After months of badgering by activists groups and politicians alike, the MTA has announced it will consider making service improvements to the oft-maligned G train–adding more trains, better communication about outages and service changes, and free above-ground transfers to other lines at certain stops. The authority also officially voted to make the line’s extension to Church Avenue in Kensington permanent, a decision that had been in the works since July.
“We’ll look at it very carefully,” said MTA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker. “We’ll review it step-by-step. We’ve not decided if we’ll do the full line review, but we’ll look at the suggestions.”
The MTA did not give any timeline for when they’d make a decision, but if passed the changes could include free transfers to the J and M at Hewes and Lorimer and to the many trains at Atlantic-Pacific. Straphangers Alliance, one of the loudest voices of discontent among G train straphangers, took the news as a victory. “We’re succeeding at showing how important the G train is in so many people’s lives, and how valuable it could be to bring together riders and elected officials and the MTA to improve it,” said John Raskin, executive director of the advocacy group.
(Photo: Bitch Cakes/Flickr)
