Results tagged “straphangers”

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!

So now that all these station agents have been cut, who are folks turning to when they need help navigating the subway system? The NY Times says "unsuspecting Samaritans like Mr. Hossain, a snack vendor in the Times Square station," have been lending a helping hand. He told the paper, “It’s all day long. When I get a chance, I tell them go this way, go that way. But sometimes, I’m serving a customer so I don’t say anything.”

With the MTA's budget shortfalls this past year leading to what was once the "Doomsday" possibility of steep fare hikes and service cuts only to become a "moderate" new burden for commuters, you can't imagine that New Yorkers have had the kindest words for the agency. (If you had any doubts, please refer here or here or possibly here.) But today's Post shares some of the official feedback given to the MTA in a sampling of the 300 letters they've received this year with greetings such as "Dear morons in charge," and accounts to follow such as, "Please be advised that for the last five days, there is a horrendous stench emanating from two vomit stains located on the side of the last staircase." And with recent spat of peepers, gropers and molesters making their way through the subways, the following shouldn't shock anyone: "I recently returned to NYC, and was once again shocked by how much groping, exposure, fondling and other acts of sexual aggression occurs on the subways, especially while riding the trains." If you'd like to join the underground love fest, here's the page to reach the blessed souls at the MTA's customer service department.

If the MTA's service cuts announced earlier this week do in fact go into effect, 1.3 million New Yorkers will be affected by the changes. During the press conference Thursday, MTA heads Elliot Sander and Dale Hemmerdinger encouraged straphangers to contact their reps in Albany as a last resort to bail out their 1.2 billion deficit. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver must have heard the call because yesterday he suggested a tax to help alleviate the burden on the MTA saying, "I am not afraid of a reasonable, responsible tax being part of the solution." The only additional good news following the announcement of cuts is that with the W train gone, plans are to extend the Q to Astoria.

After much speculation and the local papers preparing commuters for what was to come, the MTA made their official budget proposal today and as expected, the cutbacks were dramatic. In addition to the slashing of the W and the Z lines among other cuts listed Tuesday, today's 2009 budget also included the following:

With the MTA's budget deficit now being projected at 1.2 billion (after an original prognosis of 900 million), the Daily News has learned that a report to be released Thursday will include what some are calling "Doomsday" cuts. The big one for many commuters is the elimination of the W line.

Beginning today, the New York Transit Museum (the only museum dedicated to public transportation in the nation!) will start showing off their goods. Their collection includes recent arrivals and "the best and most unusual of the Museum’s acquisitions," as well as the stories behind them. Ever wonder how they get their hands on these pieces of commuting collectibles?

Collecting at the Transit Museum tends to be a bit different from the way most museums collect. Often in the nick of time a call comes in triggering an instant expedition to a construction or demolition site in order to rescue pieces of transit history before they are lost forever. In this frenzied yet exciting manner the museum is able to salvage all sorts of artifacts from subways, buses, bridges, tunnels, and railroads locations.

Running through November 2nd, there will be plenty of time to take it all in (should you want to revisit a time before all the MTA fare hikes); here's a sneak peak.

“Crushed by crowds? Have to wait for more than one bus to go by? It’s not your imagination. Transit officials have never caught up to the waves of new bus riders,” says Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. His group is reporting that despite an increase in average weekday bus ridership of 22 percent over the past ten years (to 2.45 million), weekday service on city buses increased less than 15 percent.

NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign released its 2007 report on Subway Schmutz today and there was reason for encouragement. Overall, car cleanliness improved slightly between 2005 and 2007, but there was significant improvement on the 7 and L lines. The L line actually has the cleanest cars in the system according to Straphangers, with 88% of cars earning a clean rating versus 61% in 2005. The 7 train line was tied for second place, with 78% getting a clean rating versus 22% in 2005.

Starting in mid-September 2007, "additional cleaners were deployed at both terminals for these lines, working in multiple shifts to provide 24-hour coverage," according to MTA New York City Transit. Beginning on December 10, 2007, two new "line general managers" were appointed with greater authority to run the L (Greg Lombardi) and the 7 (Lou Brusati).

Riders of the East Side 4 line had less to be enthusiastic about. The 4 train plummeted from the top spot in 2005 (94% clean) to a below-average 38% clean in 2007, so start stocking up on handiwipes and Purell. As for E train riders, there's mixed news -- on the upside, it showed the largest improvement of any line (2% clean in '05 to 29% clean '07). On the downside, it's still the filthiest train in the system.