MTA touts subway performance improvements, credits Subway Action Plan
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The MTA on Monday released new statistics Monday that the agency says shows a dramatic year-over-year improvement in subway service, crediting the recently implemented Subway Action Plan and a decision to speed up trains.
MTA President Patrick Foye, New York City Transit President Andy Byford, and Subway Senior Vice President Sally Librera touted the February numbers, which included the fewest number of weekday delays that the system has seen in almost five years.
Officials said weekday on-time performance continues to be significantly improved over 2018, and weekday major incidents are declining steadily. In addition, they say customer-based performance numbers are pointing higher.
"This is another example that the funds invested in the Subway Action Plan by Governor Cuomo, the legislature, and city are delivering sustained improvements and tangible benefits," Foye said. "To keep this momentum going, we will need to secure additional and dependable revenue sources so that we can continue the work of improving our system to deliver a service our customers deserve."
The Subway Action Plan was launched at the direction of Governor Andrew Cuomo in July 2017 and funded by the governor, legislature and city, with the goal of taking extraordinary measures to stabilize and improve the more than 100-year old subway system.
"We are now seeing numbers that show consistent and sustained improvements resulting from the Subway Action Plan and Save Safe Seconds," Byford said. "Our ability to reduce our major daily incidents is resulting in fewer delays, faster trains, and an overall better experience for our customers."
Weekday on-time performance for February was approximately 76.4 percent, an increase of 14.7 percent from February 2018 and only 0.3 percent below January 2019.
February statistics also show a greater durability in subway trains, which traveled an average of 131,798 miles between breakdowns, an increase of 3 percent from February 2018.
Still, officials continue to stress that the MTA is in a dire financial position, with an operating budget deficit of approximately $500 million as early as next year, growing to nearly $1 billion by 2022. The MTA also has zero funding allocated for its next capital plan (2020-2024).
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