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Why New York City Stopped Building Subways (citylab.com)
New York City, which once saw an unprecedented infrastructure boom -- putting together iconic bridges, opulent railway terminals to build the then world's largest underground and rapid transit network in just 20 years -- has not built a single new subway line in more than seven decades. As New York's rapid transit system froze, cities across the globe expanded their networks. A closer inspection reveals that things have actually moved backward -- New York's rapid transit network is actually considerably smaller than it was during the Second World War, and due to this, today's six million daily riders are facing constant delays, infrastructure failures, and alarmingly crowded cars and platforms. This raises two questions: Why did New York abruptly stop building subways after the 1940s? And how did a construction standstill that started nearly 80 years ago lead to the present moment of transit crisis? The Atlantic's CityLab explores: Three broad lines of history provide an explanation. The first is the postwar lure of the suburbs and the automobile -- the embodiment of modernity in its day. The second is the interminable battles of control between the city and the private transit companies, and between the city and the state government. The third is the treadmill created by rising costs and the buildup of deferred maintenance -- an ever-expanding maintenance backlog that eventually consumed any funds made available for expansion.
To see exactly how and why New York's subway went off the rails requires going all the way back to the beginning. What follows is a 113-year timeline of the subway's history, organized by these three narratives (with the caveat that no history is fully complete).
To see exactly how and why New York's subway went off the rails requires going all the way back to the beginning. What follows is a 113-year timeline of the subway's history, organized by these three narratives (with the caveat that no history is fully complete).
Tokyo Metro carries double the number of passengers of NYC, and is extremely reliable.
Of course, if it is ever late, the conductor commits hara-kiri:
https://www.worldofbuzz.com/in...
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
The subways were originally built by private companies but the fare was set by the city. This caused financial problems as costs rose.
After a while these companies went bankrupt and now they along with the commuter railroads who were also originally private companies were all bought out by the state and turned into the MTA. A state sponsored private corporation that the state, the city and other counties control.
In the 80's the private companies who ran the bus system were also integrated into the MTA
the second ave subway
7 train extension
L train tunnel rehab
rebuilding dozens of stations
East Side Access for LIRR to Grand Central
Chicago still as a truly elevated system in places, and it's as old, but still is good, and gets upgraded regularly. I'm not saying that Chicago is not corrupt, because it totally is, everything you do needs a kick back to some politician or union, but we still manage to keep our trains running on a daily basis, and it's also 24/7, with free ride a couple of days a year.
There's no way the rampant corruption and cronyism around construction in New York City does not have a massive role to play in all this.
This article, from the New York Times, supports your point:
The Most Expensive Mile of Subway Track on Earth
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