Results tagged “lawrencereuter”

Ooh - NY1 has the exclusive on this exciting bit of subway news: The MTA is planning on installing subway platform doors on the 7 line extension. The platform doors are not only a safety feature, they create savings with energy bills and keep stations cooler. Additionally, they would prevent people from being able to litter in the tracks (and that litter can cause track fires, which is a major cause of subway delays).

New NYC Transit Authority president Howard H. Roberts, who replaced Lawrence Reuter just a few weeks ago, is apparently a man who doesn't mind being raked over the coals. And by that, we mean he appreciates the public's opinion so much that he wants straphangers to grade the subways and buses. Eliciting complaints from New Yorkers might seem like an invitation to an avalanche of abuse, but in a NY Times article today, Roberts doesn't seem like a man afraid to get his hands dirty.

“I want to know what passengers want,” Mr. Roberts said yesterday during a wide-ranging interview that touched on topics as diverse as dirty subway cars and his affinity for the poetry of Robert Frost.

Continue reading "NYC Transit Wants You to Grade Subways and Buses"

Oooh - according to the NY Times, the MTA has been investigating the possibility of installing floor-to-ceiling glass walls and sliding doors at the Second Avenue subway. Apparently, having walls and doors might "allow substantial energy savings" and "reduce temperatures by about 10 degrees." Whoa, imagine that - no more super hot platforms on those summer days?

On Wednesday, NYC Transit Authority President Lawrence Reuter announced he would be leaving his post in February. Reuter will be headed to Florida engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff - and to be closer to his grandchildren.

Well, not really roll tape, but the MTA is installing surveillances cameras on its buses. According to amNew York, the digital surveillance system will records various views "of passengers, as well as from the driver's point of view," (though the driver himself/herself won't be filmed). The $5.2 million pilot program will ultimately be on 450 buses by July. Six have them now, and another 50 will get cameras in January; if it goes well, it'll be implemented on all 4,500 buses. The footage is available for 90 days (unless needed for an investigation).

The MTA says their current offer is their "final offer" to the Transit Workers Union. And what's the offer? Three percent each year over a three year contract; the union wants 8% more. And benefits-wise, the MTA would ask new hires to pay 1% of their pay to go towards their health plans (workers do not do this now). Finally, the MTA wants to increase the retirement age from 55 to 62 after 30 years of service, whereas the TWU wants to lower the age to 50 after 20 years of service, for new hires; the TWU says there would be "two tiers" employees, which they don't want. (Here are some more of the union's demands, which include child care and the MTA's excessive challenges to the TWU's arbitration.)

Thank goodness for nosy reporters at the Daily News: They stumbled upon some new emergency exits in subway stations that the NYC Transit Authority has been testing out at the Lawrence Street station in Brooklyn. These exits have those "panic bars" you see on emergency exit doors, and the goal is to give riders a way out, since token booth clerks may no longer be in the booths and since those floor-to-ceiling turnstiles are more and more popular at unattended entrances (the DN says they have increased from 10 to 529). NYCTA President Lawrence Reuter says, "The idea is to [quickly] get you out of a station in any kind of emergency situation, be it a fire or smoke condition ... any reason we need to evacuate the system," but that the the current subway exits are still safe - these are just an "enhancement." Well, we just hope the MTA will clear up information signage pointing out which exits are the ones people should use in case of an emergency. Finding those locked gates is a bitch.

A month after they were proposed, the MTA is adopting a new set of rules of conduct that will see fines being handed out for things like drinking (non-alcoholic beverages) in a subway car, putting your feet on a seat, and riding between subway cars. And you can't ride your bicycle, wear you Rollerblades or be atop a skateboard, either. The MTA says that police officers, who we have been seeing in droves at subway stations lately, will be "reasonable" when asking people why they are changing subway cars; the NY Times has this quote that proves why moving between cars is important:

Mark Page, the city's budget director, who represents Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on the board, observed: "It is, from time to time, convenient to absent oneself from a car or from a particular group of people."

Continue reading "New Subway Rules of Conduct Adopted"

Security cameras might appear in all subway stations, if the MTA and local politicians have their way. Some stations have security cameras; most recently, nine stations in East New York had cameras installed, thanks to using an Assembly member using his MTA funds from the state. NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter thinks security cameras are a "very good program to really drive down crime and allow us to make the system safer for customers." The digital cameras "beam images to monitors posted in front of the token booth with the footage kept for 30 days." As we believe in fighting subway crime, Gothamist supports these cameras, especially since regular citizens can photograph to our hearts' content. But Gothamist wonders if the MTA will feel motivated to bust up people who have fun with their signs.

As it was suggested last year, the 9 train is leaving the NYC subway system. There's a NY Times story about how signs will be taken down as the 9 train will go to subway heaven on May 31. For instance, the "9" will be taken down from the flashy Times Square subway entrance, and the 9 information are probably black-decaled over on the platforms. The 9 train had served as a way to help get people living uptown to their destinations faster by offering skip-stop service (the 1 would go local). But now that there are more trains overall, and more people living uptown, the 9 is an old-fashioned throwback. Lawrence Reuter, President of NYC Transit, told the Times:

"Skip-stop service on the 1 line is an idea which today doesn't make sense for our operations or our customers. By eliminating skip-stop service, the majority of riders along the 1 line will benefit from shorter travel times and will no longer have to stand on platforms as trains pass them by during rush hour."

The MTA and riders will be entering another new era of subway service as token booth clerks start to move outside to help customers and new unmanned token booth kiosks are unveiled. NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter said that since most riders use unlimited ride cards, token booth clerks have been selling less cards - and now they'll be able to help commuters who swipe swipe swipe to no avail. The booths are a new addition to the MTA's plans to eliminate token booths; originally, the MTA wanted to save money by getting rid of the booths, but when a man died at a station where there was no clerk on duty, they rethought things and won't end up saving money, chalking it up to providing better customer service.

The MTA continued to try to appease the public with NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter's admission that he understood riders' unhappiness with recent service. Newsday has the soundbite: "It's clear that we've probably had, you know, that the staff and I had a perception issue" versus the public on subway service. Well, Gothamist will take that, plus a big helping of fixing the subways, over nothing, but we still think you're a chucklehead. You know it's bad when Governor Pataki has to weigh in, considering Pataki never helps NYC with giving the MTA more money. What's interesting is that the MTA once again assued the media that Reuter's job was safe.

Finally! MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow has given a talking-to to NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter to stop painting an overly optimistic view of the subway situation and to just fix things! The big ideas in a Kalikow-issued memo are to start sending email updates of delays in subway service (the way the LIRR already does) and to keep the subway tracks clean, to avoid more fires. Huzzah! Newsday does note that Reuter's job is still safe, but that one source says this shows who's the chairman. Well, yeah, finally. Of course all these measures need to be considered given the fragile MTA budget, but it seems like the money that would have gone towards more "cosmetic" improvements at some stations will be directed to these initiatives. But one program that has moved forward: The start of computerized trains along the L.

Lately, it seems like the NYC subway system just likes fires. For what seems like the umpteenth time in the past few months, a fire in a substation caused a shutdown and evacuation of riders on the A, B, C, and D lines, all the way from the Bronx to Brooklyn on some lines. A circuit breaker malfunction (far more serious than a wardrobe malfunction in Gothamist's book) that turned into a fire at the St. Nicholas Avenue and 141st Street stop occured at 11AM and wasn't fixed until 2:30PM, which meant 600 people were stranded on the trains. Newsday noted that this the day after NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter's claim that the subways were better, and reported, "The stranded straphangers were escorted out of the stalled trains by firefighters and transit crews, some on evacuation devices stretched across to another train that carried them to safety." Does anyone know what the evaucation devices were exactly - special subway style ones? Luckily, there were no major injuries, some passengers were treated for smoke inhalation and a transit worker suffered some burns. What's scary is that some transit union spokespeople are criticizing that ladders placed in tunnels to evacuate passengers and workers were not easily located; in fact, one ladder was locked and there was no key!

At yesterday's NYC Transit public hearing, NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter was pummeled by complaints from disgruntled riders. And this was after a long meeting with a skeptical City Council board about the NYC Transit performance. The NY Times says that after Reuter said, "The system is actually safer than it ever has been," he was met with boos plus one person's exclamation of "Oh, please." Hee hee. Reuter wasn't that thrilled with the reception, but what can he expect when he's revealing that more holes have been found in the subway system, laying blame on crews in 1993. Whatever - it's been 12 years, it's still crap! Anyway, Reuter has been an easy target ever since the "It'll take 3-5 years to fix the A and C lines" pronouncement; Gothamist hopes that being on the hot seat will shape up service more.

The NY Times has new estimates on waiting times and train management:

During peak hours, the time between trains will be about 5 minutes on the A line, instead of the usual 3 to 5 minutes, and 10 minutes on the C line, instead of the usual 7 minutes. In sum, 18 trains - 12 on the A line and 6 on the C - will operate in the peak Manhattan-bound direction during rush hours, down from the usual 26.

Sigh, we're glad Reuter apologized and all, but with the subway fare hike coming in a few weeks, the MTA is on Gothamist's crap list just because. And also because after 1999 relay room fire, the MTA was told to at least put smoke detectors in the rooms in case of an emergency, not to mention fireproof the areas; this means at least 20% of the 200 relay rooms gotten these upgrades. Ah, the MTA, our transportation slumlord. And the MTA has to use manual transmission for subways, as in trains stop, motormen tell an MTA employee stationed at the platform where they are going; then the platform employee radios to find out if the tracks are clear for the trains to pass. That's why the trains have been running late!

The MTA's NYC Transit president, Lawrence Reuter, helped fuel more worst-case-scenario nightmares of commuters when he said that the fire "highlighted the transit system's susceptibility to terrorism" as the area is "easily accessible, by passing through a simple swinging gate." Thanks, Reuter, thanks a lot, given that Gothamist also found out that there are many signal rooms like that along the subway's lines. The MTA doesn't really reassure us when they say, "Everything is basically destroyed in that room," either.