Results tagged “mta”

The latest public art project to glean some attention can fit right in your pocket... but it's gonna cost ya. The NY Times reports that seven million MetroCards were distributed starting in September, all containing the word "optimism" on the back. The MTA, perhaps seeing it as a way to brainwash unhappy customers, oversaw the project.

Today, NYPD Chief James P. Hall, who heads the department's Transit Bureau, told the City Council that sexual harassment was the "No. 1 quality of life offense on the subway," according to City Room. Hall added, "This should not be a part of commuting in New York. t's an under-reported crime." (Nothing, unfortunately, new there.)

An MTA-hired subcontractor severed a jet fuel line that was targeted by would-be terrorists in 2007, spilling 500 gallons of gasoline at the corner of Skillman Avenue and 37th Street. The workman was doing maintenance work for the MTA when he drilled into the Buckeye Pipeline, a 12-inch tube that rests four feet below street level and carries eight million gallons of fuel and refined petroleum into New York City every day, according to the Daily News.

The MTA's $200 million plan to install countdown clocks at all numbered train line stations is moving forward, though it's already running slightly behind schedule, the Times reports. By the end of next month, MTA NYC Transit will start the clocks at the Longwood Avenue, Brook Avenue and East 149th Street 6 train stations in the Bronx, but the installation of the timepieces in the remaining 152 numbered stations won't be completed until April 2011 — despite previous reports of a December 2010 finish.

      

Because kids respond to safety pitches only when there is an MC Skat Kat-esque mascot involved, the Department of Buildings is using "Safe-T Rider," the elevator safety cat (courtesy the Alabama-based Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation) to emphasize elevator—and escalator and moving walkway—safety to young New Yorkers during Elevator Safety Week!

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.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that transit police have been cracking down on musicians and other performers busking in the subway system—even though the MTA's own rules permit low-volume performance under certain conditions. A number of musicians and a busker advocacy group tell amNY that "police harassment has grown to disturbing levels in recent months."

Following the death of 22-year-old Seth Kahn, who was struck by a city bus on West 53rd and 9th last week, there's some talk about bus drivers texting while on the job. The driver in this particular incident was Jeremy Philhower, who had been suspended for texting and updating his Facebook with disparaging comments about his riders while behind the wheel. Last Wednesday, when he hit Kahn, was his first day back on the job — if NYC Transit concludes that he could have prevented the accident, they could file charges and fire him.

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!

It's like white noise at this point — the NY Post's headline reads: "Expect subway service disaster this weekend." Shocking, shocking news. The good news, however, is that the Transit Riders Council, an MTA watchdog group, is finishing up their underground study (results of which will be available in early 2010). For weeks they've "monitored trouble spots and found stations without adequate signs as well as seriously delayed trains."

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.

Yesterday a 50-cent surcharge was tacked on to taxi fares as part of the state's MTA bailout, starting a cab ride with a $3 base fee... and no one is happy about it.

Having to cram into a crowded subway car has been one thing these past few weekends as the MTA got to work on station and track renovations decreasing service on 18 of its 20 subway lines. But this weekend should be interesting, what with Halloween and the NYC Marathon in the mix.

New MTA Chairman Jay Walder was given a true New York welcome at his first transit authority board meeting today, when he and fellow board members were referred to as "a bunch of doody-heads" by a frustrated union leader.

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.'"

Subway managers on the No. 4 line have enlisted college interns to pose as subway riders and grade token booth clerks on their courtesy levels. It's unclear why the study, which was called "Operation Courtesy," was restricted to the 4 line, but NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton says, "It's like a mystery shopper program," in which storeowners' send fake shoppers to review staff. It's also unclear why the MTA needs to conduct an undercover sting to verify that workers can be gruff. But to be fair, we've found many of booth clerks to be exceptionally pleasant, considering they spend their days underground in a tiny box.

It's not surprising that MyFox News has a four part series (so far) dedicated to broken subway escalators (though perhaps they should also shame the MTA for lack of elevators for the disabled). This time around they report from two locations, including 53rd Street, which sports a lovely escalator behind a glass wall that's been "under repairs" for months. To make matters worse, they even closed off the stairs. Watch to find out how straphangers work that puzzle out:

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.

NYC Transit has been running the Nostalgia Train to Yankees post-season games lately—maybe the throwback fever has been spreading! A reader spotted that the old skip-stop 9 line, last in service back in 2005, appears on the MTA's website when you click on the subway map's Times Square stop.

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?

Folks using the 1, 2 or 3 trains, start praying that NYC Transit is able to fix issues at Park Place by the evening rush. A reader had mentioned that a train derailed at Park Place earlier today and now the MTA's NYCT Service Alert page says:

"Due to a train with ongoing mechanical problems at the Park Place Station, 2 train service is running on the 5 line between the 149th Street-Grand Concourse Station and the Nevins Street Station in both directions.

Continue reading "Subway Delays Expected After "Minor" 2 Train Derailment"

First reports of a pregnant woman being removed from an L train and taken to the hospital yesterday morning—now news that a man had a heart attack on an A train at Columbus Circle last night! And he was saved—thanks to the efforts of cops, other passengers, and a heart defibrillator.

It might not be last weekend's subway hell, where almost all 20 subway lines were diverted due to much-needed service work, but there are still many diversions planned for this weekend. For instance, NYC Transit says for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and L lines, "Due to necessary maintenance work customers may experience 5 to 7 minute delays from the times listed in the published timetable" (hee, published timetable!) and "D Trains run local in both directions between 34 St-Herald Sq and West 4 St" (which is admittedly better than not running at all). Here are service advisories for today and tomorrow.

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.

     

Subway hell weekend is behind us, and now the transit system has been restored to its hyper-efficient, fast-paced glory. But were this weekend's irritating disruptions worth all the agita? The MTA, obviously, says yes, and NYC Transit's Twitter page is filled photographic documentation that workers were so totally busy repairing the infrastructure.