NEW YORK—The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) will review the G Line, known to be one of the subway system’s underutilized lines.
Transit analyst and blogger Benjamin Kabak terms the issue with the G Line as a classic “chicken-and-egg problem.”
“New Yorkers avoid the G train because they think it doesn’t run very often, they think waits are too long and they think trains are too crowded for the service,” he wrote on his website. “By changing perceptions and encouraging ridership, ridership will go up.”
The Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group, has been campaigning for better service along with area elected officials. The G Line runs north-south from Brooklyn to Queens and does not go into Manhattan.
Most of the stations at the G Line have more than 5,000 people entering them on an average weekday, according to MTA stats from 2011, while some have more than 10,000 average weekday riders.
In January, the coalition called for a comprehensive review of the line, including looking at running trains more often and running longer trains. They also want better communication with riders and free transfers to separate stations that are within a short distance of G-Line stations.
Now the MTA has agreed to undertake the review, an agency spokesperson confirmed. The review should be complete by the end of June.
“It’s very important that the MTA is doing this full-line review of the G Train,” said John Raskin, executive director of the Riders Alliance. “The G Train is much maligned, but it’s really a vital train for everybody who lives in North Brooklyn.”
The last line review—of the L Line, which juts across Brooklyn into Manhattan—culminated with added trains, although that was possible only with an upgraded signal system.
State Senator Daniel Squadron, who with state Senator Erik Dilan has both worked with transit advocates to call for a G line review and worked together with the MTA for the L Line review and an earlier review of the F Line, said he was pleased.
“The MTA deserves great credit for its willingness to continue working together toward the reliable service G train riders deserve,” he said in a statement.
The MTA made a temporary extension of the G Line permanent last summer when it added multiple new services, including several bus lines.
