Straphangers Campaign

An Express F Train May Be In The Near Future For Brooklyn

This past August, the Straphangers Campaign gave the F train a $1.40 grade, which is basically a B or a C-. The score was given based on cleanliness, breakdowns and service - and, for the F train, this grade is sparing. The line between Culver and Jamaica-179th Street is known for its long waits; i ... More >>

Long Live the G-Train? New Petition Tries to Preserve Park Slope Extension

Well, here are four words we never thought we would type: Save the G-train? Brooklyn's straphangers, known to love the looping line as much as they hate it, are now rallying in support of the G: District Leader Lincoln Restler has organized a petition to keep the MTA from cutting off full Church Av ... More >>

Survey Finds Subway Platforms Are Graffiti-Covered, Rat-Infested Messes

​Today in "Thank you, Captain Obvious," a transit advocacy group has found that many subway platforms are unsightly, unsanitary, rat-infested blights. You don't say! The Straphangers Campaign released the results of its first ever "State of the Station Platforms" survey today, and the news i ... More >>

M50 Bus Wins "Slower Than a Lawnmower" Acclaim

According to this year's annual "Pokey" award, the slowest local bus route in New York City is the M50, which travels crosstown on 49th and 50th Streets between First and Twelfth Avenues, clocking in at just 3.5 miles per hour at noon on a weekday, according to Straphangers Campaign staff and volunt ... More >>

NYC Subway Payphones Don't Work Anyway

​Maybe we can only speak for ourselves, but it feels like modern brains and eyes fail to even register the existence of payphones, let alone their functionality. Nonetheless, the New York Public Interest Research Group's Straphangers Campaign, which advocates for transportation improvements, c ... More >>

The Subway Is Pretty Gross, but the R Train Is Really Repulsive

​According to the latest Straphangers Campaign study, the subway is officially grosser than last year. Maybe it's all the spaghetti flying around? The R trains are the most disgusting, reports the New York Post, "with only 27 percent of them rated as 'clean.'" The cleanest line was the 7, with ... More >>

Study Finds 83% of Subway Announcements Are Clear and Accurate, But Uh: No

​A new survey by the Straphangers Campaign claims that 83% of subway announcements, including routes, stations and transfer options, are both clear and accurate, making it seem instantly to anyone who has ever been on the subway that something is wrong with this study. New trains with pre-reco ... More >>

Complaining About Snow Is So Passé

New Yorkers wade through the 1969 "Lindsay" storm.​It's hard to tell if the New York Times is trying to celebrate or condemn all of this snow bitching. But a story on the paper's website today would like to remind you that whining about blizzards, and especially ragging on city officials abou ... More >>

Subway "Report Card" Reveals that Even the Best Line (the 7) Isn't Worth $2.25 a Ride

​The State of the Subways Fall 2010 "Report Card" (seriously, guys, can we get a new name for this? We're having icky flashbacks) has been handed out by the Straphangers Campaign. And the rankings are intriguing! Did you know that subway riders want "short waits, trains that arrive regularly, ... More >>

Westway, the Highway That Tried to Eat New York, Defeated 25 Years Ago This Week

​The Saw Mill, the Bronx River, and parts of the FDR were closed due to flooding this morning thanks to the monsoon that kicked in before dawn. But the West Side Highway, a.k.a. the Joe DiMaggio? Traffic is flowing fine there, thanks in large part because we never built Westway, the crazed mul ... More >>

Transit Bigs, Facing Crisis, Stage Spitting Olympics

Daily News​The only thing more remarkable than the fact that some bus drivers needed sixty days off to pull themselves together after catching a gob of New York spit from unhinged passengers, is that there are no known recent instances of bus-driver-on-passenger homicides. Any number of killi ... More >>

Survey: Subway Announcements Wah, Wha, Waaah...

​If you thought that you couldn't hear those garbled gobbledygook subway announcements alerting you to a delay or disruption at all, well, you were more than 50 percent right.

MTA Stocking Stuffer? May Shut M and Z Trains, "Dozens" of Bus Routes

This Christmas season, the MTA is planning a treat for all of us: service cuts! These were threatened during the last "Doomsday Budget" tsimmis, but relinquished when the fares went up. Now MTA is out of money again, and is considering the removal of "dozens of bus routes," and the W and Z subway l ... More >>

Straphangers Award "Pokeys" for Slowest Buses; M42, B63 Big Winners

The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives have announced their eighth annual Pokey Awards for the city's slowest buses, and the surprise winner is the M42 that lumbers between the Javits Center and First Avenue on 42nd Street. By the sponsors' calculations, the M42 achieves a ... More >>

As Appeal Goes Forward, MTA Hit With New Atlantic Yards Suit

Bruce Ratner and his Atlantic Yards project are really getting it in the neck this week. Tomorrow an appeal by landholders of the eminent domain seizure of their properties for the sports, shopping, office and residential mega-plan gets going in court. And now Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, state s ... More >>

Train service is going to be really, really bad this weekend, and other bad transit news

​The MTA has chosen this weekend to start needed repairs on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, A, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, N, Q, and R lines (a full list of service advisories is here). Some stops will be skipped, and parts of routes replaced with shuttle bus service. Note: there will be handicapped-accessibl ... More >>

Top Marks to 7 Train, Low Marks to C, in Largely Meaningless Subway Survey

The subway nudges of the Straphangers Campaign issued their annual State of the Subways report. The 7 train was their favorite, which in their MetroCard rating system means it's almost worth the price of a pre-fare-hike ride ($1.55); on the GCT-to-Flushing line you're more likely to get a train and ... More >>

Chief Exec Sander Leaving MTA

Less than 24 hours after Albany passed its MTA bailout package, MTA chief executive Elliot "Lee" Sander has resigned. In an interview with WPIX, he did not dispute the assertion that Governor Paterson requested his resignation. The Governor told WNYC earlier that the MTA is in need of a shakeup. ("D ... More >>

State Senate to Unveil MTA Plan Nobody Likes

The Mayor and others are pressing state senate majority leader Malcolm Smith (pictured) to do something to head off the oncoming MTA "doomsday" budget. Smith and his allies are expected to unveil a plan today with fare increases and payroll taxes -- both smaller than what the Ravitch Commission prop ... More >>

In the Projects, Timing Elevators

Day of the Chicken, the Ikea Bus and More

MTA Bigwig Likes His Perks

Congestion Pricing Panel Named

MTA Gets Set to Raise Fares

Ranking Your Subway Ride

Atlantic Yards Foes Hope for a Silver Christmas

Exit Strategy

When it comes to subways and terrorism, the best defense might be a good escape

Stopping a Stadium

Heroes had different motives, but they shared scorn for the Jets deal

Getting Better All the Time

Inside New York's Quiet Success Stories

Transit Hurrah

The People Who Stood Up to the MTA Bullies

Terrors of a Subway Rider

Notes From the Underground

Mixed Signals

City Promises No Driverless Trains, but Sets Track for Automatic Subway