Dive Brief:

• The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) reported an increase in trash tossed around platforms and attributed this rise to the higher number of people using the subway system. However, passengers blame the mess on the lack of trash cans available after the MTA started removing bins to reduce waste.
• The MTA said that “moderate-to-heavy” amounts of litter were observed in 28% of stations during the early morning commute between July and December last year. During the same timeframe in 2013, 19% of stations were strewn with “moderate-to-heavy” amounts. The report also showed that during the day, 34% of stations had litter in 2014, up from 24% the year before.
• The amount of people riding the subway grew by 2.5% in 2014, to 6 million riders each weekday—the most since 1949.

Dive Insight:

The MTA started removing waste bins from stations in 2011; the pilot program continued into 2012, while 2014 saw the removal of even more bins. The MTA says the program reduced waste in the areas where trash cans were removed because people were presumably keeping their trash with them until they could find a receptacle.  

The agency said that before the removal of the cans, 40 tons of trash that were piling up daily in the trash bins of subway stations.