Reductions proposed in N.Y. subway, bus service

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is preparing additional service changes for the fall and winter, including trims to rush-hour service on several popular buses and the No. 7 train, even as New Yorkers are bracing for the loss of two subway lines and dozens of bus routes in less than a week, according to The New York Times.

The proposed changes, which must be approved on Wednesday by the
authority’s board, would be far less severe than the cuts scheduled to
take effect on Sunday. But they would reduce service on dozens of bus
routes and increase commuting time for riders on the No. 7 line.

The plans, which appeared in documents on the authority’s Website over
the weekend, are described by transit officials as routine adjustments
to account for trends in ridership, which has sagged in the weak
economy. And on some bus routes, service will actually increase.

But the proposals, which are projected to save $3.7 million a year, come
as the authority steps up its attempts to close a $400 million budget
gap.

With state legislators unwilling to commit more money to transportation
— and tax revenue continuing to fall short of projections — the
authority will be forced to consider more stringent cost-cutting
measures as it prepares a budget to be presented in July.

Starting in December, the authority plans to remove four early-morning
express trains from the No. 7 line, which runs between Queens and
Midtown Manhattan. Express service would start at 6:20 a.m. instead of
5:30 a.m.

A local train would be added for riders during that time slot under the
plan, and two additional local trains would run between 9 and 10 a.m.

The bus changes would take effect in September on 38 routes. About
two-thirds of the changes are reductions. Among the routes where buses
would run slightly less frequently are the M1 and M4 in Manhattan.

To close its budget gap, the authority has renegotiated contracts,
revised obsolete work practices and announced plans to lay off thousands
of transit workers throughout the system.

Subway riders may already be feeling the effects. A survey by the
Straphangers Campaign, to be released on Monday, found that half the
city’s subway lines were dirtier in 2009 than the year before.

Of 2,200 subway cars examined by the riders’ group, half were deemed
unclean, a category that ranged from a "dingy floor" to "heavy dirt,"
"malodorous conditions" and "sticky wet spots."

The M train, which is about to replace the V train in Manhattan and
Queens, was found to be the system’s dirtiest: only a third of its cars
were determined to be clean. The C and No. 6 trains tied for the top
spot as cleanest.