Signals Messed Up 4 Out Of 5 Morning Commutes In 2019: Analysis

NEW YORK CITY — Signal problems delayed about four out of every five morning commutes in 2019, transit advocates say.

A new Riders Alliance analysis released Monday shows 78 percent of morning rush hours last year were scrambled by signal issues, causing riders to miss work, interviews and appointments, the group said.

"Four out of five is still pretty bad," said Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein. "It's time to fix the signals."

Riders Alliance examined problems with signals — which control when trains can move down the tracks — reported between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. during the 253 non-holiday workdays in 2019.

Data showed signal problems delayed trains during 198 morning rush hours, Riders Alliance said.

The numbers constitute an improvement from 2018 — when 92 percent of morning rush hour commutes were delayed by signal issues — but December 2019 had more morning delays than December 2018.

Riders Alliance blamed the near century-old signal system for the high number of delays.

"The system overall, is running on 1930s technology and it breaks a lot," Pearlstein said. "You can delay many trains ... hundreds of thousands of people with one signal."

The MTA's 2020-2040 Capital Plan includes a $7.1 billion investment to install new signal technology, called communications-based train control, on six subway lines that serve more than 50 percent of riders.

The 7 line has already seen such an upgrade but still saw massive delays in December after an installation problem was exacerbated by a light dusting of snow.

While Riders Alliance applauded New York City Transit President Andy Byford's Fast Forward promise to quintuple the number of lines to get signal updates per capital plan — from one to six per every five years — the advocates demanded more information about when improvements would come and how the MTA would handle the repairs.

"If they're going to shut down a line for the signals, we want to make sure they're doing it efficiently," said Rachael Fauss, senior research analyst with Reinvent Albany. "It's a lot of public money at stake."

"They haven't been very good at sticking to their five year chunks of time," added Pearlstein. "We need to know when it's going to happen."

An MTA spokesperson did not immediately respond to Patch’s request for comment, but the agency announced Monday a $245.8 million contract to update signals on the A, C and E lines along Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.

“A modern signaling system will help transform commutes for our millions of customers," said Byford. “This progress in our Eighth Avenue line resignaling project is a major milestone and a sign of what’s coming as we push forward to modernize the system as quickly as possible.”

Update: The MTA contested Rider Alliance's methodology, arguing not every signal report resulted in delays for commuters, and called the report "deeply flawed."

“As they say the devil is in the details," said an MTA spokesperson. "Subway service improved dramatically throughout 2019, with the best on-time performance since 2013 at more than 80 percent for six straight months, and we’re accelerating an unprecedented modernization of the signaling system using brand new technologies and approaches such as axle counters and the bundling of multiple projects to do the work faster and more affordably.”