Queens Trains Rated Dirtiest In The City

A Straphangers Campaign subway cleanliness report sends the mixed message to Queens 600,000 daily subway riders that their trains are among the dirtiest and cleanest in the Transit Authoritys subway system.
The good news is that the number of the boroughs clean subway cars has increased by 6%. The study also found that the citys most improved subway line is the R (Continental Avenue), going from last years 37% clean cars to the current 69%.
Conversely, the survey found that three of New York Citys four lowest rated lines (the M, A, and 7 lines) still serve Queens commuters, and that New Yorks most deteriorated line is the 7, despite receiving a recent shipment of brand new subway cars.
A concerned Councilman John Liu, who chairs the City Councils Transportation Committee, declared, "Here again we see more evidence that the MTA provides Queens residents with sub par service. It isnt just dirty subways. This is on top of substandard bus service in too many parts of Queens and inferior subway station conditions."
The Straphanger study is comprehensive. When its staffers inspected 100 cars on each of the 12 Queens subway lines they found "a modest improvement in subway car cleanliness." The report also revealed that while 62% of Queens trains are rated clean, the 12 lines still lagged behind the rest of the citys 71% rating.
However, the Transit Authority (TA) spokesman Charles Seaton said that it was pleased that the Straphangers Campaign had recognized the success of the TAs $64 million program to improve the cleanliness of the subway car fleet. "The level of improvement in the Straphangers scores and the NYC Transits internal surveys are comparable," declared Seaton.
"Transit officials deserve credit for making subway cars cleaner and doing it with less resources," said Neysa Prager, the Straphanger Campaign coordinator.
Other key findings of the survey included:
The B (Queensbridge) and V (Queens Boulevard) lines are the cleanest in Queens.
While train cleanliness improved on eight borough lines (B, E, F, J/Z, N, Q, R, AND V), they also fell in four others (7, A, G, and M).
Just four years ago, the M (Metropolitan Avenue) line was hailed as Queens cleanest line with a 71% rating. During this past year, this high mark has plummeted to less than 50%.
The Straphangers is a subway watchdog and transit activist group.