“Crushed by crowds? Have to wait for more than one bus to go by? It’s not your imagination. Transit officials have never caught up to the waves of new bus riders,” says Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. His group is reporting that despite an increase in average weekday bus ridership of 22 percent over the past ten years (to 2.45 million), weekday service on city buses increased less than 15 percent. In Brooklyn, the......

There are signal problems at Times Square, so there are no Times Squard-bound 7 express trains, as of 8:30 a.m. The MTA recommends the E, F, R, and V at Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue as an alternate, as well as the N and W at Queensboro Plaza. Check the MTA's service alerts website for the latest details.......

The MTA is planning extra service for July 4th--and today! There are more trains from Penn Station on the LIRR and from Grand Central on the Metro-North today--"getaway service." NJ Transit also has additional train service departing NY Penn Station, Newark Penn Station, and Hoboken terminal. Tomorrow, most service will be operating on a weekend/Sunday schedule.......

Photograph of people waiting for the 6 train by Union Square by Unlisted Sightings on Flickr For everyone who waited too long for a subway in April--NYC Transit revealed that train delays were up 44% in April, which is the latest month with available data. The Post lists the top reasons: 1. Track work (delaying 4,117 trains; in April 2007, there were about half the number of delays due to track work) 2. Riders......

Photograph by shveckle on Flickr The MTA announced the long-expected news that its economic situation is grim. In fact, MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander told reporters, “Should riders be concerned? Absolutely. Am I concerned? Absolutely.” The depressing highlights: "Tax revenues are $120 million below projections" and will be $280 million under projections by the end of the year. Rising fuel prices means the MTA is $60 million over budget. All told, the......

Stand clear of the breaking water, please. A husband and wife were riding the subway to Bellevue so she could give birth but never quite made it to the hospital, settling for delivery on the F train platform at East Broadway. Yep, a husband relied on the MTA to get his wife to the hospital, despite the fact that entire generations of New Yorkers have grown old and died while waiting for the F. But......

Note to MTA board members: Think before you speak! Maybe even pre-think before you think! MTA Board Vice Chairman David Mack has learned this lesson, maybe, after his controversial, elitist remarks explaining why he would fight for unrestricted free E-Z pass usage, "Why should I ride [the train] and inconvenience myself when I can ride in a car?" Background: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo questioned the MTA's decision to give E-Z passes to former and......

It's a tempest in an E-Z Pass tag teapot! With scrutiny about the MTA's decision to give lifetime free E-Z passes to board members (past, present, even dead) coming from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, some board members who enjoy the perk plan to fight the MTA's attempt to take away E-Z passes and subway/bus and train passes for board members. It's against the law for MTA board members to take any pay for their jobs;......

Photograph by Mao Says What on Flickr In the first State of the MTA Address, MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander mentioned the agency would invest an additional $30 million in more subway service, new and extend bus service in the city and additional commuter trains for LIRR and Metro-North. Now the Daily News finds out the MTA probably won't be able to do so, thanks to the faltering economy. The MTA said,......

Ever wonder what that mysterious delay on your subway line was caused by? It could have been MTA worker Michael Martin sneaking away from his duties to write down the latest line in his screenplay (or for the latest screenplay he was hired to write, New Jack City 2). NY1 reports on Martin's rise from the underground to the mainstream.Martin was a subway conductor, and after totaling his car in an accident, entered a screen-writing......

With talk of the MTA raising fares again after recently raising them (well, not the bus and subway base fare, but still), there are some suggestions about what the MTA can do instead. For instance, City Councilman Eric Gioia proposed that the MTA sell its midtown building at 44th Street and Madison Avenue to raise money. He said, "There's no justification for the MTA to be on Madison Avenue. This is a glaring example......

Darius McCollum, the minor cult figure among train buffs and subway enthusiasts, was arrested again this morning after being caught in a restricted area at Columbus Circle . McCollum is such a well known figure, that police recognized him on sight boarding an uptown 1 train at Times Square wearing a blue transit worker-like uniform and gloves that bore a NYC Transit patch. They followed him when got off the train at Columbus Circle and......

Photo via gmpicket's flickr. In one of life's crueler ironies, it's usually either extreme heat or extreme rain that forces people to stand sweltering on a subway platform or out into the drenching elements. Today it's the former: subway service is still a disaster on several of the city's lines. Residual delays still exist on the F, G, and 7, but the MTA has sorted out the trouble on those lines with the help......

"Uncompensated" MTA board members are not the only ones benefiting from a policy of free E-ZPasses. As the board found it necessary to pass toll and fare hikes to regular commuters, it made sure that not only were they insulated from the cost of traveling around NYC, but their wives were as well. One member even gave his girlfriend an all-inclusive Metro-North rail pass. The value of these perks is in the thousands of dollars......

It's on! MTA chairman Dale Hemmerdinger says the agency will go to court in order to have the option of giving free E-Z Passes to retired and current board members--many of whom are wealthy. The MTA says that the passes are a small thank you to board members who serve without compensation. But Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said, "If the law says no compensation then the law means no compensation and these gimmicks that are......

Faced with reports that MTA board members get E-ZPass for free, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo thinks the policy should end. His office's letter to the MTA was even titled, "Illegal Compensation of Board Members." Revelations about the MTA's generous E-ZPass policy started last year, and among the beneficiaries were, according to WCBS 2, "nearly 1,000 retired bridge and tunnel workers," 52 former board members and 34 current board members. And the board members can have......

Sadie, by AllWaysNY at flickr Given that the MTA project billion-dollar budget gaps in future years and that the cash cow of congestion pricing never made it to the altar, there may be a good idea of increasing revenue by way of Japan. The Associated Press has a story about a "money-losing Japanese train company" whose new lease on business life is thanks to a calico cat named Tama:All the 9-year-old female cat does......

New York City bus riders could soon be commuting just like the tourists if the MTA follows through on their tall talk about bringing double-decker buses back into circulation. The Post reports that NYC Transit President Howard Roberts floated the idea before the MTA board yesterday; the double-deckers are appealing because they fit more passengers and, according to transit officials, actually cost less to maintain. And if the dream becomes reality, the city won’t have......

A man suspected of a series of subway platform purse snatchings was arrested and charged yesterday. Mark McIntosh was "led away handcuffed by police near Union Square" and he offered these words to the public--and his six victims, "I'm sorry for what I did. I apologize, deeply." According to police, MacIntoch was targeting women waiting for morning subways to feed his drug habit. He would grab their purses and then run into the subway tunnels......

The police believe the same man who has robbed four female subway commuters last week stole the purse of another woman yesterday morning. A 24-year-old woman had been waiting on the Rector Street subway platform when, according to WABC 7, "the suspect grabbed her purse just before 10 a.m." She was knocked down and the suspect ran into the subway tracks, threw the purse on the ground after taking the cash, and ran into......

The MTA has called a special board meeting to approve a takeover of the Hudson Yards development project in Manhattan by developer The Related Companies and investment bank Goldman Sachs. The quick switch follows an abrupt departure by real estate development firm Tishman Speyer, that won approval after a tortuously long selection process. An MTA press release quotes Mayor Bloomberg:"Today's announcement that the MTA will award Related Companies, in partnership with Goldman Sachs, the......

Since the MTA is working on finder another developer to transform its 26 acres of Midtown Manhattan rail yards after its talks with Tishman Speyer collapse, it's only natural officials are trying to put on a happy face. NY1 notes that MTA executive director Lee Sander's positive spin is, "We're hopeful that we can put the deal back together. You never know till it's done, as we found out with Tishman. But we are optimistic."......

Sorry, Mayor Bloomberg, even your wheeling-dealing couldn't stop this: The MTA's deal with Tishman Speyer to develop the West Side rail yards is dead. Here's the statement:The MTA met today with Tishman Speyer. Despite the best efforts of both sides, a final agreement could not be reached. The MTA has now re-entered discussions with other interested developers and remains committed to timely development of these unique and valuable parcels of land on Manhattan's Far......

Photograph by streetstars on Flickr With the deal to develop the West Side rail yards on the ropes, Senator Chuck Schumer said that Mayor Bloomberg's plan for the West Side is the "goofiest thing I've ever seen." According to the Sun, Schumer was specifically referring to "the Bloomberg administration’s decision to include a mid-block boulevard," claiming that it was sapping funds from the much-needed 7 line extension. Mayor Bloomberg zinged back, "New York City......

Today, the fate of the West Side Rail Yards may be left in (near) limbo once again after the MTA meets with developer Tishman Speyer. The MTA has announced on Thursday night that the deal with Tishman had basically collapsed (Tishman was asking for things the MTA deemed unacceptable). However on Friday, Mayor Bloomberg voiced hope the two sides could work things out and a Monday meeting was arranged. MTA had selected Tishman's $1.004......

Mayor Bloomberg tried to rally hopes for a happy ending to the saga of the West Side rail yards by telling reporters, "The plan isn’t dead by any means. Hudson Yards is the most exciting opportunity New York has.” On Thursday night, the MTA issued a statement saying that negotiations wit developer Tishman Speyer had "reached an impasse" and that Tishman "no longer" had "development rights" to the 26 acres a few blocks west......

Photograph by Sacha Lecca, which Gothamist published in 2006. Today it’s on the cover of amNY. Flooding. Crowding. Filth. These are just a few of the “ten plagues” being visited daily upon New York commuters, according to transit activists at the Straphangers Campaign. Unlike the ten plagues that cursed the commute of ancient Egyptians, New Yorkers have – so far – been spared swarms of locusts on the L; though bed bugs have been......

This evening, the MTA released a press release signaling that the plan to turn the West Side Rail Yards into Hudson Yards won't be happening any time soon. Apparently, developer Tishman Speyer, which won the bidding with a $1.004 billion proposal, got too grabby. At least, that's what the MTA"s statement seems to suggest:Late this afternoon, negotiations between the MTA and Tishman Speyer over the development of the Rail Yards on Manhattan's Far West......

The long-neglected F train station at 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn will be refurbished starting in the fall, according to amNY. Built in 1933, the Art Deco station is on the National Register of Historic places, and the north end of the platform offers an impressive view of the Statue of Liberty. But the station has been falling further into disrepair for years; plywood hides the most neglected attribute, an arched bank of......

The MTA's Poetry in Motion program, which features bits of poetry on the "Subtalk" posters in subway cars, has expanded its offerings to include quotes from history, philosophy, literature, and science. The Train of Thought first selections are quotes from Galileo, explaining the role of math in science and E.B. White, from his wonderful book Here is New York. Columbia University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is in charge of choosing the extracts,......