NYCT Subway Performance
Joseph Leader, Senior VP, Subways
Peter Cafiero, Chief, Operations Planning
May 2015
Today, Subway performance is primarily challenged by growing
ridership, ongoing maintenance needs & unplanned events
2014 – Delays by Cause*
• Ridership is growing in peak and off-peak
periods
Other
12%
Planned
Work
26%
Crowding,
Police,
Sick
Customer,
etc.
40%
Unplanned
Work
22%
• Critical maintenance needs are growing
and work often performed under train
traffic
• Unplanned events do occur (e.g., power
outages, water main breaks, signal
trouble) and also have a significant impact
on service
*Delays February 2014-January 2015
1
Incidents versus Delays: Impact of a given incident can vary widely by
time, line and location
Example: Sick Customer Incident
Delayed Trains
(Number of trains rerouted or made 5 minutes late to the terminal by the incident)
50th St, 6:08 PM, 7/29/14, 10 minute duration
72 Trains Delayed
72nd St, 4:35 PM, 11/4/14, 10 minute duration
14 Trains Delayed
A similar incident has a smaller
impact on a less busy line...
168th St, 9:09 PM, 3/23/15, 22 minute duration
3 Trains Delayed
…and even less impact during the off peak.
2
Incidents vary in frequency and magnitude of impact
2014 Weekday Incidents, Major Categories
Incident Description
No. of
Incidents
No. of Delays
(avg. per Incident)
Unplanned Work
Water Condition & Water Main Break
36
59
Track Conditions
548
33
Fire/Smoke Conditions
419
22
Signal Conditions
2,370
17
Door Closing Trouble (often crowding-related)
2,324
5
Planned Work
11,334
10
Crowding, Police, Sick Customers, etc
29,734
6
3
Ridership is growing at all hours of the day and has exceeded 2008
levels in all hours
Weekday Subway Ridership by Hour
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
12 AM 1 AM - 2 AM - 3 AM - 4 AM - 5 AM - 6 AM - 7 AM - 8 AM - 9 AM - 10 AM 11 AM 12 PM 1 PM - 2 PM - 3 PM - 4 PM - 5 PM - 6 PM - 7 PM - 8 PM - 9 PM - 10 PM 11 PM
- 1 AM 2 AM 3 AM 4 AM 5 AM 6 AM 7 AM 8 AM 9 AM 10 AM -11 AM -12 PM - 1 PM 2 PM 3 PM 4 PM 5 PM 6 PM 7 PM 8 PM 9 PM 10 PM -11 PM -12 AM
2007
Source: OMB linked trips
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
4
15 out of 20 lines are at peak track capacity, including ten lines
already at track and train (passenger carrying) capacity
Subway Track Capacity by Line - AM Peak Hour (Peak Direction)
Queens Plaza
Queensboro Plaza
Queensboro Plaza
Elmhurst Av
Bedford Av
Marcy Av
Greenpoint Av
68 St
86 St
86 St
72 St
10%
72 St
20%
103 St
30%
Roosevelt Island
40%
Roosevelt Av
50%
36 St
60%
Jay St
70%
7 Av (Brooklyn)
80%
Jay St
90%
Exp – Woodside / Local – 40 St
100%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A B C D E F G JZ L M N Q R
• Capacity measured at the Peak Load Point, where trains carry the heaviest load in the peak hour
• Peak Load Point for busiest direction on each line shown above
• Colors indicate whether additional capacity is available
• Red – constrained in both track and train capacity (10 lines)
• Yellow – passenger capacity on existing trains but no track capacity to run more trains (5 lines)
• Green – both track and train capacity available (5 lines)
5
Heavy ridership affects system performance – closely correlated with
delays
December 2014 Weekday Delays vs. Ridership
3,000
Delays Per Weekday
2,500
2,000
1,500
Close to Average
Daily Ridership
1,000
500
3,500,000
4,000,000
4,500,000
5,000,000
Weekday Ridership
5,500,000
6,000,000
6,500,000
6
Amidst ridership challenges, planned work on the right of way is
essential to maintain a State of Good Repair
In 2003, 3,900 delayed trains were due to planned work (6%).
In 2014, 113,000 delayed trains were due to planned work (26%).
•
We complete critical maintenance under traffic
•
We have increased the frequency of infrastructure, track and signal inspections
•
Every weekday, we average 400 work sites on the right of way, 150 of which occur between
9am and 4pm
•
75% of the work sites are for signals and track maintenance / repairs
•
We work in approximately 4-5 locations per line during off-peak periods
7
Enhanced worker protection systems slow trains to protect workers
on tracks
•
Slow speeds (10 mph) past work sites ensure worker safety (“flagging”), but lower capacity
•
Flagging rule enhancements since 2003 have lengthened slow speed zones and have added slow speed
protection on adjacent tracks
Current rules –
Clear at 720ft
720 ft
Current rules – Total advance
warning zone: 1,150ft
150 ft
1,000 ft
•
Even one small work zone requires more than 1/3 of a mile of slow train speed
•
A typical slow speed zone reduces track capacity from 28 to 18 trains per track
per hour
8
Service Improvement Plan
9
Service Delivery efforts focus on reliable, evenly-spaced service, as
measured by Wait Assessment
Wait assessment is the percent of intervals between
trains that are not more than scheduled interval +25%,
based on multiple observations in each trip
Wait assessment is a better measure of customer
service than delays or OTP because:
• Unlike commuter rail, the vast majority of our
riders are headway focused, not schedule
focused
• Most customers ride only a portion of the line and
do not ride terminal to terminal
• WA is calculated along each line and provides a
more comprehensive picture of customer
experience
10
Efforts to maintain evenness improve customer service, at the
expense of OTP
Diagram depicts train positions as they pass stations (vertical) over time (horizontal)
Position along train’s journey
Time
6
6
Scheduled Service
11
Efforts to maintain evenness improve customer service, at the
expense of OTP
•
•
•
•
Diagram depicts train positions as they pass stations (vertical) over time (horizontal)
Each plotted point represents the time that a train arrived in a station
Even train spacing is represented by parallel, evenly spaced string lines
Large spaces and nonparallel lines indicate uneven spacing, possibly due to incidents
Southbound 6 arrived
14th Street-Union Square
at 8:26 AM
Spacing is uneven
There are irregular gaps in
service
Only select dwells shown
6
6
Trains are mostly
evenly spaced
Southbound 6 service, 12/22/14
12
Efforts to maintain evenness improve customer service, at the
expense of OTP (cont.)
•
•
•
•
Train dispatchers employ strategies to regulate train spacing, especially around an incident
Ahead of a delayed train, trains may be held to ensure a large gap in service does not follow
Once the incident has been cleared, trains may be instructed to skip stops to catch up and lessen
train bunching
Service management actions typically help Wait Assessment, often at the expense of OTP
Additional Delays due
to incident and service
actions
Trains ahead were held in
station to close the gap
from in front
Holding helped some
intervals meet Wait
Assessment standard
Train had an
incident at 125th
Street causing
a 13 minute
gap in service
The "incident train" and one train
behind it were instructed to skip
stations (no station stop shown) to
catch up and clear train congestion
Only select dwells shown
6
6
Southbound 6 service, 12/22/14
13
Subway Schedules - First comprehensive revision since 1990s, when
weekday ridership was equivalent to current Saturday ridership
We have accelerated a thorough review of weekday schedules, will be fully implemented in 2015
Line-by-line, we are:
•
Updating running times
•
Providing terminal recovery times for arriving trains and crews to make return trips
•
Adjusting schedules to better manage:
•
Merges and terminal operations
•
Even headways
•
Adjustments for off-peak planned work
Will expand to weekend schedules in 2016
14
Different lines are impacted by different factors, service and incident
management efforts vary by line
2014 Delays*
100%
Planned Work
223,794
221,103
444,897
16%
26%
35%
Unplanned Work
19%
22%
26%
Crowding, Police,
Sick Customers, etc.
52%
40%
28%
Other
13%
11%
12%
A Division
B Division
System
*Delays February 2014-January 2015
15
We are launching initiatives to target primary challenges on specific lines,
based on wait assessment performance
Targeted Lines Based on Wait Assessment Decline:
Planned Work
Crowding and Service Management
• Focus service management efforts on maintaining evenness of service
(wait assessment)
• Reduce dwell times at problematic locations (initial focus is primarily on
6 line)
• Additional platform controllers, step aside boxes, and revising
door announcements to speed door closing
• Monitor platform crowding conditions via cameras and staged
personnel and respond to real-time conditions
Unplanned Work

Crowding, Police,
Sick Customers, etc.
Other
System Delays
• Improve communications during disruptions
• Formalize partnership with NYPD to assist with platform metering
during incident
16
We are launching initiatives to target primary challenges on specific lines,
based on wait assessment performance
Targeted Lines Based on Wait Assessment Decline:
Incident Prevention
• Targeting highest incident locations and enhancing inspections
• Increased ultrasonic testing
• Aggressive Continuous Welded Rail installation
Incident Response
• CAT Teams: Signals, Track and Third Rail teams strategically deployed for
quick response


Planned Work
Unplanned Work
Crowding, Police,
Sick Customers, etc.
Other
• Lex Line Signals Coverage: signal staff staged along Lexington Corridor
for accelerated response to incidents
System Delays
• Additional multi-discipline response personnel
Improved Coordination of Planned Work to Minimize Impact
• Consolidate work planning to create multi-discipline work zones and
decrease impact of planned work on service; targeting Lexington corridor
for initial pilot implementation
17