Happy New Year!

Looking back on 2019, I want to express gratitude to my colleagues who have challenged convention to transform NYC’s transit service and customer experience for millions of riders.

In addition to the dramatic improvements in subway performance metrics – 2019 was the best year for on-time performance and running time since 2013 – we've been upgrading the station environment to improve capacity and passenger flow, and help prepare stations to meet the demand of resurgent ridership. In Q4, we opened a brand new entrance to the 1 Av L station and re-opened a new Astoria Blvd N/W station.

Buses are also speeding up, and customers are coming back to routes where we’ve been able to implement bus priority interventions. As one example, the M14 has seen impressive improvements in speed and rider ship since the implementation of SBS, the 14th St busway, and Automated Bus Lane Enforcement.

Throughout Q4, customers tested over a dozen features to make subway stations more accessible for riders of all abilities at Jay St-MetroTech, our Accessible Station Lab. We also opened a new elevator at the 8 Av N station, making the northbound platform ADA-accessible. Expect more news like this as we begin implementing our 2020-2024 Capital Plan.

And now my favorite update: In November, we installed a PA system at the last remaining subway station that didn’t previously have one. But — the work continues as we aim to get customers the information they need, when and where they need it. Read about our Q4 progress here.

Not backing down,

Sarah Meyer
Chief Customer Officer, NYC Transit

Subway  

❌ Launch CBTC on the first section of track along Queens Boulevard, the first step of the 10-year Fast Forward plan to increase frequency and reliability systemwide through modern signaling.  

• While testing our suppliers’ equipment, we encountered some bugs, which are currently being addressed.  
• Global supply chain issues due to COVID-19 have delayed the delivery of critical parts for this project. 

✔️ Deep clean two stations: 

• President Street (2, 5) 
• Flatbush Avenue (2, 5) 
• Our deep cleaning procedures typically include power washing and polishing surfaces, repainting, and making fixes to things like light fixtures, tiles, and drip pans. Of course, we’ve also been disinfecting every station regularly since early March. 

❌ Improve station capacity and passenger flow with four new staircases and four refurbished staircases at Bedford Av (L).  

• All of the stairs, both new and refurbished, have been in use this quarter, but we have some finishing touches to add that will require us to close off staircases for periods of time. This work is on hold while we await new fabricated parts — another COVID-19 delay. 

✔️ Open a new 15,000 square-foot mezzanine, two new staircases, and a new fare control area (read: more options to enter and exit the system) at Grand Central. 

• The new space opened in early February – perhaps you saw it before you started quarantine? If not:

✔️ Restore service or re-open station entrances after critical structural repairs at three stations: 

• Northbound platform of 138 St-Grand Concourse (4, 5)   
• Southbound platform of Gun Hill Rd (5)   
• An entrance at Eastern Pkwy-Brooklyn Museum   

❌ Increase speed limits at another 40 locations throughout the system as part of the Save Safe Seconds campaign to improve subway service using existing resources.  

• Our SPEED Unit — operations experts with support from a cross-functional team representing planning, engineering, and maintenance — increased speed limits at 35 locations January – March. That was on top of their pivot to more urgent needs in response to crisis: Operations staff have stepped up to dispatch trains and troubleshoot issues to keep the subway running; planners have analyzed ridership and service levels to produce schedules that reflect a vastly different reality, and to assist departments of health and the New York Power Authority with their contingency plans; and engineering and maintenance teams were deployed to repair damage to the 110 St station after a tragic fire at the end of March. 

Bus  

❌ Bring Automated Bus Lane Enforcement (forward-facing onboard cameras) to three new routes. 

• B46 buses with ABLE cameras have hit the road (actually avenue and boulevard – Broadway Ave, Malcolm X Blvd, and Utica Ave) in Brooklyn. Some implementation work requires depot visits, which are currently limited to people performing essential functions only. We expect to continue ABLE rollout as soon as we can.  

✔️ Solicit community feedback on the draft Queens bus network redesign plan at workshops throughout Queens and online, and incorporate into our final draft plan, due later this year. Check individual bus route profile pages to learn what changes, if any, we recommend to your routes in the draft plan.  

• We held several workshops before postponing in-person events in early March. Our commitment to listening and acting on your feedback remains — please read the draft plan and provide your input if you haven’t already.

✔️ Begin fixed (street-side) bus camera enforcement on Fulton St (Brooklyn), Church Ave, Jamaica Ave, Broadway (Manhattan), and Allen St, in partnership with NYCDOT. 

• Bus lanes are for buses, or private drivers who want tickets, in these five critical, congested locations. Thanks, NYCDOT. 

❌ Roll out 15 new articulated all-electric buses. 

• We introduced eight articulated all-electric buses to our fleet this winter, but the facility that produces these buses closed for a time because of COVID-19. We expect delivery of the remaining buses in the coming months.  

✔️ Complete the Rockaway Beach Blvd bus priority project, in partnership with NYCDOT. 

• Building on work in 2019 to install bus lanes along Rockaway Beach Blvd, NYCTDOT implemented safety improvements for riders, including curb extensions, median tip extensions, pedestrian refuge islands, and high-visibility crosswalks, and made the bus stops at Beach 73rd St and Beach 67th St accessible.  

✔️ Publish our analysis around population density, travel patterns, future developments, ridership, and service quality in Brooklyn. This report, along with input from customers and community leaders, will inform the Brooklyn bus network redesign plan. 

• You can read the Existing Conditions Report here. We are continually adjusting our schedule to account for the current reality and ensure riders have a chance to comment on each stage of the project. We will keep you posted once the timeline for Brooklyn’s draft plan and the rest of the redesign process are finalized.  

Accessibility  

❌ Start installing new technology for elevators owned and maintained by third parties, which will improve real-time elevator availability information for customers and help the elevator owners respond more quickly to outages. 

• While we’ve moved as many staff to remote work as possible, we are unable to complete some in-person work, like installation in subway stations. Improving response time to third-party elevator outages has been, and remains, a high priority for us. Stay tuned for updates.  

✔️ Test hearing loop systems, which transmit signals to hearing aids and cochlear implants, helping customers with hearing loss understand service changes and other announcements, on both buses and subway platforms. 

• We’ve tested hearing loops at the Bowling Green station (4, 5) and on a test bus, and continue gather customer feedback on these installations. We are working to expand the bus testing beyond one proof of concept bus, to several buses running on routes throughout the city. 

❌ Begin notifying customers on subway cars when they are arriving at an accessible station, via on-train announcements.  

• We are updating our automated train station arrival announcements to include accessibility information, but unfortunately can’t start broadcasting this information until we are able to finish some in-person work at our Rail Control Center. Listen up for new announcements once we can all ride safely again. 

✔️ Demo a new model for a wide fare gate at the Jay St–MetroTech station, showing customers what the accessible gate of the future – for all subway riders – could look like.  

• While the gate is there, we understand if you haven’t gotten the chance to check it out. For now, you can read about our wide fare gate trial here. 

✔️ Launch a 2020 Transit Tech Lab accessibility challenge to gather innovative solutions for ensuring blind/low-vision and deaf/hard-of-hearing customers have access to all the information they need to travel the system.  

• Check. Learn about the finalists working to bring innovative accessibility solutions to our system at the link. 

❌ Double the number of customers in our popular Access-A-Ride on-demand E-hail pilot. 

• The second phase launch is delayed due to COVID-19.  We will keep you informed before any future program changes. 

Customer  

✔️ Test a guest announcer pilot program as a new way to raise revenue while keeping customers informed and entertained. 

• Remember hearing Awkwafina making announcements on the 7 train? Seems like a lifetime ago.  

It's no secret that we need additional revenue streams, stat. Who would you like to hear over the PA system? Tell us here. 

✔️ Launch open enrollment for Fair Fares, a NYC DSS/HRA program that provides a 50% discount on subway and eligible bus fares to low-income New Yorkers. 

❌ Install customer information screens that provide next train arrival predictions and wayfinding information at 30 stations. 

• We added screens at 29 stations between January and March. 

✔️ Create new PSA campaign series to encourage respectful and safe customer behavior and connect people in crisis to resources they need. 

• Check it out here. Our reminder still stands: Take care of each other, please. 

✔️ Implement a pilot to show shuttle bus arrival predictions in MYmta  – an effort to improve reliability during planned work in the subway system.  

• Proud of this one. There’s a lot that goes on behind the curtain to make shuttle buses appear in our applications. Our approach was to start with major shuttle bus operations, like the long-term M191 shuttle bus supporting our elevator replacement at 191 St (1) — you can see those buses here. We expect to expand on this once major capital projects pick back up. 

✔️ Extend Lost & Found office to 10-hour days, Monday – Friday, helping customers retrieve their belongings when it’s convenient for them.  

• Lost & Found hours were extended in early January, but note that the physical office is currently closed because of COVID-19. If you lose something before it reopens, file a claim online. All lost items will be processed once our staff return to the lost & found office.