Results tagged “straphangerscampaign”

Fresh off their annual Subway Shmutz Survey, the Straphangers Campaign is doing their best to be a buddy to local commuters with the release of "State of the Subways." (They sure do love those s's!) The group analyzes subway performances in a variety of different categories and then breaks them down by individual lines, something that the MTA refuses to do.

It's a good thing the MTA Bailout saved the W train from saying farewell because it sounds like its neighboring buddy line the R has already had enough dumped onto it lately. The tenth annual "subway shmutz" survey released today by the Straphangers Campaign rated the R the dirtiest line in the system with only 25 percent of its cars clean.

Starting Sunday, New Yorkers are getting a couple more minutes tacked onto their weekend commute. The MTA is extending stretches between trains to ten minutes from the current eight-minute window that currently exists on most lettered lines. But according an internal memo from NYC Transit President Howard Roberts, straphangers probably won't notice too much—he said they're already used to the longer waits because of the weekend construction they already put up with. And why exactly are service cuts still coming since we thought they were taken care of with the MTA bailout passed by the (once semi-functional) state legislature? Well, it turns out that all the feet dragging that led to the eleventh-hour bailout may be to blame since MTA officials say transit workers had already locked in their summer schedules under the original proposal. Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign told the News, "Instead of aiming to improve things, transit officials want to make it official that weekend service stinks!"

Tomorrow morning the Straphangers Campaign and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will meet again, this time to hold a “mock funeral” for the M and R trains. They say, "Without new state aid, the MTA is proposing to eliminate parts of these subway lines, while also raising transit fares." They'll be grieving at the Court Street subway station in downtown Brooklyn mid-morning. When asked what was going on with the R, we were told: "NYC Transit is going to shutter 5 stations on the line between 11 pm and 6 am." Tomorrow's ceremony follows the farewell to the Z train—yet still, the W is getting nothing but disrespect!

(AINT WET, by Triborough at flickr)

During an address at a Center for Working Families conference yesterday, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said that Gov. Spitzer may consider delaying a fare hike. Spitzer already changed his mind about raising the base fare above $2 a ride and limiting any hikes to multi-ride metrocards. Only 15% of riders actually use the $2-a-ride cards though. Silver told the Daily News that he's been urging the governor to postpone any fare hike until next year, when budget deliberations have ended, and that Spitzer hasn't ruled that out as a possibility.

Tonight, the MTA will hold public hearings in Long Island and Queens about the proposed fare and toll hikes. And if Monday night's hearing in Brooklyn is any indication, things will probably be rollicking. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz earned applause when he said, "Ladies and gentleman, fuhgeddaboutit!" (the Post reported the agency reaction: "MTA board members sat stone-faced") while the Straphangers Campaign's Gene Russianoff brought a life-size cut-out of Governor Spitzer. Markowitz and Russianoff...

Yay! It's that time of year when the Straphangers Campaign announces the winner of the annual Pokey Award for the slowest city bus service. And this year, there's a new award: The Schleppie, for least reliable service.

MUSIC: It's CMJ, check out one of the zillions of bands playing. Since trying to pick just one show is tough, we'll suggest one for you. Head over to Brooklyn tonight for Dirty on Purpose, A Place to Bury Strangers, Sisters, Coin Under Tongue and Indian Scout. They'll be taking the stage at Death by Audio.

As part of the deal to advance congestion pricing (and nab the $354 million the feds are offering), the city and state have announced their appointees to a panel to, ur, study congestion pricing and develop a recommendation. The Mayor, Governor, City Council, State Senate Majority Leader, and State Assembly Speaker each get to select three appointees, while the Senate minority leader and Assembly minority leader each select one.

During a board meeting to present the MTA's 2008-2011 financial plan, MTA executive director Lee Sander confirmed yesterday that, yes, fare and toll hikes would be needed in the future because of looming billion-dollar deficits - even in spite of a current billion dollar surplus. And though some politicians were quick to criticize potential hikes (no pol wants fare increases on their watch), the Straphangers Campaign's Gene Russianoff told the Times, "[The MTA has] good arguments, and I think they’re worth listening to. We’ve been complaining for a decade that there’s this debt bomb that’s going to go off, so it would be very hypocritical to say it will solve itself in 2009.”

It's that time again! The Straphangers Campaign has released its annual State of the Subways report, and this year, the 1 train topped all other lines. This is amazing news for the 1 train - it was only in 2005 when the Straphangers found the 1/9 to be the schmutz-iest! The 1 train got high marks for "frequently scheduled service, arriving with more regularity, fewer dirty cars, and better announcements," but it did perform "below average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hours, and delays caused by mechanical breakdowns."

If the report released yesterday by the city's Independent Budget Office is true, it could get a lot more expensive to ride the MTA subways and buses in the future. The IBO believes that the MTA has to increase its revenues by 20% by 2010. That means subway and bus fares could go up at least 20% by 2010, making a single ride $2.40. The worst case scenario - where rates for other revenue sources are not increased - has subway and bus fares jumping to almost $3. The price of a monthly metrocard would would jump from $76 to $112. A weekly card would go from $24 to $36. The last increase in fares was in 2004.

usher the MTA into an era of high ridership and capital improvement and help ed set up many big projects (Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access). But he also oversaw the agency during the transit strike.

Tussletown, from our pal Cornershots.

The Sun has some hilarious quotes about the new "real time" information signs the MTA has put up in L train stations. Our favorite is from designer Christian Rudder, who said, "If it were conceivable to walk when the wait was going to be long, I might leave. But in Brooklyn, there's no other option, so what's the point of even knowing?" Ha!

- The experiment to have subway riders use their cell phones to pay for fares is ramping up. amNew York reports that one of the trial's sponsors, Citigroup, is looking for willing guinea pigs (suckers?) to participate. Here's how it works:

The three-to-six-month trial is limited to people who are both existing Citi MasterCard holders and Cingular Wireless subscribers. Interested riders need to sign-up at www.nyctrial.com by Dec. 21, Semenchuk said.

Continue reading "MTA News: Swipes, Suits And Sander"

You know those "Emergency Exits" at subway stations with the panic bars? And how even though they are "Emergency Exits," they are inevitably the ones that people with big packages or strollers often use, whether with help from a station agent or just setting off the "WEE!! WEE!! WEE!!" alarm? Well, that kind of usage is causing the alarms to break down and malfunction frequently.

Love it! The MTA's board says free newspapers are what caused subway flooding in 2004. Which contradicts an April report from the MTA's inspector general, who found that the agency was at fault for severe flooding that shut down much subway service on a September day (September 8, 2004 - when Hurricane Frances came to town and wreaked transit havoc). The April report noted the MTA's "historic neglect" of valves, difficulties Transit Authority first responders had in arriving to the scene, lack of TA command centers, and trash and muck clogging drains. MTA board member Barry Feinstein, however, said, "These hand-distributed free newspapers have been and continue to be a major cause of clogging the drains."

We love this time of year, when the Straphangers Campaign hands out the Pokey Awards for the city's slowest buses. Usurping last year's winner M34 from the slowest spot this year was the M14A, which goes between 11th Avenue and Avenue A, and then down to Grand Street, and travels at an average of 3.9 MPH, which is what a healthy New Yorker speedwalking can do easily (average pedestrian walking speed is 3 MPH). Ah, the combination of traffic and pedestrians around 14th Street, especially near Union Square . The M34's sped up from 3.4 MPH to a blazing 4.2 MPH - check out the the 2005 and 2006 speeds here (PDF). And the other borough's slow poke buses are:

There's rarely any good news when the West Side railyards are involved. Yesterday, it seemed like a sure thing, the city and MTA coming to an agreement that would divvy up various parts of the land, open it up to new zoning, and usher in the long-awaited 7 line extension. But now critics say the overrun estimate sounds measly since the project to link LIRR trains to Grand Central has $2 BILLION in overruns (it's now expected to cost $6.3 billion!). Various groups, such as the Straphangers Campaign, as well as politicians (and a former MTA chairman) are worried about potential overruns given the MTA's history and debt problems - and the fact that construction costs are "rising by almost 2% a month," as per the NY Times. Well, get this project rolling, then! Assemblyman Richard Brodsky says, "Our first review of the documents indicates that if the $2 billion number is wrong, the consequences to the M.T.A. and the state will be enormous....This raises substantial questions whether it could bankrupt the M.T.A.” Eep.

Well, looks who is Mr. Helpful all of a sudden: MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow is opposed to service cuts the MTA was planning to consider in its budget. The service cuts, which were reported yesterday in the NY Times, would have been extensive, piling on many minutes of waiting time for subways and buses as service. Critics - including our readers - freaked out, and especially considering plans to increase the subway and bus fare by 5%. Yesterday Kalikow said:

“What I’m doing, officially, is letting New York City Transit know that the M.T.A. board, which runs New York City Transit, does not want a fare increase or service cuts and they need to find other things to do, if necessary. Those two things are not things we’re going to be interested in....

Continue reading "Kalikow to Put Kibosh on Proposed MTA Service Cuts"

Finally, proof that public transport is crowded for a reason: The MTA says that ridership has grown 36% in the past ten years. From amNew York:

Trips on New York City Transit subway trains and buses have grown 36 percent, from 1.6 billion in 1995 to 2.2 billion in 2005. Meanwhile, the population of the city grew 7 percent from 7.6 million to 8.2 million.

Continue reading "More and More People Ride the Subways and Buses"

It feels like 2005 again! TWU President Roger Toussaint and Straphangers Campaign attorney Gene Russianoff want the MTA to delay its vote on the West Side rail yards. The vote, scheduled for Wednesday, would consider the city's $500 million bid for the area Mayor Bloomberg hopes to turn into Hudson Yards. After the Jets stadium debacle last year, the rail yards were appraised at $923 million, which is why Toussaint and Russianoff are asking that the MTA hold out for a whole lot more, as the money could fund equipment and other expenses. And wanting more money for valuable land makes sense, which is probably why the MTA will accept the $500 million offer, as it seems to operate in bizarro world.

- Last Friday we got a reminder from the Straphangers Campaign to email or fax questions to MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow as he'll be answering questions from the public in the Daily News (email AskKalikow@nydailynews.com or fax 212-643-783). We doubt our suggested question of "Why are you such a terrible leader who demoralizes not just the unions, but riders as well with your poor decisions?" or "Are you deliberately trying to sabotage the MTA's credibility?" will be submitted to him (we probably have to frame the question differently) but maybe you'll have better luck.

Five different riders' groups - the Straphangers Campaign, the Empire State Passengers Association, the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility in New York, the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers and the Lackawanna Coalition in New Jersey - sent a letter to NYC officials citing concerns that plans for railways and a commuter terminal are dangerous. The MTA and NJ Transit are planning new tunnels and a station that are 100-150 feet underground, and the natural worry is that it will take too long to evacuate people in an emergency. The MTA's East Side Access plan, which would make the Long Island Rail Road available from Grand Central, would have passengers takes "16 high-speed escalators" that would take them 150 feet below, while NJ Transit is planning for new tunnels (can't trust Amtrak's!) under Herald Square. The NY Times reports that the groups made the letter public after they got a cursory response from the NYPD - they sent the letter to Commissioner Ray Kelly, who had one of his people send a letter to MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow to "[take] any action you deem appropriate."

-Hylan Boulevard Looking at the MTA's site, it's pretty cool that the MTA is taking other bus systems around the world into consideration - and we love any plan that wants better bus boarding!

Interesting news from Albany: MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp told the legislature that the MTA doesn't want to increase fares again, saying, "What we're hoping is that the [2007] fare increase will not be needed." There were fears of fare hikes in 2006 and 2007 even since the 2004 50-cent fare increase. The MTA may not have to raise fares if real estate tax revenues remains sweet, because the MTA does have big budget deficits: The MTA would need "$240 million in additional revenue would be needed in 2007 and again in 2009 to avert the proposed hikes." The Straphangers Campaign is happy, though they pointed out the MTA did have a $1 billion surplus last year. However, as with anything the MTA says or does, hold your breath.