Oh, MTA - you and your outlandish idea of putting a glorious glass dome at the renovated Fulton Street Transit Center! The proposed design, unveiled in 2004, seemed an inspiring idea for the agency. But, after years of attempts to start construction, costs have risen to $1.15 billion, from the initially estimated $750 million, causing MTA executive director Eliot Sander to say, "I am sad to say that we cannot build the transit center......

We don't know whether to laugh or cry. Last year, the MTA said that Fulton Street Transit Center would be completed by the end of 2008, leading Gothamist to write "that really means the end of 2009." Now the MTA goes beyond our forecasting and says that the project probably won't be done until 2010. Sucks to continue to be you, downtown commuters. The project, which caused a lot excitement for its linking of......

With the MTA's vote whether to raise subway and bus fares coming in less than three weeks, speculation is running high about what will happen. Even though Governor Spitzer said that the base subway and bus fare will remain $2, unlimited Metrocard fares - which 85% of riders use - will rise. The MTA has insisted the fare hikes are necessary, given projected deficits and upcoming capital construction, but many elected officials believe that the......

The MTA has embraced Internet technology once again to offer the public streaming webcasts of public meetings at its midtown Manhattan headquarters. Thanks to Governor Spitzer's "Executive Order 3," which requires all public agencies to broadcast meetings by July 1, the MTA is investing just over a hundred thousand dollars to set up and maintain the technology. MTA executive director and CEO Elliot Sander said, "The MTA shares Governor Spitzer’s focus on transparency and access,......

Yesterday, the MTA lowered the first of many parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine into the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel as part of the MTA’s East Side Access project. The lowering itself could have been dismissed by passersby as just some sort of generic routine construction work, but it was much more than just moving a boring machine. When finally assembled in about two months, the 600-ton automated Spanish-owned and Italian-made......

We all know the Second Avenue Subway project will be very costly. But we didn't know that the MTA was thinking about leaving the 300-foot tunnel boring machines underground when the project is done. The NY Sun reports that abandoning the $15-20 million machines may be "more efficient and cost-effective" rather than hauling them out. Apparently there's a precedent for this: The TBMs used for the Chunnel excavation were left there (however, other U.S.......

First rule of Fulton Street Transit Center: Nothing will go as planned. Back in 2004, the MTA unveiled designs for the new Fulton Street Transit Center, which would have included a towering steel-and-glass dome (the "oculus") AND connections between many different trains lines, providing easier transfers for subway riders. But in 2005, the MTA said the project would be delayed and scaled back (smaller dome, shorter hallways between lines) and then earlier this year,......

Finally, the MTA is admitting that the Second Avenue Subway will be delayed for "at least two years." At an MTA meeting, Mysore L. Nagaraja, the president of the MTA's capital construction (which sounds like a cool but terribly frustrating job) announced this news, saying that the transit bond that voters will vote on this fall will affect the plans; Governor Pataki and the State did not give the MTA even half of the $7.9......

Perhaps realizing that his education record, while long on reform but short on results that makes teachers and parents happy, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city will be putting $1.3 billion into capital construction for schools. This doubles the capital fund for schools this year, and makes NYC's overall five year plan for school funding a total of $13.1 billion, with half expected to come from Albany. If you remember, a court ruled that NYC's......

Let's go over some of the major money-related MTA stories: - MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow says a Metricard fare hike is necessary. The last we remember, the fare hike would affect discounted Metrocards (yes, your unlimited weekly and monthly cards), but the article says the hike would increase fares by 14%...maybe that's in the discounted card revenue. Anyway, the MTA is still planning for the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access, and No 7.......

The expectation is that the MTA will approve that RFPs for the Second Avenue Subway can be issued tomorrow. In other words, the call to construction for the first phase of the project will go out, making the new T line a very real possibility. NY1 has the about the project: MTA board member Barry Feinstein said, “We were building the Second Avenue subway before. It didn't get built because they ran out of money,......