IMPROVING CORE CAPACITY OF NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT'S SUBWAY SYSTEM: CATCHING UP TO NEW CUSTOMERS

With an average weekday ridership during 2001 of 4.6 million passengers, many of the city's subway lines are running at or above maximum capacity during peak periods. Cars are so crowded that customers often have to watch several trains pass before they can board. New York City Transit (NYC Transit) has identified two basic strategies to increase the core capacity of its system. First, new technologies are being used to increase throughput on existing routes and secondly, a commitment to network expansion by building new routes and extending existing routes has been committed to. The tragic events of September 11th have underscored the importance of NYC Transit's network expansion plans and technology initiatives. The paper describes how these planned improvements will not only impact capacity but also address the safety and security concerns of passengers/customers.