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Riders give No. 7 subway line a C− rating

By Philip Newman

Riders of the No. 7 subway line have given their trains the same overall rating as they did last year — a C−minus — although there was a monumental slump in the numbers who voted.

This year 4,113 No. 7 riders graded the service they received, 3,913 of them by mail and another 200 via the Internet.

That was a weak response when compared to 2007, when 15,800 No. 7 riders voted.

Riders of the line, which carries passengers between downtown Flushing and Times Square, gave the categories “cleanliness of stations,” “cleanliness of subway cars” and “lack of scratchitti in subway cars” a grade of C, which was up from C−minus last year.

“Station announcements that are easy to hear” and “station announcements that are informative” got C−minus grades, up from D−plus grades in 2007.

The New York City Transit Authority said riders gave “minimal delays during trips” a D−plus, which was down from a C−minus last year.

“Adequate room on board at rush hour” was graded D, the same as in 2007.

“Reasonable waiting times for trains” dropped to a C−minus from C last year.

“While the overall grade did not improve, riders clearly appreciated the extra effort the No. 7 line team put into cleaning,” said Howard Roberts, the Transit Authority president.

“There is a lot of work still to be done, but I know that incoming General Manager John Hoban and his team will use their resources widely as they look to improve in areas where they are currently deficient,” Roberts said.

Andrew Albert, a non−voting member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Transit Committee, suggested to Roberts that the survey his agency uses to get riders to vote on quality of service was unscientific and that annoyed riders tend to vote more than other customers.

Roberts said he realized it was not scientifically accurate, but his agency nevertheless gets a reading from patrons that is useful in measuring the job the TA is doing.