New York’s subway delays and disruptions are becoming more regular — here's why

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

New York's subway system has been under closer scrutiny as disruptions pile up during what many are calling the "summer of hell."

It's hard to go a day without seeing a new complaint about the ailing system on social media. But the frequency of complaints are not just the product of easy access to Twitter: Delays have skyrocketed to 70,000 per month from 28,000 per month in 2012, according to the New York Times.

There are quite a few factors causing the decline in service — scroll down for a closer look:

Decades of disinvestment

New York was first and foremost a city built around public transit, but there's a well-documented history of how the automobile and Robert Moses' rise to power channeled resources away from the subway toward bridges and highways to better support cars.

By the time Moses passed away in 1981, the subway was in dire condition, as reported by Curbed.

Since then, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has done what it can to keep it operational, but little to bring a century-old system up to modern standards. The MTA even admits that "decades of underinvestment" are to blame for New York's subway woes.

All of this is to say that the state has neglected to channel funding toward longstanding issues. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislators before him have cut millions in funding in the past, choosing to put money toward other projects.

Century-old technology

Staff members have to pull handles to operate track switches and signals so operators know it's safe to pass through, Business Insider's Graham Rapier reported. It doesn't give a precise location or speed, so it's hard to tell where the subways are. 

The L uses a system known as communications-based train control, which is safer and more reliable. But installing it on every subway line could take 50 years and cost $20 billion, the New York Times reported.

Overcrowding

One might think that using hand signals to control a subway system would be the main force behind delays, but the sheer number of people are actually the biggest problem. Over one-third of delays are caused by overcrowding, Gothamist reported.

Crowding prevents trains from leaving the station on time, a problem that gets progressively worse as the day goes on. New York needs more train cars to handle the swell of people clamoring to ride the system.