Tuesday, September 29, 2015

More reasons why the MTA does not keep it's "Pledge to Customers"

I still don't understand how MTA continues to have it's "Pledge to Customers" when they have so much inaccurate information or they just don't care about updating the information.   Let's get right to each instance.

On August 10th, the MTA Bridges and Tunnels implemented a 24/7 lane closure of the southbound Henry Hudson Bridge (the lower level into Manhattan), yet (as of this post) there is no service alert about this round-the-clock lane closure.





While the MTA Arts for Transit has recently added information for the 34th Street Hudson Yards station on the 7 line, go back one stop to Times Square and you can see the description for the Roy Lichenstin artwork over by the N/Q/R/S and W trains.   The W line was discontinued in 2010.   Of course the MTA continues to ignore this.


You cannot uphold the MTA's Pledge to Customers if you refuse to correct the automated announcements on the newest subway cars.  Presently, transfer lines are announced based on the six specific time blocks of the day:  AM Rush Hour, Midday, PM Rush Hour, Evening, Late night and Weekend.  So a "Transfer to the Bx41 Select Bus Service (SBS+)" announcement from a 2 train arriving at Gun Hill Road or 3rd Ave 149th Street at 11:30 PM would be inaccurate because the Bx41 SBS+ stops running before 10 PM.  But because the Bx41 operates in the early evenings, that is part of the evening (7 PM to midnight) time period for these automated announcements inside subway cars.  And as I have said time after time the MTA NYC Transit should look into the ability to add or remove lines at transfer stops so theses announcements can be more accurate,  This would be exceptionally useful such as the A/C Cranberry Tube weekend reroutes.

Even new service changes have errors.  According to NYCT, the first Bx10 local bus leaves Riverdale at 1:40 am - - but the Bx10 operates 24/7 anyway so how could there be an first and last bus?


Bus Time, a popular bus tracking service which I use, now has the countdown minutes instead of the number of stops.  With that in mind, they also corrected only 50 percent of the errors of the bus stops at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY.  While I noted in March 2014, that Sterns, Woolworths and Caldor are on the list of bus stops in their data, they took a long time to correct two of the three stops.  Since then, the Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas closed in January to make way for a significant expansion of Green Acres Mall.  So they still have two errors (The Caldor and Sunrise theater) in this Q5 and Q85 bus stop data.




When the driver of an tractor-trailer struck a major electrical cable on the elevated 4 line south of Woodlawn terminal, causing a major fire which shut down 4 service between Burnside Ave and the Woodlawn terminal, NYCT offered alternative bus suggestions while leaving out the obvious choice - - Grand Concourse and the B/D trains as well as the Bx1/2 buses.  The Bx10/28 are useful only between Mosholu Parkway and Bedford Park Blvd and Kingsbridge Road on the D, respectively.  The Bx32 does not have the frequency to take some burden off from 4 train riders who are displaced at Burnside and that bus route runs short of Bedford Park Blvd.




The MTA's Pledge to Customers continues to be a smokescreen.  They need improvement in proofreading as well as executing the proper notifications in an accurate and timely manner.  And the MTA needs to stop waiting for more than 10 years to fix long standing errors.  To be fair, their service notifications on the MTA website have been mostly good, when they take the time to post a good service alert.

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