Despite funding and fare hikes, many subway riders are finding continual problems with a majority of the city?s station elevators. The MTA says that since the early 1990?s, it has spent nearly $1 billion to upgrade its elevator services. Despite the funding, many riders discover the elevators to be out of order or unclean.?This elevator is very nasty, there's urine in there, cigarette butts, half the time it don't work? especially in the morning because it's so crowded,? says one subway rider about her local station elevator. According to the MTA, one out of every six elevators were out of service for more than a month last year. A recent New York Times report says elevator mechanics are improperly trained, leading to slow and careless repairs. The report also finds riders being trapped inside the elevators continues to be a problem, with over 280 such incidents last year alone.Many riders feel that because of the amount of broken elevators, the rises in fare prices are not justified.