Volume 79, Number 7 | July 22 - 28, 2009
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

L’s really clean, really crowded

NYPIRG’s Straphangers Campaign last week issued its 12th annual “State of the Subways” report card, rating the No. 7 train as the best of the city’s 21 subway lines with a “MetroCard Rating” of $1.55 and the C train the worst, with a rating of 50 cents. The L line came in second with a $1.50 MetroCard Rating.

Both the No. 7 and L are run by line general managers who have been given a greater degree of independence and accountability to the riders, along with more cleaning resources.

The second-place L performed above average on five measures: frequency of scheduled service, regularity of service (first place), delays caused by mechanical breakdowns, dirty cars (first place) and announcements. The L captured the title of cleanest line with only 2 percent of cars having moderate or heavy dirt, while 20 percent of cars on the dirtiest line — the F — had moderate or heavy dirt. The L rated last, however, on the chance of getting a seat — only 24 percent — during rush hour. The L runs between 14th St./Eighth Ave. and Canarsie, Brooklyn.