WebDigger, thanks for posting. I read the whole article. I've only been to NY twice; both times, I rode the subway. I think I was there at times (early 1980's?) when things were looking up. NYC is going to have to cut service for extended periods in order to do what it takes to improve reliability, and yes, that will be hard for lots of folks.

BART will be fixing the transbay tube -- until money really grows on trees, that can only be done by cutting service hours some -- not as much as closing whole lines for more than a year, like NYC needs; but some such problems are inevitable.