Morning Meltdowns Continue, Despite Byford's Assurances of Improvements

[Via Garibaldi 8]

This Morning’s Subway Mess Was Caused by an MTA Typo

Construction shouldn’t have caused the D/N/R lines to melt down during rush hour, but it did

by AARON GORDON

JULY 30, 2018

D trains were mistakenly diverted to the local track at 36th Street in Brooklyn this morning, causing backups that made for a nightmare commute.

 

There is a phrase New York City Transit president Andy Byford borrows from the soccer world to describe meltdowns like this morning’s D-N-R debacle: “own goals.” What ought to have been a routine service change ended up leading to hours-long trips, crawling trains, and widespread confusion. But unlike in some previous transit nightmares, in this case centuries-old equipment didn’t malfunction, car doors didn’t break, tracks didn’t split. Instead, it was entirely the result of a series of MTA bureaucratic screwups.

The mess began during the morning rush when people tried to take the D, N, and R trains in Sunset Park toward Manhattan. Not only were the trains delayed, but the N express tracks were completely blocked off with a big, blue wall, with no signage or announcements in the station explaining why.

Jack Szwergold@JackSzwergold

@NYCTSubway So what is happening on the northbound R trains headed out of Bay Ridge? N trains as well. They are saying all trains are going local (?!?) but why? MTA app shows no service issues. But I assure you there are.

Jack Szwergold@JackSzwergold

And excuse me, now I am at 59th Street and this blue wall is literally blocking the N express line. Yet utterly no explaination why? There is not even basic signage. WTF is this? How can anyone plan their trip “accordingly” with a literal wall like that just being there?!? @NY1 pic.twitter.com/5kt1GW6S0k

8:47 AM - Jul 30, 2018

Adding to the confusion, N trains were also listed as having “Good Service” despite, you know, the wall.

Compounding the issue, the official @NYCTSubway account tweeted at 9:17 a.m. — before the official delay notice was posted on the website — to “expect longer wait times and delays on the N, R, and D lines in Brooklyn while we perform necessary structural repairs in the tunnel — essential work to restore reliable service.”

NYCT Subway✔@NYCTSubway

Expect longer wait times and delays on the N, R, and D lines in Brooklyn while we perform necessary structural repairs in the tunnel -- essential work to restore reliable service. Thank you for your patience.

9:17 AM - Jul 30, 2018

Naturally, many riders interpreted this to mean the delays were the direct result of the work being done. In subsequent tweets, @NYCTSubway added that this work would continue 24-7 until December. This is the point when riders started to freak out, contemplating every commute for the next five months being just like Monday morning’s.

The good news for D, N, and R riders is these massive delays will not happen every day, because this morning’s delays didn’t need to happen at all.

The bad news is that Monday’s meltdown undermines the many promises New York City Transit has been making over the past few months regarding improved customer communications and, as Byford often says, getting “the basics right.”

As chief customer officer Sarah Meyer said in a statement, the hours of delays resulted from “congestion at the northern end of the project site.” (This morning’s mayhem was set off when D trains at 36th Street, the north end of the section of tracks being worked on, were unable to get to the express track, leading N and R trains to pile up behind them.) According to internal documents provided to the Village Voice, the cause was actually a mistake in the project’s work order, which identified the wrong signal as the end point of the track work: F4-466 instead of F4-468.

To compound the problem, straphangers had no idea this work was going on because of a quirk in the way the New York City Transit creates its schedules. The long-term work on the express N track between 36th and 59th streets had been incorporated into the subway’s permanent schedules, as Meyer explained on Twitter, and therefore “wasn’t flagged as ‘planned work’ that required a supplement,” referring to the temporary schedules that are created in response to planned work. Those supplement schedules are what trigger her team’s communications plans, such as station posters and announcements alerting riders. So without the work showing up on the supplement schedule, nobody knew to announce the planned work.

Ironically, without the work order flub identifying the wrong signal and causing hours of delays, this whole issue might have gone largely unremarked-upon. The construction’s only practical consequence going forward should be that the N will run on the local tracks between 36th Street and 59th Street, making two local stops, and adding five minutes or less to each N train journey.

In her statement, Meyer struck the contrite tone increasingly typical of New York City Transit communications: “We deeply apologize for our significant errors today and know that we need to do better. We are working through our policies and procedures to ensure this does not happen again.”

But some straphangers are growing tired of the “ensure this does not happen again” line.

NYCT Subway✔@NYCTSubway

Replying to @RossBarkan and 2 others

While today is the first day of a long-term project, the major delays this morning were an isolated incident. We had an issue getting D trains onto the express track at 36 St, causing congestion, which we've addressed. Here's the full explanation: https://twitter.com/NYCTSubway/status/1023985031608508417 … ^MW

Nicole D.@nicoledandrea

@NYCTSubway, Do not tell me this won't happen again. July 18th: I almost missed my annual review because of delays. July 25th: I almost missed a meeting with my boss because of delays. Today. I missed a meeting that I was supposed to lead. All along these same R/N/D lines.

3:14 PM - Jul 30, 2018

The frustration is shared by MTA brass. As Byford is quoted as saying in the recent New Yorker profile on him, “God, I hate own goals.”

Source: https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/07/30/this-mornings-subway-mess-was-caused-by-an-mta-typo/

 

 

 

[Union Tpke]

This is not the new team's fault. They are working to clean up the mess that was left to them. They, like us–being "outsiders"–are still learning about the "quirks" of the MTA. Just apologizing, and actually describing what went wrong is good progress.

[Deucey]

I found this funny - if only because this was just normal human error and not full-on incompetence (6 and 8 being similar-looking enough in people's sloppy handwriting)...

Problem is  is just so incompetent that it's difficult to see the humor.

[Lawrence St]

This is why you don't wait until the last minute to announce a service change!

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

Little by little, I see the MTA inching towards performing repairs on subway infrastructure on live track 24/7—don't think you'll be in the clear just because it's in the heart of the rush hour. Before you know it, there'll be track gangs crippling every corner of the system on weekdays during AM and PM rush hours. Work went from being done on weekends, then add to that weekdays during midday hours, now virtually at all times. I cringed when I saw that blue wall blocking the tunnel from the express tracks—its when you know things have gotten deplorable.

[Around the Horn]

Quote

Naturally, many riders interpreted this to mean the delays were the direct result of the work being done. In subsequent tweets, @NYCTSubway added that this work would continue 24-7 until December. This is the point when riders started to freak out, contemplating every commute for the next five months being just like Monday morning’s.

The good news for D, N, and R riders is these massive delays will not happen every day, because this morning’s delays didn’t need to happen at all.

Oh, so dispatchers will magically know tomorrow to not hold both and trains arriving at the switch outside 36th Street simultaneously for over ten minutes, like what happened to me coming home in the evening? Give me a break...

 

[Around the Horn]

*delete*

[bobtehpanda]

2 hours ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

Little by little, I see the MTA inching towards performing repairs on subway infrastructure on live track 24/7—don't think you'll be in the clear just because it's in the heart of the rush hour. Before you know it, there'll be track gangs crippling every corner of the system on weekdays during AM and PM rush hours. Work went from being done on weekends, then add to that weekdays during midday hours, now virtually at all times. I cringed when I saw that blue wall blocking the tunnel from the express tracks—its when you know things have gotten deplorable.

You can only pick two out of three for safety, expediency, and convenience. The system is so large that the piecemeal approach has not been working.

The walls are actually a good sign; maybe now we can start doing work without flagging adjacent tracks.

[RTOMan]

9 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

You can only pick two out of three for safety, expediency, and convenience. The system is so large that the piecemeal approach has not been working.

The walls are actually a good sign; maybe now we can start doing work without flagging adjacent tracks.

I think if they have workers behind those walls there is adjacent track flagging...

My guess is they have that wall up to hold back dust from the work and too keep folks out looking to steal chit...

 

[RTOMan]

Ill say this Andy is prob pissed over this..

Its basically a slap in his face  if you ask me..

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The elected officials representing Bay Ridge are railing on the for sure about this mess.  This is a letter from Nicole Malliotakis: 

From Marty Golden, Senator:

Quote

Marty Golden

17 hrs · 

This morning's horrific subway commute is unacceptable and my constituents who were faced with such outrageous delays should know that I have relayed the frustration to MTA leadership.

In this digital age, it is unacceptable that the Transit Authority had such a significant breakdown in communications between management and customers. Furthermore, the massive congestion caused by the routing of the D train onto the express tracks is mind-boggling, leading one to believe this adjustment was made by an amateur.

The MTA has promised this will not happen again throughout the duration of this rehabilitation project, and straphangers on the R, N and D lines can be assured that my staff and I will be monitoring this in the days, weeks and months ahead. Constituents have raised a number of questions to me regarding the project's impact and we will be further clarification soon.

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 hours ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

Little by little, I see the MTA inching towards performing repairs on subway infrastructure on live track 24/7—don't think you'll be in the clear just because it's in the heart of the rush hour. Before you know it, there'll be track gangs crippling every corner of the system on weekdays during AM and PM rush hours. Work went from being done on weekends, then add to that weekdays during midday hours, now virtually at all times. I cringed when I saw that blue wall blocking the tunnel from the express tracks—its when you know things have gotten deplorable.

Yes, that wall on the express track really got me. I mean what in the hell are they doing that they have to put up a wall like that during rush hour for something that isn't supposed to be long term?

[RR503]

1 hour ago, RTOMan said:

I think if they have workers behind those walls there is adjacent track flagging...

My guess is they have that wall up to hold back dust from the work and too keep folks out looking to steal chit...

 

I believe that the walls mean no flagging. I know the track barrier pilot they're doing is has that effect, so I'd assume the same holds here. I'd also note that ESI stations that have been done don't get flagged by -- just slowed by as per normal station bypass rules -- and they are a similar wall setup. 

[Around the Horn]

Ah look, Malliotakis and Golden suddenly started caring about the  train...  Where were they when Gentile was asking for a full line review?

I had another doozy of a commute home today... They sent 's via West End Express without telling anyone (including the crews); I ended up transferring at 62nd to a local  to 18th Av then got a B8 back to Bay Ridge.

[Lawrence St]

37 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

Ah look, Malliotakis and Golden suddenly started caring about the  train...  Where were they when Gentile was asking for a full line review?

I had another doozy of a commute home today... They sent 's via West End Express without telling anyone (including the crews); I ended up transferring at 62nd to a local  to 18th Av then got a B8 back to Bay Ridge.

This is why I avoid 4th Av...they once sent my Bay-Parkway bound  train over the  to West End's-Bay Parkway, and didn't even bother telling us until we got to 9th Ave.

[RTOMan]

21 hours ago, RR503 said:

I believe that the walls mean no flagging. I know the track barrier pilot they're doing is has that effect, so I'd assume the same holds here. I'd also note that ESI stations that have been done don't get flagged by -- just slowed by as per normal station bypass rules -- and they are a similar wall setup. 

Maybe I looked at it wrong are the walls set up on both sides as well? Then yes it’s just a normal speed situation for a station stop... 

[RR503]

28 minutes ago, RTOMan said:

Maybe I looked at it wrong are the walls set up on both sides as well? Then yes it’s just a normal speed situation for a station stop... 

I'm pretty sure, yes. 

That said, when I was down thataway on Sunday, they had *maybe* a third of the wall system up, so it's possible (though I don't know for certain, as I didn't have the pleasure riding there yesterday) that ATF was aggravating the situation. 

[Lance]

What's so aggravating about this whole mess is that somebody knew when this service change would start. Or the general timeframe at least. The closure of the 4th Avenue express tracks was in several meeting minutes dating back to the last eight months or so. I recall it being mentioned either here or on SubChat, so everyone knew that it would happen at some point. What's more damning is that the map department obviously got wind of the approximate start date because the July 2018 map (updated to show the Rockaways service changes) had the stopping at 45 Street and 53 Street despite the lack of external communications on the planned service change. I'm glad the new customer service team has taken responsibility of this and owned up to it. However, the obvious lack of internal communications here is just as bad as leaving the customers in the dark with a lack of announcements.

[P3F]

Slightly off topic but regarding a different planned service change:

For most of this year, the has ended early. Does anyone know where the trackwork is, that causes the early ending? Is it on 6 Av or on CPW?

[RR503]

24 minutes ago, P3F said:

Slightly off topic but regarding a different planned service change:

For most of this year, the has ended early. Does anyone know where the trackwork is, that causes the early ending? Is it on 6 Av or on CPW?

At other times, it has been any combination of the above. For this week specifically, I believe its early termination is related to the work going on at 145. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

37 minutes ago, P3F said:

Slightly off topic but regarding a different planned service change:

For most of this year, the has ended early. Does anyone know where the trackwork is, that causes the early ending? Is it on 6 Av or on CPW?

Someone should raise hell about it.  When I had to deal with the I hated it. Snowstorm pending... No service.  Rain predicted... No  service. They'll find anything to suspend service on that line.  

11 minutes ago, RR503 said:

At other times, it has been any combination of the above. For this week specifically, I believe its early termination is related to the work going on at 145. 

Smh... 

[LGA Link N Train]

19 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Someone should raise hell about it.  When I had to deal with the I hated it. Snowstorm pending... No service.  Rain predicted... No  service. They'll find anything to suspend service on that line.  

Is it because the is a supplementary route or do the people in see no real purpose for it?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 minutes ago, LaGuardia Link N Tra said:

Is it because the is a supplementary route or do the people in see no real purpose for it?

It's treated as a supplementary route as in it's "extra service" that they feel they can cut whenever. I don't agree with that at all given the overcrowding along 6tb Avenue.

[paulrivera]

24 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's treated as a supplementary route as in it's "extra service" that they feel they can cut whenever. I don't agree with that at all given the overcrowding along 6tb Avenue.

Train with mechanical problems in Harlem? “No  between Bedford Park and Brighton Beach in both directions.”

Switching problems on 8th Avenue and they have to reroute the  onto 6th Avenue? “No  between Bedford Park and Brighton Beach in both directions.”

 trains having problems on Brighton? “No between Bedford Park and Brighton Beach in both directions.”

Any little problem along the  ’s route, even if the problem isn’t caused by an actual  train, will usually suspend service on the  from end to end. This shtick gets really old really fast.

[RTOMan]

On 8/1/2018 at 10:32 AM, RR503 said:

I'm pretty sure, yes. 

That said, when I was down thataway on Sunday, they had *maybe* a third of the wall system up, so it's possible (though I don't know for certain, as I didn't have the pleasure riding there yesterday) that ATF was aggravating the situation. 

Ah ok thanks...