by Joel Meyer
NARRATION: The last time an N train ran across the Manhattan Bridge, Ed Koch was the mayor of New York. No one thought structural repairs to the bridge would last 18 years, more than twice as long as it took to build the East River landmark. Then again, no one in 1986 thought a financial information tycoon might end up with Koch's job one day. Norman Silverman is New York City Transit's senior director for route and system planning.
TAPE SILVERMAN (:09): We're basically expanding service for most every customer in southwest Brooklyn. And those who live in central and southern Manhattan as well.
NARRATION: That's the good news. But the changes are complex, and that's bad news for a transit map that is already hard to understand. The D will replace the W in Brooklyn. The B will replace the Q diamond. And the N, R, M, and W lines will be altered significantly. Some Brooklynites may experience deja vu as express service on the N train returns after a 20-year absence. Silverman says the six hundred thousand commuters will feel a mostly positive impact.
TAPE SILVERMAN (:08): In some cases some of the people are affected only to the degree that that the letter of the service they're changing changes, but the service that they see is essentially unchanged.
NARRATION: Silverman says a small number among the affected group will experience less frequent service or confusion caused by name changes. For example, riders accustomed to traveling express along the Broadway corridor on the Q might get off the new B on Sixth Avenue. In the coming weeks, the transit authority will distribute three million brochures in English, Spanish, Russian and Chinese. Fifty-six thousand posters and more than two million maps will appear in stations and subway cars. Silverman declined to assign a dollar amount to the campaign, but another transit official says $200,000 will be spent on newspaper ads alone. Neysa Pranger of the Straphangers Campaign says the changes are overwhelmingly good, but there are a few drawbacks.
TAPE PRANGER (:14): The losers in this subway changeover include riders living along Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn that take the N and the R line. If for example they need to get into lower Manhattan they will only have the option of taking the R line.
NARRATION: Pranger says most commuters will simply have to endure a break-in period.
TAPE PRANGER (:21): Anytime there's subway service changes, it's very hard to wrap your brain around. It's just confusing, and unless you're a real subway buff that really understands the lines and how they run and all that, for the average person it's pretty hard to exactly understand it . The real understanding, the learning part, will come when people actually ride the trains and get used to the routes.
NARRATION: Proactive riders can obtain a six-page brochure and map from a booth attendant or read about the changes on the web site M-T-A-dot-info. For Columbia Radio News, I'm Joel Meyer.