Lex

That's a combination of a slope and a curve. The latter is bad, but would be manageable if not for the former (which extends beyond the curve far enough to leave little room between the tracks becoming more level and the tracks breaking away to make room for the platforms).

Did you just take that seriously?

Congrats, you just shot whatever possible gains (none, really) down.

I don't even know how to respond...

I'm not sure what your question is, so I'll say a couple of things. When Clark Street is closed, the runs express along Lexington Avenue and only Lexington Avenue (assuming no work knocks out one of the local tracks in Brooklyn or the Bronx). Since it covers quite the distance (or short-turns at Grand Central or 86th Street) and serves as a third overnight route under these circumstances, it becomes the night express. Under normal circumstances, and trains run their full routes as overnight locals, whereas the is short-turned at East 180th Street (no Manhattan service). During the day, the runs local on its full route, the runs express in Brooklyn and Manhattan and short-turns at Utica Avenue, and the runs express in Manhattan to Bowling Green. It wouldn't be hard to imagine the becoming an overnight express to Bowling Green, but the will to run it isn't there...

That's exactly it.

In that case, we'd be better off altering how the Dyre Avenue Line connects, which could also make a potential local/express swap easier if the ridership warrants it.

If only we could get artics on the route at 24+ bph... Seriously, if the only time I ever rode the Q46 (on a summer weekend with no subway service east of Forest Hills!) is any indication, that route needs more trips and artics.

Self-quote aside, only the MTA can reap any sort of benefit from making those changes permanent, as it means less money needs to be spent. This comes at the cost of weekend ridership, which will only exacerbate the vicious cycle we're currently seeing (especially where the buses are concerned).

You're talking about a permanent change over something temporary (which I have to stress because the is intended to resume normal weekend service in time for September service). And no, the hasn't operated at all for the past few weekends because of the work. In other words, Dyre Avenue riders -- who have constantly been "blessed" with uncertainty over their weekend service in addition to it already being scheduled at 12-minute intervals -- should continue to get the worst possible service. Meanwhile people along Lexington Avenue and White Plains Road will be stuck with fewer trains. (Add in that proposal and Brooklyn ends up being worse off, as well.)

Might as well can it, then. /s Thanks, but no thanks. The shouldn't have to deal with the Brooklyn slog on a regular basis when it's still needed in Manhattan and the Bronx. Sure, let's kill Dyre Avenue, White Plains Road, and Lexington Avenue in one shot...

It shouldn't make you smile, as the situation is nowhere near that simple. First, what you're pushing for is a sharp decrease in service dedicated to Harlem () in one direction to increase the number of trains in the same direction. Not only would that not fly with Harlem residents near the two affected stations, but the increase in service is rendered useless because of the general decrease in Bronx service along White Plains Road and Dyre Avenue (individually and combined). To make matters worse, it's paired with a decrease in Nostrand Avenue service, and both the Bronx IRT and Nostrand Avenue have potential that isn't currently being realized and will be further from being realized under these proposals. Current and headways in the Bronx lean toward a combined 25 tph, and while Dyre Avenue is not as popular, capping it at 6 tph is not conducive for either current ridership or any hopes of ridership growth (regular service is more frequent on weekdays). trains currently run at about 12 tph for the peak local, and the is about 13-14. This proposal fails to even match the current Bronx service, and that's not a wise move. Hell, peak express service north of East 180th Street isn't justified, given the ridership patterns. On that front alone, this proposal is an utter failure. (The reverse-peak service is also bad for the same issue of reductions.) Maybe my math is faulty, but last I checked, 14 trains + 13-14 trains is 27-28 trains, and 24 < 27 < 28... The only route that constantly has to worry about Livonia is the . The rest of the Brooklyn IRT is dealt with in the Bronx. Any stations that require heading east of Nostrand Avenue (the street itself) will end up being grossly overserved (stations east of Utica Avenue already border on it, and Utica Avenue is where the is fated to die, so long as people care more about express service and especially Lexington Avenue, hence why I say even that station is overserved). At the same time, Nostrand Avenue (18 tph with the and ) will lose a full third of the number of trains along it, and with the greater ridership volume for every train along it in addition to the fact that Flatbush Avenue is ill-equipped to turn more trains, people on that corridor will get the short end of the stick for no good reason. TL;DR: The bulk of the areas that need higher frequencies will get lower ones, and the ones that hardly need more service (Jerome Avenue is excluded because it warrants more service) will be flooded with unnecessary service. (Keep in mind that this strictly focused on some of the weekday service proposals.)

That would mean either making Wakefield's service the shuttle or running all overnight service into Manhattan, and I really don't think the MTA wants to do either.

Andrew Cuomo.

That last comment is interesting.

That depends. ADA-compliant ramps require plenty of space, which is one of the reasons why so many accessible stations (around the world) use elevators. The accessible ones with ramps are often low-use, close to the ground, or in complexes. (Park Place falls into the first, Rockaway Parkway falls into the second, and Grand Central falls into the third. The last one is especially significant, as the 42nd Street is currently inaccessible strictly because of those curves at Times Square.)

If the / flip were to happen, I'd just leave all peak trains on the local track.

By "vendor" I specifically mean any non-MTA entity. (RBO is right there, but the service is outsourced to some other group.)

Don't forget general dwell times!

Long story short, the Bronx service patterns and train distribution are not favorable. Jerome Avenue sees more trains, but Lexington Avenue, Nostrand Avenue (sans nights and weekends, the latter of which has an inexplicable boost), and White Plains Road (to say nothing of the two Harlem stations the has to itself aside from Brooklyn-oriented rush service and periods of much lower ridership) see fewer. In addition, (mostly) flipping the trains that turn at Utica Avenue, White Plains Road express service north of East 180th Street, Jerome Avenue express service in general, and giving Utica Avenue a whopping 36 tph (a full 75% of your proposed Brooklyn service) are all questionable, seeing how people normally ride.

The idea is to promote integration and keep the service going (assuming that they decide to look for a vendor and come back with nothing). Hell, OMNY is planned to foster integration on some level. Internal operations could prove useful in increasing integration if done with care. (In general, though, this service -- like any -- needs people who care.)

Aside from passenger loads by route, I don't see why there would be.

From what I've seen thus far, Eng seems like he actually cares (much like Byford).

For one, it's not assigned to a Brooklyn yard (at least, not in the same sense as Jamaica)... I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually done in the past.

Again, the announcements are inconsequential at worst. Again, they don't have any real impact on dwell times. Moreover, laying the burden of unfamiliarity on the prospective passenger's shoulders is not necessarily fair, as not everyone who uses the system frequents NYC. This is about personal wet dreams, particularly since literally no one else is clamoring for what you want.