On July 1988, it was announced that 1/9 skip-stop service would begin on August 29, 1988. Skip-stop service was expected to speed up travel times for almost half of riders north of 96th Street. In August 1988, the NYCTA postponed plans for 1/9 skip-stop service due to public opposition. NYCTA officials recognized that they did not do a good job informing the community, and indicated that they planned to continue to look into it. Plans to implement skip-stop service on the IRT Pelham Line (6 train), which were contingent on the success of 1/9 skip-stop were indefinitely postponed. In September 1988, the MTA Board formally voted to defer implementation of 1/9 skip-stop service for these reasons. NYCTA planned to initiate outreach in January 1989 and implement the change at some point later that year. In October 1988, the NYCTA informed local communities that it planned to implement skip-stop the following spring; residents of Inwood and Washington Heights were particularly opposed to the change.