SUBWAY - Random Thoughts Topic

[darkstar8983]

Now that the next weekend under the "Essential travel plan" is coming up, the headways will likely be stretched even thinner (to about a standard 30-45 minute wait between scheduled trains, like it was seen last weekend).

 

Every 15-20 minutes:

 *    

*maybe the  will be the main service and the  will run its shuttle service

 

Every 20 minutes

 (NO Lorimer-Rockaway Parkway Short-turns)

Every 20-30 minutes

*      

*likely only Shuttle service between E180 St and Dyre Av, to free up crews for the , unless the  is the shuttle and the  is the main route, thru 7 Av.

 

Every 30 minutes+

  

[Snowblock]

My random thought for the night: defying my best instincts, I've actually been reading fantasy plans on this forum the last couple days (since there really isn't anything better to do with my free time lately than screw around online). And the impression I keep getting is that many of you have absolutely no consideration for the train crews and what their job entails when they are off the train. There are certain places that can not be used as terminals. Just because you can turn a train there doesn't mean you should. Cutting back runs so that both destinations are locations that don't have crew facilities (even great men have to pee sometimes!) is cruel and inhumane. And in these times of social distancing and the city refusing to do anything about assaults against employees, how can you have an entire line worth of crews have to stand around on the platform, having no place to even sit down or eat their lunch, until they are ready to make their next trip? Even when non-terminal locations are used as temporary terminals for a GO, it will always return to a regular location and their time at that temporary terminal will be at best to drop back to the second train arriving.

This is exactly why 205 on the is not a terminal and the crew change is done at Bedford Park. Likewise when the  goes to 86 St (or the to Ave X for that matter), the crew change is at Kings Highway which is equipped to handle multiple crews (but NOT Kings Highway on the  which I know is a miserable place for everyone involved to end at).

Edited April 3, 2020 by Snowblock

[Snowblock]

2 hours ago, darkstar8983 said:

Now that the next weekend under the "Essential travel plan" is coming up, the headways will likely be stretched even thinner (to about a standard 30-45 minute wait between scheduled trains, like it was seen last weekend).

You can speculate on what weekend service will be, but things change day to day (and the MTA website is NOT doing a good job updating things anymore) and it's all based on crew availability. I can tell you for a fact that the service headways listed on mta.info on Tuesday and Wednesday this week were completely different than what was actually running, and as we transition from AM to PM crews, it could get much better or much worse for the rest of the day. Remember that there are many crews who work the  during the week and might be on the  or   on the weekend. The  had by far the worst turn out for crews this week, but they may do better over the weekend. Also less senior people work Sat/Sun and many of them don't have an assigned job or location. Also there might be enough senior people looking for overtime to completely fill these weekend jobs.

My speculation is that most lines will be running their regular weekend schedule.

[Deucey]

38 minutes ago, Snowblock said:

There are certain places that can not be used as terminals. Just because you can turn a train there doesn't mean you should. Cutting back runs so that both destinations are locations that don't have crew facilities (even great men have to pee sometimes!) is cruel and inhumane

Especially since we don’t need this happening again.

https://nypost.com/2015/05/04/mystery-subway-driver-throws-urine-from-train-window/

[Union Tpke]

On 4/2/2020 at 11:01 AM, MeeP15-9112 said:

How many garbage train runs are there and what times do they usually run?

In high school, I would sometimes see the R32 garbage train at Queens Plaza heading northbound at about 12:30. I would sometimes see it heading southbound at Roosevelt Avenue at about 3:07 or so. Both on the local tracks.

[Union Tpke]

10 hours ago, Snowblock said:

My random thought for the night: defying my best instincts, I've actually been reading fantasy plans on this forum the last couple days (since there really isn't anything better to do with my free time lately than screw around online). And the impression I keep getting is that many of you have absolutely no consideration for the train crews and what their job entails when they are off the train. There are certain places that can not be used as terminals. Just because you can turn a train there doesn't mean you should. Cutting back runs so that both destinations are locations that don't have crew facilities (even great men have to pee sometimes!) is cruel and inhumane. And in these times of social distancing and the city refusing to do anything about assaults against employees, how can you have an entire line worth of crews have to stand around on the platform, having no place to even sit down or eat their lunch, until they are ready to make their next trip? Even when non-terminal locations are used as temporary terminals for a GO, it will always return to a regular location and their time at that temporary terminal will be at best to drop back to the second train arriving.

This is exactly why 205 on the is not a terminal and the crew change is done at Bedford Park. Likewise when the  goes to 86 St (or the to Ave X for that matter), the crew change is at Kings Highway which is equipped to handle multiple crews (but NOT Kings Highway on the  which I know is a miserable place for everyone involved to end at).

I have missed reading your informative posts here and it is great to have you back, even for a short period.

[trainfan22]

 

 

Crazy.... Normally, this wouldn't be a problem but with a major virus going around that's contagious crippling the city, this is very bad... 

[MeeP15-9112]

1 hour ago, Union Tpke said:

In high school, I would sometimes see the R32 garbage train at Queens Plaza heading northbound at about 12:30. I would sometimes see it heading southbound at Roosevelt Avenue at about 3:07 or so. Both on the local tracks.

Yep, thats the one I’ve been seeing, although every now and then the TA puts two R127s or even the occasion R33WF.

[Lex]

2 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

 

 

Crazy.... Normally, this wouldn't be a problem but with a major virus going around that's contagious crippling the city, this is very bad... 

If only we could stop train crews people from being infected...

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

You know...reasons why this country is suffering the most is because of the lack of uniformity and entitlement in people. If everyone coordinated and the US government acted from the very beginning...this could've cleared up by now. 

Look at the London Underground...NYC could do the same if people cared....nobody cares about anything but themselves...one pple have the symptoms or know someone who's suffering, then they finally listen. 

 

[NewFlyer 230]

I find it interesting how the  and  are running every 20 minutes while the local  and   trains are running every 15. The local trains along Queens Blvd are nearly empty while the express trains are running with SRO or half full cars. It’s impossible to practice social distancing on the express trains. 

[Lex]

17 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

I find it interesting how the  and  are running every 20 minutes while the local  and   trains are running every 15. The local trains along Queens Blvd are nearly empty while the express trains are running with SRO or half full cars. It’s impossible to practice social distancing on the express trains. 

Crew availability can really suffer in a pandemic.

It also says just how undesirable local service tends to be...

[NewFlyer 230]

44 minutes ago, Lex said:

Crew availability can really suffer in a pandemic.

It also says just how undesirable local service tends to be...

Yeah I’ve realized that today. I wonder if it would be feasible to have the  as the lone local service and have the  join the  and  express lines during rush hour to either 179th street or Jamaica Center which ever one needs additional service. I know I just recently heard how the NYPD would be telling people to keep their distance from one another but from what I saw today, I wonder how that would work.

[paulrivera]

Here’s a random thought:

When we get back to a sense of normalcy, does anyone think that NYCT will revisit and maybe change their 125% loading guidelines going forward?

[brakethrow]

Is the MTA now a little lenient with their workers calling out sick? I'd think they wouldn't want to take any risk but knowing some of the stories I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't the case.

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

Here’s a random thought:

When we get back to a sense of normalcy, does anyone think that NYCT will revisit and maybe change their 125% loading guidelines going forward?

I think the immediate worry will be if ridership gets back to what it was due to both the aversion to people standing too close because of virus transmission AND the potential residential flight to the suburbs because of density causing viral hotspots and annoyance with living situations during this stay-at-home period.

(Honorable mention to leaving due to recession.)

[VIP]

11 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

 

 

Crazy.... Normally, this wouldn't be a problem but with a major virus going around that's contagious crippling the city, this is very bad... 

More than half those people don’t look like First responders or “Essential” employees. Plus the trains are small and running on 20-30 minute headways as opposed to the normal 6-12 minute headways. 

[Collin]

It's impossible to know who exactly who is essential, so I wouldn't pass judgement.  Clearly the issue is they can't run normal headways because they are short crewmembers.  I certainly wouldn't want to be on the trains now unless I absolutely had to.

[Lex]

8 minutes ago, VIP said:

More than half those people don’t look like First responders or “Essential” employees. Plus the trains are small and running on 20-30 minute headways as opposed to the normal 6-12 minute headways. 

Looks can be deceiving.

[Trainmaster5]

4 hours ago, Lex said:

Crew availability can really suffer in a pandemic.

It also says just how undesirable local service tends to be...

It’s just my take but if the local trains are running almost empty and the express trains are running crowded one would have to be rather stupid to get on the express, no ? I wouldn’t want to be crowded on any public conveyance these days. Especially if I have a choice. Am I missing something here ? Just curious. Carry on.

[darkstar8983]

1 minute ago, Trainmaster5 said:

It’s just my take but if the local trains are running almost empty and the express trains are running crowded one would have to be rather stupid to get on the express, no ? I wouldn’t want to be crowded on any public conveyance these days. Especially if I have a choice. Am I missing something here ? Just curious. Carry on.

It could also be the locations to which the  go vs. where the go. As for the vs. , with the exception of 53 St vs. 63 St stations, they both go to the same trunk line (6 Av), so its likely an express vs. local debate. As for almost all other comparisons, its depending on how many people are really going to 8 Av vs. Broadway vs. 6 Av line stations, or are they going to 53 St, 59 St, or 63 St Stations.

 

If the belief is that the  are still crowded because they are express, then the solution would be to make all the QB trains local until we have some control over coronavirus. This way, we remove the express/local crowding issue and just focus on ridership/where people need to go, and maybe redistribute train crews as necessary as a last resort.

[MHV9218]

31 minutes ago, VIP said:

More than half those people don’t look like First responders or “Essential” employees. Plus the trains are small and running on 20-30 minute headways as opposed to the normal 6-12 minute headways. 

Thing is, given that anybody working a grocery store, liquor store, plumber, home health aide, whathaveyou counts as essential, lot of people still going in and out to work.

[Deucey]

34 minutes ago, VIP said:

More than half those people don’t look like First responders or “Essential” employees. Plus the trains are small and running on 20-30 minute headways as opposed to the normal 6-12 minute headways. 

What’s an essential employee look like?

[Collin]

Well the  express tends to be more crowded anyways and was running on longer headways, so that pretty much explains it.  The system is literally designed for people to transfer to the express at the first opportunity.

Under normal circumstances, here's how I choose between the local or express, excluding cases where the local is the only option and I can't use the express at all, even with a transfer:

Express station to express station:  Always express

Local station to local station:  Always local

Local station to express station:  Local unless I see the express at a cross platform transfer, in which case I transfer

Express station to local station:  First train that comes.  If it's the express, I transfer to the local at the last opportunity.

Local station to express station past where lines split:  Local then transfer to express at first opportunity.

I would guess that many people will transfer to the express even more than I do.  I don't care if the train is local or express.  I'll just take whatever train or trains get me where I'm going the fastest.  One exception is if I'm on the local and have a seat, but I see the express train across the platform is packed, I'll probably just keep my seat and not transfer.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

5 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

I find it interesting how the  and  are running every 20 minutes while the local  and   trains are running every 15. The local trains along Queens Blvd are nearly empty while the express trains are running with SRO or half full cars. It’s impossible to practice social distancing on the express trains. 

On top of the reduction in crews, part of it too is because it's more likely that people in Jamaica and SE Queens are considered essential workers compared to people in most other neighborhoods along the QBL (with the exception of maybe Jackson Heights, which is an express stop), and that's why you see greater amounts of people on the express vs. the local. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by BM5 via Woodhaven