The MTA Will Rip Out Subway Seats To Pack More Passengers Into Overcrowded Cars

NEW YORK, NY — Metropolitan Transportation Authority boss Joe Lhota believes he's found the perfect way to thin out the crowds of commuters currently mobbing the NYC subway system at rush hour, causing extensive delays.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon on all the ways the MTA plans to "stabilize" and "modernize" the beleaguered system, Lhota said seats would be removed from some subway cars — in turn opening up standing room in which to pack more passengers.

Want more local news? Sign up here to receive Patch's free newsletters and alerts for your NYC neighborhood.

The plan will begin "immediately" as a trial on the L train and the S line (otherwise known as the Times Square Shuttle), Lhota said Tuesday.

Two cars on each eight- to 10-car train will be entirely stripped of seats, he said, allowing 25 extra riders per train.

Subway delays have tripled over the past five years, according to data from the MTA, the state entity that owns and operates the NYC subway system under the administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. So far in 2017, nearly 40 percent of all trains in the system have been recorded as running behind schedule, data shows — and the MTA lists "overcrowding" as the No. 1 cause of these delays.

"The crowding is extraordinary," Lhota said Tuesday. "We need to find a way to get more people off the platform and into subway cars."

The L train between Brooklyn and Manhattan, in particular, has been stuffed well over 100 percent capacity for years. At peak hours, crowds of sweaty commuters packed onto L train platforms sometimes have to wait for two or three trains to pass before they find a car with an open spot.

But in order to permanently ease overcrowding, MTA officials have said, the subway system's core infrastructure would need a complete overhaul — a decades-long process that would cost billions.

Lhota's emergency seat removal plan, modeled after a similar experiment in Boston, is just one of around 30 initiatives he revealed Tuesday as quick fixes for the downward-spiraling NYC subway. The total cost? Around $800 million, he said.

As in Boston, the MTA may paint the NYC subway's seatless cars a different color, "so people know that it’s a standing-only car," Lhota said.

"It’s going to be a pilot," he added. "We’re not doing this citywide yet. We want to test it. We’re going to understand the best way to reconfigure our cars."

We can’t fix Penn Station or update the subway’s signal systems. But we can give voice to your frustration, hold those in charge accountable and find creative ways to make commuting more pleasant. Patch is partnering with WNYC and Gothamist to do just that. Join "We the Commuters" and you’ll receive tips, inspiration and a megaphone for your voice this summer.

This story has been updated. On-scene reporting by Shant Shahrigian. Lead photo by Jenna Uliano/Twitter