By Philip Newman
The J/Z has been proclaimed New York City’s best subway line, ousting the No. 7 train, which had held the top spot for the last two years.
The transit advocacy agency Straphangers Campaign said it was a tie between the C and No. 2 lines for the title of worst subway in town.
It was the first time as champion for the J/Z, which runs from Broad Street in Lower Manhattan to Jamaica Center in Queens.
“The J/Z ranked highest because it performs best in the system on regularity of service,” the Straphangers said. “It also performs above average on three measures: delays caused by mechanical breakdowns, seat availability at most-crowded points during rush hour and subway car announcements.”
The Straphangers said the C was ranked worst because it performed badly in the amount of scheduled service, delays caused by mechanical breakdowns and subway car announcements.
The No. 2 was also ranked worst because of low seat availability at the most-crowded points during rush hour and next to worst on regularity of service.
Although the No. 7 lost the title, it tied for the runner-up spot with the E and Q lines. The 7 runs from downtown Flushing to Times Square.
Otherwise, the F train came in seventh, the D and N trains tied for eighth place, the Nos. 3 and 5 and R tied for 11th place and the A and B tied for 15th place.
The G and M trains received no rankings because of unavailable data.
Gene Russianoff, attorney for the Straphangers, said the subway car breakdown rate improved from an average mechanical failure every 148,002 miles to 170,217 miles during the 12 months ending in December 2010, a gain of 15 percent.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
