New York commuters aren\u2019t imagining things: Though the MTA is trying to gloss over the facts, it was another rotten summer for the subways.<\/p>\n
Data the agency released last week show an increase in major incidents underground, longer wait times and more delays caused by system disrepair.<\/p>\n
The 138 incidents that delayed 50 or more trains in June and July marked worst for those months since 2018.<\/p>\n
Responding to a Gothamist report on the new stats, NYC Transit big Bill Amarosa tried to paint the bad news as an illusion caused by the MTA changing how it tracks data in 2023, so that more delays get classified as \u201cmajor incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n
First, note that switching up data-tracking methods is a favorite bureaucratic trick for frustrating critical use of data that must be made public. <\/p>\n
Second, that still leaves performance worsening since 2023. <\/p>\n
Plus, this isn\u2019t the only data pointing to fresh woes this summer. <\/p>\n
Specifically: The number of weekday train delays was roughly the same in 2025 as 2024 (one in five!) \u2014 but delays got more miserable, as the amount of time riders spent waiting (on a platform or in a train), compared to the scheduled wait time, hit a near five-year high.<\/p>\n
For the real kicker, step back just a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
We fumed last month that the MTA is blowing $7 billion on the Second Avenue Subway expansion<\/a>, yet begged the city for billions in March to fund much-needed infrastructure repair and preservation; Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s office then pointed to a 2.4 percentage-point bump in weekday subway on-time performance<\/a> for the first six months of the year as proof of system improvement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Now new MTA data suggests things went downhill right after: More delays caused by \u201cinfrastructure and equipment\u201d problems in July than in any month since 2020.<\/p>\n Indeed, a power outage near the West Fourth Street station left commuters across the city stranded during rush hour twice in one week at the tail end of July.<\/p>\n No doubt: The crumbling system is the chief cause of straphangers\u2019 pain.<\/p>\n But the MTA keeps proving it\u2019s not a good steward of the funding it gets, burning cash on projects like a $252 million emergency intercom system <\/a>that gets flooded with prank calls \u2014 money that should be going to core system repairs and upgrades.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n