Audit Report on the New York City Transit Authority’s Track Cleaning and Painting of Subway Stations
Executive Summary
This audit examined whether the New York City Transit Authority (NYCT) is meeting its internal goals for performing track cleaning and painting in subway stations. NYCT operates the largest public transportation system in North America. The New York City subway system (subways and rapid transit) is composed of 659 passenger track miles, on which it operates 6,311 subway cars on 21 subway lines and 3 shuttle lines that pick up and discharge passengers at 467 active stations within four of the five City boroughs. In 2013, total annual subway ridership was approximately 1.708 billion people, an increase of 3.2% from 2012 to 2013.
NYCT had a total operating revenue in 2013 of approximately $4.45 billion. Of this, subway fare revenue generated $3 billion. In addition, the subway system also generated a portion of NYCT’s total $145 million in advertising revenue and a portion of NYCT’s $63 million in expired MetroCard revenue. NYCT’s overall operating revenue increased by 34% between 2008 and 2013, including a 28.2% increase in subway fare revenue.
In 2013, NYCT spent $240 million of its operating budget for maintenance and cleaning of subway stations, using 2,485 hourly salaried employees to perform the maintenance and cleanings. In addition, another 278 operations supervisors ensure that subway stations are properly maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition. The percentage of the MTA’s operating funds spent on station maintenance and cleaning has decreased from 6.3% in 2008 to 5.4% in 2013.
In 2012, NYCT started “Fastrack,” a subway maintenance, cleaning and repair program under which segments of subway lines are shut down to the riding public to provide NYCT employees with the opportunity to accomplish a magnitude of work that would be difficult to do during regular business hours when a high volume of customers and trains pass through the stations. The top to bottom painting of a station (painting of the platforms, mezzanines, and stairwells) is scheduled to be done when a station is closed due to the Fastrack program. This type of painting may be also done as part of a capital improvement to a station.
Audit Findings and Recommendations
Our audit found that NYCT’s station painting and track cleaning efforts were insufficient to meet agency goals and as a result, the physical appearance of stations, with regard to their track cleanliness and their painting, remains poor. Neither track cleaning nor station painting are adequate to meet NYCT’s cleaning goals. We recommend that NYCT consider upgrading its track cleaning equipment and reprioritize Fastrack station painting to address the deficiencies we found. We also recommend that the agency consider adding staff and resources to enhance its cleaning programs.
MTA and NYCT Response
In its response to the draft report, MTA and NYCT officials did not dispute the report’s findings and recommendations and described steps they have taken to implement the report’s recommendations. The full text of MTA and NYCT’s response is included as an addendum to the report.