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TA Admits L Train is Too Crowded

By

Jen Chung

Published Jul 7, 2006

Modified Mar 7, 2008

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By

Jen Chung

Published Jul 7, 2006

Modified Mar 7, 2008

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It's just like the MTA to problem solve a couple years after the problem starts. The NYC Transit Authority will be adding more trains to the L line because the current, snazzy R143 line is "not enough" to serve the masses of people. The TA will have to figure out how to make the signals work with both the current, (relatively) high-tech R143s and the old cars (maybe the slant R40s?), and that could take months. We liked these stats in the Daily News article:

Annual ridership for the L line, not including major transfer stations:
1994 . . . 16,968,025
1996 . . . 18,107,243
1998 . . . 21,196,693
2000 . . . 26,155,806
2005 . . . 30,452,319

Five busiest stations in 2005:

• First Ave., Manhattan
• Bedford Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
• Rockaway Parkway, Canarsie, Brooklyn
• DeKalb Ave., Bushwick, Brooklyn
• Graham Ave., East Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Community Board 1 chairwoman Teresa Toro puts the blame on the city and TA for "not accurately projecting the strain on the subway system and ensuring enough trains could be placed in service" and for encouraging development.

And in other transit news, a judge threw out a firefighter's lawsuit against the transit union for striking and breaking the Taylor Law. Matthew Long was biking to his firehouse during the transit strike when a bus, hired by a company to transport its workers during the strike, hit him in Midtown and left him in a hospital for months. The Post reports that Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Dorsa "said the Taylor Law's purpose was not 'intended to protect individuals from the negligent acts of third parties - such as the traffic accident, in this case.'" Though Long's lawsuits against the Bear Sterns (the company that hired the bus), the bus driver, and bus' owners are moving on, his lawyer will appeal the decision.

Photograph of crowded L train from lauratitian on Flickr

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Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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