New York City Transit (NYCT)
Manhattan Bridge Service Development

RAILSIM played a key role in NYCT Operations Planners' efforts to revamp their subway operating plan to make use of the newly-reconstructed Manhattan Bridge, which returned to full service in February 2004. RAILSIM guided NYCT in identifying the best operating strategy for four-track bridge operation, improving trip times for some 600,000 daily riders.

Reconstruction of Manhattan Bridge had taken almost twenty years and its return to service involved resurrecting its former 4-track operations (cut to 2-track operations for the duration of the reconstruction effort).

The operating plan overhaul was a two-year process that began with the development of a RAILSIM simulation model of the Manhattan Bridge subway service.  This included a geographically-correct representation of the network infrastructure, its train control system, rolling stock equipment definitions, and train compositions.

NYCT worked through the seemingly impossible task of weeding out viable options from the myriad potential service alternatives that had emerged from trend analyses and community perceptions of:

• past, current and projected passenger volumes over a transit system that experienced a growth of over 33% since 1986 (largely in weekend traffic),

• actual passenger travel patterns (origin-destination data obtained through exhaustive rider surveys),

• desired passenger travel patterns (including an increased demand for stops at SoHo and throughout Midtown),

• population change (growth) projections.

RAILSIM was then used to simulate the shortlist of alternatives, with results presented to upper management.  This led to the recommendation of the current Manhattan Bridge service, which features B and D service on the north side of the bridge, and N and Q service on the south side of the bridge.