New York MTA Needs More Subway Drivers as Riders Wait on Fewer Trains
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A conductor checks for commuters entering a train before departing a subway station in New York.
Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
New York City’s subway system is suffering from a tight labor market, as a shortage of train operators and conductors make the transit network vulnerable to delays.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the city’s subways, buses and commuter rails, now projects it will reach pre-pandemic staffing levels in the fourth quarter of 2022 for train conductors -- who make announcements and operate subway doors --and in early 2023 for operators who drive the trains, Demetrius Crichlow, MTA’s senior vice president for subways, said Monday during a monthly committee meeting.