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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).
Are busy selling flamethrowers than doing any actual work.
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.
It's a real shame, as other cities now have much nicer metro options and I don't nee NYC getting better at all, anytime soon.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
NYC is currently in the middle of its largest subway construction project in history, but don't let facts get in the way of a good narrative!
The statement...
... today's six million daily riders are facing constant delays, infrastructure failures, and alarmingly crowded cars and platforms.
should read...
New Yorkers should visit places like Dubai, Shanghai, St Petersburg in Russia or even Singapore City, to see what a subway should look like and function.
Sadly, Americans still think they have the best and greatest in the world.
In different words, subways are too expensive to build and maintain and voters are not willing to approve either the fare increases or the tax increases to pay for them. It's unclear what the authors want to "learn" from that. In fact, it's more likely that more subway lines will get closed over time, instead of new ones getting opened.
There's already way too many Subways, just like there's too many Starbucks, too many McDonald's, etc.
#DeleteFacebook
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
They were meant to double as bomb shelters hence the extra space for breathing air
**Life is too short to be serious**
It put North Haverbrook on the map!
Except that 8.5 million people DO live in NYC and probably 50% of the adults don't own a car. Those that want to drive probably won't live in NYC. Also, rubber tired subway tech is both quiet and clean if well-maintained. NYC just has an old system with steel wheels on steel rails and tight curves.
Sydney, a fairly low density sprawl of some 5m people all trying to get to a single hub (on the east side) made a valiant start on a subway system in the late 1800's and then....stopped pretty much. Some original platforms and entire stations have never been used and some terminals were just meant to be a temporary 'breather'. I envy cities like Tokyo, London and indeed NYC for what seems to me the possibility to pick a destination in the city and 'just got there' pretty quickly in a way that's impossible in Sydney. Here, it's the total self-interest that has permeated both sides of politics. What's the point in a politician sticking their neck out for a 10+ year build when someone else might get the thanks down the line? That said, there is actually a decent new line being constructed now, but it's a drop in the ocean and no more seem to be in the planning, instead stupid light rails that are slower than walking in some cases, and certainly slower than a taxi or driving. Perhaps NYC has gone the same way, but at least you got a good start.
Only big ligs use sigs.
You'd have to pay me to get me to ride a subway instead of just driving
And in cities like New York, London, Seoul, Paris, Mexico City, Barcelona, Berlin and others I've visited you'd have to pay me to drive.
I have better things to do in my life than sit in a car in gridlock traffic for two hours when I can get there in 20 minutes on the subway. Life's too short.
New Yorkers should visit places like Dubai, Shanghai, St Petersburg in Russia or even Singapore City, to see what a subway should look like and function. Sadly, Americans still think they have the best and greatest in the world.
Leave those richer countries. Kolkata Metro (new name for Calcutta) India is cleaner than NYC subway. I can't believe it either.
But the mosquitoes in the subway have speciated and they are distinct species from the mosquitoes above ground in New York. Evolution in action. Deny that creationists.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
$20 billion would put 5000 new electric cabs on the street and pay each driver $50k for the next 26 years.
So that's an extra 5000 extra cars on the city roads, inefficiently moving people one at a time through slightly worse traffic than current. I haven't even attempted to do the numbers but I've a feeling this would be a non starter as a replacement for mass transit. I would however say that the future of transport will be a hybrid approach. Trains can still play an important role complimented by medium and mini autonomous vehicles + feet for the last mile.
Only big ligs use sigs.
comparing 5000 cars with a subway is wrong because the cars and trains aren't the expensive part, the streets and tunnels and railways are.
comparing 500 miles of street with 500 miles of subway is right.
"Life is short and in most cases it ends with death." Sir Sinclair
More than they currently do. What would be the cost of driving if it was self funded?
,,,the subway system? I'm assuming that subway rides are subsidized, that the fare does not cover the operation of the subway system. Riders pay $5 for a fare, but the actual cost to provide that fare is more, maybe 1.5-3x more.
What would a fare on the NYC subway cost if it payed to operate the subway?
I'm not opposed to mass transit subsidies, either. Lowering the price to get people into mass transit is a worthwhile goal, but if you let the subsidy get out of control it distorts the economics and you wind up with funding shortfalls because you're dependent on outside support.
Is it possible NYC's subway is approaching the point of being not economically viable? If it takes $20 billion to fix it right, is there a better transportation system that could be bought for that kind of money? $20 billion would put 5000 new electric cabs on the street and pay each driver $50k for the next 26 years. I'm not saying its better, but once the investment sizes are taken into considering it makes sense to think outside the box.
Would people be willing to pay $10 or $20 per fare for a system that self-funded, including upgrades and expansions? I bet a lot would switch to cabs or Uber for that money.
In America our physical infrastructure (roads, bridges, power lines, utility lines, etc) are crumbling. NYC subway is no exception to America's crumbling infrastructure problem. NYC subway issue is part of a national problem with our infrastructure that everyone recognizes and agree that something must be done. Good luck fixing America crumbling infrastructure considering the national budget will expand by over 1.5 trillion dollars in a few years because of the recent tax cuts. There is little political will to fix America crumbling infrastructure.
If it takes $20 billion to fix it right, is there a better transportation system that could be bought for that kind of money? $20 billion would put 5000 new electric cabs on the street and pay each driver $50k for the next 26 years. I'm not saying its better,
I mean, good, because it's very plainly very much worse. Subway trains carry hundreds of passengers each. Tens of thousands per hour at the very least. Adding 5000 cabs, even if they all took several people and ran constantly, is a drop in the ocean. Even if they could travel as fast as trains, which on the congested roads they just can't. Vehicles are nowhere near as efficient as trains.
People take up finite physical space. Unless you want to redefine who travels where, there are a limited number of ways to do that. Thinking outside the box is not magic.
Public transportation isn't popular in America because public transportation is a bad solution. Private cars are better - period.
Try the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. Or the equivalent in Shenzhen, Singapore or Taipei. All excellent. Never felt the need to own a car during my 6 year stay in HK.
A well designed and implemented subway system that gets regular maintenance and updates works extremely well.
But a badly maintained system that isn't updated makes people believe that subways don't work.