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V Train Will Get There, TA Insists
By PETE DONOHUE (New York Daily News)
The Transit Authority is standing by the V train.
Even though the authority has resorted to having its conductors
practically plead with riders to take the V train, major changes
to the route will not be made in the short term, a top transit
official said.
Authority President Lawrence Reuter said preliminary numbers indicate
ridership on the V is picking up. "We've seen it growing," Reuter said.
"It's slow, but it's growing."
The V runs between Forest Hills, Queens, and the lower East Side.
It was launched in December to relieve overcrowding on the jam-packed
E and F lines, which carry hundreds of thousands of riders daily.
Before the V's launch, E trains were running at 115% of capacity
during rush hours, Reuter said. They now run at about 96% capacity.
Reuter said the authority expected the V to ease overcrowding on the
E and F, not eradicate it.
A Slow Ride
Yet the V train has been blasted by transit advocates and shunned
by many riders because it runs local. Straphangers hurrying to work
or hurrying home don't want to transfer from the E and F trains, which run express.
A disappointing reception from riders prompted the authority last
week to direct conductors and platform personnel to make public address
announcements pitching the V's biggest asset: space.
In exchange for a few extra minutes on the train, riders can have
a shot at a seat.
"The V is a loser," said Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the
Straphangers Campaign, part of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
"It's slow and unpopular, and transit officials should rethink it."
Original Publication Date: 5/2/02
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