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It's Official: L and G Subway Stations Have Had Dramatic Increase in Ridership

According to Transit Overload, a new report by the Center for an Urban Future:

• The Bedford Avenue L saw the greatest increase in the average number of weekday riders from 1998-2008.
• The L train has 13 of the 50 fastest growing stations- the most of any line.
• The G train has 4 of the 50 fastest growing stations - in 8th place out of 26 lines.

It's time for better service, yet we are facing massive service cuts to the MTA. You can take two actions.

1. Call your state legislators (numbers below) and tell them that half measures are not enough. It is up to the state government to find a responsible way to fund transit. We need more transit service than we have now in this growing neighborhood, not less.

State Senator Martin Malave-Dilan: (718) 573-1726
State Senator Daniel Squadron: (212) 298-5565
Assemblymember Joe Lentol: (718) 383-7474

2. Attend the Transportation Organizing Group meeting this Thursday, March 12.
Join our us at our next meeting to discuss how to fight the MTA cuts, as well as our plans for safety trainings this summer and the Forum for Urban Design's Bike Share program, coming to our neighborhood.
Meeting is Thursday March 12 at 7pm at the NAG office (101 Kent Ave @ N 8th Street)
For more information: contact Lacey and Alex at transportation@nag-brooklyn.org

It's Not Your Imagination, There's More People on the L Train

According to a recent New York Times article, the number of rides in 2008 on New York City Transit increased 3.1% from 2007. 2.37 billion rides on city buses and subways were recorded in 2008, a record high since 1965.

The L subway line experienced the highest weekday ridership increase of 8.5% since 2007, more than double the citywide increase. Since 2003, the number of rides on the L line have risen 29% and a whopping 79% since 1998.

Our growing neighborhoods continue to depend on public transit; we need more service, not less. Read our letter to the MTA here, and join our fight for better transit in North Brooklyn by emailing transportation -at- nag-brooklyn -dot- org.

update: The L train will be a robo-train starting Tuesday, but not during the rush hour, so it won't solve the problem in the near term.

Photo by Ken Stein, via creative commons license

L Train Sees Some Improvements, But Less on Time Than Last Year

Despite the L Train getting the highest rating from Straphangers (using MTA data) in July and some improvements last year in the Driggs entrance of the Bedford L station, recent data published in a NYT article shows that the L Train is more late this year than last year. The good news is that the L Train is less late over the summer, but let's see how it does this fall as the crush of students returns.

If the morning crush on the L Train doesn't give you the kind of physical contact you're seeking from your commute, or if you are feeling like you're always waiting for the G Train, come to our town hall organizing meeting Oct 2!

Graph from NY Times, 2008.

Is the L train the best in the city?

Photo: sarahnw

According to the latest Straphanger's Campaign State of the Subways report, it is!

They write:

"The best subway line in the city is the L with a MetroCard Rating of $1.40. The L ranked highest because it performs best in the system on two measures—regularity of service and announcements—and well above average on three other measures: frequency of scheduled service, delays caused by mechanical breakdowns and the percentage of dirty cars. The line did not get a higher rating because it performed well below average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hour. The L runs between 14th Street/Eighth Avenue in Manhattan and Canarsie in Brooklyn. The previous top-rated line—the 1—dropped to a fourth-place tie."

If you want to read an indepth report on the L, plus links to L-related forums and and contact info for the L line superintendent, visit Straphanger's L Train Home Page.

Are you as surprised as I am by this? The L has gotten a little better, true, though it is still sorely inequipped to deal with the rapid growth of our neighborhood. But is it really the best?

—Mikki