Ambitious Design Overhaul Proposed for New York Subway Stations and Cars

"On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled details of a $27-billion redesign plan" for the New York Subway, reports Tanvi Misra.

The five-year expansion plan would add "1,025 new subway cars with a variety of new features: wider doors, LED headlights, digital signage, USB chargers, seats that flip up, and wi-fi." Of that number of new cars, "750 cars will have an “open gangway” design, meaning that commuters will be able to move freely along the length of cars on an accordion-like train."

Features like open gangways and wider doors can directly improve the subway's service performance. As noted by Misra, "[t]he point of many of these changes is to fit more passengers inside the cars, and allow for swifter flows between the train and the platform. Both of these goals, if achieved, would help reduce wait times for trains and overcrowding in subway stations."

USB chargers and Wi-Fi, however, fall into a category of improvement noted by a recent TransitCenter study as superfluous to the concerns of many transit users.

The article includes renderings of the new cars, which are loosely scheduled for a 2020 arrival date. The pan also includes renderings and proposals for the renovation of 31 stations around all five boroughs.