NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — For over a century in New York City, most subway trains have run with a two-person crew, an engineer and a conductor.<\/p>\n
Advocates say operating as a pair is a crucial safety measure.<\/p>\n
Critics are calling it expensive and outdated.<\/p>\n
The clock is now ticking for Governor Kathy Hochul to decide if it will be a one or two-person crew that moves millions beneath the streets of New York City.<\/p>\n
Subway conductors are the transit workers who ride in the middle of the train and ensure passengers get on and off safely and assist during emergencies.<\/p>\n
“The train operator’s job is to move the train. My job is to make sure the passengers get on properly so we are definitely needed we are needed,” conductor Lashawn Murray said.<\/p>\n
Murray considers herself a second set of eyes since the train operator, at the front, is focused on the track ahead.<\/p>\n
The New York state legislature has approved a law that would extend 2-person crews indefinitely.<\/p>\n
But an NYU think tank studied 400 train lines around the world and found only about 6% use two-person crews.<\/p>\n
The study said they don’t improve service and the law would “undermine the spirit of the billions of dollars committed to improved signalization and operations.”<\/p>\n
“I would say the governor to leave two people in the train. Makes sense, it’s safe and its good for the public,” President of TWU Local 100 John Chiarello said.<\/p>\n
Riders like the safety aspect.<\/p>\n
“Especially when it’s late, when it’s dark, when I’m alone. I like knowing that person is there,” one subway rider said.<\/p>\n
“There’s just so many people to be afraid of on the train and knowing that there’s someone there to like, make sure everything’s in check is really comforting,” rider Zoe Desai said.<\/p>\n
The MTA operates very few trains with one person crew. Murray who’s been a conductor for 19 years thinks her job is vital.<\/p>\n
“You need a person who goes into a person to talk to him, to have a problem for a situation, you need a person like a computer couldn’t do this and the train operator could only do one thing. So the conductor is definitely needed,” she said.<\/p>\n
The governor’s office says Hochul will review the legislation. Hochul is also running for re-election and may approve the bill because she’d want the support of the transit workers.<\/p>\n
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