I've lived here for the past 5 years (including a summer before), and the subway has gotten significantly worse every year. Commuting to/from work in the outer boroughs in particular is a nightmare. The month I lived in Astoria for example, it seemed that on over 50% of my rides, the train would stop at some point for an extended period of time due to signal failures, and I'd often have to wait for numerous packed trains to pass before new ones would arrive.

I actively avoid the subways as much as possible, especially in the summer when the stations are uncomfortably hot/humid. I mostly walk, ride Citibike, or take Uber/Lyft. Luckily I'm able to do this because I live reasonably close to my office in Manhattan.

Uber Pool has been a godsend because it's so cheap. I can often Uber to/from the office for about $.50 more than the price of a subway side. Granted traffic in the city is horrible so it's not all sunshine and rainbows - my Uber Pool today from midtown east to west of Penn Station took absurdly long due to standstill traffic, but at $2.03 I'm not complaining, and I'll take any excuse to avoid the subways.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/12/nyregion/subway-complaint...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/nyregion/subway-delays.ht...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/nyregion/why-is-subway-se...

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-challenges-m...