Subway Operations and Operations Planning
Collaborations for Subway Service Improvements at NYC Transit
Peter G. CafieroChief
Division of Operations Planning
John G. GaulVice President & Chief Officer, Service Delivery
Department of Subways
New York City Transit
New York City Transit
Internal & external factors present a
challenging operating environment
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Operating conditions Key challenges
Hurricane
Sandy
Harsh winters
(10/11 & 13/14)
Aging
infrastructure
Operating at capacity more
frequently
Increasing delays
Decreasing wait assessment
(regularity)
Increasing track access
required for planned &
unplanned work
Increased
ridership
Size &
complexity
24/7 operations
New York City Transit
Historically, Operations Planning &
Operations tended to operate in silos
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Planning (long term)• Setting service frequency
• Scheduling crews/trains
Planning (short term)• Approve track access
requests and create
supplemental schedules
Analysis• Statistics & modeling
• Report generation
Operations Planning
Execution• Daily operations
• Maintenance &
construction (w/ CPM, etc.)
Record keeping• Databases
• Hard copy records
Operations
Schedules & guidance
Performance & incident data
Requests for track access
Feedback on schedule
New York City Transit
Challenges have prompted investment in
bridging Operations Planning and Operations
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Operations Planning OperationsCollaborative efforts
Schedule optimization• Revised running times
Special operating plans • Special events
• Inclement weather
System rebuilding• FASTRACK program
Service regulation• Back to basics
• Centralization
Operations analysis• Daily performance feedback
• Real-time mgmt. tools
Planning (long term)• Setting service frequency
• Scheduling crews/trains
Planning (short term)• Approve track access
requests and create
supplemental schedules
Analysis• Statistics & modeling
• Report generation
Execution• Daily operations
• Maintenance &
construction (w/ CPM, etc.)
Record keeping• Databases
• Hard copy records
New York City Transit
Collaboration fostered by increased
interaction, changing expectations
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Increased interactions
• Collaborative projects and incident
critiques
• Joint service delivery meetings
• Planning analysts temporarily
embedded in Rail Control Center
Changing culture & expectations
• Jointly accountability for results
• A culture of continuing improvement,
not “That is how it has always been
done” philosophy
• Vertical and horizontal communication
within and across departments
New York City TransitRunning time adjustments
• First major analysis and changes to schedules since 1996
• Numbered line schedule changes completed based on full data from
automated data systems
– Changes in running time vary by time of day due to differing ridership, congestion
and maintenance activity
– Changes evened out service which had become uneven due to prior changes to
individual lines (flat junctions caused unintended impacts on other lines)
– Initial results are positive, showing improved throughput, on time performance,
and wait assessment
• Lettered line changes in progress, based on data entered by dispatchers, as
well as data from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and a modest
number of traditional manual observations
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The number/letter line breakdown is a general rule, with a few exceptions (e.g., L trains have centralized data).
New York City TransitBarclays Center special event plans
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• Prior to the center opening, Operations Planning and Operations
jointly developed plans for additional service after large events, and
revised plans based on experience
New York City Transit
Hurricane planning has evolved and
improved
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• Operations Planning and
Operations jointly develops
plans for:
– Evacuation
– Closure & protection of system
– Restoration and reopening
• Operations Planning input used
to prioritize during the storm
– Operations Planning reports
and data available to
Operations staff
– Operations Planning
representative providing live
support at the Incident
Command Center
NYC
Hurricane Sandy Service Timeline
-6
-8
-20
-18
-18
-42
-30
-42
+6
0
Hurricane Landfall
NYCT Coastal Storm Service Plan begins
NYCT Subway Service begins to curtail
All NYCT service suspended
Operating personnel in safe locations
NYCT Bus Service begins to curtail
Mayoral evacuation order issued
Evacuation Centers prepare for opening
Timepoints not to scale
Evacuation!
New York City TransitWinter Operations Plans
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• Objective: Lay out storm
preparation, fighting, and
service normalization
strategy, including plan for
underground fleet storage
• Operations Planning and
Operations work together to
schedule pre-positioning,
operations around stored
trains, and resumption of
normal service
New York City TransitFASTRACK
• Objective: Maximize
effectiveness for maintenance
activities by removing service
from all tracks
Improved safety
Lower cost
Simpler closure definitions
(e.g., 10PM – 5AM each day,
all tracks)
Minimized substitute bus
service
Maximized use of alternative
subway options
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Example map from FASTRACK poster
New York City TransitBack to basics
Precise dispatching
Continuous headway regulation
Effective delay management
Dwell time control
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New York City TransitEvolving service control organization
Numbered lines: 2006 ATS provided fully centralized monitoring and
control
Lettered lines: Centralized monitoring being phased in
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The number/letter line breakdown is a general rule, with a few exceptions. L trains have centralized control and 7 trains do not, though centralized 7 train control is planned.
Decentralized Centralized
New York City TransitEvolving service control organization
Operations Planning/Operations collaborative efforts on:
Organizational change management
Streamlining processes and procedures
Optimizing use of electronic performance data
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New York City TransitDaily performance feedback reports
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Illustrative mock ups only – not necessarily representative of actual performance. 1. Facilitating Subway Service Improvements with Near-Real Time Data Visualization and Reporting
Terminal OTP reports shared with Operations daily & interactive dashboard being built to trace
individual trains
More details in next presentation1
New York City Transit
Real-time service management tools:
Stringline chart
• OP developed stringline
chart to visualize service and
intervals to help operations
better regulate spacing
between trains
• Senior management and
planners found stringlines
useful for analysis
• Embedded analysts
discovered dispatchers
found the display too
complex for rapid decision-
making, preferred a simple
table
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Trains held to close gaps
New York City Transit
Real-time service management tools:
Largest gaps table
• Automatically identify and prioritize largest gaps in the system (A-
division) for service managers to target
• Currently under pilot testing at the Rail Control Center
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Gaps can be filtered by dispatcher territory as well as line/direction
New York City Transit
Stringlines and gap tables are new and
improved versions of much older ideas
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New York City TransitConclusions
Subway service is facing new challenges and NYCT is trying several
new initiatives to combat declining performance
Operations Planning & Operations are working collaboratively to
maximize resources and eliminate barriers
Collaborative projects
Regular OP/Service Delivery meetings & calls
Extensive coordination and collaboration between groups within
NYCT undertaken in a short time frame
Significant steps taken to take advantage of the data by using it to
improve performance
Schedule improvements
Real-time performance tools
Performance assessments
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