Results tagged “transportationcommittee”

Oh, MTA - you and your outlandish idea of putting a glorious glass dome at the renovated Fulton Street Transit Center! The proposed design, unveiled in 2004, seemed an inspiring idea for the agency. But, after years of attempts to start construction, costs have risen to $1.15 billion, from the initially estimated $750 million, causing MTA executive director Eliot Sander to say, "I am sad to say that we cannot build the transit center as currently envisioned in this market." In other words, good-bye dome-oculus thing!

The hilarity never ends when talking about cell phone service in the subways. The City Council spoke to the MTA about the agency's upcoming cell phone service plans, and apparently some members suggested that there should be "quiet cars" on the subway. We cannot stop laughing!

Something is happening with congestion pricing in Albany, but we're not exactly sure what. It's not put-a-fork-in-it dead yet, but it might be close to it. Or not!

An interesting bill is being considered by the City Council: The NY Sun reports that City Council member John Liu is sponsoring a bill for a $3 million plan to put more taxi dispatchers in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Liu, who also chairs the Transportation Committee, said, "The reality of New York today is that people outside of Manhattan's central business district would like to jump in a cab on demand.As we have more economic activity outside Manhattan, we will get more demand for yellow cabs." The money would come from the $141 million the city made from taxi medallions sales.

After City Council recently passed a bill to regulate pedicabs, Mayor Bloomberg decided to wait a bit longer before signing it (however, he did sign three bills about nightlife safety). Angry pedicab owners seemed to influence the mayor, pleading that the bill would contradict the 2030 sustainable city initiative. Bloomberg has until March 30th to decide whether to sign, veto or leave it alone. If left alone, the bill would automatically become law.

This could also be titled "Kalikow Doesn't Care As Much About Non-Hamptons People." After receiving a complaint about the Montauk LIRR station, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow took care of the matter immediately. Corcoran agent and Montauk resident Deanna Banks wrote a letter to Hamptons.com saying that after leaving a message with Kalikow's secretary, the secretary called to say, "Mr. Kalikow said he would make efforts to fix the parking lot." Potholes were filled nine day later, ugly railroad ties are being removed, and a new shelter is being built.

- 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"

- Even though Mayor Bloomberg says he'll sign the City Council's 25% pay raise (an extra $22,500 to bring the total salary to $112,500), he criticizes the fact that many City Council members are able to have other jobs, since the City Charter says City Council positions are "part-time." He also blasted the "lulus" - aka stipends of thousands of dollars - the City Council members get for chairing committees and the like. Easy for Mayor Moneybags to say!

City Councilman John Liu, who heads the the Council's Transportation Committee, thinks the city should install the countdown signs at traffic lights - you know, the ones that tell you how much time there is until the light changes to red. But the counterargument would be that people underestimate the time it takes to walk across the street. Is that because people think their strides are longer than they really are?

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.)

If there is one thing we love to hear about, that would be the creation of more dedicated bike lanes in the city. So how happy were we when we found this article in this weeks Villager? Pretty happy. We won't be ecstatic till everything is final, but things are definitely looking optimistic.

Mark your calendar for December 1. That's when the City Council will have a public hearing for commuters to complain about the insanity of weekend subway diversions (especially the ones on the L!). City Councilman John Liu, who heads the Council's Transportation Committee says, "We want the MTA to do whatever repair work is required...but the disruptions are so numerous and pervasive that there's serious lack of accountability." True, but will the NYC subway-riding public find doing repair work at night, causing even more evening disruptions, palatable? Don't get us wrong - Gothamist is very thankful for the subways, as much as we gripe. We'd just like to get from one place to another less confusion.

The rape of an art student at the G train 21st Street stop in Long Island City is upsetting New Yorkers. Not only did a token booth clerk stay in his booth when he saw the attack (he did call for more help), it turns out that a police command booth was empty, because police had complained about air quality issues in the station. The NY Post says that these are actually "anti-terror posts/omega booths" that are in the city's 32 subway stations near bodies of water; the other Queens omega booths are manned 24 hours a day by police while this one is not. And local politicians are calling for changes in NYC Transit procedures, to prevent another crime in progress. Transportation Committee chair City Councilman John Liu said, "There shouldn't be such a blanket rule," while NYC Transit says its token booth clerks should stay in booths because they are not trained as police officers. That well may be, but what about the token booth clerks that are now transplanted to work outside the booths? Wouldn't they help someone in danger? Aren't they vulnerable to attackers as well? Gothamist hopes the MTA will revisit some rules and procedures; and while we love that the subways run 24 hours, maybe it's time to revisit the best ways to ride.

, has only spent $25 to 30 million of the $591 million it has budgeted for security.

Gothamist has an idea: In July, we should plan a trip on the computerized train - we'll do the Robot Dance! And check out the City Council's PDF on the matter: .

Learn more about the Segway. Also learn about arguing your desk appearance ticket (aka DAT) from the People's Law Collective and a law firm. Gothamist on riding a segway in the city. And Kansas Congressman Dennis Moore has a picture with Segway inventor Dean Kamen; Congress was looking into using Segways for police beats and postal delivery.