By Philip Newman
Transit activist demonstrators from Queens and other areas protested against the V subway line Tuesday, handing out leaflets that contended the new line from Queens to Manhattan attracts few riders because it is too slow.
Patricia Dolan of the Queens Civic Congress said the demonstrators at 53rd Street and Lexington in Manhattan asked subway riders how they liked the V train and found overwhelming opposition to it.
“The Transit Authority is trying to sell this to us, but nobody is buying,” Dolan said.
The rally was called by the transit watchdog agency Straphangers Campaign and demonstrators represented several such organizations. They handed out leaflets to commuters suggesting they call Gov. George Pataki to complain.
The Transit Authority began service on the V line in December with trains running local on Queens Boulevard, then on Sixth Avenue to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was supposed to take the overflow off the overcrowded E and F lines. But critics say that instead of using the V trains, riders have made crowding worse on the E line.
The Straphangers Campaign contends the V line has failed to attract riders because it is too slow. They said the F train is not a choice for many because it no longer permits riders to transfer to the Lexington Avenue line.
The Transit Authority says V train ridership has slowly but steadily increased and is up more than 30 percent from levels six months ago when it began.
Gene Russianoff, attorney for the Straphangers, wrote Transit Authority President Lawrence Reuter last month saying the V train is operating at 49 percent of capacity during peak hours.
“You are launching a massive marketing campaign to get riders to stay on the V,” Russianoff wrote to Reuter. “But you are not doing the same kind of marketing for other recent route changes that Transit initially resisted. These include midday M service (where platform signs along the line still incorrectly say service is ‘rush hours’ only) and weekend and night G service past the Court Square station.”
Russianoff told Reuter the TA sent the F express to 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue and the V local through the 63rd Street tunnel.
“I understand Transit’s prediction that this ‘flip’ would not reduce crowding on express trains as effectively as the current plan,” he said. “But this routing would be providing your riders with the service they want.”
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
