Looks as if New Yorkers can actually pick up after themselves.
The MTA’s widely ballyhooed plan to remove trash cans from certain subway stations — to cut the amount of garbage generated and fight a stubborn rat problem — appears to be working, officials said yesterday.
“So far, we are not seeing a greater amount of trash [left behind],” said New York City Transit President Thomas Prendergast.
Not only are riders not littering all over the stations, they are also helping reduce the total volume of trash removed each day, he said.
“The number of bags that we generate [for removal] is down about a third,” Prendergast told the MTA’s transit committee.
That’s good news for the MTA, which has admitted to struggling with the epic task of clearing the 40 tons of trash left behind in the system ever day.
The pilot program began with removing receptacles from the Eighth Street station on the N, R and W lines in Manhattan and Flushing/Main Street in Queens.
Prendergast said that the MTA, though pleased, has no plans to expand the pilot program.