Named City’s Best Subway Line By NYPIRG
The Q train line, which services Long Island City and Astoria, was named the city’s best in NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign’s 2012 State of the Subways report, while the C train line was named the city’s worst for the fourth straight year.
According to the nonprofit group, the Q line-which services Astoria and Long Island City on its way to Manhattan and eventually Coney Island in Brooklyn-took top honors with a “MetroCard rating” of $1.60 due to the clarity of train announcements, and its above average performance in reliability, cleanliness and seat availability.
The C line, meanwhile, performed worst or second worst when it came to train announcements, cleanliness and reliability. The line, which runs between East New York in Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, received a MetroCard rating of 85 cents, 30 cents worse than the second-worst line, the 5 train.
According to the study, the best lines performed better and the worst lines performed worse. The Q, 7, J/Z, 1, L, 6, E and F lines all scored at $1.40 or better, while the M, R, N, 3, D, 2, B, A, 4, 5 and C lines scored $1.20 or worse. As usual, the G train line did not receive a MetroCard rating due to incomplete
The 7 train line, which runs from Flushing to Times Square through Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunnyside and Long Island City, scored a $1.55 MetroCard rating, good for second place. Straphangers Campaign cited the large amount of scheduled service, cleanliness and seat availability as positive factors, but the line scored dead last when it came to in-car announcements.
The J/Z line tied the 7 line’s $1.55 rating. The line, which winds from Jamaica to Wall Street through Woodhaven, Richmond Hills, cypress Hills, Bushwick, East Williamsburg and Williamsburg, took top honors when it comes to regularity of service, and scored near the middle in almost every other category.
The L train line, which transports residents from Canarsie to Manhattan’s Meatpacking District through Bushwick, Ridgewood, East Williamsburg and Williamsburg, took fifth place with a $1.45 MetroCard rating, The line scored high in the amount and regularity of service, but finding a seat on the train proved difficult during rush hour.
The E and F lines each scored a MetroCard Rating of $1:40, tied for seventh-best. Both lines, which travel through Long Island City along Queens Boulevard to Jamaica, scored well in the amount of scheduled service and in reliability but poorly in regularity of service; the F also had the dirtiest train cars.
Ninth place went to the M train line, which scored $1.25 due to the reliability of its train cars and the clarity of its in-car announcements. The line runs from Jamaica across Queens Boulevard, winds through Manhattan and then heads east through Williamsburg, East Williamsburg, Bushwick and Ridgewood.
The N and R lines scored $1.20, tying them for tenth place with the D and 3 lines. The N line, which travels from Astoria through Long Island City and into Manhattan before terminating at Coney Island in Brooklyn, scored high in in-car announcement clarity and train reliability but poorly in cleanliness and scheduled service.
The A line, which services the Rockaways, South Ozone Park and Ozone Park before heading through Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan’s West Side, scored $1.15, good for 16th best. The train line scored poorly in reliability and average in all other categories.
While the G train was not given a rating, the Straphangers Campaign noted that it its trains are clean and arrive regularly but break down too much. The line goes through Long Island City, Greenpoint and Williamsburg on its way to Midwood, Brooklyn.
