No. 7 subway dirtier

The 7 train has been ranked as one of dirtierst subway lines, according to the eighth annual “subway shmutz” survey by the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, released Tuesday, May 16th. The survey, conducted on 2,200 subway cars on 22 subway lines between September 2nd, 2005 and January 5th, 2006, said 15 of 22 lines worsened, with cars on the E and M lines the dirtiest and 4 the cleanest.
Cars on 15 of 22 subway lines saw significant deterioration since last year’s survey, including the 7 line, while cars on only three lines grew better (1, 3 and 4).
Cars were rated for cleanliness of floors and seats, following MTA New York City Transit’s official standards for measuring car cleanliness. Cars were rated as clean if they were “basically dirt free” or had “light dirt” (“occasional ‘ground-in’ spots but generally clean”). The survey did not rate litter.
“It’s hard to have a good day when you have a lousy commute,” said Councilman Eric Gioia, who represents Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria, and Maspeth. “Our subways are intolerably dirty, and this report points out what every New Yorker knows - the MTA needs to do a better job.”