Q4 2018 Customer Commitment

Our quarterly customer commitment is our way to show you we are accountable to progress and transparent in our efforts to improve.

In Q4 2018, we accomplished a great deal to restore subway and bus service and improve customer service for all riders.

Read more about what we’re doing to give you a world-class transit system below and let us know what you'd like to see next time: #FastForwardNYC, @NYCTSubway, @NYCTBus.

Onwards,
Sarah Meyer
Chief Customer Officer, New York City Transit

Subway

✔️ Prepare to provide the most reliable service possible during the L tunnel reconstruction. This quarter, we’re replacing over 1,500 feet of track in Brooklyn.

• While we are working to provide the best possible customer experience during the L project, we’re proud to report that we far exceeded 1,500 feet of track replaced. In addition to replacing deteriorating track, we took advantage of the planned work schedule and installed over 10,000 Continuous Welded Rail for a smoother, quieter ride. Overall, we installed over 10,000 feet of track on the L in Q4 2018.

✔️ Finish installation of a state-of-the-art signal system that includes new signals and modernized interlockings (called communications-based train control, or CBTC) on the 7 line, which will allow us to run more reliable service. Much of the equipment being replaced dates back to 1959.

• CBTC has now been installed across the entire 7 line. We’re eager to complete the transition to automated train operation with this new signaling system. This will allow us to unlock the full potential of CBTC, which we anticipate happening this year.

❌ Restore service at several stations and platforms that were deteriorating and in need of structural repair:

• Platforms:
  • Jamaica-bound J, Z: 121 St and 104 St
  • Bronx-bound 1: 215 St
  • Manhattan-bound 1: 238 St
    • This platform re-opened on January 2
• Full stations:
  • 23 St (F, M)
  • 28 St (6)
    • We had to keep 28 St closed until January 14, 2019. During the course of the station's extensive renovation, structural deficiencies in the steel support columns were uncovered and we needed to address these. The station re-opened on January 14, 2019
  • 57 St (F)
  • 72 St (B, C)
  • 86 St (B, C)
  • 145 St (3)
    • 174-175 St (B, D)
• Staircases:
  • Re-open all available staircases at Penn Station
    • We re-opened three staircases in 2018 and two the first week of January. We got held up by some permit issues and coordination of an unrelated, third-party construction project, but we plan to re-open most of the other staircases this winter.

✔️ Continue to repair some of our most problematic switches, including equipment at Jamaica-Van Wyck and 137 Street-City College, as part of a focused effort to reduce the number of trains delayed.

• We repaired 34 switches in Q4, including equipment at:
  • Mosholu Parkway (4)
  • 239 St Yard
  • Broadway Lafayette (B, D, F, M)
  • Two switches at E 180 St (2,5)
  • Near Queensboro Plaza (R)
  • Astoria Ditmars Blvd (N, W)
  • 137 St City College (1)
  • 39 Av (N, W)
  • Two switches at 125 St (4, 5, 6)
  • Westchester Yard
  • 5 Av/53 St (E, M)
  • 36 St (M, R)
  • Four switches at 14 St (A, C, E)
  • Jamaica Van Wyck (E)
  • York St (F)
  • Myrtle Av (J, M, Z)
  • Three switches at Flatbush Av Brooklyn College (2, 5)
  • 59 St Columbus Circle (A, C)
  • Grand Central 42 St (4, 5, 6)
  • Two switches at DeKalb Av (B, Q, R)
  • W 4 St Washington Sq (B, D, F, M)
  • Two switches between Broad Channel and the Rockaways (A)
  • 5 Av/53 St (E, M)
  • Two switches in upper Manhattan where the (2, 3) diverge

✔️ Make targeted improvements at 20 stations, as identified by our new Group Station Managers.

• These stations throughout the city may appear cleaner, brighter, and have a fresh coat of paint, thanks to your new Group Station Managers:
  • 125St (A, C, B, D)
  • 72 St (1)
  • 181 St (1)
  • 96 St (1)
  • 138 St-Grand Concourse (4, 5)
  • 149 St-Grand Concourse (2, 5)
  • Baychester Av (2, 5)
  • 3 Av-149 Street (2, 5)
  • 68th St-Hunter College (6)
  • 125th St (4, 5, 6)
  • 77th St (6)
  • 14th St (A, C, E)
  • 42nd St-Port Authority (A, C, E)
  • Lexington Av-59th St (N, R, W)
  • Rector St (R)
  • Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr (B, Q, D, N, R)
  • Bay 50th St (D)
  • Bay Parkway (D)
  • Roosevelt Av (E, F, M, R)
  • Shepherd Av (C)

Bus

✔️ Gather input from Bronx residents in English and Spanish through an online survey and at four community workshops as part of our second borough-wide bus network redesign.

✔️ Continue to evaluate the newly redesigned Staten Island express bus network and make tweaks to better meet the needs of customers. Q4 brings an entirely new route – the SIM9 serving Eltingville, the Father Capodanno Park & Ride, and Greenwich Village – and more trips on busy routes like the SIM1 and SIM4.

• We’ve been poring through your feedback and making modifications since the launch of the redesigned Staten Island express bus network in August. And we launched even more improvements in January, including the new SIM11 route that’s similar to the old X2. Read all about it here.

❌ Riders on all SIM routes will also get access to real-time seat availability information.

• The tech is ready, but we wanted to do customer testing in the field before rolling this out widely. Stay tuned for updates!

✔️ Launch Select Bus Service (SBS) on the B82 with our partners at NYC DOT, giving South Brooklynites improved access to six subway lines and faster service through off-board fare payment, all-door boarding, dedicated bus lanes, and more.

❌ Introduce technology that gives buses priority at traffic signals to three new routes: the Q52, Q53, and Q5. Transit signal priority technology is implemented by NYC DOT and is already in use at some traffic lights on 12 routes in all five boroughs.

• We expect to introduce this technology on other routes soon. We also collaborated with DOT to make similar improvements throughout, like: extending the dedicated bus lane on Fulton St in Brooklyn, modifying the traffic signal at St. George terminal in Staten Island so that more buses can get through a light; and installing curb extensions on Grand Concourse in the Bronx so that you can board faster and buses can keep moving.

Accessibility

✔️ Advance accessibility throughout the subway system: Continue construction on nine elevators and complete accessibility studies at 47 stations, bringing the total to 150 by the year’s end.

✔️ Expand real-time accessibility information in the MYmta app, including elevator and escalator status and more robust trip planning features for people with disabilities.

✔️ Publish a new elevator and escalator dashboard that shows detailed availability data system wide.

• We launched the Elevator and Escalator performance dashboard with historic data back to January 2015. It allows you to track the performance of any elevator or escalator in our system over time, see trends at the borough level and in peak vs. off-peak performance, and monitor monthly elevator/escalator up-time at a station level. We'll release additional metrics soon, too.

✔️ Release the new MY AAR platform in the MYmta app that will allow Access-A-Ride customers to book trips through a mobile device and view real-time trip status.

• Now, passengers can access Access-A-Ride, bus, and subway information on the same platform, so they can choose the best transit solution for each trip.

✔️ Survey 10 ADA compliant subway stations for 15 accessibility features as part of a systemwide review to improve overall accessibility. Over time, we will survey all 118 accessible stations.

• We'll use survey findings to ensure accessibility features are meeting the needs of riders of all abilities. Stations surveyed in Q4 include:
  • Bowling Green (4, 5)
  • Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall (4, 5, 6)
  • Borough Hall
    • (2, 3) - both directions
    • (4, 5, 6) - northbound
  • South Ferry (1)
  • Chambers St (1, 2, 3)
  • Broadway Lafayette (B, D, F, M, 6)
  • 49 St (N, Q, R, W) - northbound
  • Times Square-42 St (7)
  • Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike (E, F)
  • Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Av (E, F, M, R) + 74 St-Broadway (7)

✔️ Introduce a new, more customer-friendly, no show and late cancellation policy for Access-A-Ride customers based on feedback we’ve received from the community.

Customer Service

✔️ Install PA systems at 15 stations that don’t currently have them, primarily on the F in Brooklyn and the C in upper Manhattan.

• More frequent service updates are coming your way if you use these stations:
  • Ditmas Av (F)
  • 18 Av (F)
  • Avenue I (F)
  • Bay Pkwy (F)
  • Avenue N (F)
  • Avenue P (F)
  • Kings Hwy (F)
  • Avenue U (F)
  • 155 St (D)
  • York St (F)
  • Cathedral Pkwy (110 St) (B, C)
  • 72 St (C)
  • 163 St (C)
  • Clinton Washington (C)
  • Kingston Av (C)

✔️ Launch the Courtesy Pass program so you can get where you need to go on another train or bus when service becomes temporarily unavailable in a subway station.

✔️ Install customer information screens at 30 more stations, including Court Square on the E, M lines and Nassau on the G, bringing the total number of stations with these state-of-the-art customer service resources to 50.

✔️ Replace over 50,000 Reduced Fare MetroCards that were previously color coded based on the gender binary with new gender-neutral cards.

✔️ Continue our Fast Forward community conversation series to gather feedback and discuss solutions. Q4 brings us to Jamaica, Harlem, and the South Bronx.

✔️ Equipped over 700 buses with on-board customer information screens that indicate the next stop and show other service information, bringing our 2018 total to 1,000.

• We're installing more screens and equipping them with more real-time functionality in 2019, too.

✔️ Install new countdown clocks on the Second Avenue subway.

• These new signs went live in early December, and we’re currently working on adding the “next train to leave” functionality to the countdown clocks at 96 St.