Cities 101: NYC Subway Trash Tracker Finds Stations With Dirtiest Tracks

A vacuum car, also called a “Vaktrak.”

If you sometimes feel like the tracks on some subway stations in New York City are straight up gross, there seems to be a reason for that. Although the MTA’s goal is to clean the tracks every three weeks, a recent report from the New York City’s comptroller’s department discovered that some stations were only cleaned once in the last 12 months. That means the fun vacuum train (also known as the Vaktrak) is quite as rare of a sighting as we thought it was. On the other hand, rats might serve a rather useful purpose after all.

The WNYC Data team has a new tool to track (pun intended) how often trash is sucked up in any given station. The dirtiest in the system? The 138th Street stop on the 4/5 line was not cleaned at all in the last 12 months. Here’s a list of some of the stations that were only cleaned once:

• Hunters Point Avenue
• Montrose Avenue
• Morgan Avenue
• Court Street (N/R)
• Queensbridge (21st Street)
• Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street (F)
• 21st Street (G train)
• 67th Avenue
• Greenpoint Avenue
• Houston Street
• Nassau Avenue
• 116th Street (1)
• Queens Plaza
• Franklin Avenue (A/C)
• Carroll Street
• 181st Street (A)

Read on at WNYC to find out how many cleanings your local subway station. Also discover how to avoid the hottest subway cars in the system.