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In order to buy out the competition, the city needed its own subway system; this was accomplished in a plan for city construction of three brand-new lines, independent from those owned by BMT and IRT. On Sept.
This merger helped standardize the New York subway system and provided greater access to the subway throughout the city, helping to reduce overcrowding. American involvement in World War II and the use of raw materials and labor for the war effort made subway expansion in the s nonexistent. In the early s, things began to change for subway commuters. The five-cent rates that had existed for over three decades rose to ten cents in and again to 15 cents in Due to the turnstiles' inability to handle two different-sized coins, the rise in fares coincided with the introduction of subway tokens.
While a few expansion projects were completed at this time, such as the lines from Rockaway Park to Wavecrest and the Bronx to Coney Island, the subway system focused more on maintenance and paying off the lines built in the late s during this period. In , the name changed to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority MTA , but the responsibilities remained roughly the same: regulating all forms of public transportation throughout New York state and absorbing previous branches.
This overhaul was confusing to users at first but became the basis of the current system.
Graffiti artists began taking over New York City in the s, and the subway was hit especially hard. Violence increased as well, and robberies and assaults on the subway were commonplace. By the s, more than felonies were committed on the subway each week. Fear caused a decline in ridership, especially among middle-class commuters who could afford another means of transportation. Unfortunately, fewer riders meant less money for the transportation system, money that could have hired more security staff or cleaned up some of the omnipresent graffiti.
It would take a citywide effort to combat crime to improve subway conditions.
Once the NYPD joined in a citywide effort to combat crime, subway crime dropped significantly and the focus again turned to improving the system. The MTA pitched a project in to reach a "state of good repair" in the subway. This project focused on updating the system with upgrades to stations and train cars.
Several changes to the New York City subway system have taken place in the 21st century.
The subway began to become automated after the introduction of the MetroCard in , a process which continued into the 21st century. The Sept. In , the MTA introduced plans for electronic signs displaying train routes and times, and subway tokens were phased out entirely in favor of the MetroCard. On Aug.
And in , the FASTRACK program was introduced to improve the quality and timeliness of subway repair by shutting down parts of a line over consecutive weeknights. You are using an outdated browser. Synopsis First published in October by the Interborough Rapid Transit Corporation, the company that built New York's first underground railway, this unique facsimile edition is a lavishly illustrated guide to one of the century's greatest engineering feats.
Here, in twelve detailed chapters, are the routes, stations, and tracks, the rolling stock, signal systems, and electric supply stations of the new subway that ran under the streets of Manhattan and the Bronx.
Beautifully reproduced photographs, maps, line drawings, and other illustrations complement the text, written by the IRT's own engineers. Tanenbaum Cornell University Press, Oakman John Peirce Morton F. Plant William A. Oakman William A. Bryan, Vice president H. Fisher, Secretary D.
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by Project Gutenberg. The New York Subway: Its Construction and Equipment was first published in by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, as a commemorative.
McWilliams, Treasurer E. Deyo, Chief Engineer George W. Wickersham, General Counsel Chas.
Deyo, Chief Engineer. Electrical Equipment L. Stillwell, Electrical Director. Latey, Principal Assistant. Frederick R.
Albert F. Parks, Assistant Engineer in charge of Lighting. George G.