PHOTO: Citing positive results, the MTA recently announced that it will be extending the trash can-free subway station pilot program for another six to 12 months. Photo Courtesy of Demetrius McCalman
Spurred by the success of the initial plan, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week announced that it will continue its trash can-free subway station pilot program for another six to 12 months to conduct further analysis.
The three phases of the pilot were evaluated and the results support its originally stated goal: to improve the customer experience in stations by minimizing the number of trash bags to be stored and collected, decreasing exposed trash bags and controlling the rodent population.
Results of the ongoing initiative—removing trash cans from 39 subway stations—show a significant decrease in the amount of trash bags collected from these stops. Statistics reveal a 66 percent reduction in the number of bags collected at Phase 1 and Phase 2 stations, and a 36 percent reduction in the number of bags collected at Phase 3 stations.
The pilot stations have seen a reduction in trash volumes, rodent activity, as well as several other benefits, according to MTA New York City Transit. While the number of track fires at the pilot stations has remained neutral, the rate of track fires at the pilot stations is currently lower than the rate at stations with trash cans.
Litter, measured by the percentage of stations with no or light litter in the morning and daytime, increased initially, but improved later during the pilot and is currently on par with stations that have trash cans.
“This pilot appears counterintuitive but when we placed notices at the pilot stations indicating that the cans had been removed and asked the customers for their cooperation, it looks like they listened,” said New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco, who will retire on Aug. 21. “Given these results, we’ll continue the pilot and monitor and collect additional data at stations.”
The initial phase of the pilot began in two stations in October 2011. Phase 2 added eight stations in September 2012, and Phase 3 added 29 along the JMZ lines in July 2014. Baseline conditions were established at each station, and station cleanliness and trash collection was monitored regularly.
The decision to remove the trash cans was made in an effort to encourage customers to take with them any disposables that they carry into the system. Trash collection and removal remains a tremendous undertaking, according to the MTA. Each day, about 40 tons of trash is removed from the system, collected from more than 3,500 trash receptacles, and approximately 50 percent gets recycled.
By Michael V. Cusenza
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
