So, last Friday, I was looking at the 4 Train Wikipedia page and stumbled across an article reading that in 2009, the MTA did two pilot programs for an express service between Woodlawn and 149 St- Grand Concourse. Basically, the first program was an express service would begin in Woodlawn, stop at Mosholu Parkway, which I thought was interesting considering the fact that the express track doesn’t have a platform there meaning it’d have to take the local track, then run nonstop to Burnside Avenue, then 149 St- Grand Concourse, 125 St, and the regular stops from there. The second program was similar, except it included Bedford Park Blvd and had better headways, also it left 2 minutes before the local meaning that people could transfer between the two at Burnside Avenue (not that many would).
Personally, I think it would make sense to do another pilot program, to see if there’s demand, since it’s been many years, and as markets change, however, with a couple of changes. First off, I’d change the stopping pattern of these trains. The trains would run from Woodlawn to Crown Heights- Utica Avenue, like before, to provide the express service to as many riders as possible, and so things would even out after 149 St. The trains would stop at Mosholu Parkway, Bedford Park Blvd, and Kingsbridge Road, to provide additional trains to the furthest north riders, then they’d get on the express track, stop at Burnside Avenue, then just north of 167 St, it would hop back on the local and make that and 161 St- Yankee Stadium, then stop at 149 St- Grand Concourse, still on the express track, before skipping 138th St and making 125th St. Once at 125th St, these trains would continue to Crown Heights-Utica, making the same stops on the Lexington Avenue Express as usual. I did this, mainly, because I wanted to keep the Lexington Avenue line consistent, which is something that is very helpful, and I also did this to help even out the loads.
As far as service frequencies go, the trains, which will run under the <4> bullet, I think they should leave at 7:15am, 7:30am, 7:45am, and 8:00am in the southbound a.m peak, and at 4:45pm, 5:00pm, 5:15pm, and 5:30pm in the northbound p.m peak. If the pilot program is successful, and depending on how popular they are, I think we can improve the frequencies to every 15 minutes during a longer stretch of the rush hour.
I think a very important element of this new program is to make sure people are AWARE of the changes. One of the main issues with the previous pilot programs is that people didn't know about the changes, therefore, when they boarded the train (i.e at Woodlawn for Bedford Park Blvd), and then they realized it wouldn't stop there they'd have to rush off.
In conclusion, while I never personally thought the Jerome Avenue Express was anything that would attract any amount of ridership visible to the MTA, but since they've done numerous pilot programs that while not being entirely successful, but showed the MTA was interested, maybe in the future we could see this.