No Rest for the Rerouted on the Subway
NEW YORK, NY – The clock reads 7:01 AM on a Saturday morning as Louis Santiago waits on the 95th Street R line platform in Bay Ridge, patiently anticipating the train that will take him from South Brooklyn to his job in the West Village. But like many New Yorkers, he commutes to work on weekends too, a time when the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) schedules most of its subway repairs and track maintenance.
Skipped stations, rerouted trains, and long wait times have become routine for some New Yorkers trying to make it to their jobs. “It’s unreliable. Every weekend it’s like, am I going to be late? Do I have to leave at this time? What if the train’s super delayed?” said Santiago.
While ridership is generally lower on Saturdays and Sundays, MTA weekend rides have almost doubled since the pandemic. As more of New York’s in-person workforce has returned since 2020, the need for consistent subway service has become a growing concern. The MTA declined to provide a statement for this story.
During his nearly two-hour round-trip commute as an operations manager, Santiago says the MTA doesn’t consider the needs of weekend workers. “They don’t see what we’re seeing. It’s just giant, huge gaps in train service,” said Santiago.
Photo by Isabella Morales
But alternatives and solutions are being discussed, “it’s better to actually take a whole segment of the transit service, out of service, for a period of a week or even a month or two to get the work done in an efficient way all at once and be done with the pain,” said Michael Replogle, former Deputy Commissioner for Policy for the New York City Department of Transportation.
Replogle adds that short term repairs on the weekends and at night cause more frequent disruption and costs more.
For commuters affected by subway delays and reroutes, the MTA offers an online verification form to provide proof of late arrivals or missed shifts at work.
While the MTA does post construction notices, planned work, delays or skipped stations online and in stations, Santiago says, “I just want to see increased service that’s consistent.”
In a city that never sleeps, creating a transit system that works for everyone, even on weekends, remains a challenge.
Isabella Morales is a City Newsroom reporter covering transportation. Born and raised in Miami, she speaks Spanish as well.
