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COURIER LIFE, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
F UP
SPEEDING THE
MTA divides straphangers with new express service
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Now the F train will skip your stop —
for a reason!
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority debuted a controversial express
version of the F train Monday
morning, which promises to shorten
commutes for long-suffering Coney Island
straphangers, while leaving their
brownstone Brooklyn counterparts in
the lurch.
Two Manhattan-bound express F
trains are now scheduled to depart from
Coney Island on weekdays at 7:07 a.m.
and 7:29 a.m., while Coney-bound express
F trains will depart the Big Apple’s
Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station
at 4:57 p.m. and 5:28 p.m. throughout
the work week.
Those trains will skip six stations
between Jay Street-MetroTech and
Church avenue, including:
• Fort Hamilton Parkway
• 15 Street-Prospect Park
• Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street
• Smith-Ninth Streets
• Carroll Street
• Bergen Street
The express service was enacted
to shorten commute times for southern
Brooklyn straphangers who rely
on the F, but suffer the longest stretch
of purely local service in the city — 26
uninterrupted stops between Coney Island
Stillwell Avenue and Broadway-
Lafayette Street, where straphangers
can transfer to express B and D trains.
A 2016 analysis of the F express conducted
by the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority found that express riders
would shave between six to seven minutes
off their commutes, while riders
along the skipped stops would suffer an
average five-minute delay.
That’s because the Transit Authority
isn’t adding trains to the line, but rather
repurposing four local trains to benefit
some riders at the expense of others, according
to Park Slope Councilman Brad
Lander.
“The MTA chose to pit riders against
each other rather than improve service,
add capacity, and modernize the signal
system,” Lander said.
The study also found that evening
peak-hour express service could lead
to “significant congestion” at Bergen
Street and Carroll Street stops, which
should come as no surprise to local commuters,
according to Cobble Hill Assemblywoman
Jo Anne Simon, who said service
there is already lousy.
F THIS: Councilman Brad Lander delivered a petition to the MTA with more than 650 signatures opposing the transit agency’s plan to run express F trains
through brownstone Brooklyn. Photo by Aidan Graham
“We’re already having to wait two or
three trains to get on the train, because
they’re crowded,” said Assemblywoman
Jo Anne Simon (D—Cobble Hill).
Naturally, southern Brooklyn pols
celebrated the new express service, and
argued that the four speedier trains
should be a first step to a larger plan to
increase public transit to the far side of
Kings County.
“This was a long time coming,” said
Councilman Mark Treyger (D–Coney Island),
who rode the fi rst offi cial express F
train on Monday morning. “This is a fi rst
step, but by no means is the work over.”
And city subway tzar Andy Byford
stood by the Transit Authority’s F-express
scheme, saying Coney Island commuters
have suffered enough and deservie
a place one the fast track.
“It will benefit thousands of commuters
by getting them to their destinations
faster instead of sitting waiting as
their train makes all local stops,” said
Byford.
— Additional reporting by
Rose Adams