MTA Chairman's denial of the wrong announcements

I attended the first three of the four L line community meetings and one thing I can say about the MTA; they do listen at times. Granted they listened to all of the input from area residents and elected officials regarding the two service plans for the tunnel work under the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn which was heavily damaged from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.  One service plan was a full shutdown for 18 months, the other was a partial shutdown for 30 months.  The MTA board on July 26 adopted the faster and better 18 month full shutdown plan, which was endorsed by a majority of people (including me) who attended the L line community meetings via. question/comment submissions to the MTA Chairman, Thomas Prendergast, NYCT President Veronica "Ronnie" Hakim and two of her top level NYCT management team. However what I also find is that the MTA does not want to admit are the mistakes and errors which I have been documenting.  At the May 26 meeting in Canarsie, one of the questions I asked about the L line closure, starting in January 2019, was how will this closure affect subway lines that stop along 14th Street in Manhattan and will conductors continue to allow or make announcements that the L train is running when it isn't? NYCT Transit President Hakim noted that there will be a massive outreach effort to inform customers (she didn't say anything about train crews) about the L line closure through various means while MTA Chairman Prendergast stated that the wrong announcements are inherent in the newer subway cars which have the automated announcements.

I believe that the outreach on the L line closure will take place, however I also think Chairman Prendergast's statement on the subway car announcements and the problem with the newer trains is false - - just filled with excuses on blaming the wrong announcements on nearly 20 year old subway car equipment.  The first New Technology Train subway cars (NTTs) using the automated announcements, first ran on the 6 line then to other lines.  Additionally, based on Chairman Prendergast's statement, you would think the older subway cars which run on the A, 1, 3, B/D, R and 6 lines would have accurate announcements by conductors who have to do it the old fashioned way, especially on weekends where a lot of major diversions and construction take place.    Nope, totally wrong, many of these do make wrong announcements too.  During every weekend when the R was not running in Lower Manhattan due to the Montague tunnel work, conductors on the 2/3/4 would announce the R transfer at Borough Hall even though the R platform was closed.

I rode the system on two weekend days, the first was on Sunday, May 22 when the A/C was running on the F line (no A/C service at Fulton Street), the E was running on the F line between Manhattan and Queens (no E service at Lexington Ave/53rd Street), no regular D service south of 59th Street, it was running on the A line between 59th Street and Chambers Street and the 42nd Street shuttle was not running too.

I started with the 2 and 3 lines at Fulton Street where there is no A/C service.  Additionally, there was no 1 train service at Chambers Street (1 trains were not running between South Ferry and 14th Street while 2 and 3 trains were running local between Chambers and 34th Streets.    Therefore, conductors on the northbound 2 and 3 trains should warn customers of the following:

• There is no A/C service at Fulton, stay on the train to Park Place for transfers to E and rerouted D service.
• There is no Uptown 1 service at Chambers, stay on the 2 or 3 train instead. Again, none of the conductors suggested that.

Here are the results - - a pass means the conductor did say something about the A/C diversion.  All times are PM  NOTE:  On all observations, the NTT subway cars are car numbers 6300 on up.  Older non-NTT cars are below the magic 6300 number:

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result
6:33	3	SB	1400	No announcement
6:41	3	NB	1491	Fail
6:49	2	SB	6841	Fail
6:56	2	NB	6845	Fail
7:02	2	SB	6570	Fail
7:14	2	NB	6671	Fail
7:20	3	SB	1401	No transfer announcement
7:27	2	NB	6536	Fail
7:43	2	SB	7051	Fail

Going on the 4 and 6 lines at Bleecker Street to hear the D line announcements was just as bad as riding the 2 and 3 - - every train I rode announced the D transfer - - even one conductor said "transfer to the B/D/F/M" on a Sunday evening.  Even the 42nd Street shuttle was not immune to the misinformation, conductors on nearly every train on the 1/2/3/4/5/6/A/D lines announced the 42nd Street shuttle transfer (I would not be surprised at the N/Q/R side either)


Now for July 24th - the skinny:

• Conductors on the 6 lines using the older subway cars (they first ran on this line in 1986-87), announced the Q transfer at 59th Street.
• No conductor on the 4 line ever suggested the A/C transfer at Bleecker Street (they were running on the F line.)
• In Brooklyn when the 4 trains was not running, conductors on the D and R lines (using older subway equipment which MTA Chairman Prendergast flatly denies about the announcement problem) announced not only the 4 train but the 5 line transfer as well.  The 5 does not run in Brooklyn on weekends except in limited instances, such as a planned suspension of 2 and 3 service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
• Some station agent booths in Midtown Manhattan had color coded directions to other subway lines - - but did not modify the E to 8th Ave which was not running there.  The E was running on the 6th Ave F line in Manhattan.  However there were booths along the 6th Ave D/F lines which did had the message that the E trains were stopping at the F (line) platform.  I have two photos as such which showed the wrong directions to the E train, one at 34th-Penn (32nd st downtown 1 side) the other at 42nd Street-Bryant Park, main booth on the D/F lines.  What's interesting is that a customer at 42-Bryant Park needs to turn around and enter the system there for the E train instead of walking two blocks.

Now the announcements on that Sunday afternoon/evening 7/24 - no E at 51st Street/Lexington Ave is first

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result
3:51	4	SB	1236	Fail
3:58	6	NB	1720	Pass (the only one in this list)
4:06	6	SB	7605	Fail
4:15	6	NB	2021	Fail (when asked, he said "should be running, I heard nothing")
4:28	6	SB	1994	Fail (NQR at 59)
4:41	6	NB	7671	Fail
4:50	6	SB	1698	Fail (NQR at 59 and E/M at 51)
5:00	6	NB	2134	No announcement at 51
5:12	4	SB	7755	Fail

Next was the 4 train at Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center, I listened to only D and R train announcements at the 4th Ave side of this complex, Manhattan bound platform only - - about two conductors did announce something about no 4 trains at Atlantic Ave.

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result
5:54	D	NB	2616	Pass
5:58	D	NB	2574	Fail (announced 4/5 transfer)
6:04	R	NB	5756	Fail
6:06	D	NB	2712	No Transfer Announcement
6:16	R	NB	5682	Fail (announced 4/5 transfer)
6:16	D	NB	2510	No transfer announcement
6:25	R	NB	5610	No transfer announcement
6:28	D	NB	2631	Pass (asked)

Finally, I visited the 2/3 lines and passed through Fulton St for the A/C and 4/5 announcements.  Only one conductor passed:

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result (A/C and 4/5)
7:00	2	NB	6932	Fail/Fail
7:03	3	SB	1515	No announcement
7:05	3	NB	1521	Passed (asked)
7:08	2	SB	6871	Fail/Fail
7:20	3	NB	1521	Fail/Fail
7:26	3	SB	1341	Fail
7:30	3	NB	1577	No transfer announcement

One thing which NYCT does get it right is that the announcements about the major service diversions can be heard on station platforms (along with a scrolling visual display on the PA/CIS displays on the numbered lines.)   MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast has over 40 years experience in the transit field, most of it here in New York. It's unfortunate for the millions of subway riders that Mr. Prendergast has failed in acknowledging a serious problem that has plagued the system for decades since the first MTA Capital Program in 1982.