The Subway Gets its Annual Report Card

The Straphangers’ Campaign yesterday released their annual subway report card. It measures how reliable subway service is, whether you can get a seat at rush hour, how clean the cars are and whether you can hear the conductor’s announcements.

Top Five Lines

Somehow the 6, which Brooklyn Ramblings thinks is the pokiest local around, ended up on top overall. But enough about Manhattan-only trains. How did the Brooklyn trains do? The N and W tied for the worst subway line, due mostly to the long period of time between trains, lack of seat availability, not arriving on time, and not being able to hear conductor announcements. Can you believe that the W has ten-minute intervals between trains all day, even at rush hour?

If you’re coming from Bushwick, the train will come when it’s supposed to. The J/Z line had the greatest regularity of service, arriving within two to four minutes of its scheduled interval 92% of the time. Good thing, because you won’t be able to hear the announcements - 78% of announcements on the J/Z line are inadequate. The most irregular line is the 2, which arrived on time only 79% of the time. The 2 and C tied for the cleanest line - way to go, eastern Brooklyn. Cars on the G line had the worst record for breakdowns, suffering breakdown delays more than four times as often as cars on the 5, the best rated line. But, if you ride the 5, don’t hold your breath for a seat - riders on the 5 have only a 31% chance of getting a seat at rush hour.

Worst Five Lines