Why The NYC Subway Is Such A Mess

Hybrid work has meant fewer riders on New York City's subway and a drop in fare revenue for the system's operator the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The number of paid weekly subway riders on the New York City subway averaged 3.6 million in June, according to the MTA, compared with daily ridership of almost 5.5 million in 2019. Inflation and transit crime have also impacted subway ridership.
Fare evasion has taken its toll on the transit authority too costing the MTA $690 million last year including $285 million on its subways. The MTA is the operator of New York's more than 6,400 subway cars, more than 5,700 buses, two of the country's busiest commuter trains and multiple bridges and tunnels.
So when will New York City subway riders return? And what can the MTA do to respond to fare evaders? Watch the video to learn more.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
02:53 - Private companies
06:30 - Fare evasion
09:43 - Subway fare revenue
10:53 - MTA building costs
Produced and Shot by: Shawn Baldwin
Edited by: Dain Evans
Additional Camera: Ryan Baker
Animations: Christina Locopo, Josh Kalven
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
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Why The NYC Subway Is Such A Mess

[@BigBoyJay_69]

Why is public transit always put in the lens of profitability? We don't do that for cars and roads. Just invest more in public transit. It's that simple.

[@electricvehiclehead]

Facts

[@spades9048]

Cars and roads fund themselves plus additional projects. Increased funding is coming at the expense of extra taxes on cars. NYC at least has the population density to support mass transit on a scale that makes it usable. The overwhelming majority of the country does not have to and does not want these worthless multi-billion projects. We don’t need high speed rail to connect two mid market cities that inevitably leave one in a city where you then rent a car.

[@pancropp]

@@spades9048 how so? How do freeways make money? Also American suburbs are Ponzi scheme so your roads cannot fund themselves so every 10 or so years it would need renovations and repairs it cannot be done because it doesn’t generate revenue and it’s only possible by building more, in a vicious cycle.

[@szurketaltos2693]

@spades roads don't even come _close_ to funding themselves in the US.

[@lolololo-cx4dp]

​@@spades9048which road fund themselves?

[@christophercatchings162]

Not once did they address the quality of the experience for MTA riders. The conditions of the stations and the cars themselves, along with the constant train traffic is a huge issue that cannot be ignored.

[@Mcfunface]

I'm just glad they mentioned the crime and assault that has happened

[@allwecanseeisaboveusnow]

They don’t care about the quality of the of the experience for the riders, it doesn’t fall under the narrative. It’s ridiculous a whole segment of this is on fare evasion instead of the horribleness of the wretched subway system

[@Fossilfighters123]

they want ppl to pay an increased fare, but then also offer one of the worst public transport systems lol

[@ron4538]

@@Mcfunface that isn't the only issue to be honest.

[@Sacto1654]

One thing that everyone needs to agree upon: a singular fare payment card system similar to Tokyo's _Suica_ or _Pasmo_ cards that covers MTA subways, Metro North, Long Island Railroad, PATH and NJ Transit. That way, one payment system means seamless travel all over the New York metro region.

[@doujinflip]

Yes, regionwide single payment solutions are amazingly convenient. Problem is getting all the different transportation agencies to agree on one provider and coordinate sharing of payments on the back end. That said the most comprehensive one I've experienced is the T-Money card, which is a public-private arrangement owned mostly by the city of Seoul yet works in practically all of South Korea.

[@andersrefstad8235]

Here a singel ticet last one houer. Transfere from bus, subvay, tram, local trains and ferryes. Same with week-ticet, month. If you have a ticket you'r good on public transport.

[@muppetb.lansing8374]

TFL (Transport for London) has enabled scanning your Visa card to ride on the multiple subway trains across the city. So easy

[@WaltGekko]

And if possible, extended to Philadelphia and SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority). You have a lot of people in Philly who travel to NYC especially for business and being able to use the same instrument in both cities would be a huge help.

[@dennis12dec]

Just like the EZ Link fare card used in Singapore, the Octopus Card in Hong Kong, the Beep Card in Manila, Philippines which are contactless smartcards can be reloaded instead of using tokens the fares are charged according to distance.

[@TH-lu9du]

The fancy turnstyle replacement ignores several obvious problems. For example the emergency exits at some stations in Harlem next to the turnstyles are broken and let people right in. About half of the “fare evaders” are from buses according to the pie chart. No one is evading fares on the buses. The OMNY payment terminals are often offline and not working, so the bus driver lets people in when asked what riders should do. Fix the terminals, fix the emergency exists, actually put people in the stations and talk to the bus drivers. These executives have no idea what is going on at the ground and how easy it is to solve these issues if they actually observed what the riders experience. What do they have instead? Office rooms within subways that blow hot AC air towards the riders’ mezzanine areas. Tracks strewn with trash. Elevators with nauseating amounts of deodorizers. The problems they face are not hard. They’re not just doing the work.

[@PhilliesNostalgia]

The trash issue should be fixed if the MTA decide to roll out platform screen doors system wide. Platform screen gates will likely be less costly and easier to implement, but unlikely to deter people throwing trash onto the tracks. I think that’s partly a culture thing

[@Liv-xe4pp]

@@PhilliesNostalgia thats an even bigger waste of money than the new far gates. Platform screen doors are only useful for an automated system and part of the trash problem is that the stations have never been cleaned since they where built and then trash just gets brushed onto the tracks

[@daynajoe]

There’s a lot of fare evasion on the Brooklyn bus routes.

[@brian.javier]

Go to the Bronx and tell me there are no fare evaders on the bus. A huge chuck of the people that get on the bus, don't pay. Doesn't matter if the OMNY terminals are working or not. They just jump onto the bus via any door. Operators don't do anything about it because why would they? MTA or the police doesn't do anything about it. Operators just put themselves at risk of confrontation if they attempt to do anything. I'm sure there are a ton of bus fare evaders in the other boroughs as well.

[@bryanbrian1234]

Another problem with using the doors is someone could wedge a 2X4 between them and there would be noway to keep them from closing, Then what will the city leaders do........what will they do........

[@user-mg4bw5ly8r]

I work in the railroad industry. All ridership went down after 2019 due to Covid, the video didn't explain that at all. It's picking up steadily and we see ridership not only returning back to pre-pandemic levels but in all probability be even higher. That's why most organizations have ordered more cars to future proof the demand we know is coming. And it's not only extra cars, but also running trains closer using sophisticated Automatic Train Control which reduces the intervals run for each train.

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

And I work in the real estate industry in NYC, office space is 50% empty and show no signs of coming back. So I don't see the MTA getting its ridership back anytime soon.

[@theexcaliburone5933]

@@bigmacdaddy1234people go places for non-work related reasons as well

[@bobsteve4812]

I get where you are coming from but the economy employs a lot more than just office workers. Not to mention that public transit is used by everyone and is increasingly popular in the US.@@bigmacdaddy1234

[@LeanderKu]

@@bigmacdaddy1234you could convert a lot of it to housing, increasing demand for because of the increase of population

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

@@LeanderKu Never going to happen. The dimwits that run NYC have no clue on how to get anything done.

[@bluebox2000]

Notice the biggest fare evasion is through emergency doors. Their fancy ticket gates won't solve that. People now hold them open asking for spare change, or the closers are repeatedly broken right after a new one finally gets installed. Bring back the annoying alarms, at the very least. And where are the $10B a year NYPD?

[@qwerty112311]

Last week an emergency exit door closed and a not-homeless looking guy made a big scene cursing until someone opened the door. Ridiculous. And the police aren’t there because fare enforcement is “racist.” Just like distance/zone based fares, as are common across the world, are “racist.”

[@Pubsubs5life]

The idea is the new electronic "turnstile door" systems can be hooked to the fire alarm so in emergencies they will open, which will then allow the MTA to remove the emergency doors altogether and only have turnstiles.

[@KyrilPG]

We have a similar model in Paris and in case of emergency the panels open in reverse. Several gates are also bidirectional, they can be used as exit, either by opening when an exiting rider approaches, or by staying open for exiting riders and closing if an entering rider hasn't validated. The good thing is that control gate lines drastically reduce the chance of "panic piling" in case of emergency evacuation compared to a door that acts as bottleneck. About fares : a distance / zone based system is somewhat racist and classist as it disproportionately impacts the lower paid, most distantly living parts of the population. That's why, even though it continues for single / occasional tickets, it tends to be suppressed for monthly or yearly subscriptions. With even a slight reduction for the most distant locations. In Paris for example, a ticket (virtual or contactless now) from the center to a remote area will be substantially more expensive than a simple ride in zone 1. But now, the monthly unlimited ride pass is 84.10€ for all zones, 1 to 5 included. While tge sane monthly unlimited ride passes for zone 2-3 is 76.70, zones 3-4 is 74.70 and zones 4-5 is 72.90. Plus, employers have to pay or reimburse a minimum of 50% of the ticket / pass cost. And the lower income populations have different levels of reduction: 50%, 75%, 100%. They've also introduced daily / weekly / monthly cost caps for individual rides, if you don't buy an unlimited ride pass.

[@cornelius6616]

Beggars holding the emergency doors open are your cue to hop the turnstile. No cops or station agents

[@christopherc8458]

The NYPD is very present in the subways, they just don't do much except drink coffee and look at their phones. You think they could care less about people jumping the turnstiles? How dare they have their coffee hour interrupted.

[@NYCGemini2000]

I feel like the NYC subway is a different planet by itself lol. I grew tough skin riding the subway. Constant homeless people, people who are rude as hell, constant entertainers (some of them are pretty cool), and constant fights. Best thing you can do in NYC is keep it pushing and ignore everything around you.

[@silveriver9]

Low standard of living.

[@JJN631]

​@@silveriver9have nothing to do with low standards of living

[@silveriver9]

@JJN631 It is a low standard of living.

[@JJN631]

@@silveriver9 ok

[@Racko.]

That’s the beauty of NY subway

[@jaredspencer3304]

I love how they only compared NYC metro to Europe, with only a single reference to Asia (Singapore). Y'all don't understand how good public transportation can be. Asia is on a whole different planet. Even in Bangkok, where I live, the subway and skytrains are lightyears ahead of anything the US has to offer. Let alone China, Korea, and Japan.

[@Demopans5990]

And consider this. NYC's system is considered good by American standards. A majority of cities don't even have public transit, and of the ones that do, the good systems basically predate WW1 like Boston's.

[@ace625]

I feel like the European systems are a good point of comparison given the similarities in the difficulties they also face: redtape, powerful public unions, a populace that doesn't exactly respect public space in the way the average Tokyo citizen might, fare evasion etc. The Paris and London agencies face those problems and still do much better than us. Although maybe some of those things do exist in Asia, I wouldn't know.

[@saisamsuri]

@@ace625 You need to go to Berlin bro. The stairs go straight to the platforms and people are just expected to walk to the ticket machine and pay the correct fare before entering the train. No turnstiles, no alarms, no staff. Yet NOBODY evades fares.

[@sang7349]

Because of cultural issues in a diverse society. But unfortunately we can’t call them out due to people being sensitive. We all in america need to self reflect and evaluate how our actions and culture impacts all of us collectively.

[@davidcurameng]

I was in Bangkok for two weeks in April and completely agree. As someone that resides in DC that takes the WMATA for years and has used MTA up in NYC, the Bangkok subway was such a pleasant commuter experience during my time there

[@diabetes1.564]

I remember in the 1990s under covers would hide in closets then give you a ticket or arrest for fate evasion. Now in 2023 they say that they can’t do anything. I’m confused

[@tubester4567]

Because its racist to ticket minorities apparently.

[@dl4399]

They want to decriminalize everything so no one is afraid of being getting caught.

[@louisyeostros4978]

Your right

[@TopGKev]

Progressives like AOC have decriminalized small petty crimes. They say people are victims of a oppressive police force

[@ReachingHigher001]

"Hide in closets..." 😆

[@warmike]

Ridership is down a third from pre-pandemic levels, and so is the number of office workers. There you have it.

[@privacyvalued4134]

The world is better for it too. We've always had the ability to work from home but the pandemic forced the issue. Then everyone realized that working from home is convenient and comfortable. It depends on the person though on how productive they are in that setting. Most people recognize the importance of still having a good work ethic and getting their work done in a timely fashion but some people are easily distracted.

[@tubz]

also most trips in NYC aren't through Manhattan. Yet the entire system is setup to get you to Manhattan

[@electric7487]

TL;DR

[@Racko.]

@@tubzBecause Manhattan is usually where people to go for business, work and what not, so yes the entire map is to get u to Manhattan, thats why theres projects underway that bypasses it altogether, such as the Interborough RT from South Brooklyn all the way to North Queens, also from Bronx to Queens straight

[@mirzaahmed6589]

Ridership is also down from the point Uber and Lyft became a thing. There you have it. Public transport is an inferior good. Even New Yorkers know it.

[@Blackdiamondprod.]

0:10 I always hear the MTA complain that ridership is down, but what they fail to mention is that when ridership was up, THEY COULDN’T SUPPORT THAT MUCH TRAFFIC!!!!!! Trains were always way over packed. They were never on time. They were constantly delayed for long periods of time en route. Also, if the people who run the MTA didn’t all pay themselves tens of millions of dollars, there would be lots of money to go around. As always, greed is the problem. Finally, no residents should have to pay fare at all. We already pay for the MTA with taxes. Making us pay fare is literally forcing us to pay twice.

[@doujinflip]

There's still usage that are best paid by actual riders, much like how there's copays on clinic visits even with health insurance, or fuel taxes after annual vehicle registration.

[@mahfujkadir8973]

@@doujinflip or we can go in the socialized health insurance way where we pay by our taxes only instead

[@bobsteve4812]

@@doujinflip Given how expensive healthcare is in the US, thats not a great example. Even ppl who dont use transit benefit so everyone should pay in.

[@etbadaboum]

I wouldn't surprised to hear that all the upper management doesn't even ride an any MTA mean...

[@streater1327]

This right on the mark. Make the subway and bus free for all! Why do the corporations get tax breaks and their workers have to pay to get there to work for them!

[@sams3015]

They should close the subway for 2 or 4h a night so they can clean and repair. A cleaner, more maintained subway would attract more customers during the day

[@adrianbuck8772]

Or have certain lines closed at certain times.

[@ajs11201]

Easier said than done. There are plenty of New Yorkers who rely on overnight transportation--folks like hospital workers, entertainers, and bar employees have hours that end well after midnight, and they'd have a miserable commute on buses or need to drive into the city. I take your point that overnight closures would offer time for some improvements, but the cost to part of the population relying on overnight service is usually perceived to be a prohibitive cost.

[@sciencecw]

​@@ajs11201it'd be far more costly for everyone just to serve that small constituent. Most subways around the world aren't 24/7

[@ajs11201]

@@sciencecw I realize that most subways around the world aren't 24/7. That doesn't automatically mean that the NYC subway needs to close overnight just because the Paris Metro does.

[@moomie1634]

Because so many of the people working in NY work as bankers, they run on banking hours. The whole financial district has to be open 24/7 because so many people work round the clock

[@MrBestvidz2]

It seems to me that they are just blaming “fare evasion “ on why the train sucks. Absolutely… not. While fair evasion is a huge problem. It’s due to mismanagement from the MTA from the START. MTA has been trying to play catch up for 50 years. They brought up the 2av extension, but they fail to mention when that idea was brought up … which was 50 plus years ago. Take Hudson yards for example, on how it was proposed in early 2000’s and didn’t finish till recently. How about the disgusting OVERTIME they pay their workers? Did you know 300 LIRR workers claimed 100,000 extra FOR EACH WORKER ? It seems to me the MTA just throws cash ANYWHERE. The MTA HAS failed to update its infrastructure for the last 116 years of its existence. This isn’t solely fare evasion and lack of funds for the MTA, it’s absolute mis management. Hire more people to actually run the place, stop having exams for simple mundane things, and actually get a good work force that you wouldn’t have to have ridiculous overtime. Actually manage your money without having to burden the public.

[@ratedpz9461]

so well said. It’s not the riders fault that the subway gets broken, delayed, trashed, and still costs way too much money, it’s the lack of prioritization the government has for public transit.

[@christopherc8458]

Don't forget about corruption and graft which is on a whole other level with the MTA

[@kamilareeder1493]

I was in Germany for work and I was there 2.5 weeks. Literally 💀✋ they built a massive train tunnel and connected it too the existing railway and boom, express train. By the time I left it was operationall and they were just doing cosmetic stuff

[@Dangic23]

I’m Manhattan born from the 1970s. Lived in S. Korea 2010-2012. Europe 2012-2016. Just moved to Tokyo Aug 2023. Those mentioned places do trains really well, especially Korea and Japan. It’s possible. But the US is a sick and wild society. Our culture does not allow for anything to function as a civil society.

[@vividlyyours]

Kinda weird to just accept it cost 5 times more than anywhere else in the world.

[@FlightX101]

Japan has a much higher quality system and its cheaper lol

[@martinc.720]

Even weirder: A lof of Americans will still tell you "This is the bestest best (best isn't enough) transit system in the world! This is America, nothing is better!!"

[@user-pl8wx5em2s]

It's only costing 5 times more than anywhere else because they're overbuilding each station. They're making each new station ridiculously massive for no reason, which makes it take longer to build and more money to build. Cleanliness doesn't equal size. They should be making smaller more simple stations that still look modern.

[@user-pl8wx5em2s]

@@FlightX101 Japan's local stations are pretty small, and the big ones are transit hubs which connect commuter rail and other systems. New York's metro is spending so much money because they're making each new station massive for no real reason other than to look cool.

[@Cecile-ff1df]

It’s not just that people are afraid of crime, it’s the entire atmosphere on the subway now. Somewhere in the last few years people have become afraid to call out bad behavior, which makes riding the subway an extremely unpleasant experience.

[@Gravesend83]

Well the racist DA Alvin Bragg indicted Daniel Penny when he help protect the civilians. So nobody wants to do the right thing any more. Bragg did this as a deterrent.

[@pangarooJP]

This right here 👍 … and if you fight back to defend yourself, you might be charged with a crime and tried in court. So we’re just supposed to take it and be quiet???

[@brass427]

Actually, I found the NYC subways to be a lot better than I expected. I saw no violence and I think a lot of it is drummed-up reporting, like so many things these days.

[@ditorules]

Absolutely agree. Subway etiquette has gone out the window and saying something is an invitation to getting attacked or harassed. As an added bonus, throw in overpaid station managers who will witness crimes taking place and do absolutely nothing about it.

[@ahmedzakikhan7639]

I visited Dubai and Bei Jing. I didn't see bad behavior in their mass transits. Why such people in NYC ? Lack of policing and harsh punishment.

[@geekimusprime]

It’s fine to look at fare evasion and lack of funding as part of the issue, but they should also examine why the operating budget is $19.3 billion. Can’t just look at one side of the equation.

[@catsfpv603]

The answer is always "too many executives" and "too much corruption".

[@jermainec2462]

Trains and buses aint cheap ...

[@guyfearful]

That's coming up to the budget of nasa

[@mecrow.]

Wish this went more in detail about how expensive it is to run the MTA and why other countries and networks can offer better station, rail, and riding conditions at a fraction of the cost. Why *shouldn't* people expect better conditions when they've seen what a good system looks like elsewhere? Especially if those systems cost and run at a lower price.

[@djm5687]

Those countries with "better systems" have *higher taxes* - not just on "the rich", but on *everyone.* How likely is a politician to win an election campaigning on a pledge to _raise_ taxes? Also, other systems are less tolerant (legally and culturally) of littering and graffiti. If New York would actually arrest & jail people for littering, graffiti and fare evasion, they would have a much better and more pleasant subway system.

[@yungancestor835]

@@djm5687 how about Hong Kong and Singapore?

[@djm5687]

@yungancestor835 I don't know about Hong Kong, but from what I know Singapore has *very* harsh punishment for littering and graffiti.

[@Demopans5990]

@yungancestor835 Hong Kong and Singapore's transit agencies are real estate companies in disguise. They subsidize the operations from rents that happen to be sky high

[@e.n.strowd1949]

@@djm5687Wrong. We pay more for less. The Paris metro is built and operates at a fraction of the cost as the MTA.

[@metropod]

As a transit worker, I will give you the most basic answer to our problems. Everyone wants our service, no one wants to be the one footing the bill. They want us to run every subway line so there is a train at least every six minutes all day. They want new equipment, They want us to build expansions every which way to sunday... But when it comes time to pay for these things, everyone tries to pass the buck. We're like "The Little Red Hen". For example: Everyone from areas around the city wants exemptions from the congestion charge. off the top of my head you have Rockland County, Yonkers, all of New Jersey... Come on! At what point do people need to get it that this operation costs money and if we don't get what we need, we can't run.

[@nyctransitrailfan]

Y’all stop the train for no reason, can’t even say what reason, lazy MTA workers

[@justinmelao3434]

@@nyctransitrailfan There is a bunch of interlining. reverse branching, and interlockings throughout the system that causes massive delays. E/F reverse branching, DeKalb junction, and 59th St junction, to name a few.

[@WonderfulLidoff]

@@nyctransitrailfan sometimes it is protocol to not say the reason to reduce panic. of course you know better on that computer chair as you type away. So you want customers to know if a train hit someone that jumped into the tracks? what a good way to start a morning right?

[@Cochise44]

Yet billions in overtime and crappy service.

[@mahfujkadir8973]

You do know MTA survives from our taxes right? Even if everyone pays its not going to be enough to run it so why should people pay twice?

[@jimbo1637]

I think it'd important to note that one of the biggest causes of the NYC's subway's expectation to cover a large portion of its own costs in the first place. Transportation infrastructure like highways and roads often only cover a tiny fraction of their cost from tolls with tax dollars making up the vast majority of the funding. The reality is that providing a comprehensive transportation system that doesn't require constant government funding is practically impossible. But that's ok because of the indirect economic benefits these systems provide.

[@Demopans5990]

Well you could, if you allow the MTA to also be a REIT. The MTA could cover it's own costs many times over just by owning a few office buildings in Manhattan and renting them out at sub market rates. After all, the MTA wants the buildings it owns (that happen to be next to the subways and busses) to be occupied

[@jimbo1637]

@@Demopans5990 I don't like the idea that everything has to be funded via the free market. If the MTA made the bulk of its money as a landlord, then a 2008 style housing crisis would destroy the subway. Critical pieces of infrastructure really need to be owned and maintained by the government because subjecting them to fluctuations in the market would be terrible for all their users.

[@Demopans5990]

@@jimbo1637 Well, this is technically how Hong Kong's, Singapore's and Japan's transit authorities stay profitable, and is where profit would mostly align with social benefit. Having thriving businesses and occupied residents close to your railways means said residents and businesses would rely on the rails. Also, note how I said sub-market rates. It would be in the MTA's interest if there were people actually using it's buildings as it also means people would be using the transit system. The MTA's would still be a public benefit corp, just one that is not as bankrupt

[@jimbo1637]

@@Demopans5990 my issue is as long as the MTA is expected not to lose money. It's always going to be in trouble because maintaining century old infrastructure is a perpetually ongoing, expensive task. At some point, we need to start treating transit like roads and accept that it's worth having even if it loses money. That being said, if the MTA wants to be a landlord on the side, I think that's a good idea. I just think there needs to be an underlying guarantee of government support should it be needed.

[@Super7Gogeta]

@@Demopans5990 That is a fascinating suggestion: I wonder why the MTA does not already do that to some extent? The only example I can think of is the Fulton center, which too is not well-designed.

[@jeffparker1617]

The library is a city service, it's free to use. The fire department is a city service, it's free to use. Transit is a city service, it's not free and people expect it to earn enough to pay for itself.

[@emiliog.4432]

MTA mismanagement and graft are destroying the subway system.

[@Leslie-ge2dt]

The US government favors Cars and roads. That is the number 1 issue, more than fare evasion, more than decreased ridership. If we want to have better, more convenient, more reliable, safer mass transit in this country we need to invest in that . A six lane highway is nothing but 6 lanes of traffic and doesn't need to be profitable.

[@glamslamcam]

I grew up in the 80’s when things were so much worse in the NYC Subways than they are today. It’s Disneyland compared to what it was like in the mid-late 80’s & early 90’s when i was a kid. That being said, the MTA needs new leadership in the worst way. It needs funding that won’t be tampered with for other projects which is partly why it stays in a stay or repair and needing to borrow money. We need new turnstiles that will make it extremely hard for anyone to even think of trying to get away with it paying & we need cops on the buses to stop the fare bearing going on there. Cops are on the platforms & mezzanines but they need to be on the trains much more than they are. Basically, the MTA needs to start over again. One thing I’ve learned with the NYC Subway over the years is that no matter how bad things look and may be down there and how people view the system, it ALWAYS finds a way to bounce back. It was bouncing back from 2017 and the issues that were going on then and then the Pandemic came along but it’s slowly getting itself together. Don’t bet against the Subway. The NYC Subways will bounce back again. It always does.

[@BloodRider1914]

Exactly. The MTA literally is too big to fail.

[@poppinc8145]

It was rundown back then but affordable, now it's not affordable. Even the unlimited cards feel like a rip-off. If they brought down the price to $2, I believe they'll see ridership going up immensely. The economic stimulation and consequent tax-collection would make-up the lost revenue and allow for more MTA funding.

[@Demopans5990]

@poppinc8145 $2.90 fare is still competitive with cars after gas, insurance, auto loan...

[@glamslamcam]

@@poppinc8145 even if the fare were to drop to $.25 people still wouldn’t pay. The fare isn’t as bad as in the majority of cities in America and even around the world. Hell it’s cheaper than most things in NYC. With proper fare enforcement, i think things would improve and get better from that alone.

[@gladius2489]

Japan’s trains are much more packed and spotlessly clean, zero crime. NY subways are a mess because people don’t give a dam. There could be a trash can right next to them and they’ll throw their garbage on the ground.

[@deet4895]

There's a huge cultural differences between the US and Japan, and that's why Japan as a 1% crime rate and America doesn't.

[@gladius2489]

@@deet4895 yes, Japan is a civilized society while the US is not.

[@darkgalaxyi_o_l_o_i7831]

New York City did this to themselves when they invested more money into cars and highways, which only serves 750k riders in Manhattan, instead of building many subway lines proposed by the IND second system. This made them neglect the system and is why many useful elevated lines (2nd and 3rd Ave Els in Manhattan and the Bronx) were demolished and the problems that existed in the 70s and 80, like homelessness, still exist today.

[@usadventures8116]

I am intrigued about the fair evasion. I just went to Berlin: haven't seen a single turnstile or someone checking our tickets. There's a cultural element to it as well, I'm guessing. Harsher measures do not seem to be the magical solution.

[@etbadaboum]

It's cultural, same in Switzerland, very civic people

[@invention64]

They how people who randomly check and give out tickets, but yes it's almost entirely cultural.

[@streater1327]

We love to punish people in the US. Both sides politically do it. Sure it makes them all feel good. It doesn't work. How about just make it all free so we don't have to make it a crime?

[@amirdiabe]

The standard of living, and the sense of community and morality is higher. So 99% of people pay their fares, in cities like London, Paris, New York theres greater inequalities, and the cities are much more expensive to live in. So if it becomes to easy to fare evade, people will fare evade

[@danielefolletto1912]

Why would you pay if service is sloppy? Besides, most evaders are black.

[@guru47pi]

Not a word on their extremely high maintenance and operating costs. Nothing about how incredibly unreliable it is. Fare evasion is a problem, but not the biggest problem. Ridership isn't down 50% from 2019 because some kids are skipping payment after school. People only take the MTA as a last resort, or because of congestion and bridge fees. You've got to make the product better and cheaper, not just make the alternative more expensive!

[@dubreil07]

Unreliable. The vast majority of the subway trains in nyc have over 85% reliability currently

[@guru47pi]

@@dubreil07 then why does it seem impossible to finish a trip without the train stopping in the middle and being delayed? There's a lot more to reliability than just 'how long are cars out for maintenance'. There's a whole rail network that needs to function to get places on time, and on a predictable schedule.

[@dennisp8520]

@@dubreil07 85% reliablity isn't that good for something like this. The reliability target needs to be in the high 90's like 95%.

[@shaunbava1801]

@@dubreil07 85% reliability....right is it self reported and what constitutes an incident, do realize the schedules are more padded today then they were in the 1930's? The train schedule is perpetually messed up and it takes longer to get from point a to point b despite obscene spending. All they'll do is ask for more money, more tax dollars, higher fares, etc. Meanwhile I feel every trip on the subway is in a train car from the 1960's where has the money gone?

[@thejourno4273]

As a tourist, I had to jump the turnstile because the Metro Card system doesnt always work. I had a 7 day unlimited ticket and on some turnstiles, if you swipe and it malfunctions, you have to see the attendant or wait 15 minutes

[@thejourno4273]

@@chemicalfrankie1030 you're a technician? You didn't think we tried more than once?

[@livingbeings]

How much of car infrastructure is paid for by fares? Zero. Of course no channel like this ever questions the societal costs of car dependent infrastructure. Focusing on fare skippers is the most egregious blame shifting tactic to handicap mass transit when it comes to infrastructure investment. Stop subsidizing car infrastructure at everyone’s expense and start subsidizing sustainable transit infrastructure like trains.

[@ultm8ninja]

Yep there are a couple channels on KZbin but no news network will every report this because cars are so ingrained in the American identity despite the mortality rate

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

I ride Metrolink occasionally from Burbank Airport to Moorpark, and back when I fly to see my family. I got to know one of the conductors on there and he was saying that trains that normally had say 500 riders, now barely have 50! Out in that area, it is a lot easier to drive so many people got a car at the beginning of 2020, and that played a role. Add in people working remotely, or just moving out of the area entirely, and that's also going to affect ridership. I have noticed the trains I ride have a few more people, but still, it is a ghost town! I 100% agree with the lady at the end saying unless it is mandatory 5 days a week at work/school, the ridership won't bounce back. If people don't need to go out, they won't for better or worse.

[@alexandregeiser2751]

I only watch this channel to see how you can spend 15min bringing up the wrong questions while giving the wrong answers

[@user-fs3bn8mt4o]

In london, our fare evasion is at 100 million pounds a year. That is significantly less. Granted we have around 300 underground stops whereas NYC have around 500 but even if you double it, that's way better number. Might be worth looking at what london do different. London's barrier design is somewhere in between what NYC are looking to do and the turnstiles that currently existing. But tbh I think the main factor is the presence of staff, regularity of ticket inspections, and harsh penalties for fare evasion.

[@WillLMC96]

The two systems are not even comparable, London wins comfortably. I live in NY but visit England regularly...the London Underground is cleaner, trains are more frequent & I've never even seen a homeless person riding the tube. The only issue with the tube is in summer months when the older, more narrow rolling stock on the Piccadilly & Central line get really hot & congested. All the outlying stations in London like Epping, Debden, Loughton, Stanmore etc have customer parking as well which no NYC subway stop offers.

[@danielefolletto1912]

Maybe you have less of those idiotic Democrats in London?

[@Castle_Bravo.]

My first time at NYC, I took public transit (bus+train) from LGA to Time Square. It was my first and my last.

[@YotamSolomon]

You forgot to mention that the MTA income is used for other development projects thanks to a legislative loophole, moving much of its operating budget disabling these important infrastructure improvements!

[@rex1371]

MTA thinks that people don't work in weekends.. always having trouble in weekend time

[@EvanBoyar]

Absolutely insane that there's a fare at all while cars are massively subsidized on free roads. It's a regressive tax that impacts poorer riders disproportionately. Instead of charging riders at the turnstile, it should be financed as part of everyone's taxes.

[@xivinrah]

This I absolutely agree with. In addition to the taxes on residents, there should be transit-oriented taxes on businesses, and a transit surcharge on hotel stays to account for the tourists that will be using the system.

[@user-vf6ru8gm9p]

Where are you getting this information? The private cars and commercial vehicles subsidizes the mta, plus the mta has gotten major bailouts from the government and gets tax payer money to operate anually. The mta is a mess due to mismanagement and corruption.

[@cardenasr.2898]

In any case the subway is also subsidized by people who don't use it, do you think car owners don't pay taxes? If you make subway service free then you add to the bureaucracy that directs funds from the government to the transit agency. Fares are a more direct way for the MTA to get funds right away, without having to wait for the official budget

[@lolololo-cx4dp]

​​​@@user-vf6ru8gm9phow about you, where do you get that information?. Which road even comes close to fund themselves?

[@aquaneon8012]

What you're sayng is a load of nonsense. There are taxes people have to pay for owning and driving a car. Many parking spots have toll meters. Plus the tolls on the bridges in NYC are one of the highest in the world. The tolls already go towards funding the MTA. The MTA is also planning to implement congestion pricing to fund capital projects which will further subsidize the subway at the cost of the drivers. What you're suggesting is more taxes for drivers when drivers already pay a disproportionate amount for funding public transportation. But you really think that somehow it is the other way around. Not only that, if you look up the cost of the 2nd avenue subway, no other place in the world has spent that much money building a single mile of subway. In comparison, paving a mile of concrete is nothing in comparison to building a mile of train tracks. And just so you know, other countries with superior subway systems make people pay fares and the prices of their fare when adjusted for purchasing power is even higher than nyc. There are many programs for people in need that reduce the cost of using a metro card. Even public school children can use the subway for free. It is actually quite affordable to ride the subway system in nyc compared to other countries.

[@FalconsEye58094]

I always pay my fare, yeah the raised fare sucks but hopping the gate and then complaining about the service is not gonna solve anything. Maybe it helps them for the moment and saves them $2.90, however much further that'll get them in NYC

[@justinmelao3434]

I understand the weekly should be closer to 8 rides instead of 12 to get more people to ride but, I don't understand people complaining about the fare increase. It is only ONE DOLLAR MORE A WEEK, it's nothing.

[@cornelius6616]

In a war of attrition, you philosophy is to roll over and surrender first. Why on Earth would you continue to award these overpaid MTA executives for their mismanagement?

[@yeahthatguy810]

People need to understand that office workers are not going back to the office 5 days a week because it's not necessary, it's expensive for the employees, its time consuming and more can be done remotely than in the office.

[@DT-nf7eb]

Why are you interviewing hacks who hate public transit from the Manhattan institute?

[@Lilongwe2007]

I think, a big problem in the US public transit is, that it is mostly complete made for commuters. Here in Europe trains and busses are common used for leisure trips, go to sport, restaurants or meet friends. The ridership now is comparable to what it was 2019, although many people work from home.

[@mic1240]

The nyc system is way bigger than any in EU, and people do ride it besides work, but if there is no reason to leave your house or apartment, there is less reason to go anywhere beyond walking to local stores, restaurants, etc. many cities in the US have lost population since Covid, the suburbs were already far more populated and now that trend has expanded. Commuter rail system (not subway systems) have seen more dramatic drop off in riders.

[@nishiljaiswal2216]

Most of US sure, but not nyc, mta is comparable in use and coverage to the other large systems in the world, just bit dated

[@hitardo]

The mina thing that bothers me as a human being is: Why don't Americans, in general, see Public Transit / Transport as a main driver of growth? Public Transit reduces congestion in other means, is more efficient (a great deal in American culture), and reduces pollution, which improves the quality of life for everyone. Therefore, these arguments must be in the forefront when it comes to funding new investments, namely rolling stock and expansion. Firstly, big cities, with high population density shall be the main focus. Afterwards, we shall focus on connecting those cities. And these connections must be intermodal, i.e., being able to connect easily between a mode of transit to another mode of transit, e.g., from the airport to the subway, from the train to the bus, etc...

[@CoRektOh]

This is it. Exactly. The public transportation system should be an investment. It should not be a profit-generating mechanism.

[@westside213]

It's only "more efficient" from a certain perspective. America is very individualistic and public transit requires that you give up a large part of your day sitting on buses and trains and transferring between them. In the eyes of Americans, it's more efficient to spend less time in a car even if it involves traffic and get to work faster and start working. This is why labor productivity is higher in America than in Europe.

[@hitardo]

@@westside213, one thing there: Individualized transport, i.e., cars, is not more efficient - let alone faster - than public transport. Therefore, that argument falls short. Even if you are doing nothing - as you mentioned - while riding Public Transport, you are still moving, especially if it is a train. Moreover, you can definitely be doing something, namely reading a book, listening to a podcast, or writing emails - while moving. Being stuck in traffic is not efficient! One argument Americans have over Public Transport is safety, as Americans love to be at 6 inches from each other, which is quite challenging while riding the subway.

[@westside213]

@@hitardo you're not getting any work done when you're walking to the bus and sitting and waiting for it. Then you don't have enough time to concentrate before you transfer to a train or another bus. It's not an efficient workspace and most people just waste time on public transport. So if you're spending twice as much time using public transport as you would driving a car, you're much less efficient.

[@hitardo]

@@westside213 you are definitely not getting work done while your drive - and you must pay full attention to the road. By contrast, you may listen to a podcast, read a book, or any other task - related to work, personal life, or entertainment - while you are on public transit. This was regarding your "people just waste time " argument, which is simply not true, as I just explained why. Regarding your argument about "spending twice as much time", maybe your should assess the true impact of a good public transportation service: a) On rails there is no traffic jam, and it is the most on-time service one can have, namely: train, tram, or subway; b) If investment is really placed on public transit, the amount of options increase exponentially, which will be adapted to people's real needs, making it truly efficient; c) Dedicating an exclusive lane for public transit, called BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), typically identifiable by the letters "BUS" written on the lane itself, one ca decrease the amount of time a bus spends on traffic jams, therefore improving its efficiency compared to the private car. If you need proof, just come to Europe and see for yourself. The main thing I would like to teach you is: often, our sight is limited by our own reality. Hence, the options we envision are therefore limited by dogmas we own. Therefore, we shall enlarge our vision, by getting to know other cultures, so we can absorve the good and the bad about them, so we can improve our collective society and our lives individually. We should pay attention to: The public transit in Japan; The high-speed train, and the urban commuters it enables in China; The ticket and price structure of Germany; The bike culture in The Netherlands; The London transport authority; Among others.

[@BlueBearJr]

Not only is a cab or uber more convenient but it is significantly safer. Until they solve the crime issue people will not return to the subway.

[@foodbag312]

Wait, most of the fare evasion is during student commute hours? Don't they still get full fare student metrocards? As in, wouldn't their fare evasion actually have no impact?

[@frrrfrrr9177]

Every station should have multiple cameras. Every train car should have cameras, there should be more police presence in the stations . There should be automatic doors at each station, and those new turnstile things look like you can usually crawl underneath them. Also, it would be nice if they could renovate most stations because it looks like you’re in a dungeon 9000 feet below surface. i’ve been to New York City multiple times and it’s just the safety factor that really is a concern. Yeah the system is old and money doesn’t grow on trees but it’s a huge factor and rideership. Unpopular opinion but maybe increasing the ticket price would prove beneficial because they would have more money to work with for all these renovations and safety concerns, and it would prevent all the homeless people and the people that make the stations feel unsafe, Lastly people need to learn how to have respect in public places when they take up seven seats, and when they lay over it and throw trash all over the subway, it’s just the cleaning is a huge part of it also

[@aivinni9838]

Fare prices were recently increased from $2.75 to $2.90, most of the stations I go to have plenty of officers, 59th usually has around 2, you can probably count on seeing around 4 at Atlantic. sometimes on the 7 I see officers on the train

[@frrrfrrr9177]

@@aivinni9838 I get it that they have only so many resources, but still they can improve upon that. Even adding more cameras, in like easy access, emergency, buttons or something.

[@nasifsiddiquey8867]

Heavier police presence doesn't work. Eric Adams, the current mayor, made it a priority to increase the number of police officers patrolling the subway. And he's delivered on it, you can tell the difference. But guess what, it adds next to nothing in terms of safety. The officers are always on their phones or talking to each other, pretty much negligent of whatever's going on around them.

[@streater1327]

Homeless know how to get on the subways for free. Higher fare won't stop them. They know every nook and cranny. They'll go through the emergency exists. I have even seen them go through the yellow access doors in the street sidewalk.

[@frrrfrrr9177]

@@streater1327 then that needs to be addressed, that’s a safety concern.

[@josephnardone1250]

Fare evasion increased because DA A. Bragg refuses to prosecute fare evasion. Why pay your fare if you can get away with it?

[@shaunbava1801]

yes you don't need fancy turnstiles just enforcement, if the fine is big enough and the consequences are bad people won't evade fares. I saw some youths try to evade the PATH fare in WTC and PA police busted them and this why you almost never see fare evaders on the PATH. Pretty much every day on the subway I see people evading fares and the NYPD does nothing to stop it even when it is right in front of them.

[@ultm8ninja]

⁠@@shaunbava1801not necessarily true. If you’ve ever rode the path from exchange place you would know everyone evades fare there. WTC just happens to have a lot of cops, likely because the oculus is also a designer mall.

[@JustinDean93]

The whole concept of “fare evaders” is a ridiculous idea when you take a second to think about it. When you enter a movie theater you don’t swipe your ticket yourself, the theaters pay to ensure an employee is by the entrance to check for tickets. The MTA does not do this. They’ll argue it’s to make service faster, but faster service while losing 100s of millions due to fare evasion makes no sense, nor does not hiring more employees to save on the added cost while losing 100s of millions. The MTA is a money losing operation for a a reason, if they were a private company with such horrible practices, they’d be forced to sell. But they aren’t private, so instead they continue to operate, and as their infrastructure crumbles, they beg for more federal tax dollars, that they always get. They don’t create solutions because aren’t incentivized to. That’s the truth.

[@TheGamiingNetWork]

Even if the MTA had a trillion dollar budget they would still be “broke” and the subway system would still be a disaster

[@IllusiveDude]

"might be considering" so we'll not see these new turnstiles for another 30 years ?

[@baldisaerodynamic9692]

well, someone will call them racist and the project will get scrapped.

[@aca2410]

None of this matters if people know that they get caught and the justice system doesn’t have any consequences

[@roflcopter117]

The costs of building new track is mostly from dealing with private property owners not the paltry wages of labor.

[@AlexandreCuriel]

Why always focus public transit only people commuting to work? In most European big cities, people also use public transport to do leisure/entertainment activities such as going to the park, cinema; shopping centre etc... Also, integrated payment systems, like the Oyster card in London, with varying options such as daily/weekly/monthly passes and pay-as-you-go options; and even passes of 1-2-3 days (or even more) for tourists, would make taking public transport much easier and therefore more attractive. But mostly, it would need regular, reliable funding from the government and also rethink how it builds infrastructure to make it cheaper and therefore have more money to make maintenance and upgrades

[@Legoman69469]

The MTA can’t even fix themselves. How are they going to fix something else?

[@ithikithik]

After COVID, many people still work remotely from anywhere. That's one of the reasons.

[@MilkBoy17520]

Deferred maintenance has put the MTA on life support. Under-investment for decades has left the system literally crumbling, dirty, ugly, and a stain on the city. The subway could be a shining light and source of pride for the city if it were clean, functioned reasonably well, and felt safer. Instead it's an embarrassment.

[@NYs9thwonder]

If this question is not addressed in tandem with the Real Estate developers not investing in the infrastructure they rezone and the population displace, then it’s a moot point.

[@iSucrose]

It blows my mind how they expect folks to fork out more cash for the fare each year, even though they can't manage to ensure the safety of their customers. If I didn't have a car and were still residing in NYC, I'd steer clear of public transportation and opt for an electric bike instead.

[@roitrawon]

Subway is much safer than both cars and bikes. 1.2 violent crimes for every one million subway rides is roughly equal to the chance of getting injured in a crash if one drives a car two miles.

[@iSucrose]

@@roitrawon I'll risk it, I dislike sitting next to people who occasionally have unpleasant body odor.

[@evanoc]

@@iSucrose bad BO sucks but it's not worth risking your life by driving a car

[@NostalgicRemedy]

worth the risk. transit is garbage.@@roitrawon

[@NostalgicRemedy]

that's so dumb lmfao good luck on the crackhead trains@@evanoc

[@KAWTELENUH]

The reason is hard to fix the infrastructure and make it modern like other countries is because mta is 24/7. New trains is a bandaid of a bigger problem

[@JDBass36]

Being 24/7 definitely makes it hard to revamp the entire subway it being built 50+ years ago definitely dosnt help because it's not up to today's standards

[@moomie1634]

It's impossible to make the MTA not 24/7 because so many people in the financial industry operate on crazy hours, so many people are going to be going home at 2 am while others may be coming into the office at 5 am

[@andersrefstad8235]

​@@moomie1634 If critical infrastructure... Bet Japan, Germany etc. Would manage the "problem" w. Maint. & 24/7/365 operation...

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

@@JDBass36 It's built 100+ years ago

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

@@andersrefstad8235 Trains in Germany and Japan do not operate 24/7

[@Tesfas]

Local & state government spending is inefficient & irresponsible. How is it countries in Europe & Asia have more modern and reliable trans infrastructure than USA. I’ve travelled East, MidWest, & West this is the case both for local & especially Amtrak trains. Our hard earned and paid taxes (that are always going up) should be efficiently utilized.

[@SH-ly1uy]

8:02 I just spotted a fair evader. It’s so obvious that these great new barriers are even worse.

[@bakubaymon]

Banking on remote work ending is not a good strategy, workers like working remote

[@andromedach]

We finally have the outcome many promised technology would bring us, letting many to work anywhere from anywhere and more importantly not having to drive to a location work. however the outcome people did not expect is that this home would not be in cities and this is the fault of planners and politicians who failed to make city life desirable and affordable to more people

[@midwestlakelife]

I lived in NYC for 10 years. Left in 2015 after being stalked and attacked by two random men in the middle of the day at 63rd & Lex. You couldn't pay me to ride the subway again. Too dangerous. And I wasn't the only one in my friend group to feel this way 8 years ago.

[@rast]

You would better make it completley free, this would also decline car use and less environmental long term damage.

[@jeff__w]

I had exactly the same thought. The subway fare acts as a regressive tax on those who need it most-its poorest riders. And if some proportion of those riders eligible for a reduced fare don’t apply for it _or_ can't afford the fare even with that, that’s a failed system. (That the federal government disproportionately favors cars and highways over mass transit in the face of global warming is another issue.)

[@Mgameing123]

The issue is simply that you would insentivize people to take short hops which are bad for the environment compared to cycling. I think just having low fares and high subsidies that secure maintainence of the system & good service on the system.

[@Erik_The_Viking]

We have similar problems here in San Francisco. Muni and Bart have big problems with crime, fare evasion and deferred maintenance. Muni doesn't even enforce riders who don't pay, which just compounds the issue. That fancy gate will be broken within 24 hours - guaranteed. We have similar alarms on Bart with the emergency exits and they do nothing.

[@ABurst0fSunshine]

Classic MTA investing in expensive tech to curb fare evasion instead of improving service consistency

[@user-go4er2cb7u]

I like how they briefly touch on how they get no federal funding and then “oh but work from home”. We need the federal government to actually finance our cities, take some from the military budget and use it on this critical infrastructure.

[@4376ED]

With the do nothing Republicans, don't expect anything being done in your lifetime.

[@HenRy-bm9ww]

If fare evasion is what forced the MTA to finally update their turnstiles to more modern and secure ones, I say good. To get anything done in this country, you have to be forced to. Now what I am wondering is when the MTA will be forced to close down the Chambers Street station and finally fix that disgrace.

[@lucaslima-eb8pe]

muito é educativo e com certeza bem útil nos tempos em que estamos hj em dia

[@newborn6]

It's funny the video completely avoid talking about China when it mention other region's rail projects comparison.

[@lolololo-cx4dp]

Others countries know public transit isn't something to generate revenue lol

[@ronaryel6445]

Two factual errors: In 2019, fares supported nearly 100% of the subway's operating costs; that was the case for several years before. It was bus service where fares lagged behind; only about 35% of operating expenses were covered by fares there. The commuter railroads were always subsidized by the suburban counties they served. CNBC focused on the ridership comparison to 2019, dismissing the significant rebound in ridership since 2020. The numbers undoubtedly will continue to improve. Lastly, tabloids in New York always focus on crime; the reporting of a few cases and their winning top headlines leads to incident bias. Crime on the subway is quite low and your real chance of being attacked on the system are pretty miniscule. However, it is true that as ridership continues to climb, crime will drop. Additionally, social media's creation of "echo chambers" means that if you get your news primarily from Fox and Newsmax, you are presented with highly exaggerated impressions of crime. This is what the transit authority deals with. CNBC forgot that the Manhattan Institute is a "think tank," meaning it has preconceived conclusions that its "researchers" must arrive at, or they don't get published. It would be best if CNBC did its own research. As to fare evasion, CNBC gets it right. one component of fixing that is reducing the fare, so that poor people who need to get to work or school don't evade fares because their ride becomes affordable again. But I believe in using both a carrot and a stick. Improve the turnstiles or change them to modern faregates. And increase penalties for fare evasion. Every rider caught evading fares should be checked for open warrants and promptly arrested if they have warrants. Lastly, the subway is not a urinal or a homeless shelter. Homeless people should be removed promptly and offered transportation to a shelter or other services. They do not belong on trains or in stations.

[@AimlessSky]

NYC has a third world mentality when it comes to having one of the worst etiquette for any public transport in the world. The physical infrastructure are extremely outdated, poor management and riders who just couldn't care less due to the dilapidated state of the system.

[@ga1226]

I used to work in manhatten being single. I left after being there for a few years. Now that im married and have kids, i would never let anyone in my family go through the subway system to go anywhere. Not happening. They brought this upon themselves by being soft on crime. I would never want to go back and live that life again now that ive left and have a far better life, lower costs and can earn the same pay working remote. Wouldn't want anyone in my family to go through what NY city has become now.

[@oldunion]

No one expects profit out of public roads and highways they dont even question it, and for some reason they expect profit out of public transit and rail. Other countries spend enormous amounts on transit, the US doesnt. It's blank checks for roads, bridges and highways, but come begging for money for transit.

[@blackhole9961]

Because most Americans don't use or rely on public transit on a daily basis and even if you were to build more transit, it would never garner enough ridership to support it simply due to the way American cities are built and designed. Everyone already uses and depends on roads, so naturally they will receive more funding to build and maintain them. You could build one of the largest and most advanced mass transit system in a city like Houston for example, and it would still have a laughably horribly low ridership for a city of its size. This is simply due to the Houston area being a giant suburb essentially which is what most American metropolitan areas are.

[@Demopans5990]

Well, transit systems can and do make a profit. They just become a giant glorified landlord that uses the rents to pay for the operations, which is what Singapore's and Japan's does. Somehow, I don't see the MTA becoming a mega landlord

[@Mgameing123]

@@blackhole9961 Its as if public transport doesn't drive growth. Im very sure Houston would have amazing ridership if they didn't have single family only zoning.

[@blackhole9961]

@@Mgameing123 The city of Houston actually doesn't have "zoning." However there are so many regulations that it kind of de-facto does have zoning which is why it doesn't look much different from your typical American city interestingly. However the "no zoning" thing still didn't help Houston not only because of its regulations, but also because of its sheer physical size and land area. Unless Houston (city proper) had a WAY higher population it still wouldn't have the ridership to support it, as the mass amounts of density just wouldn't be there and would only exist in small pockets or nodes. American cities compared to a world standard are way too large land area wise with spread out populations.

[@Mgameing123]

@@blackhole9961 I agree that American cities are too spread out. But in order to have a success story in transit we need to focus on running good frequency bus routes which fit the demand of American suburbs. American suburbs can justify a bus every 20 minutes atleast though we need to also build some light rail project that would build density around the stations.

[@mactastic144]

It was a mess before the pandemic. I used to ride the bus, the subway, and the LIRR regularly. Commute times were always ridiculous for all of them. Although the buses were in good condition, the train stations, and the subway cars were not, and still not. Penn Station was under construction for a long time, then they opened it up again, then they decided to finally remodel.

[@DTD110865]

You also had the same amounts of crazies and homeless people. Granted they weren't pushing people off of platforms left and right like they are today. You also can't blame all this on highway improvements either. Too many of the highways that are needed have been defunded due to lobbying by the anti-car zealots.

[@corymatthews6778]

How can they track fear evaders? Currently jumping over the turnstile and going through the emergency gate isn’t tracked so where are they getting that lost revenue money from?

[@SauASerrano]

It is the wildest experience I have seen people get robbed and fight.MTA is terrible at providing safety and expect people to just be.Don’t let that oh crime is going down nonsense make you feel safe.They just don’t have everything reported.It’s wild on the train and the mta more concerned about the fair than safety.

[@johnhorner5711]

I don't see working from home going away. There is nothing good about commuting, and jobs which can be done remotely .... will be. The hours being saved by not commuting, whether by train, bus or car, is a huge benefit to individuals. That isn't changing, and no planner or system should assume everyone is going back to the office every day.

[@mikebostic9518]

Its a mess for a lot of reasons from poor service, high fares, idiot homeless people and even more idiotic subway surfers who sadly some have died. Also, those are afraid of getting pushed on to the tracks as well. NYC has to do better.

[@melvincruz2126]

The funniest part of the whole video was the designer explaining the whole piggy backing for fair evasion. If someone tries to piggy back the system will detect it and they’ll get busted 😂😂 these cops down there really either don’t care or care extremely and take it to furthest extreme

[@bonoki3870]

the fine for fare evasion should be higher... high enough so that it absolutely scares one from committing the crime. especially on buses where i see it so very often.

[@Lords1997]

MTA catered to the rich via making Manhattan the connection hub that it is; hence the reliance on Manhattan workers commuting… Rather the MTA should’ve focused on rider accessibility making lines that go from the Bronx to Queens/etc without needing to funnel into Manhattan. Regular people don’t see the value of being forced to pay to go through an asinine route… You reap what you sow.

[@felipefeldman9149]

That being said, the MTA didn’t build the subway at all. The BMT and IRT Companies, along with the city’s own IND later into the early 20th century, built in Manhattan because at the time, that is where most NYC residents lived and where nearly all of the jobs were. Pictures of the 7 train from right after it was first completed will reveal that much of what surrounded stations was practically farmland. Nowadays, though, the MTA has inherited a system that does not even come close to meeting the demand from the outer boroughs, which experienced the majority of NYC’s population growth since the subway was first built. The subway only “caters to the rich” because nowadays, Manhattan is a very desirable place to live: but when it was built, Manhattan had nearly 400,000 more residents than it does today, all crammed into tenement housing downtown.

[@Lords1997]

@@felipefeldman9149 while factual, it’s still all just semantics

[@Enrico-]

the well known rich who take the Metro

[@Lords1997]

@@Enrico- lol try again

[@Enrico-]

@@Lords1997 the well known riches who take the metro

[@Mr.DeStylez]

The fancy turnstiles replacement ignores several other problems. For example, emergency exits at some stations next to the turnstiles are broken and let people right in. About half of the “fare evaders” are because the automated fare machines are not accepting dollar bills, others are from buses that are transferring to the subway, the OMNY payment terminals are often offline and not working, so the bus driver lets people in. When asked what riders should do, more like, what should the MTA do?! Fix the terminals, fix the emergency exists, fix the automated machines, add more cars to a train, and more subway trains to the lines, cutting down the wait time between trains. Most subway lines and platforms are short One train car and riders have to run from the stairs to the train, the length of a train car. These executives have no idea what is going on underground and how easy it is to solve these issues if they actually observed what the riders experience! What do they have instead? Subway stations that blow hot AC air towards the riders’ mezzanine areas. Tracks strewn with trash. Elevators with nauseating amounts of horrid smells. The problems they face are not hard. They’re just not doing the work to fix the problems.

[@paulschreiber]

The MBTA has had those gates for ages. The TTC has them. Why is the MTA wasting millions on research/studies when they could buy proven solutions?

[@jfkastner]

Try a new Idea - Transport Cargo at night (Amazon, UPS, USPS, Fedex, ... ) and charge for the use, BUT have Riders during the Day go for FREE => Better use, FREE rides, NO turnstiles needed

[@kevinw1090]

Up to 2019, many older neighborhoods saw market rate based new housing developments which attracted a lot of young professionals to move in. Resulting from the accompanied demographic changes, ridership and fare revenue grew rapidly from these "gentrified" neighborhoods. NY Subways constantly faces a lot of challenges, from aging infrastructures to politics to the lack of law enforcement. Some problems can be fixed by pouring in more money, but many are moral degradation issues, which are manifested nationwide.

[@stefano3202]

NYC will continue to fall behind other major cities and their transit projects. MTA has no incentive to actually improve and expand the system and will continue to hold back the development of the city

[@Racko.]

They can’t, MTA can improve their service by doing more projects, and mainly they run 24/7 so that alone is a major factor on why infrastructure upgrades take forever, so they have to always be replaced with an alternative route until the current one is in heavy phase processes, cost overruns also play a role Don’t forget leadership corruption

[@Shveddyseret]

So the fancy turnstile just spends a million dollars on sensors to flash a red light when someone pushes through it? NYPD is still going to have to see the red light and do something about it, just like they can with the current setup.

[@dmixdup]

NYPD not arresting anyone these days, so identifying fare evaders won't matter - they will just continue on their way.

[@Shveddyseret]

@@dmixdup yea that’s the point I’m making

[@jthecool9225]

Honestly the more I hear about how remote work has had drastic drawbacks to countless industries I heavily value and want to see grow, the more I grow a distaste for its prevalence post-COVID.

[@Da__goat]

Corruption, lack of investment, mismanagement, wasteful spending, the list goes on. Cost of construction is astronomical, cost of doing business is just as high. Train conductors are raking in $65k+/year to push buttons and make announcements, while people work minimum wage to make $30k/year in a city where making $80k/year is considered the minimum livable wage due to a high cost of living, high taxes, and absolute garbage flung everywhere on the street. The method in NYC is do everything more expensive. Those barriers are made out of plastic/glass and are definitely not cheap. They'll be replacing them every single week. Just do what London does with rubber barriers. It doesn't have to be expensive it just needs to function effectively. Now combine the high cost of living with crime, taxes, and regulatory environment and you end up with a city that nobody wants to live in. It is estimated that nearly 1 million people have left the state since 2020, and that trend is not expected to stop anytime soon. Now compound this with the fact that NYC has no control over its budget and transit infrastructure. Yes, that's right, a city of almost 9 million needs to appeal to Albany, a city of 400,000 to ask for more money if it wants to build a new subway line. Add to that the fact that the union for the MTA has a strangle hold on the agency, well known for overspending on everything. Fulton street was a vanity project that cost $1.1 billion+ to build and took 12 years after 9/11. That's the story for the MTA, overbudget and too late.

[@theobrigham]

People checking tickets more often would do just as much good as these special doors. Even if someone gets flagged as a fare evader staff still have to act, they never do on the tube

[@richardwillson101]

This sounds a lot like "blame everything apart from how we actually run our business and treat our customers" I tell you how to fix it, open sections uo to various private competition. If the MTA risk losing out to somebody who can run it better, they will try to improve. They will see more money in providing better service than they will in trying to prevent fare evasion. I bet, if they HAVE to pay, many fare evaders will not use the subway at all, meaning you dont gain that much from it. You gain a LOT from encouraging MORE people to use your service however.

[@drewrobinson5153]

Not true - at 3:19 into the video, you mention the BMT built "the lettered lines", A-B-C-D-E-F-G trains (and later what came to be known as today's V train) were built by the Independent Subway (IND), much later (in the 1930s). More correct to say IRT built the Lexington Avenue and 7th Avenue trunk lines in Manhattan, the BMT built the Broadway Line, and the IND built the 6th and 8th Avenue trunk lines.

[@michaelmatwijiw3045]

Decades of mismanagement

[@saisamsuri]

I'm sorry to ask this but are people in America like...animals or something? Like the people there seem to have little regard for public property. I've seen videos of people kicking delivery robots and throwing shared bicycles into drains. I can't imagine these happening in Europe or Asia.

[@iantotheh]

In big cities and especially since the pandemic people seem to have less regard for others. Combined with all the other negative societal factors we have, you can see the decline.

[@Demopans5990]

Lack of civics in general, and the overemphasis on negative rights. General violent media might also play a role, considering how it is perfectly ok to portray blood and gore casually to children (and not as a plot device), but the moment you mention that other thing...

[@da3musceteers]

​@@Demopans5990what is negative rights?

[@Demopans5990]

@@da3musceteers Negative right: right to punch Positive right: right to not get punched

[@emmafarnan9486]

The two women being interviewed were making great points only for the guy reporter to downplay them and reiterate worries about fare evasion or safety concerns. 25% of the population not being able to afford it and minimal government support compared to motorist infrastructure is monumental.

[@ZootZinBootZ]

Tap on tap off system in Sydney is pretty awesome , aim for that level of convenient clean connected travel systems incorporated with pre paid tech or direct tap through phone or smart watch accessories for direct debit form of fare payments.

[@nightowlorder2750]

Fare evasion is a vicious cycle. The MTA loses revenue because of fare evaders, so they have to increase the fare to compensate for losses, resulting in more fare evaders because of the price hike, which means the MTA will have to increase the fare again to compensate, and repeat that over and over again.

[@SunlightsHorizon]

Fare evasion isn’t the issue. The MTA financial book and thousands of hours of unapproved overtime and bloated pensions are.

[@jonesbbq307]

We don’t even have AC in the stations and they are complaining about people avoiding fares. At least install some doors by the rails so that people don’t get pushed off. Always so whiny when it’s their profit that got hurt.

[@dmixdup]

Why should more federal money be given to the MTA as NYC's percentage of the national population and GDP continues to decrease?