NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
May 21, 2017
It might seem impossible for the subways to be bursting at the seams and shedding riders at the same time. Alas, both are happening, and mass transit will spiral downward unless the governor, who controls it, steps up to the plate.
They say success breeds complacency. The NYC subway system had a lot of success over the past few decades. Ridership on an average day nearly doubled, enabling the city to add a million private-sector jobs without more cars clogging the streets and poisoning the air.
Bulk discounts and free transfers allowed riders to stretch their MetroCards over more trips. Crime plummeted, and train travel at all hours became the norm. Smartphones and countdown clocks made waiting more bearable.
These virtuous cycles were reinforcing and seemingly everlasting. Until suddenly they weren't.
Equipment failures started edging up several years ago. Before long, breakdowns and crowding were feeding off each other, compounding delays. Trains stood longer in stations discharging and admitting passengers, and the slowdowns rippled up the line. More time in jammed cars and platforms heightened rider discomfort, and that nagging sense of subway disorder crept back in.
Ride-hailing via smartphone appeared to offer a way out. The new app-based ride services took off in mid-2015, tripling by last fall, as transportation expert Bruce Schaller showed in a new report.
Uber's rise means fewer subway trips. Subway usage hasn't budged for two years, the first time that's happened this century except after 9/11 and during the 2009 recession. The meager increase in ridership that the MTA projects through at least 2020 is less than the lift from the new Second Avenue Subway. Belt-tightening ahead.
Worse, much of Uber's growth is in or near the Manhattan core. With higher volumes, midtown streets and the roads and bridges feeding them are again stuck in their pre-recession crawl.
The two-headed crisis of worsening service below and traffic jams above isn't just annoying. It's a threat to the city's economy and well-being. If people and goods can't move efficiently and reliably, business and tourism will gravitate elsewhere, ushering in a vicious cycle of lost activity, fewer jobs, shrinking tax receipts and a fraying quality of life.
Bold action is needed.
Step 1: Switch bus fare collection from entrances to on-board payment. This could cut curbside "dwell times" in half, speeding bus trips up to 20% and winning back some riders from cars, cabs and Ubers.
Step 2: Charge a congestion fee for Ubers, yellow cabs and, yes, all cars and trucks traveling to and in the Manhattan core. This will cut down on traffic and raise money for transit.
Step 3: Use the congestion revenues to equip every subway line with modern digital controls. This will allow more trains per hour and end those cascading delays.
One man can do all this. He controls the MTA and he's got the political chops to bring together city and state power brokers. Governor Cuomo, are you listening?
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