Results tagged “bus”

The MTA is considering rolling out bus-only lanes on First and Second avenues that the agency says might shorten commutes between Houston Street and 125th Street. The "East Side speedway" could be laid down by September 2010, and the agency is planning to stock up on "dozens of super-stretch buses for the new service," the Daily News reports.

Midtown merchants claim that bus companies that use curbside stops — like Megabus and Bolt Bus — are hurting business. With as many as eight coaches idling on West 33rd Street at one time, business owners say that the vehicles create a "wall of metal, glass and rubber" that makes it hard for pedestrians to see or visit the shops on the other side of the street, according to the Daily News.

The city bus driver who stuck and killed 22-year-old Seth Kahn last week... will be ticketed. The Daily News reports that Jeremy Philhower will only receive a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian, which is a noncriminal violation. This means he'll pay up to $150 or spend 15 days in jail (the latter is an unlikely outcome).

The NYC Transit bus driver who struck and killed 22-year-old Seth Kahn last week is probably regretting some previous Facebook status updates. Following the accident last Wednesday, it came out that Jeremy Philhower had been suspended previously for texting and updating his Facebook while on the job.

Two city buses ran into each other at the corner of Third Avenue and East 41st Street in Midtown, injuring at nine, according to preliminary reports. The collision occurred at around 5:30 pm on an avenue serviced by the M98, M101, M102, and M103 buses.

Last Wednesday morning a 22-year-old Seth Kahn was struck and killed by a bus while crossing the street at West 53rd Street and 9th Avenue. Area residents noted that the intersection was dangerous, one being hit there just two months ago. Now the Daily News reports on the bus driver's history.

This morning the NYC Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives held their big awards show for the worst exemplars of poor bus service. The "top" prize is called the Pokey award; it's a golden snail on a pedestal, and it went to the poor sad crosstown M42, which had the slowest bus speed at 3.7 miles per hour, as clocked at 12 noon on a weekday. According to the award presenters, the M42 would lose a race with a five-year-old riding a motorized tricycle with a speed of 5 mph (as advertised by X-Treme Scooters). But the M42 wasn't the only bus to crawl away with a prize!

Yesterday morning a 22-year-old man was killed when an MTA bus struck him at the corner of West 53rd Street and 9th Avenue. He was rushed to Roosevelt hospital but was pronounced dead by 9:11 a.m.

Howard Roberts Jr., president of NYC Transit for the past 2 1/2 years, resigned today, leading many to suspect more resignations will come, as new MTA head Jay Walder wants to leave his own stamp on the agency.

Get ready for another NY Post expose on the jaywalking epidemic. It's being reported that a 22-year-old Bronx man was killed after being hit by a city bus while "darting" across the street. The Daily News notes that Luis Rivera was "crossing midblock when he was crushed by a Bx21 bus heading north on Boston Road in Tremont at 10:30 p.m. Saturday." They add that the bus driver was not drunk and has a clean driving record, but that Rivera was jaywalking.

Better sit down for this shocking bit from the MTA complaint file: the B61 is too slow. Sure, it's not a new grievance, but one rider wrote us detailing just how painful her commute is. She says: "For the second time in a week, I have waited upwards of a half hour for the arrival of the 61. When it came, after 9 a.m. (I got to the stop at 8:30), I asked the driver why he was late and his reply was: 'I don't know.'"

The new MTA chief is pushing a plan to offer discounts for bus and subway riders on weekends and late nights. MTA CEO Jay Walder has been making a big splash since taking over the job earlier this month, talking to the media about a number of big ideas, such as installing cameras on buses to bust bus lane blockers and introducing a no-swipe MetroCard that would double as a debit card. In an exclusive interview with the Times yesterday, he revealed his latest crazy scheme.

New Yorkers fed up with the city's overcrowded, snail's-pace buses can perhaps indulge in some guarded optimism now that new MTA "czar" Jay Walder is promising to improve the system. Walder was formerly the transit guru in London, where, he says, "You carry nearly twice as many people in the bus system as you do on the Underground." In New York, the opposite is true, and Walder wants to change that while simultaneously reducing bus overcrowding. Is this guy crazy?

After rumors that the Transit Workers Union would "slow it down"—it being subway and bus service—yesterday during its "Day of Outrage," the jury is out on whether or not service was truly affected. One reader described, "The worst B/Q train service I can remember. Waited 20 minutes this morning, and the train was too packed to fit on. When another one finally arrived, it went half speed the entire way into Manhattan," yet another who must have slipped into a Bizarro dimension said, "My service this morning was actually noticably better than it usually is (on the F)"?

Did your subway or bus commute seem a little slower than usual today? It's possible there really wasn't "train traffic up ahead"—apparently the Transit Workers Union wants to give the MTA (and riders) hell because the agency won't pay arbitrator-decided raises. And a text message last week suggested that workers were advised to "slow it down" today.

Yesterday, 18 people suffered minor injuries when a B15 bus swerved to avoid a suddenly-stopped car on Troy Avenue in Crown Heights. The bus crashed into parked cars and then hit some more at the Atlantic Avenue intersection. One car burst into flames and a driver told the Post, "There were no horns and no brakes. I was trembling. The car door jammed and I couldn’t get out. I thought, ‘Lord, I got to lose some weight, I don’t want to die in this car.’"

During his first day on the job, new MTA CEO Jay Walder announced a plan to install cameras on the front of city buses to take photos of any vehicles obstructing bus lanes. Like the city's red-light cameras, tickets will be issued automatically. Walder insists the innovation drastically improved the on-time performance of buses in London, where Walder worked before taking over the MTA. In February, the DOT began video surveillance of the "high-visibility" terra cotta-colored express-bus lanes on 34th Streets, but this would be the first time buses were used for enforcement.

Cyclist Armando Cruz was arrested after throwing a bottle through the window of a NYC bus, raining shards of glass onto the driver. Cruz had been riding down Flushing Avenue in Bushwick when police officers ordered him to pull over due to his "unsafe manner" of biking. He attempted to pedal away, but was cut off by the bus; he then threw his bottle through the bus driver's window. That must have been one hell of a throw, one hell of a heavy bottle, or one hell of a cheap bus window. Cruz was charged with "assault, menacing, and criminal mischief."

NYC Transit buses are crawling with roaches! It says so in amNY! Bus operators, mechanics and union leaders have told the city's easy-reading tabloid that the infestation has gotten out of control, because NYC Transit has cut back on cleaning. One Bronx NYC Transit driver says his bus was "chronically infected with hundreds of roaches during overnight runs, when they would crawl up the dashboard."

As you first venture north across the Harlem River, comfortably ensconced in a retro charter tour bus, a voice inquires, "Are you wondering where we're going? When we get there will you think—This is nice. This is new. This is old. This is urban. These are the real people. These are the other people. This is the old New York... whatever. You shouldn't think." For such a thought-provoking journey, that's a funny instruction, but it seems intended to dispel any preconceived notions about the destination, one of the five poorest congressional districts in the United States. That would be the South Bronx, and the voice is addressing you through headphones provided by the Foundry Theatre, a company with seemingly boundless inspiration and ingenuity.

Czar alert! Yesterday the state Senate confirmed Jay Walder for the position of chairman and CEO of the MTA. That's equivalent to rank of czar, according to the Post, which reports that Walder told lawmakers he "will be back" to try and wrest $10 billion from Albany for the MTA's five-year plan, which includes finishing the fabled Second Avenue Subway. The Senate's 47-13 vote was preceded by some debate, during which Democratic Staten Island Senator Diane J. Savino spoke for her constituents: "There is a level of discontent that exists between the M.T.A. and the people in this room, the people who should be your partner."

The divorce is happening, kids. The MTA has confirmed that the rumored B61 split will take place in January next year, with one half running from Red Hook to Downtown and another from Downtown to Queens. In a statement we received, NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts, Jr. also noted: “We recognize that there are rapidly growing new residential areas along the Williamsburg waterfront. The B62 will also provide convenient bus and subway connections for these customers to the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza transit hub which is served by six bus routes and the Marcy Avenue JMZ subway station.” The 9.7 mile long route split into two shorter ones will, allegedly, make for less delays; last year there was a 74% increase in ridership on the line, with only a 7% boost in frequency. And the MTA confirmed for us that the transfer will be free, so the trip will still "only" cost $2.25.

Attention B61 riders and IKEA shoppers, Curbed reports that the bus line may be splitting up in the future. They say the line "will be split into two routes in an effort to improve service. One line run from Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn, and the other from Downtown Brooklyn to LIC (dubbed the B62). The change would reportedly go into effect in January 2010 if it gets approved by the MTA." We spoke to Paul Fleuranges at NYC Transit and he confirmed the news, saying, "We have in fact had discussions with the community on rationalizing this route in the hopes of providing more consistent and efficient service for our customers while maintaining a high degree of operational reliability." Just like what parents say before you suddenly get two Christmases.

    

Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on the ECO Saver IV! By the end of the year, five of these 42-foot-long hybrid electric babies will be rolled out by NYC Transit, which may purchase as many as 80 if they perform as good as they look. As you can see here, the sleek design is accentuated by a front windshield which curves upward into a smile of blissful environmental friendliness. The Eco Saver IV's electric motor is powered by a battery pack, which is charged by a turbine engine, and Joseph Smith, NYC Transit's bus chief, tells the Daily News, "It's so quiet you don't even know it's running."

Now that there won't be major service changes to the MTA buses, now we can revel in a cute part of the bus experience: The bell cord, that somewhat slack length of cable that passengers pulled to alert drivers of their stops. Times dynasty scion A.G. Sulzberger writes on CityRoom, "Without fanfare, New York City Transit has installed the bell cord in all new buses, including 270 already in service in every borough, with an additional 580 hitting the streets over the next year. Eventually, the whole fleet will be outfitted with the cord." Why bring it back? Because it's cheaper and easier to repair! And a veteran bus driver added, even though the last bell cord was taken out in 1992 to make way for the tape buttons, "People still search for the cords. To this day, people will come up to me and say, ‘I can’t find the bell.’"

This morning, the MTA board met and passed Albany's proposed fare hikes and toll increases. Commuter rail fares will begin to increase on June 17; fares on subways and buses will change on June 28; bridge and tunnel tolls will increase on July 12. Fares are rising an average of 10%.

A woman, whose leg was amputated after a city bus hit her in 2005, was given a $27.5 million award from a jury today. Gloria Aguilar was crossing West 50th Street at 10th Avenue on November 4, 2005 when a bus hit her. Per the AP, "Bellevue Hospital doctors amputated the leg above the knee, said her lawyer Ben Rubinowitz. Rubinowitz said transit lawyers argued that the janitorial worker was outside the crosswalk and had walked into the side of the bus." The lawyer added that the $27.5 million award "was the largest ever for a lost leg." The MTA plans to appeal the decision.

The MTA board is about to vote on a series of severe fare hikes and service cuts for subway, bus and rail commuters, as the State Legislature hasn't agreed on a plan to help out the MTA. Mayor Bloomberg said, "I would suggest, when you see what's going to happen to your commuting costs, you should call your state legislators and say, 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.'" (Here's how you find your State Senator and Assembly member.) Update: The MTA voted to approve the fare hikes. MTA executive director Elliot Sander said, "This is an extremely difficult day for everyone. Believe me, neither the board nor the senior staff of the MTA would be advancing these measures if we had any other choice."

As the NYC Transit announced that subway and bus ridership had reached 2.37 billion rides in 2008—the most since 1965—some residents protested the elimination of M8 bus service as well as other NYCT cuts. The MTA has proposed a series of fare hikes and service cuts, due to a huge budget deficit for next year and future years, and unless the state finds extra funding by March 25, those dreaded "doomsday budget" proposals will be enacted.

There are probably some folks out there not complaining about the subway typos—the ones who found love underground. Do you have a story like Patrick Moberg's, except one that didn't end with public appearances on national television and, ultimately, a break-up? The NYC Transit Museum wants to know if you met your loved one on the bus or subway. They're asking that you share your story online, and on Valentine's Day they'll pick the best of the public transit romances to share. Just remember, if you do meet someone using NYC mass transit, use an NYC condom, and report any suspicious packages.