From alleged plots to blow up the subway to violence on the 2 train, safety on the subway has become a hot topic in New York City. While these issues have made headlines, transit officials have continued with plans to layoff hundreds of station agents across the city.
Even now, riders coming out of Times Square’s south exit will see a plywood and 2×4 wood barrier around what used to be a booth. As the MTA continues to get rid of agents as part of cost-reduction efforts aimed at filling a now-$400 million dollar shortfall, transit advocates and union officials warn the agency it’s making a mistake.
“It’s no way to treat the customers. It’s just leaving us down there, in many locations, without anybody we can go to for help,” said Gene Russianoff of NYPIRG’s Straphanger’s Campaign. “What are you going to do knock on the electrical closet?” He said he is concerned that, along with safety issues, fare dodging–which the MTA has said is a point of concern–will become more rampant.
“It would seem to me that they’re trying to eliminate the human element in the system,” said Transit Workers Union stations vice-president Maurice Jenkins. He was referring to the MTA’s decision over the past few years to eliminate station agent positions, including 300 in the fall of 2009. Another 450 have been added to that number in the most recent round of cost-cutting measures.
“This is a national crisis actually. It’s not just a crisis in new york city,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “We obviously don’t have enough money to keep our transit system as safe as we would like it to be.” Slevin, an urban planner by trade, noted that funding to transit agencies across the region has been slashed. Her organization is calling on city, state and federal officials to make mass transit a funding priority.
An MTA representative pointed to record-low overall crime rates as an indicator that the police have the situation under control. Whether or not police alone can manage as large and porous a transit system as New York’s remains to be seen. What is for certain is that riders will continue to see fewer red-vested station agents as they make their daily commutes.
— Colby Hamilton
