New York’s new Transit Authority president has said that the Big Apple’s subway system could learn a thing or two from the London Underground.
Andy Byford, who will take over the job in January after leaving his role as the Toronto Transit Commission’s CEO, hopes to solve the current transit crisis in Manhattan.
Years of underfunding and mismanagement has left New York’s subway system with rising delays, unreliable service and regular derailments.
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo declared a transport state of emergency earlier this year and pledged $1billion toward fixing the situation.
Andy Byford, who will become New York’s Transit Authority president in January after leaving the Toronto Transit Commission, hopes to solve the current transit crisis in Manhattan
Byford, who started his transport career in 1989 as a uniformed station foreman on the London Underground’s Bakerloo line, has looked toward the British city for inspiration.
He said that London’s improvements in the 2000s could be a lesson for New York’s subway, which has 7.7 million daily users..
‘I think back to how the Tube was facing these kinds of issues [as New York],’ he told the Evening Standard. ‘To me it’s a good role model as a turnaround.
‘I think back to how decrepit some of the Northern line stations were, the Bakerloo line and Elephant and Castle was awful.
The customer service was not where it should have been. ‘Every time I go back to the Tube I am amazed.
‘I go to the stations and they are bright and renovated. The station staff are incredibly proactive, they look great, they’re very helpful, there are lots of announcements on the actual trains and the bus network has gone from strength to strength.’
Years of underfunding and mismanagement has left New York’s subway system with rising delays, unreliable service and regular derailments. Pictured above, the Barclays Center subway station
Byford, who started his transport career in 1989 as a uniformed station foreman on the London Underground’s Bakerloo line, has looked toward the British city for inspiration. Pictured above, the London Underground’s Northern Line
Byford added, however, that he might make some unpopular opinions, including temporarily ending 24-hour service on some lines.
‘I think it’s great New York has a 24-hour service because it’s a 24-hour city, it’s vibrant and that’s what I love about it,’ he said.
He added: ‘But at the end of the day, if you want things to improve and you want the service to be more reliable than the operator must get time to do the time-consuming difficult work of progressively upgrading infrastructure.’
Byford told WNYC that once he starts his new role, he’ll focus on implementing the Subway Action Plan, a more than $800million effort to overhaul the MTA.
The plan works to get trains running on time, address the overcrowding and update decades-old signals.
Byford was praised in Toronto for speaking bluntly when things went wrong and for taking the subway every day, something he wants to do in New York as well.
In Toronto, he shifted the focus of TCC culture to its riders, a goal MTA has wanted to tackle with better announcements and clearer information about delays and disruptions.
He also brought in new tap cards and saw a drop in delays and fewer track fires.
He also pulled off a 5.3-mile extension of the Toronto’s oldest and busiest line that’s set to open within a month.