INSIDE NYC TRANSIT : FOR THE LARGEST U.S. TRANSIT AGENCY, SUCCESS TURNS ON INCORPORATING TECHNOLOGY, REPOSITIONING MANPOWER AND RETHINKING PROCESSES

This article presents a profile of New York City Transit (NYCT), the largest transit agency in the U.S. which moves some 6 million people every workday, most during the four hours of morning and afternoon rush. It collects some $7 million each day in subway fares alone. A two-day series of interviews at the agency's headquarters in Brooklyn shows the future plans that agency has to create more efficiencies, attract more riders, provide enhanced service and recruit and retain workers. Over the next two years, NYCT is switching to communication- based train control on the Canarsie Line; automatic train supervision in the A Division, which is also getting a new public address/public information system to announce arrival times, and a transit itinerary planner that can be used to plan regional trips over the phone or the Internet. Between 1996 and 2002, investments in the system, along with a surging local economy, enabled NYCT to register the highest annual subway ridership since 1953. It spent money on renovating 79 of 468 stations, installing more than 2,000 vending machines for automated fare cards, which now account for more than half of ticket sales and order more than 2,000 new cars. Administrative costs have been trimmed 11% since 1998 by decentralization and increased productivity. Station renovations for the future include Times Square Phase 2 and Lexington Ave./53rd St. The agency also pushed through its first fare hike since 1995 from $1.50 to $2. Two-thirds of riders give the service good ratings, and a marketing blitz is planned to offset fallout from the fare increase. Personnel, maintenance and telecommunications are other areas where changes and improvements are planned or are taking place.