Study: NYC VT Maintained by Outside Contractors Less Reliable

A study conducted by the office of New York City Councilman Keith Powers covering January found that Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) vertical-transportation (VT) equipment maintained by outside contractors is less reliable than that maintained by the authority itself, New York Daily News reported in February. “At any given time, more than 30 elevators and escalators are out of order,” a spokesman for Powers said. The NYC subway system has 284 escalators and 353 elevators, and MTA recently announced a plan to install an additional 29 elevators throughout the system. Third parties — such as private companies and other transit agencies — manage 50 of the escalators and 56 of the elevators. The study found that broken VT maintained by the MTA is repaired and running within a day and a half, while that maintained by third parties — most often the result of a partnership between MTA and a private developer — takes an average of four-plus days to repair. “Although public-private partnerships are often touted as a route to accessibility, our review demonstrated that equipment maintained by third parties is a mixed bag,” the study observed.