EPA press release on WTC cleaning hotline launch, June 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Rail Station and Service Improvements Subway

Lower Manhattan boasts the densest concentration of subway service in America, with 18 lines and 19 stations’ serving an approximate area of 1.25 square miles below Canal Street.^ These lines are heavily used. In fact. Lower Manhattan has by far the highest percentage of transit rid­ ership in the nation. For the almost 220,000 Lower Manhattan workers who live in the city, the subway is the overwhelmingly preferred transit option, with 57% of workers from Manhattan, 77% from Brooklyn, 70% from Qiieens, and 70% from the Bronx relying on the subway for their commute. With such extensive subway usage, improvements to Lower Manhattan's rail facilities and service should be a high priority.

Nearly all of Lower / Manhattan's transportation infrastructure was built in the early part of the 20th century. 15 a:?-- The last of the major subway projects in Lower Manhattan If was the completion of the IND subway tunnels in the early 193O's. The manner in which the transit network developed — over the course •A* of a century and as a set of SO competing private systems — has resulted in a number of An illustrative example of the confusing passageways at the Fulton Street - Broadway Nassau deficiencies; Subway Station.

• Poor Transit Connections: Transferring between subway lines is awkward and disorienting. The connections between subways and other modes, including the PATH train, ferries and buses, are inefficient. • Inadequate Station Conditions: Many of Lower Manhattan's subway stations have short and narrow platforms, crowded pinch-points that constrict passenger movement, and inade­ quate stairwells for distributing passengers along the length of platforms.

18 l.ower Miinliattan Transpoi tation Strategics

NYC-WTC_000143074