150782115550 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=5d5346196146772621a219d6e0a70891e70c1f477a2c953bcfef89ebed0cf9e6 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=6ef116fd181dc9d8e178f36ac8ba14fb28f4fd9e6c2e323722988f5e4e19e024 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/Save-our-Subways/RPA-4RP-Subway-Charts-Daily-Ridership.png?bossToken=93b9e9c7d71d056db8c47efe33c7a5568fe6e82b55db8fa1efa5fcb5445f66c6 1543w)
Reform MTA’s Project Delivery Processes
Years of MTA projects being delivered over-budget and behind schedule have tested the confidence of the riding public and elected officials alike. RPA recently released a report entitled “Building Rail Transit Projects for Less,” which contains a series of recommendations to bring the MTA in line with global best practices, helping them to deliver new transit projects like the Second Avenue Subway in a more timely and cost-effective manner. Many of these reforms, which would require the participation of the MTA, state and city political leaders and labor, would apply to the recommendations in this report as well and save billions of dollars. Read the full report, Building Rail Transit Projects Better for Less.
![Railfor Less](https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/300x300/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=c89f3f29ca794b4ccfc00d926a6583e95793bd52e68a40897c344df2098449d8 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/600x600/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=265684bd0119d30065cbbf46f6d7e4def1cbe415d8a5d7ad644bf0e23aa32761 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/900x900/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=701e004191cb97cdf1aac500e3bfbbdb41d81d28b91641e8adccaf13493d280b 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1200x1200/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=8a8835a902cb1360d4ce57f81cf0d9e55f422e2fcd48f12a4976318b7a0638db 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1500x1500/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=f540907f61ac39b5518b5576b189bb15b7ded69a046a173b0d75d4161e60d2b4 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1800x1800/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=496cf3cbf182d07ea6fda36fbade728edf529b898bda666b2f4bc92b0e6c33f9 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2100x2100/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=23bbd50f69586c9dc213a91be6a8d2de987ebc9411fdbdae43e79340aa6e2083 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2400x2400/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=7c11416bf4996b30ca4999fd1b55a05b8eea06ba828a33aa49b0ba6d1c176390 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2700x2700/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/work/RailforLess.jpg?bossToken=975b31e38913428abd27933f236694d7e890eb4b99a33e87ef56cd55acf9d2f5 1543w)
Fixing and modernizing the subways will help the millions of existing passengers.
Despite New York’s reputation for being built around the subways, nearly ⅓ of New Yorkers live beyond a reasonable walk to a subway station. RPA identified areas that do not already have subway or express bus coverage, where the improvements recommended in other parts of this report will not provide additional capacity, but still have the population density needed to support rapid transit. RPA also prioritized areas with higher concentrations of people with low to moderate incomes in keeping with our social equity goals.
Rail Recommendations: T-REX + Triboro
The T-REX recommendations would expand upon this concept adding almost a dozen new stations in the city while also providing more frequent service and greater regional connectivity. The 22 mile Triboro will extend from Bay Ridge to Co-Op City, providing new transit coverage for neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. This still leave areas in the city that would be uncovered and would benefit from new extensions of the subway system.
Subway Expansion: New Lines
The proposals in the previous sections would fix and modernize the existing subway network on an accelerated 15-year time frame. However, they would not extend service to people and places that need rapid transit but don’t currently have it. Nor would they provide enough capacity on their own for all the growth the city and region can expect in the coming decades. Addressing these needs will require new lines and extensions of existing ones that will need to be implemented over a longer time frame. If implemented these would cover much of the remaining areas in the city with rapid transit, including almost all lower income, high density corridors.
- SAS Phase 2C, Bronx Extension to Grand Concourse Line.
- Northern Blvd Line.
- Jewel Ave Line.
- Astoria Line Extension.
- SAS Phase 2B, Crosstown 125th Street
- #7 Extension to Chelsea and Meatpacking District.
- Utica Avenue Subway
- Nostrand Avenue Extension.
We can do it
These changes will not be easy. They will require spending billions more than the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its partners in the state and city are currently spending. They will require an openness and commitment from MTA employees, the unions, their contractors and their sister agencies to restructure how they work together to deliver projects. They will require patience from subway riders and a tolerance for the disruption needed to get the work done quickly and efficiently. But we can do it. Cities around the world are showing both the way forward as well as the enormous benefits in creating a truly 21st century rapid transit system. Now it’s our turn.
Acknowledgements
Authored by
Funded By
- Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation
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