NYCT Subway Performance
Joseph Leader, Senior VP, SubwaysPeter Cafiero, Chief, Operations Planning
May 2015
Today, Subway performance is primarily challenged by growing ridership, ongoing maintenance needs & unplanned events
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• Ridership is growing in peak and off-peak periods
• Critical maintenance needs are growing and work often performed under train traffic
• Unplanned events do occur (e.g., power outages, water main breaks, signal trouble) and also have a significant impact on service
2014 – Delays by Cause*
Planned Work26%
Unplanned Work22%
Crowding, Police,
Sick Customer,
etc.40%
Other12%
*Delays February 2014-January 2015
Incidents versus Delays: Impact of a given incident can vary widely by time, line and location
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168th St, 9:09 PM, 3/23/15, 22 minute duration
72nd St, 4:35 PM, 11/4/14, 10 minute duration
Example: Sick Customer Incident Delayed Trains(Number of trains rerouted or made 5 minutes late to the terminal by the incident)
A similar incident has a smaller impact on a less busy line...
14 Trains Delayed
50th St, 6:08 PM, 7/29/14, 10 minute duration
72 Trains Delayed
…and even less impact during the off peak.
3 Trains Delayed
Incidents vary in frequency and magnitude of impact
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2014 Weekday Incidents, Major Categories
Incident Description No. of Incidents
No. of Delays(avg. per Incident)
Unplanned WorkWater Condition & Water Main Break 36 59 Track Conditions 548 33 Fire/Smoke Conditions 419 22 Signal Conditions 2,370 17 Door Closing Trouble (often crowding-related) 2,324 5
Planned Work 11,334 10
Crowding, Police, Sick Customers, etc 29,734 6
Ridership is growing at all hours of the day and has exceeded 2008 levels in all hours
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-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
12 AM- 1 AM
1 AM -2 AM
2 AM -3 AM
3 AM -4 AM
4 AM -5 AM
5 AM -6 AM
6 AM -7 AM
7 AM -8 AM
8 AM -9 AM
9 AM -10 AM
10 AM-11 AM
11 AM-12 PM
12 PM- 1 PM
1 PM -2 PM
2 PM -3 PM
3 PM -4 PM
4 PM -5 PM
5 PM -6 PM
6 PM -7 PM
7 PM -8 PM
8 PM -9 PM
9 PM -10 PM
10 PM-11 PM
11 PM-12 AM
Weekday Subway Ridership by Hour
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Source: OMB linked trips
15 out of 20 lines are at peak track capacity, including ten lines already at track and train (passenger carrying) capacity
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Subway Track Capacity by Line - AM Peak Hour (Peak Direction)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A B C D E F GJZ L M N Q R
• Capacity measured at the Peak Load Point, where trains carry the heaviest load in the peak hour• Peak Load Point for busiest direction on each line shown above
• Colors indicate whether additional capacity is available• Red – constrained in both track and train capacity (10 lines) • Yellow – passenger capacity on existing trains but no track capacity to run more trains (5 lines) • Green – both track and train capacity available (5 lines)
103
St
72 S
t
72 S
t
86 S
t
86 S
t
68 S
t
Exp
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oods
ide
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7 Av
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36 S
t
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lt Av
Roo
seve
lt Is
land
Gre
enpo
int A
v
Mar
cy A
v
Bed
ford
Av
Elm
hurs
t Av
Que
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Pla
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Que
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Pla
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Heavy ridership affects system performance – closely correlated with delays
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500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500,000 4,000,000 4,500,000 5,000,000 5,500,000 6,000,000 6,500,000
Del
ays
Per W
eekd
ay
Weekday Ridership
December 2014 Weekday Delays vs. Ridership
Close to Average Daily Ridership
• We complete critical maintenance under traffic
• We have increased the frequency of infrastructure, track and signal inspections
• Every weekday, we average 400 work sites on the right of way, 150 of which occur between 9am and 4pm
• 75% of the work sites are for signals and track maintenance / repairs
• We work in approximately 4-5 locations per line during off-peak periods
Amidst ridership challenges, planned work on the right of way is essential to maintain a State of Good Repair
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In 2003, 3,900 delayed trains were due to planned work (6%).
In 2014, 113,000 delayed trains were due to planned work (26%).
Enhanced worker protection systems slow trains to protect workers on tracks
• Slow speeds (10 mph) past work sites ensure worker safety (“flagging”), but lower capacity
• Flagging rule enhancements since 2003 have lengthened slow speed zones and have added slow speed protection on adjacent tracks
Current rules – Total advance warning zone: 1,150ft
150 ft 1,000 ft720 ft
Current rules –Clear at 720ft
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• Even one small work zone requires more than 1/3 of a mile of slow train speed
• A typical slow speed zone reduces track capacity from 28 to 18 trains per track per hour
Service Improvement Plan
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Service Delivery efforts focus on reliable, evenly-spaced service, as measured by Wait Assessment
Wait assessment is the percent of intervals between trains that are not more than scheduled interval +25%, based on multiple observations in each trip
Wait assessment is a better measure of customer service than delays or OTP because:
• Unlike commuter rail, the vast majority of our riders are headway focused, not schedule focused
• Most customers ride only a portion of the line and do not ride terminal to terminal
• WA is calculated along each line and provides a more comprehensive picture of customer experience
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Scheduled Service
Efforts to maintain evenness improve customer service, at the expense of OTP
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Diagram depicts train positions as they pass stations (vertical) over time (horizontal)
6 6
Time
Pos
ition
alo
ng tr
ain’
s jo
urne
y
Efforts to maintain evenness improve customer service, at the expense of OTP
12Only select dwells shown
• Diagram depicts train positions as they pass stations (vertical) over time (horizontal)• Each plotted point represents the time that a train arrived in a station• Even train spacing is represented by parallel, evenly spaced string lines• Large spaces and nonparallel lines indicate uneven spacing, possibly due to incidents
6 6 Southbound 6 service, 12/22/14
Trains are mostly evenly spaced
Spacing is unevenThere are irregular gaps in
service
Southbound arrived 14th Street-Union Square
at 8:26 AM
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Efforts to maintain evenness improve customer service, at the expense of OTP (cont.)
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Train had an incident at 125th
Street causing a 13 minute
gap in service
Only select dwells shown 6 6 Southbound 6 service, 12/22/14
• Train dispatchers employ strategies to regulate train spacing, especially around an incident• Ahead of a delayed train, trains may be held to ensure a large gap in service does not follow • Once the incident has been cleared, trains may be instructed to skip stops to catch up and lessen
train bunching• Service management actions typically help Wait Assessment, often at the expense of OTP
Trains ahead were held in station to close the gap
from in front
The "incident train" and one train behind it were instructed to skip
stations (no station stop shown) to catch up and clear train congestion
Additional Delays due to incident and service
actions
Holding helped some intervals meet Wait
Assessment standard
Subway Schedules - First comprehensive revision since 1990s, when weekday ridership was equivalent to current Saturday ridership
1414
We have accelerated a thorough review of weekday schedules, will be fully implemented in 2015
Line-by-line, we are:
• Updating running times
• Providing terminal recovery times for arriving trains and crews to make return trips
• Adjusting schedules to better manage:
• Merges and terminal operations
• Even headways
• Adjustments for off-peak planned work
Will expand to weekend schedules in 2016
2014 Delays*
Different lines are impacted by different factors, service and incident management efforts vary by line
13% 11% 12%
52%
28%
40%
19%
26%
22%
16%
35%26%
Planned Work
Unplanned Work
Crowding, Police,Sick Customers, etc.
System
444,897100%
Other
A Division
223,794
B Division
221,103
15*Delays February 2014-January 2015
We are launching initiatives to target primary challenges on specific lines, based on wait assessment performance
Targeted Lines Based on Wait Assessment Decline:
Crowding and Service Management
• Focus service management efforts on maintaining evenness of service (wait assessment)
• Reduce dwell times at problematic locations (initial focus is primarily on 6 line)
• Additional platform controllers, step aside boxes, and revising door announcements to speed door closing
• Monitor platform crowding conditions via cameras and staged personnel and respond to real-time conditions
• Improve communications during disruptions
• Formalize partnership with NYPD to assist with platform metering during incident
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Planned Work
Unplanned Work
Crowding, Police,Sick Customers, etc.
Other
System Delays
Targeted Lines Based on Wait Assessment Decline:
Incident Prevention• Targeting highest incident locations and enhancing inspections
• Increased ultrasonic testing
• Aggressive Continuous Welded Rail installation
Incident Response
• CAT Teams: Signals, Track and Third Rail teams strategically deployed for quick response
• Lex Line Signals Coverage: signal staff staged along Lexington Corridor for accelerated response to incidents
• Additional multi-discipline response personnel
Improved Coordination of Planned Work to Minimize Impact
• Consolidate work planning to create multi-discipline work zones and decrease impact of planned work on service; targeting Lexington corridor for initial pilot implementation
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We are launching initiatives to target primary challenges on specific lines, based on wait assessment performance
Planned Work
Unplanned Work
Crowding, Police,Sick Customers, etc.
Other
System Delays