The Villager: Squadron is ‘weekend warrior’ for better F and L train service
By Aidan Gardiner
To weary straphangers waiting on subway platforms for their ride home on the L or F train at 1 a.m., do not fear: There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, because your champion is back in the fight.
State Senator Daniel Squadron has renewed his call for service improvements on the L and F trains. According to Squadron, train service between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan has not kept pace with community demands.
Brooklyn’s population along the F and L lines and the Lower East Side’s nightlife have both grown, requiring better transit service between the two areas — yet F and L train service has largely foundered, according to the second-term state senator.
Squadron, who serves on the state Senate’s Transportation Committee, sent a letter on July 1 to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority requesting that it review its service on both lines.
"At some stations on the L and F lines weekend ridership is as high — or higher than — weekday ridership. Yet the trains’ schedules do not account for the higher weekend usage,” Squadron wrote. “I would also like to request that the M.T.A. review weekend ridership on the L in Williamsburg and the F in the Lower East Side, with the goal of creating a schedule that is more reflective of ridership patterns.”
In addition, Squadron said, service on the L train is erratic and prone to problems.
“My constituents have raised concerns about crowded trains, delays and an overall lack of consistency of service that has made riding the L train both frustrating and difficult,” Squadron wrote.
Two years ago, Squadron requested a similar review of ridership on just the F train, which resulted in several improvements, including an increased number of weekday trains.
Squadron has characterized that prior process as fruitful and amicable and hopes that this new request for review will be met with equal conviction by the M.T.A.
Representatives from the authority have said that they will draft a reply to Squadron’s request. But, according to the state senator’s office, no such reply has arrived yet.
