The New York State Legislature has just passed a bill (S4091/A04873) that would lock New York City’s transit system in the past. This bill, which would require a conductor to be on board every train operated by New York City Transit, is the technological equivalent of requiring every elevator in the city to still be staffed by an elevator operator. If you take other transit systems both across the country and around the world, you'll quickly realize that two-person train operation (TPTO) is an outdated practice that is used almost nowhere else—and in the few cities where it is used, it is generally being phased out. Indeed, in order to provide more frequent service for more passengers, many cities across the world are moving to fully automated trains. New York should be a world leader in transportation; this 30-year-old bill would be akin to mandating pagers in the age of smartphones.
If signed into law, S4091 would immediately impact riders by reducing service and raising costs on lines that already have no conductor. It would hamstring the MTA by making automation illegal on new lines, raising costs and decreasing safety for all New Yorkers moving forward. It is also an egregious example of legislative micromanagement that undermines the ability of the MTA to modernize, innovate, and efficiently serve the public. In order to have a transit system that is able to meet the needs of millions of both current and future New Yorkers, Governor Hochul must veto this bill.
History
Since the 1920s, the NYC subway has operated trains with two crew members: a train operator who drives the train, and a conductor who operates the doors and makes announcements, a system known today as two-person train operation (TPTO). This was not always the case, however. From the introduction of the first modern elevated train lines in the 1870s through the opening of the original subway in 1904 and beyond, train doors were operated manually, necessitating that an individual conductor be present at the end of each car. During the 1920s, however, trains in New York City began to be equipped with multiple unit door control, a technology that allowed all the doors on the train to be operated by a single person, enabling TPTO. This labor-saving improvement was at first used to run more service during off-peak periods until, by the 1930s, the entire system was converted to TPTO.
In the intervening decades, other metro systems both around the country and across the world either opened new lines or converted their existing lines for one-person train operation (OPTO), in which the train driver both operates the train and controls the doors. Perhaps in response to this, S4091 was first introduced in 1995 as an attempt to enshrine TPTO into law. While this would have already been inadvisable in 1995, today there have been 30 years of advances in technology and operating practice, including in NYC itself, that the bill fails to take into account, making it even more ill-considered.
Indeed, the MTA’s own operations showcase effective transitions away from TPTO. Starting in 1997, the NYC Transit Authority (NYCTA) began to transition to OPTO on most of its shuttles: the Franklin Ave Shuttle (all times, 2 75-ft cars), the Rockaway Park Shuttle (all times except for summer weekends and holidays, 4 75-ft cars or 5 60-ft cars), the Lefferts Blvd Shuttle (late nights, 4 75-ft cars or 5 60-ft cars), the Dyre Ave Shuttle (late night, 5 51-ft cars), and the now-discontinued B-West End Shuttle. All have successfully run with OPTO in the 28 years since. Then in 2018, the MTA also transitioned to OPTO on both the G (4 75-ft cars or 5 60-ft cars) and M (4 60-ft cars) on weekends and late nights, extending the practice further, again, without incident to date.
In the early 2000s, the MTA began installing the new communications-based train control (CBTC) signaling, beginning with the L. CBTC allows trains to run in automatic train operation (ATO) mode, wherein the train drives and stops itself and the driver simply needs to monitor it. At around the same time, the MTA began to introduce its New Technology Trains (NTTs), which, among many other features, included automated announcements, greatly reducing the workload of conductors. With ATO and automatic announcements greatly simplifying the job, the MTA experimented with OPTO on the L in 2005, utilizing platform cameras to allow train operators to view the entire platform. The MTA soon had to revert the L to TPTO, however, after union pushback.
Now, S4091 will require that
A CONDUCTOR SHALL BE REQUIRED ON ANY SUBWAY OR TRAIN OPERATED BY THE AUTHORITY WHENEVER THE SUBWAY OR TRAIN HAS MORE THAN TWO CARS ATTACHED TO THE ENGINE THEREOF.
With the Franklin Ave Shuttle set to transition to three 60-ft car trains, this will immediately require the reintroduction of conductors on all current OPTO lines. Contrary to the bill’s memo stating this will have no fiscal implications to NYS, the new conductors on these lines will have to be paid by the MTA and ultimately the state. As MTA Chairman Janno Lieber noted, this makes the bill an unfunded mandate. We believe this will immediately harm service and impede future system modernization if the governor signs it into law.
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