New York City: Are Subway Signals Being Inspected?

A whistle-blower who works for the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has told the New York Daily News that the MTA not only regularly falsifies reports of monthly subway signal inspections, but also that employees high up in the public transportation organization would often punish workers who refused to fake inspections while on the job.

There are over 10,000 signals in the greater New York City area – and they are to be checked each month by employees. Each signal takes approximately an hour to check, and requirements were stepped up significantly by the federal government after a fatal train crash in Washington, DC, was traced back to a faulty signal.

According to an investigation headed by Inspector General Barry Kluger, a number of employees were given an inordinate number of signals to inspect each day – and those who did not falsify reports were transferred to undesirable locations or jobs, such as removing track rails or working in the dirtiest or leakiest underground areas.

Similar scandals involving uninspected signals took place in 2000 and in 2006. The MTA says that it is dealing with a tough set of circumstances: the United States government gave them tougher safety standards at the same time that New York asked them to cut costs significantly. Some supervisors say that the only way they can possibly follow federal standards after cutting 3,500 jobs in recent years is to lie about the work that was done. Still, it is clear that not inspecting the signals puts both subway workers and passengers in danger of train accidents, subway injuries, and even MTA fatalities.