Those of us who commute via the subway and NYC buses will now unfortunately have to shell out an additional 15 cents per ride as the MTA officially raised fares to $2.90. However, the good news is there’s at least a bit of good news coinciding with the fare hike–shortened wait times.
According to an announcement by the MTA, subway service improvements are coming to the N and R lines on weekdays beginning next Monday, August 28th, which will result in shorter wait times for the nearly 180,000 customers straphangers who ride these lines midday during the week.
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, trains on these lines, which both run from Brooklyn to Queens, will now arrive every eight minutes instead of every 10 minutes.
These service improvements are made possible by $35 million in funding included in the FY 2024 New York State Budget and respond directly to “Customers Count” surveys that have consistently showed satisfaction rates below the systemwide average along the N and R lines.
“Customers on the N and R lines have told us loud and clear in surveys that more frequent weekday service would improve their satisfaction, and I am thrilled to say that we are delivering just that,” said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.
These service additions follow previous service increases on the G, K, and M lines that began this past July, along with C train service increases that began earlier this month on Monday, August 7. 1 and 6 trains also began operating more frequently–every six minutes on the weekends rather than every eight minutes–on Saturday, August 12.
“Every day New Yorkers utilize the subway system to get to work, go to school, and generally connect to other parts of New York City. They deserve a public transit system they can rely on to get from one location to another. I’m pleased to see system improvements,” said State Senator Iwen Chu.
The B, D, J, M, 3, and 5 lines are set to receive weekday service increases in July 2024.