Every week, amNewYork Metro presents “Ask the MTA”, where you can seek out answers to your common questions about public transportation in New York City. Send us your questions for the MTA, and we’ll make sure you get an answer! Email us at askthemta[@]amny.com.
Q.) How will transfers to, from and between buses work with OMNY?
A.) The same free transfer rules that apply to MetroCard also apply to OMNY. However, your free transfer will not be visible on the OMNY reader screen; it will be determined at the end of each day, before your payment method is charged. It’s important to note that you must use the same payment method throughout each individual trip to qualify for free transfers. Therefore, you must use the same contactless payment card or mobile wallet on both ends of your trip to get your free transfer.
Al Putre, Executive Director, OMNY Fare Payment Program
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Q.) This past month on weekends, there have been no subway service available from Main Street Flushing and 111 Street on the No. 7 train. Shuttle buses replaced those stops. Because this is a heavily populated train stop and there are many bus transfers at Main Street, it is even more crowded than usual. What’s being done to better accommodate residents there?
A.) This time of year can be tough for 7 train riders when it comes to construction, and we appreciate your patience. We’re working quickly to finish some much-needed track work in the area, specifically at Mets-Willets Point, before the baseball season starts in late March.
The shuttles are a temporary alternative. Our goal is to resume normal operations as soon as possible. In the meantime, we typically have wayfinders at the Main Street station to help passengers navigate the changes.
We try very hard not to disrupt service during the Mets’ season, which is why we do so much work during the off-season. But even beyond baseball, we like to keep service available so riders can visit Flushing for events like the US Open, Lunar New Year and the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, and support the community’s restaurants and businesses.
Lucille Songhai, Assistant Director of Government Affairs, Strategy & Customer Experience
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Q.) Can something be done about the lighting on the trains running on the 6 line? The lighting is so dim on almost all of the cars that it makes it very hard to read or even feel safe. Very rarely the first few cars are well lit, but then the rest of the cars are very dark.
A.) We always want customers to feel safe while riding with us. If they encounter a dimly lit train, riders should report the car number to the MTA so it can be inspected, either by tweeting us (@NYCTSubway and @MTA) or filing a complaint on our website (mta.info).
We know that lighting on 6 trains has been an issue in the past. That’s why we installed LED lights in over 90 percent of our 824-car 6 train fleet as part of the Subway Action Plan.
As for the intensity of the lighting, we can’t increase that. But we’ve instructed our maintenance staff to check that all lights are working properly when the cars are inspected every 72 days.
The cars on the 6 are made up of the R62A class, which first went into service in 1985. We’re planning to replace them during the course of the 2020-2024 Capital Plan. In fact, just last week we started moving forward with the purchase of 1,000 new open gangway subway cars, like those seen in London and Paris.
John Santamaria, Vice-President & Chief Mechanical Officer – Car Equipment, NYC Transit
