Governor Spitzer's sudden Tuesday announcement that he would ask the MTA to keep the base subway and bus fare at $2 continues to draw skeptics of all kinds. Since the MTA just found an extra $220 million on their balance sheets, though additional revenues, real estate taxes, underspending and debt service costs, Spitzer said that the additional funds could be used to avert a base fare hike. Hurrah? Well, yes, but... ...the cost of unlimited......

To the surprise of no one, New Yorkers are not in favor of the MTA's proposed fare-and-toll hikes. Residents, transit advocates and elected officials have been speaking at the MTA's public hearings all week, raising a number of questions about the MTA's service, the state's and city's contributions to the MTA, and effect it will have on riders. The Manhattan public hearing reminded of us Festivus, or at least its "public airing of grievances"......

The MTA has announced the times of public hearings where the agency will discuss the impending bus and subway fare hike. There are eight meetings across the five boroughs, Westchester, and Long Island. We've all heard about the two kinds of fare hikes - a traditional across-the-board hike and another hike that would give discounts during off-peak rides. The a single ride would be $2.25, up from the current $2. And the early mentioned......

Back in July, the MTA said that fare hikes would be likely for subways and buses (not to mention the LIRR, Metro-North and bridges and tunnels). Now the agency has announced two proposed solutions: A standard across-the-board increase and, more intriguingly, a two-tier system that would discount fares for rides during off-peak hours. Both plans would call for the base fare to be increased to $2.25, but some Metrocard users would only pay $1.50......

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......

Now that MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow has announced his resignation, the newspapers are assessing his tenure. And the verdict is that Kalikow did 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. The Straphangers Campaign's Gene Russianoff tells the NY Times, "He ended up with probably what was......

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. Reuter has been president for 11 years, and we've had some good times with him. Remember when he told subway riders it would take 3-5 years to fix a broken signal room from the Chambers Street fire, but then it......

Whoa, is this an early holiday present to Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer? Or is this a fake-out to appease him for now? MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow told a state Assembly oversight hearing that he'll leave office "sometime in the second quarter": "There are things that I want to get finished. When they are finished I would like to resign." Those things being getting funding for the Second Avenue Subway and other capital projects secured. Kalikow was......

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. The Post reports that even though the Emergency Exits......

Newsday has a good article looking at the transportation issues the next governor will deal with - the biggest being the MTA. The MTA, which already announced fare hikes for next year, faces insane budget deficits in the coming years: $905 million in 2008, $1.13 billion in 2009, $1.48 billion in 2010. The Straphangers' Campaign's Gene Russianoff says of the MTA, "They borrowed a ton of money to fix a system, and now the bill......

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......

Guess what? The MTA is unhappy with Siemens, who promised them real-time information boards, because the company has failed to fix its software! The Post reports that the MTA already paid Siemens $45 million out of the $160 million contract, but the agency is now looking for another contractor to finish the job. This is very good to know - you don't actually have to finish a job in order to get paid by......

The Straphangers have released their annual State of the Subways Report Card for 2006, and like last year, the 6 train rules and the N train is the worst. The W also joined the N train as being the worst, confirming everything Queens residents have been saying. The newer subway cars on the 6 line (as well as the 2/3 and 4/5) help elevate scores in breakdowns, cleanliness and announcement adequacy; other factors include......

- The Straphangers' Campaign's Gene Russianoff has a blog! - Forty-nine MTA workers were saluted for their “bravery and selfless acts in aiding those in need” and given medals from the NYC Transit president Larry Reuter. One subway worker rescued a woman who fell in the tracks, and bus driver Courtny Granston helped nab a thief: “I saw the cops pass me, and then I picked up this guy two blocks later,” Granston recalled.......

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......

The Straphangers have released their annual Subway Shmutz survey for 2006, and the E and M lines have the dirtiest cars! If you remember last year's survey, the 1/9 was the worst, and the year before that, the C was grossest, so Gothamist can only imagine that the Subway Shmutz survey will cycle around to name all the lines the worst - at least the ones with the old subway cars. Anyway, the Straphangers......

Along with millions of New Yorkers, State Comptroller Alan Hevesi thinks the MTA shouldn't have to raise subway and bus fares next year. What Comptroller Hevesi doesn't realize is that the MTA just does whatever it wants, but he released a statement saying that the MTA made bank on real estate taxes and the agency has a good short-term outlook. Hevesi also goes on to say that the long-term outlook of the MTA is terrible,......

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow called the Transport Workers Union December 2005 transit strike a "criminal act committed against riders" and refused to revote on the post-strike offer that the TWU rejected then accepted. He also told the MTA board that he begged Transport Workers Union head Roger Toussaint to continue negotiatingduring pre-strike negotiations last December."I pleaded with Roger Toussaint not to leave. I begged him. I can't remember the last time I begged somebody to......

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:......

Yes! It's that time of year againwhen the Straphangers Campaign announces the winners of the Pokeys, for the city's slowest buses. And that Manhattan warhorse, the M34, is the winner again, clocking in at a pitiful 3.4 MPH in its crosstown journey on 34th Street. Here are the winners in each borough:Brooklyn: B63, at 5.2 mph - between Bay Ridge and Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Bronx: Bx19, at 4.9 mph - between Fordham in the Bronx......

The Straphangers Campaign has released its annual State of the Subways Report Card and yet again, the 6 train is named the best line while the N is the worst. The other trains, from best to worst, were the 1/9, 7, 4, E, J/Z, L, 5, Q, 2, 3, V, F, A, D, R, M, B, W, C. So, overall, it seems that the crappiest grouping of lines are the B, D, F, V......

The Straphangers have released their latest "Subway Schmutz" survey, and the verdict is the subways are dirtier for the first time in five years. The drop in cleanliness (currently 61%, down from last year's 66%) is attributed to MTA cuts in subway cleaning crews. The recommendations the Straphangers make are for the MTA to: (1) set a high goal for cleanliness (95% or more cars having no or "light" dirt); (2) produce more timely......

Timing is everything. As New York City will be celebrating 100 years of our beloved subway system, the MTA is New York Region > In New York Transit Crisis, a Cash Bind Many Foresaw" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/nyregion/25transit.html?ex=1256356800&en=e8688d7a3d7a3062&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland">talking about its budget crisis - one that involves figures like "Budget deficit of $1 billion each year" and "$20 billion of debt by 2008." It's so bad that five subway watchdogs/economic analysts ( Jon Orcutt, executive director of the Tri-State......

The Straphangers have announced the slowest buses in NYC and congratulations, Manhattan, you take the top honors, the Pokey, again! The M34, which travels crosstwon east-west on 34th Street, has an average speed of 4 MPH. Damn. Of course Manhattan buses are among the slowest, given the traffic they are dealing with, but stopping every two blocks - sometimes EVERY block - has always smacked of "huh?" to us. However, some people make the best......

It's that time again: The Straphangers have released their State of the Subways report card again, and they say the report card "paints a positive picture of the subways." This year, the 6 train gets top honors, followed by the 7, D, E and 4. The worst line is the N, along with the A, R, W, and C - ah, it figures for the Never/Rarely/Whenever line! Subway lines were judged the following factors: amount......

How come certain stations at 34th St (A/C/E and 2/3) have it set up so that you can't cross the platform to get from the express line to the local? You actually have to go down and up stairs to get to the express line from the local. It doesn't make sense. -Renee As regular riders of the A, we always see confused people at the Penn Station subway platform, especially late at night, when......

The MTA has revealed a design for the new Fulton Street Transit Center, and it looks incredible. The NY Times has a description of what the new transit center will offer, design wise, with special attention to the centerpiece of the station, a "tapering, conical, 110-foot-tall steel-and-glass dome that would emerge from within a 50-foot-high glass-box pavilion at Broadway and Fulton Street," which will bring light to the subway platforms and walkways. Reporter David Dunlap......

The Straphangers release their annual report of subway cleanliness and the good news is that the subways are a little bit cleaner, improving to 66% of subway cars being clean from last year's 59%. However, cleanliness is not that high a bar, as the Straphanger's Gene Russianoff says "a 'moderately clean' car can have a dingy floor with one or two sticky dry spots." Thus he also calls New York City Transit's 80% "moderately clean"......

The Straphangers have announced the winners of the Pokey Awards for Slowest City Buses, and they are all in Manhattan: the M23 (3.4 mph); the M42 (3.6 mph); M66 (3.6 mph); M14 (3.8 mph) and M31, M96 and M101 (4.4 mph). The M23 which runs along 23rd Street is the slowest/most-used bus in Manhattan; slowest/most-used buses in other boroughs are: B35 (4.6 mph) Runs between Brownsville and Sunset Park in Brooklyn Bx9 (4.5 mph) Runs......

The appeals courts unanimously allowed the MTA's various fare and toll hikes to stand, overturning two lower courts' decisions. The main points, from NY1: - City subway and bus fares are $2 - Higher ticket prices on Metro North and the Long Island Rail Road - Higher tolls on the MTA�s nine bridges and tunnels - Also, the MTA can close 62 token booths - While the MTA may not have been as forthright with......