Opinion: The Slowing Down of The New York MTA – By Allan Raible

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> Do you know that feeling when you are already running late for work and you find yourself sitting on a platform waiting forever to just see those train lights coming toward you?  Do you know that frustration when you were once making good time in the morning until something unexpected happened and threw you off schedule?  Do you know what it is like to sit in a train for twenty minutes with no announcements explaining why you haven’t moved?  Do you ever wonder if there really is “train traffic ahead,” or if it is just a catch-phrase that is thrown about to make people not question being held hostage by public transportation?

Growing up in the eighties, it always seemed to me that the trains went rather quickly.  I remember hopping on an A train and rocketing to my destination.  Of course, back then, people were still smoking on the platforms and the trains were tagged to oblivion.  But at least the service was faster. 

As a commuter who relies on the subway as a means to get from here to there, I find it shocking how slowly the trains are running these days.  The MTA touts how they are working harder to serve us better, and I believe there are improvements being made, but I also feel like they use said construction as an excuse to slow down service.  It is so frustrating.  I don’t always believe those announcements.

Photo-illustration by Allan Raible

When I was little I dreamed of the future in New York being filled with hustle.  I dreamed of bullet-trains shooting us through tunnels in a faster way than ever before.  I didn’t dream about routinely worrying whether I was going to be stopped in between stations because of a “signal malfunction.”

What really makes things worse is the fact that the fare keeps seemingly exponentially getting higher.  In the seventies, the subway cost thirty-five cents. In the eighties, it was a dollar.  It is now $2.25.  If you can’t count on being anywhere on time (or without over-estimating your travel time) it still offers a dollar ride in value.  I swear something crooked is happening. 

Maybe it is that the tracks are old.  Maybe they are really working on everything.  But as a rider it gets extremely frustrating.  Maybe it is due to increased rider-ship.  Maybe due to a larger population there have to be more trains than before, thus clogging up the system.  These are all valid possibilities. 

Someday, I would like to get anywhere around the five boroughs in under an hour, door-to-door.  I don’t know if it will ever happen, but a rider can dream.  I know more express trains are reportedly on their way.  I’ll believe it when I see it!

It would also be nice to be able to travel on the weekends without being re-routed a dozen times, thus creating more delays and frustration. 

Of course, as angry as it makes me, New York probably has the best public transportation system in the country.  I still wish it was better.