Transit Revamp

NYCTA

(New York City Transport Affiliates)

Jaydin Parker, Dylan, Victor

Problem Statement

The NYCTA’s plan to alleviate some of the worries surrounding sanitary public transportation, hopefully allowing for better quality bus and train rides, and decreasing the spread of germs, sicknesses, and viruses.

As it stands, subway ridership is peppered with numerous inconsistencies and inconveniences that have an impact on the quality of life of riders. The goal of the NYCTA is to forego the currently held standards of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Key points of this goal are to improve, add, or optimize the foundation of public transportation.

Abstract

Though relied upon by many on a daily basis, the quality of taking New York City public transportation including buses, trains, and shuttles tend to be fairly poor at times. Passengers, for example, often encounter littering, dirty seats, unpleasant smells, and outdated technological infrastructure. This has been accentuated by the global pandemic that is COVID-19, as the touch reliant systems and condensed ridership culture of the MTA public transportation system can compromise people’s health and safety. Another aspect of the dilemma is the lack of proper sanitization regarding public transportation. We believe this can be resolved through a couple of manners such as: an increase of garbage cans, hand sanitizer dispensers at stations and on buses & trains, touchless doors & turnstiles, and hiring more essential crew such as sanitation workers. This plan should be implemented for one month in downtown Manhattan initially to 100 bus and subway stops between 14th st and 72nd st including the 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 7, N-R-Q, and A-C-E lines, then later implemented all across the boroughs. Once in full effect, the service quality of public transportation in New York City should improve, and it can potentially be an asset towards resolving key issues such as fare evasion and price inflation. 

Gantt Chart

Research

• 40 total train stations between 14th and 72nd street
• MTA Sanitation workers earn around $20-25 an hour
• MTA founded in 1953
• NYC subway opened in 1904
• 28 train routes and 325 bus routes
• OMNY planned to be rolled in over the years 2020-2023
• OMNY used $84 million out of a $644 million budget
• Daily passenger amount reached 6 million in 2014
• Train cars are supposedly cleaned every night after operation
• 2017 transit crisis consisted of frequent train delays, lack of funds, slow signals, and overcrowdedness
• Single ride metrocards increased in fare from $2 in 2003 to $2.75 in 2015 (37.5% increase)
• MTA initializing thorough cleaning of train cars and buses in response to COVID (1-5am complete service shutdown daily)
• MTA attempted an experiment to remove trash cans from a small amount of stations, it backfired and resulted in more trash on the tracks and floors

Budget

Unit	Unit Amount/Cost	Total Price
Purell LTX-12 Hand Sanitizer Dispenser	~$25-40 / dispenser100 bus stops, 120 for train stations	$5,500 – $8,800
Purell LTX-12 Hand Sanitizer Refill	~$15-30 / 2 refill containers110 needed	$1,650 – $3,300
Motion Sensor One-Way sliding door	~$400-900 / door80 doors	$32,000 – $72,000
Large Garbage Cans (Trains)	~$500 / can  80 cans	$40,000
Smaller Garbage Cans (buses)	~$150 / can100 cans	$15,000
Service
Workers (Product Installation)	$24/hour 6hrs/5days(1 month elapsed time)	$2,880
Sanitation Workers	$20 / hour 12hrs/5days	$4,800/month (not calculated in total)
TOTAL COST		$97,030 – $141,980
Uncalculated Costs	Salary of permanent Sanitation Workers	$57,600/year per worker

Due to the inflated prices of Hand Sanitzer the pricing is an approximation.

Project Narrative

New York City is one of the busiest cities in the United States and is ranked number 1 for the highest total population density of any city out of the entire country. This is remarkably evident in every borough, however, overcrowdedness can especially be seen in Manhattan, where people fill the streets at almost every hour of the day. Traffic in Manhattan is a large issue, as many cannot even consider driving to work due to the massive amount of cars, taxis, buses, trucks, etc. lining the streets on every block and corner. Thankfully, NYC has one of the most intricate subway systems in the world and is considered the best system in the country. Though the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) offers a seemingly endless amount of transportation options and routes, the quality of their service can vary significantly. 

The quality of life when commuting through trains and buses in NYC have always been in question. Passengers frequently encounter crowds, delays, changes in service, track maintenance, abruptly closed tracks, and sanitation issues; It is partly due to the many ancient components of the system. Many of the buses, trains, and stations are several years old, while some of the large stations such as Grand Central were made before the 1950’s and are over a hundred years old. The deteriorating conditions of subway stations and cars not only cause many problems with subway operations, but can also prove unsanitary and unsafe for passengers. According to Business Insider, “The comptroller’s report found that 97% of stations receive fewer cleanings than they’re supposed to and 88% of stations received half or fewer than the number of recommended cleanings”, which means that almost every train station in NYC has lingering trash that rarely gets cleaned up. In addition, the cleaning that the MTA does is subpar as Insider continues, “In fact, the report found that a recently vacuumed track is nearly indistinguishable from one that hasn’t been vacuumed”. For a service that serves millions of people everyday, frequent maintenance is certainly a tall task and either requires renovation or more sanitation options, both of which will increase their necessary budget. 

We, the New York City Transport Affiliates, believe that some smaller steps can be taken that would set a precedent towards a resolution. These small steps are in the form of minor changes that, once resolved, may alter the status of the MTA’s other issues to a more positive light. One of such minor changes can be in regards to the lack of proper garbage disposal areas once boarding a train or bus. Eating or drinking on a bus or train is not prohibited by law in NYC, however there are no garbage bins on buses or trains. Littering is punishable by fine if caught in the city, but there is not nearly enough enforcement when it comes to densely populated areas. The courteous thing to do would be to hold your garbage until you exit the vehicle, but being that trash is frequently left on or under seats, by windows, on the floor, or is spilled, it may be best to implement covered trash cans into buses and train cars to give passengers the immediate option.

We see the solution of many issues regarding public transportation as a two-part effort: when respect is given and efforts are made to the people, the people will also respect and make efforts to the system. The NYCTA can begin by introducing small utilities, such as hand sanitizer dispensers and trash bins to a select amount of bus stops and train stations. We plan to focus our experimental solution at stops and stations between 14th street and 72nd street, which is one of the most populated areas of the city. This involves the 40 train stations of the 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 7, N-R-Q, and A-C-E lines between 14th and 72nd street, and 100 bus stops in the vicinity of Times Square 42nd street. We will then listen for feedback and monitor results, which will be done through visual inspection at different stations and on buses and train cars. The expectation is that pedestrians will notice and consider the steps made towards a cleaner system, and will respect and abide by it over time. 

Some of our solutions cannot be done alone however, instead they can be done in tandem with the MTAs administered solutions to certain problems. One of which are the OMNY (One Metro New York) systems, which is a contactless method to pay fares that are currently being implemented by the MTA. We plan to support OMNY as it aligns with our goal to further sanitize the city’s transportation, and we will monetarily and physically support the system through fundraising and labor. OMNYs budget is currently $644 million, and is expected to be carried out around the city into 2023. Even so, we believe that the expected date for installation to be finished should be sooner, especially given the city’s status with COVID-19. 

COVID-19, informally known as the CoronaVirus, is a new highly transmissible virus that has crippled the world in an inevitable lockdown. The nearly vacant streets of the city are a surreal experience and it is one of, if not the only time the city that never sleeps has been put to rest. In this strange time, citizens are informed almost every day to maintain social distancing, frequently wash their hands, and to wear masks when going outside to prevent contamination for themselves and their families. While this is relatively easy to do for the general public, essential workers and people who need to go outside have to take extra precautions for their safety. These precautions are not reflected in our public transportation systems or in our society in many areas. In subways and buses, touch is still necessary in many aspects, and though it can be averted with gloves, the best solution would be to abstain from contact entirely, meaning things such as doors and turnstiles should be less touch reliant and should be automated. 

Currently the MTA is taking strides to improve the sanitation of subways due to COVID-19 which aligns with our mission. According to NBCs article “Coronavirus forces New York City subways, trains to clean up their act”, MTA workers disinfected the 472 subway stations, 2,000 subway cars, and around 2,000 buses, and they plan to clean all 6,400 subway cars and 5,700 buses every three days. This is an excellent and labor intensive effort to prevent the spread of the virus and bacteria, but it raises the question of why this rigorous extent of cleaning was not standardized in the first place. 

Nevertheless, our experienced team will also contribute to cleaning up the city’s transportation. With authorization from the MTA, and with enough funding we can make a difference with public transportation that will likely have a lasting effect on the cleanliness of the subways for good. We hope to make commuting in our daily lives through the MTA a pleasant and worthwhile experience, and we hope to tackle many more objectives and continue to develop worthwhile solutions regarding public transportation in the future.

Works Cited

Cook, Lauren, and Vincent Barone. “MTA Ranks No. 1 in N. America but 23rd in the World: Report.” AmNewYork, 29 Oct. 2017, www.amny.com/transit/nyc-transit-ranking-1-14676671/. 

Dobnik, Verena. “NYC Officials Abandon Subway Trash Bin Ban Experiment.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 1 Apr. 2017, http://apnews.com/cdeb80bc9cdd46ed82f39eaffb02417f/nyc-subway-trash-bin-ban-yields-better-cleaning-methods. 

Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “Mta.Info | Facts and Figures.” Mta.Info, 2017, 

http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/

Department of City Planning, NYC. “Planning-Population-Current and Future Populations – DCP.” Nyc.Gov, 2018, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/planning-level/nyc-population/current-future-populations.page

Green, Dennis. “We Finally Know Exactly Why the New York City Subway Is so Dirty.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 18 May 2015, www.businessinsider.com/why-the-nyc-subway-is-so-dirty-2015-5. 

Levy, Alon. “The Real Reason New York City Can’t Make the Trains Run on Time.” Vox, Vox, 11 July 2017, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/11/15949284/new-york-subway-crisis. 

Siemaszko, Corky. “Coronavirus Forces New York City Subways, Trains to Clean up Their Act.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 4 Mar. 2020, 

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-forces-new-york-city-subways-trains-clean-their-act-n1148231.