As far as the subways go... they don't care about snow! Much of the system is underground, and most of the aboveground portions actively prefer to keep the trains running– not just because of the insane headache that is shutting down and starting up again– because that's the best way to clear snow off the tracks! They would have shut down those tracks that are in depressed open cuts, but that's a very small portion of the system.
In point of fact, as far as the snow-clearing goes, SEPTA in Philly kept running trains overnight when they don't usually otherwise, for that exact reason.
The MTA knows this, because they are professionals that understand operations, so when the surprise dictum from Cuomo came down, remember that they kept the ghost trains running and keeping most of the system running would have been the right thing even had 2-3 feet of snow fallen. I mean, the subways didn't shut down for the Blizzard of '96, as pointed out above.
But of course, Cuomo is above the degrading gruntwork of listening to people who know what they're talking about.
But what I'm saying is, if they keep the trains running overnight, aren't there employees who have to be at their work stations and oversee that whole process? E.g. to handle any problems that arise?
I guess this isn't going to get a response. But so the post isn't left hanging out there, my point is that it is a possible safety issue if employees have to show up to work to oversee the subway.
I'm assuming the trains cannot be kept running without any employees at all at the various stations to make sure everything is running properly. If that's wrong, then OK. But I'm going on that assumption, and it seems like a reasonable one to me.
Now given that people have to show up to work for this purpose, there are various logistical complications that arise. For one, it is a safety issue for the people who have the get to work in the predicted 20 inches of snow. Some of them might have issues or get stuck. This creates complications for snow removal because their vehicle may be in the way (even if that's out in the suburbs). That could also create obstacles for emergency vehicles. Moreover, if they get stuck and need to be rescued, that's more resources that have to be diverted. Not to mention that this requires a huge effort and is a major pain for the employees even if they can managed to show up with no complications.
If you shut down the subway entirely none of that is an issue. So there are certainly benefits to shutting the system down entirely. The cons are that: 1. It will be harder to clear the snow from the tracks and 2. It is a headache to start the system up again. Do the pros outweigh the cons? Cuomo apparently decided the answer is yes. So the MTA had a different opinion, but the MTA doesn't have the same set of responsibilities as the governor.
You're assuming he made a knee jerk political decision, but there may have been a lot of substantive thought that went into the decision concerning the public safety and what is best for the region as the whole. The MTA may know the best way to clear the snow from the tracks, but that's not the only consideration. In the end the system got back up and running and while it may have been a pain for them, it apparently was not a disaster or we would have heard something by now.
Philly was not projected to get as much snow so I can entirely understand that a different conclusion was reached about whether the trains should be kept running.
