Wise (and Not So Wise) Subway Fixes

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/opinion/new-york-city-subway.html

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To the Editor:

The New York Times is to be commended for reporting the sad state of the New York subway system and deliberate decisions by politicians to starve it of funding. “What Would It Take to Fix New York’s Subway?” (nytimes.com, Dec. 22) makes some good suggestions.

But the critical solution has not been mentioned: Drastically transform the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority into a body representing those who ride the trains and those who make the trains run, and give them the right to vote.

Currently, of the 17 seats on the M.T.A. board, the riders and the unions representing the M.T.A. workers have only six seats, and none of them can vote! No wonder the system is a wreck.

MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEYBROOKLYN

To the Editor:

Nowhere in all the mentioned improvements of our antiquated subway system do I see any suggestion of installing more escalators for the use of elderly and disabled passengers.

It is inconceivable, in light of the Americans With Disabilities Act, that our subways have not been required to provide these amenities, which are essential for so many people.

How many times have you located the rare platform escalator and found the dreaded orange traffic cone in front of it, indicating that it is, once again, out of order?

We should be ashamed to subject our citizens and visitors to such conditions. I recently visited Paris and was blown away by the improvements in its subway amenities. There are many more escalators (no traffic cones in sight!) and moving sidewalks! We can certainly do as well or better.

IRENE BERNSTEIN-PECHMÈZEWHITESTONE, QUEENS

To the Editor:

While many of the ideas put forth by transit experts sound great, the rush to automated self-driving trains is not realistic or safe for New York City. Neither is the idea of permanently shutting down service at night. How many of these experts consistently ride the trains? Ignorance is not bliss in this situation.

The main focus should be on modernizing the signals, properly maintaining subway cars and rehabilitating stations. Over the years, the MetroCard has done well by the M.T.A. Amid all the chaos plaguing the system, is now the time to replace it? Wouldn’t that money be better spent modernizing signals?

NICK GATSOULIS, NEW YORK

To the Editor:

The political and financial agreements to run the city subways have largely been broken since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was created more than 50 years ago.

The mayor wants to tax wealthy residents in New York City, and the governor wants to create revenue from new congestion pricing that requires state legislative approval. Both approaches have many slippery slopes.

Until a unified funding program agreement occurs and the management merry-go-round stops going in circles and promotes consistent, long-term planning, the system will not move forward.

FLOYD LAPP, NEW CITY, N.Y.

The writer is a former director of transportation at the New York City Department of City Planning.

To the Editor:

Re “The Most Expensive Mile of Subway Track on Earth” (front page, Dec. 29):

Your comprehensive report on subway construction brings to mind Boss Tweed’s looting of the city’s coffers. Isn’t it time to bid out subway expansion to private operators? Find out what a private firm would expect to be paid to build the remaining three phases of the Second Avenue subway.

As with the original Interborough Rapid Transit company, the private firm would own and operate all the new stations, collecting and keeping the fares at all the new stations, and bearing the continuing cost of maintaining the stations and tracks. The trains themselves would be operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The public would get something it badly needs without being bled dry to finance it.

RICHARD ALTABEF, GREAT NECK, N.Y.