The US & Chinese Subway Model

On October 27, 1904, the New York City subway had its inaugural run. While London built the first subway system in 1863 and the city of Boston established the first U.S. subway system not too far behind in 1897, the New York City subway quickly claimed its place as the largest American subway system.

The first line of the NYC system stretched 9.1 miles from City Hall in Manhattan and, 28 stations later, reaching Broadway in Harlem. On opening day, more than 100,000 people gathered for the 7 p.m. opening and paid the nickel fare to take their first trip on the subway. While the system originally was under the control of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) took over in 1968 and has controlled the now 26 lines and 472 stations that make up the subway.

Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the NYC subway system was one of the only rapid transit systems in the world to operate 24 hours a day. While the once daily 4.5 million passengers has dropped greatly in number, some days as low as just over 300,000 passengers, the NYC subway has served as an invaluable form of transit in the past. Given that these passenger numbers are now rising daily, it almost certainly will continue to do so in the future.

The Beijing Subway, opened in 1971, boasts the title of the oldest rapid transit system in China, followed by the Tianjin Metro (1984) and the Shanghai Metro (1993). Considering how recently the Beijing and Shanghai systems were established, one might reasonable assume that these systems may have fewer lines or stops than other subways around the world. Shockingly, their growth has not reflected their age.

Full-scale construction of the Shanghai Metro began in 1986, and in the 35 years since then, the metro has grown to be the largest system classified by route length, totaling an impressive 462 miles. Across its 18 lines, it travels to 381 stations, ranking it second for number of stations. Pre-COVID, the system also claimed the silver medal for its daily ridership, with an average of 10 million people taking the subway on an average workday. To support the need of rapid transit, the Shanghai Metro is expected to connect with the Guangfo Metro and is predicted to add 25 lines spanning over 620 miles of length by 2025.

The city of Beijing also possesses an impressive metro system. The Beijing Subway is made up of 24 lines, with 19 of these being rapid transit lines (electric lines), two serving as airport rail links, one maglev line (a line powered by a magnetic field), and two light rail lines (a combination of a tram and metro). It spans 452 miles, and with an average of 10.5 million riders daily, it is the world's busiest metro system.

Despite the age of the Beijing system, the diverse methods of transportation did not begin to sprout until rapid expansion of the subway began in 2002. Until then, the Beijing Subway was comprised of just two lines. Even with the rapid expansion of the subway, it still is unable to meet the needs of Beijing, which lead the city to call for an addition 620 miles of lines to be added by 2022 in order to offer a projected 18.5 million rides a day.

Comparing the NYC Subway to the Shanghai and Beijing Subway systems

While America and China both have heavily car-dependent cultures, the use of the subway as a public transport system is highly efficient. Compared to other US subway systems, the New York Citizen Budget Commission ruled the NYC subway system "among the most efficient in the nation". The New York subway has the "lowest cost per passenger trip", "the second-lowest cost per passenger mile", and the "second-lowest cost per hour of service". In China, the Beijing and Shanghai systems both master in travel efficiency, connecting to nearly every neighborhood and destination in their respective cities and facilitating speedy travel to citizens and tourists alike.

Despite their impressive size, how functional are these two systems, and do they meet the needs of the populations they serve? Some argue that the New York system doesn't meet these needs. While the rapid expansion of the Beijing and Shanghai systems has allowed the metro to reach many neighborhoods, with projected expansion that by 2025 the Shanghai subway will be within a 2000 m distance of every residential area and destination in the central area of Shanghai, the New York system fails to reach many of the residents of New York. It especially fails to reach underserved areas, including low-income neighborhoods. Those living in these areas often cannot afford a reliable, personal car, therefore they are the ones who mostly desperately need access to a system like the New York City subway in order to travel for work and resources. In the city, less than two-thirds of the population lives within walking distance of the subway. One of the areas most negatively impacted by their distance is Queens, in which less than 40% of residents can walk to the subway. In order to meet the needs of its population, the city must expand its overall public transportation systems, but expansion on a system like the subway is incredibly costly and would require a great deal of tax dollars to be allocated to the MTA for infrastructure. In order to minimize spending and maximize access, expansion should target areas of high density, especially those containing low-income residents.

While the size of the New York City subway system may not allow it to compete with the expansiveness of the Beijing and Shanghai systems, it does rival them in one major area: round-the-clock access. The Beijing subway has lines running from roughly 5 am until 11 pm. The Shanghai metro also has lines running from roughly 5 am until 11-11:30 pm. Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the New York City subway had not experienced a time in which it was unable to provide 24-hour service, and after the pandemic has run its course, it is likely the subway will return to its 24-hour schedule. By providing longer access, those working late, doing shift-work, or those who are traveling are better able to be served during hours in which the Chinese systems are not operational.

In the U.S., only a small portion of funds go towards infrastructure. In 2019, the White House reported that, as of 2017, $441 billion of federal, state, and local spending went towards infrastructure--roughly 2.3% of the U.S. GDP. China on the other hand spends roughly 10 times the amount of money the United States does on infrastructure. China has approved a 50 trillion yuan ($7.15 trillion) infrastructure budget, with 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.07 trillion) having been scheduled for implantation in 2020. Having so much money in their infrastructure budget allows China to complete expansive projects involving the Shanghai and Beijing metro systems, and points to the reason why their subway growth puts America to shame. In fact, looking outside of just these two systems, China is home to 7 of the world's 12 largest subway systems.

While these numbers are impressive, it is important to consider how a country is capable of investing the type of funds that permit a country to have constructed roughly 5,000 km of metro lines since the 1990's, adding thousands more by the year. China's top-down one-party dictatorship makes it much easier for them to determine the allocation of their funding, compared to a place like America where such infrastructure bills must face criticism from both political parties and multiple levels of government. Still, American democracy has permitted the construction of large-scale public works in the past, therefore dictatorship is clearly not the only methodology for bettering their infrastructure.

The lens through which safety on public transportation was viewed changed greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic placed a much greater emphasis on sanity as a focus of safety. Due to a less open schedule the Shanghai and Beijing systems have higher quality of sanitation as they are able to disinfect and clean before and after hours of operation. They New York system on the other hand did not have high sanitary measures pre-COVID, with increased cleaning only becoming a priority during the height of the pandemic when the subway was no longer able to function at high capacity of for a typical 24-hour schedule.

In terms of physical safety, all articles concerning Shanghai and Beijing paint the systems in a perfectly positive light. Due to the strict censorship of criticism of criticism and propaganda approved by the government, it is difficult to find an accurate source for comparison of issues like theft and assault on the Chinese subways versus on the New York subway, but some safety topics have less bias. For one, Chinese subways have more complete signage than that in the New York subway stations, making tourists less likely to end up in wrong or unsafe areas. Additionally, cellphone and wifi-signaling are well-built in these underground systems, whereas areas of the New York system have spottier connection. This makes it easier for people to call for help in the event of an emergency and helps them more accurately get on and off at the right locations, further preventing them from ending up in dangerous areas. Furthermore, Shanghai and Beijing both have implemented platform screen doors (PSDs) at all stops, preventing people from being pushed onto the tracks.

For the New York City subway, many riders are apprehensive about returning back to riding post-COVID. In a survey, 36% of straphanger (standing passengers) who relied on the subway for transport prior to COVID-19 said they have not returned to using the subway "because of crime and harassment". The Metropolitan Transportation Authority also conducted a study, in which 73% of riders who had not returned to the subway reported they were "very concerned about crime and harassment" while 76% also cited "health safety" as a safety concern.

It's no surprise that ridership has been down during COVID-19. During their February lockdown, 27 Chinese provinces and 428 cities suspended the use of their transit systems completely, and the New York City subway greatly reduced their rider capacity as well as their hours of operation. While the introduction of the vaccine, these transportation systems have both been able to open their doors to more passengers as more people are vaccinated. It appears that, despite all odds, passengers are interested in traveling, with slow but steady returns to transit happening in both China and the US. With China's plans to continue subway construction and the MTA's plans to reduce service on its NYC commuter rails, the NYC subway may fail to hold a candle to the future of Beijing or Shanghai metros.