Let's see what the MTA could do Better at.

[Abba]

As we all know the MTA has problems communicating with the public about service problems.Many times the service advisories are not written right, have the wrong details and so on and so forth.In this thread we will post advisories and fix up what we think might be wrong.Ill start.

 

Service Change Posted: 05/13/2015 2:06PM

 

Due to signal problems at 86 St, the following service changes are in effect:

 

Southbound , and trains are running with delays.

 

Some southbound trains are running on the line from 149 St-Grand Concourse to Nevins St.

 

Allow additional travel time.

 

If the is delayed then the must be also since it shares the same track.

[LTA1992]

But this is 86th Street on the East Side, which means these delays primarily affect the , which would impact the . The would still pretty much be fine.

[Abba]

No it would affect the 3 in some way as well becuase it would mean extra trains on 7th ave.The would be fine since probably none of those trains would use that track.

[Daniel The Cool]

No it would affect the 3 in some way as well becuase it would mean extra trains on 7th ave.The would be fine since probably none of those trains would use that track.

No. The reason the is affected and not the because of the congestion and holding trains in the stations in The Bronx. Unless this was Rush Hour than you can say it will affect train service. I've been in this situation before, it's not that bad at all than you think it is.

[Abba]

The actual advisory started since rush hour.its over now.dont worry there will be plenty more advisories to correct

[LTA1992]

Those delays would still be minimal though as it is SOME not ALL trains. Since the west side express does not utilize the express pair of tracks to full capacity, even at rush hour, there is room for some extra trains to fit without much delay.

[Abba]

How come twice yesterday southbound lex express trains were stalled at least twice by Bleecker? It's not fair to make people suffer on the express tracks with no way out

[Lance]

You do realize that holding express trains at the last express stop until all signals clear would severely delay service, right? You'd be running an absolute block system in all but name.

[Abba]

I'm curious why the two trains were stuck at the same place.

[Lance]

Who knows. Mechanical problems could mean a lot of different things.

[CenSin]

Here’s something the MTA could do better:

1. Communicate: I rely on my gut feeling often to figure out what to do, but only communicating information properly can help passengers make the best choices. If I see that the uptown platform at Canal Street is nearly empty (relative to the normal density of boarding passengers for the time of day), and I see the tail end of the or train, I’m going to assume both trains have recently left and that the next train will show up headway−2 minutes later; I’m going to walk over to the or go back upstairs to the . Maybe the trains that just left were late and the following trains were arriving soon, but I wouldn’t know.
2. Stop sending the out of Brighton Beach right before the arrives: I don’t mind the transfer across the platform, but if the MTA has the common sense to make express routes extend beyond the local routes elsewhere, it should strive to emulate this behavior on the Brighton Line. The current behavior is akin to sending the to Far Rockaway and Ozone Park instead of the , or sending the and to Jamaica while cutting the and back to Forest Hills; passengers who already have to travel further to reach the central business district are now further handicapped by having to take the local.
3. Stop sending the along to Coney Island at Sheepshead Bay right before the arrives: (see above)
4. Stop deliberately causing delays: Often, the MTA deliberately holds trains when there’s no good reason to. The Manhattan-bound , for example, is almost always held at 59 Street for minutes at a time during the middle of weekdays. It’s a recent change, and the always got along fine without this delay before. It seems to be done even when there’s construction just up ahead (adding to the delays) and even when it would cause conflicts with the . In fact, when the and leave Coney Island at the same time, the is supposed to get to DeKalb Avenue first, avoiding conflict, but this does not hold true when the is held at 59 Street. The will often run into both the and the !

[RollOver]

Every line needs rescheduling IMHO (despite the bottlenecks, especially Rogers Junction and the Homeball Alley), but that's entirely up to the to decide whether they want to do it or not.

[CenSin]

Every line needs rescheduling IMHO (despite the bottlenecks, especially Rogers Junction and the Homeball Alley), but that's entirely up to the to decide whether they want to do it or not.

I've heard that scheduling is studied like a science within the MTA. Any schedule changes will probably require a lot of data and work for the best results.

[RollOver]

Good thing the proposal thread exists.

[itmaybeokay]

I've heard that scheduling is studied like a science within the MTA. Any schedule changes will probably require a lot of data and work for the best results.

 

Because of line merges, literally - with the exception of the 1,6, 7, L, and the shuttles - I don't think you can change the schedule on one line without it affecting the entire rest of the division. Everything else shares trackage somewhere with something that will ultimately touch everything else. 

[CenSin]

itmaybeeasier if the schedules resolve conflicts in a methodical way. For example, prioritize one route over another so that if two trains from those routes meet, there’s no question which ones go first and the end result becomes more predictable. Usually, the lower-priority routes are also the ones with longer headways, so the terminals can absorb the delays.

[N6 Limited]

itmaybeeasier if the schedules resolve conflicts in a methodical way. For example, prioritize one route over another so that if two trains from those routes meet, there’s no question which ones go first and the end result becomes more predictable. Usually, the lower-priority routes are also the ones with longer headways, so the terminals can absorb the delays.

That causes other problems. If the northbound always gets priority over the at Canal St, then that can cause delays for the , etc

[trainfanrod]

Scheduling is uneven along the Eastern parkway line so to schedule trains to leave same time at Franklin and Nevins is always off since the runs like every 4 mins during rush n the runs every 6 so theres times that im on a and the arrives same time and the or is across the platform and at nevins we are often held for an arrving train but if all trains was to arrive 5 minute headways during rush hours it would be different something like a mix bag since i get to nevins and either see a uptown or depending on the train i take

[B35 via Church]

Stop sending the out of Brighton Beach right before the arrives

Jesus christ, I've been out of high school since 1999 & this shit is still going on????

[bobtehpanda]

Rejigging schedules on large railway networks is never easy. In fact, the Seoul Subway has two full-time mathematicians on payroll to do it because it's too complicated.

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

What I would like to see are schedules listed in stop format rather than line format. Or better yet why not both. It is much more intuitive to click a stop like Grand Central and show all the scheduled service listed by hour of the day. For example a rider could click on the stop he/she wants from a dropdown list and click on a specific hour and then all of the service on a particular line within that hour will be listed with a separate express/local indicator if said stop is an express stop. On lines where service has trouble meeting the schedule a headway can be presented in lieu of arrival times. This way a rider is aware of all of the service available at his/her stop and can plan better commutes around that. 

[CenSin]

That causes other problems. If the northbound always gets priority over the at Canal St, then that can cause delays for the , etc

Then we’ll localize the priorities to the stations instead of applying priority rules system-wide. At Canal Street, if an uptown and show up at the same time, the always goes first. If a downtown and shows up, the always goes first. At 50 Street, if a downtown and show up at the same time, the goes first since trains are likely to become backed up if one gets held.

[125thstreet]

Lmao.

[ttcsubwayfan]

Lmao.

 

[trainfanrod]

Same concept on other lines like the