By Matt Chaban 8/01/12 12:51pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night will keep the Q-train from its appointed rounds. (gmpicket/Flickr)

Q Is for Quality, C Is for Crummy: Best and Worst Subway Lines of 2012

Naturally, everyone thinks their local subway line is the worst, but that is why we have science and the Straphangers Campaign, to crunch the numbers and tell us who really is the worst.

Now in its 15th year, the State of the Subways report rates the values of each of the city’s 20 subway lines, assigning them a price out of a possible $2.25 (the cost of a MetroCard, natch). No line even came close, unfortunately, which begs the question of whether or not New Yorkers are getting their money’s worth, but the Q-train topped the list this year at a value of $1.60. It is the first time the Coney Island-to-Astoria line has been the best since 2001.

Meanwhile, the C-train continues to be the worst in the system, worth a measely 85 cents—the only line worth less than a buck. Read More

By Matt Chaban 4/23/12 6:38pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

He's on board.

Straphangers Swoon for David Paterson: Advocates Cautiously Optimistic on Governor’s Appointment to MTA Board

Governor Andrew Cuomo is not the only person praising his latest appointment to the MTA Board, his predecessor David Paterson. As the Daily News‘ Albany bureau chief Ken Lovett reported earlier today, Governor Paterson will be replacing trucker girl Nancy Shevell (whom The Observer wrote perhaps the definitive profile of last year). A Read More

By Stephen Duffy 12/01/11 4:22pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

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Crawling Across Midtown, M50 Wins 2011 Pokey 'Award'

The bus. Possibly the most romantic form of public transportation, made all the more romantic by its numerous portrayals on the big screen. Think Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke taking a furtive ride in Austria, a moody Eminem scribbling notes and of course Kate Hudson and her ensemble belting out “Tiny Dancer.” None of the claustrophobia of the subway or the pat downs of the airport.

Though its hard to feel any way romantic about a 3.5 mile-per-hour ride across a crowded Manhattan, but that’s the speed that the M50 bus was clocked at by The Straphangers Campaign this year, earning the route the not so sought after, Pokey award, now in its 10th year. Read More

By Jimmy Vielkind 4/14/09 5:30pm

Pressure on Lawmakers for M.T.A. Rescue Gets Going Again

ALBANY—The pressure on lawmakers to do something about the M.T.A. is starting to build again.
Members of the Straphangers Campaign, as well as other groups—General Contractors Association of New York, Environment Defense Fund, the Campaign for New York’s Future and Transportation Alternatives—have so far spent $8,900 to place ads like the one above in Read More

By Jimmy Vielkind 4/14/09 4:31pm

Pressure on Lawmakers for M.T.A. Rescue Gets Going Again

ALBANY—The pressure on lawmakers to do something about the M.T.A. is starting to build again.

Members of the Straphangers Campaign, as well as other groups—General Contractors Association of New York, Environment Defense Fund, the Campaign for New York's Future and Transportation Alternatives—have so far spent $8,900 to place ads like the one above in newspapers Read More