New York City Subway System Redesign
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Transcript of New York City Subway System Redesign
New York City Subway System Redesign
cORNELL uNIVERSITY
New York City Subway System Redesign
Prepared for: Solution design for New York City subway system redesign
Liankun Ji, Ge Gao ,Chenxi Wen, Menghan Xu
11/11/2014
This report provides a detailed solution for New York City subway redesign. This report analyzed several essential problems existing in New York City subway system by analyzing the traffic volume, customers demand, and customers’ feedback to come up with this solution. We also examine the feasibility of our solution in this report on cost and benefits table, city development and environmental impact.
New York City Subway System Redesign
Table of ContentsList of Visuals............................................................................................................................................... ii
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Proposed Transportation Solution...............................................................................................................2
Project description of the new subway line.................................................................................................6
General description.................................................................................................................................6
Basic elements in system.........................................................................................................................7
Bridge reconstruction..........................................................................................................................7
Stations and Railways Construction.....................................................................................................9
Capacity of system.................................................................................................................................10
Basic capital (infrastructure, vehicles) cost information........................................................................12
Benefits of adding the new subway line................................................................................................13
Decreasing the congestion................................................................................................................13
Decrease the inconvenient of service termination at weekends.......................................................15
Cross-Platform Interchange Technology....................................................................................................18
Poly-Cross-Platform Interchange Station in Hong Kong.........................................................................18
Using Timetables to Improve Coordination...........................................................................................19
Safety Issues..............................................................................................................................................21
Previous Safety Incidents.......................................................................................................................21
The Tokyo subway Sarin Attack.........................................................................................................21
7 July 2005 London Bombings...........................................................................................................21
2010 Moscow Metro Bombings.........................................................................................................21
Complete contingency plans.................................................................................................................22
Explosion proof compartment...............................................................................................................22
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................23
References.................................................................................................................................................24
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New York City Subway System Redesign
List of VisualsFigure 1 Proposed subway line construction(New York City subway system, MTA.info, 2014)
Figure 2 Cross-platform interchange technology(Cross-platform interchange technology, Hong Kong subway system intro, 2008)
Figure 3 The former and current track configurations at the Queensboro Plaza cross-platform transfer station(New York subway interchange stations, MTA.info, 2009)
Figure 4 NYCS Manhattan Bridge North Side Tracks(Multi-functional bridge operation conditions, MTA.info, 2007)
Figure 5 Design and construction plans for new subway line(MTA Subway Map, MTA.info, 2007)
Figure 6 Annual Passenger Ridership(MTA Annual Passenger Ridership, MTA.info, 2013)
Figure 7 Annual Passenger Ridership increasing rate(MTA Annual Passenger Ridership, MTA.info, 2013)
Figure 8 Capital Assets distribution in different components of subway system(MTA Independent Auditor’s Review Report, 2013)
Figure 9 Track Performance of New York City(Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2013)
Figure 10 Overcrowded Lines in New York City(Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2013)
Figure 11 The Operation of Line 7 at weekends(MTA Subway Map, MTA.info, 2007)
Figure 12 Queensboro Plaza station
Table 1 New York City Subway Ridership from 2007 to 2013(The MTA Network—Public Transportation for the New York Region, MTA.info, 2013)
Table 2 New York City Subway Ridership from 2007 to 2013(Subway and Bus ridership, MTA.info, 2013)
Table 3 Detailed capital cost for new subway line, 2014
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Introduction
Nowadays, numerous traffic problems existed in New York City. As the economic wheel of the
world center never stop turning, fundamental problems like public transportation issues has been
nearly forgotten by the New York City government.
New York Subway System is one of the most significant components of the New York City
public transportation system. There are over one million people alighting and boarding every
day. And this number boosts to 1.5 million during weekends and vacations. With such a high
demand on the subway system, the problems naturally came. Considering New York Subway
System has already existed for over one hundred years, the current facilities are not efficient and
safe enough. Also, based on the research on Metropolitan Transportation Authority Public
Report, the increasing number of subway passengers have already surpass the service level of
current New York Subway System. Every day, there are delays and congestions existing in
numerous subway stations in New York City. In peak hours, such as commuting peak in
weekdays, weekends and legal vacations, some of the subway line even cannot occupy all the
passengers in one service period.
Another problem waiting to be solved is the difficulty for subway line transition. Currently
passengers in New York City always complain about the extremely long time they have to wait
in order to transfer from one subway line to another. Also, it is very difficult to transfer from
subway to other public transportation, like rapid transit, bus, and city shuttle. Since subway
stations are somehow in a comparatively long distance to other public transportation stations, it
always takes more time during transit. Considering different public transportation methods have
different time schedule, passengers sometimes need to wait for a full time gap between two
vehicles.
Overall, the service of New York City Subway System is still adequate. However, it is also
essential to solve the problems stated above. We expect an 8% increase in number of passengers
in the next ten years. If the current metro system does not improve by then, normal operations of
transportation in the city will not be guaranteed.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Proposed Transportation Solution
Our solution for the New York subway system is to build a new subway line in New York City.
The new service line will decrease the traffic pressures of the New York Subway system and
provide more opportunities for customers to use different subway lines for their daily life.
The major reason for our group to carry on this project is the current deficiency for New York
Subway System. Based on our research on the entire subway operation situation in New York
City, we noticed numerous significant problems.
First of all, the current demand in the subway system is way beyond the current service level.
Based on the data from Metropolitan Transportation Authority, over 47% of passengers are
under normal services of current subway system. Second, the connection between different
subway lines is inefficient. Passengers always need to wait for a long time to make the transition
between different trains. Secondly, the transition between subway lines and bus shuttles is not
the most convenient, especially for daily commuters. Not only did they find it difficult to suit the
timetable between bus and subway but they cannot cover the long journey between subway
station and bus station.
Third, the current subway service is not efficiently coordinated. From the research of our group
on the subway transit connection between different counties, we figure out that some of the
subway transit stop their services without any notices, which cause people staying in Queens
County and can only take taxies or other transit methods to reach Manhattan or other counties.
Lastly, the New York Metro has significant safety issues. We all know New York Subway
System has a grand history of over 200 years. With many old facilities staying in service for
centuries, it is hard to maintain the same safety standards. Based on our research of the New
York Subway System accidents report, thousands of people died each year at New York subway
stations because of safety issues.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
As a result, our design tries to address all of the critical issues mentioned above. After analyzing
current situation and potential alternatives, our group came up with three realistic solutions that
correspond to the problems we discovered.
First of all, one of the most important design issues is to build a new subway line to connect
Bronx County and Queens County.
Figure 1 Proposed subway line construction
From this figure, the blue line stated the new subway line our group wants to construct. It will
connect the passengers from Queens County to Bronx County. Basically, this line will connect
the Line 7 and Line 6. It is planned to connect the Origin of Line No. 7, all the way go through
Brook-Westone Bridge, and reach the third station of Line No. 6, which is the Middle Road
station. Based on our data support from Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the annually
service of New York Subway System is increasing in an enormous speed. From the table I have
below.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Year Average Weekday
Average Saturday
Average Sunday
Average Weekend
Annual Total Percentage Increasing in
weekday
Percentage Increasing in
weekend
2007 5,042,263 2,917,270 2,211,502 5,128,772 1,562,515,065
2008 5,225,675 2,979,391 2,310,944 5,290,334 1,623,881,369 0.03637 0.0315
2009 5,086,833 2,928,247 2,283,601 5,211,848 1,579,866,600 -0.02656 -0.0148
2010 5,156,913 3,031,289 2,335,077 5,366,366 1,604,198,017 0.01377 0.02964
2011 5,284,295 3,082,463 2,414,587 5,497,050 1,640,434,672 0.02470 0.02435
2012 5,380,184 3,172,627 2,490,736 5,663,363 1,654,582,265 0.01814 0.03025
2013 5,465,034 3,243,495 2,563,022 5,806,517 1,707,555,714 0.01577 0.02527
Table 1 New York City Subway Ridership from 2007 to 2013
It is clear that the passenger demand is increasing at an average rate of 1.37% on weekdays and
2.10% on weekends. Also, over 70% of passengers will take journey in Manhattan, which in turn
caused very heavy congestion in this region. Our new design solution is going to distribute more
passengers to choose their journey in the new subway line which directly connect Bronx and
Queens, so that the traffic pressure in Manhattan will decrease.
Second solution of our team is to focus on the subway line transition. Based on our research on
New York City Subway System transition situation, we figured out some problems. On the
Origin and Destination Estimation in New York City with Automated Fare System Data, over
90% of passengers are using MetroCard to serve themselves for taking subway lines. Based on
the data from this Journal, over 20% of the passengers have an average of 24 minutes gap
between the transitions between different subway lines. (Origin and Destination Estimation in
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New York City Subway System Redesign
New York City with Automated Fare System Data 2013) This data will draw enough attention
on the current transition problems existing in New York City Subway System. Our solution will
focus on a more developed subway line transition method applied in Hong Kong and London
Stratford station subway system. The detailed design process is shown below.
Figure 2 Cross-platform interchange technology
It is obvious that each line in a certain subway station will have two identical service lines with
opposing directions. To ensure the convenience, each is arranged in a rational way for passengers
to alight and board. Unlike the original design, the new design method will ensure passengers to
transfer from one line to another just in a short period of time.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Project description of the new subway lineCreating a new subway line is not easy. Since the most important issue is the congestion caused
by passengers delaying in Manhattan County, the current situation of passengers’ demands in
Manhattan, Queens and Bronx have to be taken into consideration carefully enough. Also, the
infrastructure of this new subway line should be clearly stated. It should have a reasonable
capacity to face the current demand without exceeding the government’s budget. The cost for
maintaining the new subway system is also crucial. This will give us a more detailed analysis on
the marginal benefits of this plan.
General descriptionManhattan is one of the most prosperous regions in the entire world. Not only did large number
of people resident in this place, but also a large amount of people go to Manhattan for work from
other places, such as New Jersey, Brooklyn, Queens and so forth. Based on the surveying data in
MTA in 2010, the total number of residents in Manhattan is 1,626,159. This is a very reasonable
number for a commercial area. However, the population density in this region is 27,345.9/km^2,
which is astoundingly high. From the generally survey of the current situation, the total
population in Bronx county is 1,418,733, and the population density is 12,598/km^2. The total
population in Queens County is comparatively larger. The population is 2,296175 and the
population density is 8,237/km^2. (MTA.info, 2013) From this sharp comparison between the
passengers’ density in different regions, two important issues are revealed. First, compared with
the passengers demand in other counties, the current demand in Manhattan is way higher.
Second, the current public transportation system is not adequate enough to satisfy the current
demand situation.
Figure 3 The former and current track configurations at the Queensboro Plaza cross-platform transfer station
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Another important fact is the congestion caused by interchange. There are currently overall 49
transfer stations in New York City, and 22 of them are in Manhattan, which engage 20 of the 24
subway lines of New York subway system. The severity will be more obvious if we concentrate
on the current passengers’ delay time in these transfer stations.
Basic elements in system
Bridge reconstruction
The basic elements for the new subway system are very straightforward. As a new subway line,
the most important element for this project is the bridge. The huge bridge connects Bronx and
Queen is called Bronx Whitestone Bridge. Based on the MTA.info, This is a very modern and
elegant bridge which served as the gateway to the fair’s “World of Tomorrow”. (MTA.info,
2012) It is original built for recreation and casual transportation function. In this project, the new
subway line needs to utilize this bridge.
A good example will be Manhattan Bridge, which is one of the most important subway line used
bridge in NYC subway system.(MTA.info, 2011) Based on the transportation condition report,
there are five out of twenty subway lines utilize Manhattan Bridge for their daily operation. It is
a very essential connection between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Figure 4 NYCS Manhattan Bridge North Side Tracks
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Table 2 Current service situation for Manhattan Bridge
The infrastructure for subway path construction is not very expensive. According to the
Manhattan Bridge Historic Overview, the reconstruction for Manhattan Bridge took plan
between 1988 and 2004, which is an intensive and widespread construction project. (Manhattan
Bridge Historic Overview, 2007) The first contract is a 40$ million reconstruction project which
focusing on the side spans. This will give more space for the subway lines to establish in the
lower part of the bridge. Then the second phase, which cost about $350 million, is to reconstruct
the major part by stiffening the main span, add new expansion joints and reconstruct the upper
roadways. By constructing new frames couple and stiffening the trusses, the subway line can be
easily paved in the lower part of the bridge. In 2004, B, D and Q lines began their full service on
Manhattan Bridge. In October 2007, the rest of the two lines, N and Q, start their service across
Manhattan Bridge as well.
Compared to the construction cost, the operation revenues are more intriguing. The report stated
that the New York Government took only 7 years to compensate the reconstruction cost for
Manhattan Bridge. Considering the increasing number of passengers in the recent 10 years and
price change on public transportation, it is very reasonable to think that similar project will also
receive very good results on the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. The infrastructure on bridge will not
be a problem.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Stations and Railways Construction
Second important issues will be subway rails and stations. The figure below shows the design
and construction plan for this new subway line. The black dots represent ordinary stations, blue
dots represent interchange stations and yellow highlight is the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, which
is the bridge for the operation. The stations are designed based on the population density and
passengers demand in Bronx and Queens Counties. The interchange stations are mostly the
initial departure and terminal stations of other major subway lines. For example, the new subway
line connects Route 2, 5 and 6 in Bronx and Route 7 in Queens. This design will ensure that most
of the passengers can choose their alternative way to their destination. The infrastructure cost for
build new stations and rails can be noticed by the budget for other new subway lines. There are
11 ordinary stations and 4 interchange stations in total.
On Building for the Future, a new subway line is planning to be constructed in recent years
connecting Manhattan and Queens. When completed, East Side Access will serve approximately
162,000 customers a day. The budget for this project is $10.178 billion. Revenue service is
forecast for December 2022. The budget will mostly put on infrastructure construction, which
including the stations, rails, bridge reconstruction and additional service system. These aspects
are exactly what the new subway line in this project considered in the future as well.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Figure 5 Design and construction plans for new subway lineBlack dot: ordinary stations
Blue dot: interchange stationsYellow highlight area: Operation Bridge
Capacity of systemWhile nearly 85 percent of the nation's workers need automobiles to get to their jobs, four of
every five rush-hour commuters to New York City's central business districts avoid traffic
congestion by taking public transportation to New York City. Even in this situation, the annual
passengers are still increasing in a booming velocity. This situation forces us to ensure the new
subway line to have a adequate capacity to face the demand.
The Bronx and Queens Counties have an increasing number of passengers seeking public
transportation. Based on the survey from MTA Network, the current operation budget of public
transportation is $10.1 billion in 2014. The annual ridership is 2,394,391,531. And the average
weekly commuting rate is 7,660,605. However, the current subway system is way under the
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New York City Subway System Redesign
demand. From the operation data in MTA Network, there are only 24 subway lines existing in
New York City, and most of them cover little service in other counties. The routes and mileage
are also way under the demand values.
Based on MTA annual passenger ridership report, the annual passenger ridership increasing is
shown in the following graphs.
Figure 6 Annual Passenger Ridership
Figure 7 Annual Passenger Ridership increasing rate
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New York City Subway System Redesign
By noticing the current passenger ridership situation and increasing rate, the new subway line
will create a comparatively large capacity than the annually demand in order to ensure the
normal operation.
Basic capital (infrastructure, vehicles) cost informationIn the criteria above, the revenue and cost issues have been already discussed in several
situations. The annual cost for the entire public transportation system in New York City is $13.6
billion. Also, based on the Independent Auditor’s Review Report by MTA in 2014, the New
York transportation department provides a financial report about the consolidated interim
statements of net position from June 30, 2014 to December 31, 2013. (New York State
Government, 2013) Based on the financial report, the total assets and deferred outflows of
resources in June 30, 2014 is $69,319 million. There is an obvious increase on this number, since
the total assets is $63,094 on June 2012 million and $65,924 on December 2013. The basic
capital cost is shown in the following figure.
Figure 8 Capital Assets distribution in different components of subway system
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New York City Subway System Redesign
From this pie chart, the land use has zero percentage in the entire cost since the original system
has not expanded for years. Most of the cost came from construction work-in-progress, buildings
and structures, passenger cars and locomotives as well as infrastructure. Based on these facts, our
team came up with a table contain the essential cost for the basic elements of the new subway
line.
Table 3 Detailed capital cost for new subway line
Benefits of adding the new subway line
Decreasing the congestion
In an unusually candid effort at self-examination for a habitually insular agency, New York City
Transit presented what could be called an index of straphanger frustration. It made an analysis of
each subway line that shows at a glance how often trains run late, how crowded they are and
whether more trains could be added to ease the problems.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Figure 8 Track Performance of New York City
From their analysis, we could see that the Line 4, 5, 6 E and L are apparently overcrowded. All
of those lines are using up their full capacities or even exceeding their full capacities. And four
of the over-capacity lines are related to the connection of Bronx to Manhattan or the connection
of Queens to Manhattan. The bold red lines show the 5 overcrowded lines.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Figure 9 Overcrowded Lines in New York City
The new subway line which connects the Bronx and Queens directly will exempt the
inconvenient of transferring in Manhattan for the passengers who want to come from the Bronx
to the Queens or the other way around and thence relieve the congestion situation in Manhattan.
Decrease the inconvenient of service termination at weekends
According the current operation of subway system of New York City, there is only one line
connecting the Flushing and the Manhattan. And the only line which is line 7 Flushing Local
only partly operates during the weekend which is very inconvenient for the local passengers.
During the weekends, the line 7 Flushing Local only operates between Flushing Main Street and
Queensboro Plaza (showed as the black points in the Figure 10), while there are no train services
between the Queensboro Plaza and Time Square 42 Street (showed as the white points in the
Figure 10).
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Figure 10 The Operation of Line 7 at weekends
The passengers who want to go to the upper-town Manhattan or the Bronx have to either transfer
to Line N,Q,R or to buses services which is very inconvenient. Besides, the Queensboro Plaza
station is always overwhelmed by all kinds of the transfer passengers which dramatically
decrease the comfort of the passengers. The following photo shows the crowded transfer
situation in Queensboro Plaza station.
Figure 11 Queensboro Plaza station.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
The new subway which connects the Bronx and the Queens (showed as figure 3 which connects
the Line 6 and Line 7) will significantly decrease the influence of temporary service termination
during the weekend. The passengers from Flushing or even more general from the Queens will
be able to go to the Bronx directly. And even for the passengers who want to go to the
Manhattan, they also will gain another choice by taking the new subway line to Bronx first and
then transferring to line 6 to get Manhattan. Therefore, the new subway line will greatly share the
pressure of line 7 and provide much more convenience for the passengers.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Cross-Platform Interchange Technology
There are two common layout arrangements for a cross-platform interchange station. As
discussed in the introduction, a system can have the configuration of an island platform, where a
single platform exists in between the two directions of travel. In addition, as shown in the
diagram above, a side platform where two opposing tracks exist between two platforms also
construct a cross-platform interchange station. A common two-direction cross-platform
interchange configuration consists of two selected directions of two different lines sharing an
island platform, and the respective return directions of both lines sharing a different island
platform in the same station complex. The benefit of this design is that passengers do not need to
use stairs to another platform level for transfer, thus increasing the efficiency of transit.
Poly-Cross-Platform Interchange Station in Hong KongWith two or more continuous cross-platform interchange stations serving two different lines, a
more complicated but commuter-convenient interchange system has been introduced to Hong
Kong MTR. As shown in the diagram above, the connection between Tseung Kwan O Line
(purple) and Kwun Tong Line (green) within the stations of Yau Tong and Tiu Keng Leng has
adopted the poly-cross-platform technology.
Each of the two stations has an island platform between two tracks and an additional island
platform with the two returning tracks. At Yau Tong station for instance, passengers can easily
make the switch from #4 to #1 right across, in order to get on a different subway line. This
structure goes on to the next station, Tiu Keng Long, and therefore this is more complicated
compared to a single interchange station.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Currently, many subway stations in New York City have the cross-platform configuration
already. However, we can focus on building continuous cross-platform interchange stations
where the traffic is extremely heavy, or there is a frequent need to change between subway lines.
The stairless infrastructure will greatly reduce the current transit time, 24 minutes per passenger
on average. Most of the transit time is spent walking between platforms in order to transfer to
another line. Having two stations in a row where passengers can transfer to another line will
divide the traffic into two adjacent stations, and make the connecting experience at each faster.
In addition, single cross-platform stations should be used as much as possible while constructing
our new subway line connecting the Bronx and Queens boroughs.
Using Timetables to Improve Coordination
Cross-platform infrastructure only offers the benefits of easy changing of trains independently
from the waiting time for the second train. This is the basic infrastructure approach of cross-
platform stations, without taking timetables into account. Though waiting time is small at
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New York City Subway System Redesign
subway stations where there are many passengers, an uncoordinated approach could waste the
advantages of stairless cross-platform interchanges in railway networks with less dense train
traffic. This tradeoff is very relevant to the new subway line we are constructing. The line
connects Queens and Bronx boroughs, and therefore we expect less traffic than lines in areas
with more traffic, such as Manhattan.
The solution to this potential threat that might diminish efficiency is to utilize timetables. To
clarify, a public transport timetable is a document setting out information on service times in
order to assist passengers with planning a trip. Arrival and departure times at specified locations
will be listed in the timetable. Coordination of timetables can shorten scheduled changing time at
least from one to the other train, or still better, bi-directionally between both trains at the same
time. This concept is widely used in Dutch, German, and Swiss railway networks. The most
advanced, however, are coordinated cross-platform interchanges where interconnected trains
wait for each other to secure scheduled interchanges, even if there are modest delays. In practice,
most railways coordinating cross-platform interchanges define a certain waiting time window for
each guaranteed interchange. Some railway operators will briefly delay train departure signals to
allow imminently arriving passengers time to interchange. For instance, the Vienna metro signals
train drivers to wait briefly, by operating a special white light signal triggered by the approach of
an interchange train on another track.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Safety Issues
Public transportation systems can easily become the target of terrorists. Subway, airports, train
stations, etc., all these places have been attacked according to historical records. Further, the
terrorism targeted at transportation can seriously affect people’s daily life and the whole society
since public transportation systems always have dense streams of people. Subway, as one of the
most important public transportation systems, carries tens of thousands of people daily among all
the major cities. Therefore, it is always the target of a terrorist attack. Here are some records of
subway terrorist attacks that have terrible affect.
Previous Safety Incidents
The Tokyo subway Sarin Attack
The Tokyo subway Sarin Attack was perpetrated by members of the religious movement Aum
Shinrikyo and happened on March 20, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan. During the five coordinated
attacks, the terrorists released sarin on several lines of the Tokyo subway, and the attacks killed
13 people, seriously injured 50 people and caused temporary vision problems for nearly 1,000
people. This was the most deadly attack happened in Japan after World War II.
7 July 2005 London Bombings
On July 7th 2005, four British Islamist men detonated three bombs in quick succession aboard
London Underground trains in the morning. And later, a fourth explosed on a double-decker bus
around Tavistock Square. In this attack, records showing 52 civilians were killed and more than
700 were injured. It is the worst terrorist incident in United Kingdom's since the 1988 Lockerbie
bombing. Also, it is the first ever suicide attack in UK.
2010 Moscow Metro Bombings
The Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two Islamic women during
the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010. The bombings happened at two stations of the
Moscow Metro (Lubyanka and Park Kultury), and there was roughly 40 minutes interval
between. At least 40 people were killed, and over 100 injured. A lot of people complained that
the government did not stop the subway system directly resulted in the second explosion.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
From the historic events, we can see that subway system can be easily attacked, and usually
caused a large amount of deaths. New York City, as one of the biggest cities in the world, has a
huge and modern system. Right now, it has 421 stations in operation, contains 232 miles of
routes, and carries over 1.7 billion people per year. If this system is attacked by terrorists, the
consequence can be tremendous. Especially after 911, Americans know that terrorism is not far
away from them. As a result, preventing the subway system from being attacked is an important
thing that the government needs to ensure. Here are some suggestions.
Complete contingency plans
Contingency plans are very important. Have a complete contingency plans or not can directly
decide the number of death and the severity of the accident. The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings
can be a bad example. The first explosion happened at 7.56 a.m., which killed over 20 people.
However, the government did not stop the subway immediately. What’s worse, the major TV
channels did not report the disaster, causing a lot of citizens kept using the subway system
without any warning. After 42 minutes, the second explosion happened, killing over 10 people. If
the city had a complete contingency plans and stopped the subway right after the first explosion,
the second explosion would not occurred, which could save a lot of people’s lives. Therefore,
having several complete contingency to deal with different conditions are necessary.
Explosion proof compartment
The explosion proof compartment is designed and developed by the SecureMetro programme,
which is funded by the European Union. Using special materials and designs, the compartment
can significantly reduce the power of the impact wave caused by the explosion. In addition,
when the compartment is damaged by explosion, it will create less wreckage. If this well
designed compartment can be usually in the New York City subway system, it will save a lot of
lives once a terrorist attack occur, as well as reducing the possibility of subway attack. The
photos below give us a basic idea of how the compartment looks like.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
Conclusion
The current situation of New York subway system requires a lot of improvement in this region.
The project team basically focused on three most essential topics: construction of a new subway
line, cross-platform technology and safety improvements. Have evaluated most of the details of
the potential solutions, the project team think it is very practical to launch these solutions to New
York City. The new subway line will release considerable amount of passengers during
commuting peak hours and weekends. It will also provide more choices for passengers in Queens
and Bronx for their daily traveling. Furthermore, the annual revenue will sufficiently compensate
the construction cost in two years without surpassing the budget plan for New York City
government. Cross-platform interchange technology will be a strong addition for the new project.
By changing the platform style from traditional parallel to poly-cross-platform, it will cost very
little time for passengers to make transfer in interchange stations. In addition, the subway
schedule will be adjusted again to relieve the time gap between two different subway lines as
much as possible. This will also decrease the congestion in interchange stations. The safety
improvement will ensure passengers to have a safe and comfortable trip. By adding new
explosion proof technology, update the safety check and produce more safety announcements,
the government will surely produce a better place for passengers.
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New York City Subway System Redesign
References
1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transportation details report
http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ride.rship/#intro_s
2. Origin and Destination Estimation in New York City with Automated Fare System Data
http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=m16827875p078248&size=largest
3. The MTA Network—Public Transportation for the New York Region, MTA.info, 2012
http://web.mta.info/mta/network.htm
4. Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, MTA.info, 2013http://web.mta.info/bandt/html/bronxw.html
5. Independent Auditor’s Review Report by Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA.info, 2013
http://web.mta.info/mta/budget/pdf/2014Q2_financial.pdf
6. Manhattan Bridge Historic Overview, New York City history review, 2008http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/manhattan/
7. Annual Passenger Ridership Report, MTA.info, 2007http://web.mta.info/business/
8. Building for future, MTA.info, 2013http://web.mta.info/capital/esa_alt.html
9. The New York Times, Some Subways Found Packed Past Capacity, 2007http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/26/nyregion/26mta.html?em&ex=1183003200&en= b2aad75c595fb4a6& ei=5087%0A
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