Results tagged “nyctransitpresidentlawrencereuter”

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?

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.)

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.

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.

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!