Subway service improves, except for the G train

Wait for it...wait for it... via Flickr user Stephen Rees — Wait for it…wait for it… via Flickr user Stephen Rees

The Helvetica-laden notes from the MTA’s January Transit & Bus Committee meeting are out, and boy, are they scintillating. Besides discussing cash deficits, ridership statistics, and something called the “obsolescence reserve,” they also released some handy charts detailing wait times that subway riders have been subjected to in the last two years. So if you felt like G train service was especially crappy last year, well, you might be right.

Statistics show that the infamously absent train was late more often in 2012 than 2011, dropping from a 93.8% on time performance to 71.7% on weekdays, and a 97.4% on-time performance to 77.6% on the weekend. The service decrease was (surprise) by far the worst of any line.

However, the G was in fact not the slowest train in New York this past year, with the 2 line taking the metaphorical transportation cake at a 69.3% on-time performance, which was actually a 9.3% improvement from the year before. The S is apparently the most reliable line, but we feel like that’s cheating because its route is so short, and who really wants to ride a tiny little train anyway?

Almost every line reported improved service in 2012, which means that we might have had something to look forward to in 2013, or ’14 probably.