Ridgeites rally for R train improvements

December 14, 2015 Meaghan McGoldrick
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It’s time to get the R train back on track.

That was the consensus at a rally – hosted on Friday, December 11 by elected officials and transportation advocates at the line’s 77th Street entrance in Bay Ridge – aimed at bettering what is, for many, a rough ride.

“I didn’t take the R train this morning, because I was afraid I was going to be late,” joked Councilmember Vincent Gentile, who represents Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, two areas reliant on R train service.

Just days before the rally, the local pol – whose office has racked up countless R train-related complaints throughout his tenure (including, but not limited to: day-ruining delays, crowded cars and even more congested stations) – released a mock-movie trailer documenting some of the “R train nightmares” experienced by riders on a daily basis.

“I recently rode the R train with my fellow R train warriors and we asked them about their biggest grievances with the R line and what the “R” in R train means to them,” he explained.

Answers included, “Ridiculous,” “Run-down,” “Regressive,” and “Regrettable.”

“It’s clear that the R train service is a serious problem in our community; we are literally being crippled by it,” said Gentile, joined at the rally by Assemblymembers Nicole Malliotakis and Pam Harris. “Bay Ridge is becoming less desirable of a destination when the rest of Brooklyn is booming.”

Earlier this month, Gentile penned a letter to MTA Chairperson Thomas Prendergast calling on the MTA to: conduct a full-line audit on the R line; add more and newer trains to the R route to increase frequency and decrease late arrivals of the R; place the R on its own line in Manhattan to eliminate delays caused by waiting for other trains that run on the same line, such as the N; expedite the installation of platform countdown clocks and amenities on the subway cars like digital stop trackers; add new audio systems that riders can actually hear and decipher; discontinue the late night R shuttle that forces riders heading into Bay Ridge to get off at 36th Street in Sunset Park, where they often wait upwards of an addition 20 to 30 minutes to complete their trip home; and create an R line rush hour special from 95th street in Bay Ridge to Chambers Street and back.

These recommendations have already seen bipartisan backing.

“It always seems we have to fight twice as hard for half as much here in Bay Ridge, and it seems to be that the further you get from Manhattan, the less the MTA pays attention to you,” noted Malliotakis, urging rally-goers to check out the R train’s reviews on Yelp, a recommendations-based website that – with 80 total reviews (the majority negative) – gives the R train a two-star rating. “So, we need to make noise; we need to be out here advocating and joining together, making sure that everyone in Bay Ridge is singing the same tune, and that is that we need reliable R train service.”

“The problem that many are facing is the dysfunction,” agreed the newly elected Harris. “My colleagues have been working on this issue for so many years. If somebody is giving you the solutions to fix the dysfunction, it’s time to get it done.”

Local riders – a number of whom were present at the rally, and some of whom shared their “R train nightmares” – strongly agree.

“The R train runs so infrequently at rush hour and breaks down so often that the only thing I know I can rely on is the R train’s unreliability,” said Lisa Levy, a member of the Riders Alliance who relies on the R train daily to get to work in Lower Manhattan. “Often I’ll be on the R train on my way to work when the train’s route changes, which means I have to double back and add 30 minutes to my commute. I need the transit system I pay for to get me to work on time.”

Fellow rider and coordinator for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign Cate Contino Cowit agreed.

“I transfer to the R daily,” she said, noting also that she arrived late to the rally because of a delayed transfer to the R train. “Most days I find myself staring off into the darkness at DeKalb, wondering if I should have stayed on the Q and walked. Countdown clocks on the B Division would go a long way to alleviate the daily stressor of wondering if the R is ever going to show up.”

Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann was also on hand to echo the community’s longstanding concerns.

“As I was standing here, I saw so many residents walk by who come into our office, and I immediately know they’re here to complain about the R train,” she said. “The recommendations that were presented by Councilmember Gentile are more than reasonable. What we hear every day from Bay Ridge residents is their frustration, and that is, how could we be so geographically close to Manhattan, but we have to crawl to get there?”

According to MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz, Prendergast has already committed to a full line audit of the R, as part of a full system audit. Additionally, he said, “All subway cars operated by New York City Transit (NYCT) are in a state of good repair. The R46 cars currently assigned to the R were built in 1976, but continue to provide reliable service.”

Those cars will be replaced with more modern cars, compatible with new “Communications-based Train Control,” with completion of the project in Queens already scheduled for the early 2020s said Ortiz. “We always have constraints when it comes to resources and we have to allocate them based on ridership trends to ensure they are distributed fairly,” he said.

Infrastructure work on the line is also in the pipeline, Ortiz said, noting that signal modernization is now being worked on in Queens. In addition, he said, “Another ongoing investment is a current project to upgrade the tracks of the R in Bay Ridge with the installation of continuously welded rail.  These critical investments, however, can also impact service while work is being undertaken along the line, as trains must be rerouted and run slowly past work zones.”

Furthermore, Ortiz said, “As part of the planned 2015-19 Capital Program, NYCT will invest in the train identification and public information infrastructure needed to install countdown clocks on all lines that do not currently have them, including the R,” and the installation of an improved PA system is coming down the pipeline as part of the countdown clock initiative.

As for Gentile’s request to separate the R line from the N line to alleviate train traffic, Ortiz said that was a non-starter because, “In order to reach Queens, they must use the same pair of tracks under the East River. Consequently, the N and R must share tracks for at least part of their routes in Manhattan.”

In terms of an added express line, he said, “Adding a separate service to Chambers Street cannot be justified by current ridership levels on the R.”

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