March 25, 2008
MTA Delays Improvements Linked to Fare Hike
Photo of a snowy 7 line by gmpicket on flickr
If you actually believed the recent fare hike would go toward service improvements on city subways and buses, the MTA has a bridge to sell you. Due to a slowdown in real estate tax revenues, the agency said yesterday that it would have to postpone any planned service improvements promised to come with the fare hike. Despite already projecting a decrease in tax revenue, the MTA fell $21 million short of its projections for the year, with the MTA's CFO Gary J. Dellaverson saying, "We took these tax projections down quite dramatically from last year, and they are quite dramatically underperforming."
When first announced, the planned promised service improvements included: increased service on the G, 1, 4, and 6 trains, extended evening hours for the B and W lines, new bus routes, more commuter trains, and increased staffing at several stations. The improvements were projected to cost $30 million this year and $60 million a year starting in 2009. If its financial outlook improves by the summer, the MTA said the improvements could be an option again.
With the MTA claiming poverty already, and a gloomy economic outlook, how long will it be until other capital projects are shelved?
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We need more redundant track and better signal systems...not more traffic...
This is my surprised face.
@nivek - redundant track?
#4
If you were to look at the current traffic flow for the subway system and compare it to the rest of the world, it's just a horrible plan; you can alleviate that (albeit quite expensively) by building the extra track and platforms we so desperately need. Another solution is to build a few new platforms and tracks at major stations and reroute lines such that we don't have any overlap, which will piss off plenty of people, but would fix things up pretty well.
I don't think any of us will live to see a day when our subway runs truly on time (as in give or take a few seconds), or makes any sense logistically.
Er, #3.
MTA - Mismanaged Transportation Authority
When will people realize that government can't do things as well as private industry?
Not to be critical nivek but can you be a little more descriptive? Where in the current system would you put more track and platforms?
#7 Who knows...personally I'd love to see a private takeover of the MTA, but people would bitch and whine.
#8
Sure,
At the very least, fix up Queens Boulevard and 4th Avenue in Brooklyn...some of the worst congestion happens there.
For Queens blvd, double the express tracks all the way to Van Wyck so that you can have E and F trains running simultaneously.
For 4th ave, I'd have a seperate platform for the D at 36th and Pacific, and rework the tracks and add a new platform at DeKalb so that there's a dedicated 6th ave and a Bdwy platform.
I think Lexington Avenue could also use a pair of seperate express tracks, so the 5 trains don't clog up the 4 at Bowling Green.
I realize a lot of this is a pipe dream, but that's because there's not enough initiative nor funds to achieve these really basic fixes. There's a lot more that can be done, really, and I could go on and on.
So..... Who's up for a rate hike next year!?
how does one "double express tracks" without widening the right of way? Make a multilevel train?
Matty, I mean double the number of express tracks--as in new construction, dig deeper...do more to make this stuff actually useful! Doing more with less was never a good model for transit, especially if we are to keep up our alphabet soup system.
Re #7:
Yes. They should update the old Dual Contracts model, but this time no artificial price ceiling; the operators need to stay profitable.
Sucks to be all the people eminent domain'd for the 2nd Ave Subway. Ten bucks says they were booted out for nothing.
@ bottomless chips: a private company would never run a transit agency because it is a deficit operation by default. the only reason they are able to operate is because of government subsidies. even with the fare hike, the amount you pay for your trip on the subway is a fraction of what it actually costs an agency (let's just say the mta) to provide you with that trip. if transit agencies priced the trips for what they actually cost, we would not be able to afford them. agencies are forced to raise fares because the federal policies and procedures that govern the distribution of transportation funding disproportionately favor automobile/road/highway improvements. that's where the real problem is. if our systems were funded appropriately, we'd have much better service.
note: i don't work for the mta, nor am i saying it is run to the best of its ability. i just think that the root of these issues is beyond the mta, and any other agency for that matter.
The MTA is an corrupt agency, but the problem is the US government doesn't support public transportation like they do with highways.
Amtrak is sufficing because President Bush keeps cutting back funding money for them.
@ bottomless chips: a private company would never run a transit agency because it is a deficit operation by default. the only reason they are able to operate is because of government subsidies.
Not necessarily true. Amtrak runs at a deficit because it runs trains over routes no one cares about. If there are ten people on the line from Chicago to Vegas, they probably shouldn't run the train. They have to, though, or people complain. A true private entity probably wouldn't care.
true, there are anomalies - amtrak being one of them. but we won't get started on the problems with that one!
my comment is more appropriate for rapid transit and suburban rail, really.
#15
That's not true in Japan, at least...but we're jackasses in terms of politeness and willingness to pay for transit, so... Keep in mind that these are also larger companies, which run banks and department stores too. Corporate culture is much different over there.
Examples:
JR East
JR West
Hankyu
Hanshin
Having ridden all of them, the fares were more than reasonable, the schedules strictly on time, and the rides smooth and uneventful (except for the rare suicide jumper).