Well, that’s a surprise.
For the first time since 1997, a study done by rider advocacy group the Straphangers’ Campaign found that a majority of subway car announcements of delays and disruptions were actually clear and accurate.
“We found that Transit officials are doing a better job keeping riders informed,” said Jason Chin-Fatt, with the Straphangers’ Campaign.
The survey was done both last year and this year and consisted of about 70 volunteers listening to subway announcements through April 29 of this year.
In 2011, 51 percent of the delays and disruptions heard on all lines were found to be clear and accurate. In the 2012 survey, that increased to 59 percent.
The Straphangers hailed that as an improvement, since good delay announcements were made only 40 percent of the time in 2010, the group said.
The 6 and 4 trains were deemed best for announcements, while the 3 and the C train were deemed to have the worst, the group found. Riders on the R train are also plagued with unintelligible announcements, they said.
In another finding, some 85 percent of basic informational announcements made on subway cars were clear and accurate, the group found, about on par with its findings in 2010.
Best and worst
Best lines for basic service announcements, 2011: 6 train 2012: 4 train
Worst lines for basic announcements, 2011: 3 and C trains 2012: R train
