Archive for November, 2007
Nov
27
MTA fuel contracts lead to grandstanding
Posted by: | CommentsDid the MTA screw up a fuel contract and thus cost themselves a few million dollars? That’s the question on the minds of The Daily News and Metro today.
Let’s start with The Daily News. As part of their editorial-news Halt the Hike coverage, The News notes that the MTA clearly sacrificed a savings opportunity of millions of dollars when they neglected to purchase fuel in July at lower prices than today’s for use next year and the year after. Pete Donohue:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board set aside $150 million in July to buy fuel to be used next year and in 2009.
Staffers didn’t realize until September that a key contract involving fuel delivery was expiring. By then, the lower-price deal couldn’t be locked in because a new contract would have to be put out for bid, a long process, MTA Chief Financial Officer Gary Dellaverson told board members at a committee meeting yesterday.
Prices have “skyrocketed” since July, Dellaverson said, and the MTA has all but given up on the idea.
In an article that rings a little bit like quote-mining, MTA Board Member Andrew Saul, who is firmly against the fare hikes despite missing every fare hike meeting, and Assemblyman Richard Brodsky were harshly critical of the Authority.
Brodsky, using the ever-popular royal we, was particular offended by the MTA’s blunder. “It looks like MTA lost millions of dollars in savings by not being light enough on their feet,” Brodsky said. “That money could have been used to save the fare, and we’ll be asking the MTA to explain how this happened.”
Saul meanwhile wasn’t sure how much of a mistake the MTA. “That was a huge mistake, though, right?” Saul said. “We would have had the July price, which was God knows how much cheaper than it is now.”
Now, based on these reactions, you would think we were talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that the MTA is flushing down the proverbial toilet. In reality, the difference in fuel costs, according to The Daily News, is $12 million. It’s not chump change, but in the grand scheme of the fare hike and the potential $6-billion deficit, that $12 million won’t exactly break the bank.
But wait, there’s more. Patrick Arden at Metro, in a poorly-edited article, notes that it probably isn’t too late to buy the fuel now. At that time, Saul’s fellow MTA board members expressed skepticism over the deal, and today, Wall Street analyst Jim Cramer feels fuel prices are still lower than they will be over the next months.
When all is said and done, it sounds like Saul’s and Brodsky’s finger-pointing will lead back to hesitant board members unwilling to hedge MTA money on fuel futures in a time of economic instability. That’s a fairly conservative investment approach but one that makes sense. Too bad we’re stuck once again with grandstanding politicians trying to make mountains out of mole hills.
Nov
27
Sprucing up the Second Ave. stations
Posted by: | CommentsThe MTA’s Arts for Transit has put out a call for proposals for station art for the Second Ave. Subway stops. The public arts commissions for the stations at 96th, 86th, 72nd, and 63rd Sts. could cost as much as $1 million each and are expected to cover as much of the 2200 square feet of wall space at each station as possible. Submissions are due on Dec. 21 with the winners announced in the spring. At least we’ll have nicely-designed theoretical stations for the next six years. [New York Post]
Nov
27
As new fare plans arrive, hike honeymoon ends
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Remember how excited New Yorkers were last week when the fare hike was seemingly rescinded?
Well, cancel those celebratory parties. As I noted, politicians shouldn’t play populist games with fare hikes when the MTA needs the money, and as Chris at East Village Idiot aptly noted, the fares for the Unlimited Ride MetroCards would increase such that those passengers who use them wind up shouldering much of the load for the fare hike.
Yesterday, the bad news started flowing straphangers’ way. The MTA has begun to unveil plans for Fare Hike ’08 Version 2. As you can guess, bridge and tunnel tolls will increase, commuter rail ticket prices will increase, and Unlimited Ride MetroCards will see a substantial increase. For many commuters — nearly half, in fact — those Unlimited Ride increases will hit them the hardest.
William Neuman at The New York Times has more:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s decision to freeze the base subway fare at $2 will not take the sting out of commuting costs for everyone: Yesterday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said commuter rail tickets and the city’s bridge and tunnel tolls will jump an average of 3.85 percent. And unlimited ride MetroCards and bonus pay-per-ride MetroCards possibly face even steeper increases.
“At the most basic arithmetic level, obviously if you hold constant one portion of your revenues, then by definition other revenues will have to be raised to make up that difference,” said the authority’s chief financial officer, Gary J. Dellaverson, referring to bus and subway fares.
Got that? The MTA is trying not to lose too much revenue to Spitzer’s pandering plan to scale back the fare hike. I now fully expect to see prices on the Unlimited Ride MetroCards jump substantially.
It will take at least a week for the MTA to formulate another plan, but it won’t look pretty. Right now, only 14 percent of riders pay the $2 base fare, and most of those folks aren’t regular subway users. Pay-Per-Ride discounts account for approximately 36 percent of the total fares, and Unlimited MetroCards make up a little less than half. We the regular subway riders will feel the burn on that one.
But, as I see it, that may not turn out to be a terrible outcome. I’m not flat out against the fare hike. If the MTA claims it needs money to stave off multi-billion-dollar debts, past ineptitude aside, I’m inclined to believe the new highly-qualified leaders now in power. Plus, the Unlimited MetroCards are a boon for the consumers.
Yesterday, I announced my MetroCard Challenge in which I figure out for this month how much per ride I pay on my 30-day Unlimited card. Already, after five days, I’ve taken 15 rides, and the cost per ride is down to just over $5. At my current pace, I’d be paying around $0.85 per ride, a far cry from the $2 base fare.
So if Unlimited Ride cards increase, riders will still see a benefit, but it won’t be as damaging to the MTA. And before we get all misty eyed over Spitzer’s supposedly riding the our rescue, did you really think he would be able to eliminate the fare hike? He just wanted to pay lip service to that notion and look good. Mission Accomplished.
Photo of the turnstiles courtesy of flickr user k8johnson.
Nov
26
London Underground fires Voice of the Tubes
Posted by: | CommentsMike Nizza at The Times’ Lede blog has a great story about Emma Clarke’s recent firing from her post as the Voice of the London Underground. Clarke, whose voice is as recognizable to Londoners as those folks on the new trains telling us to “stand clear of the closing doors please,” was fired after she posted satirical Tube recordings on her Website and called Tube service “dreadful.” The truth will indeed set you free. [The Lede]
Nov
26
Introducing the MetroCard Challenge
Posted by: | CommentsWith all of talk swirling about $2 base fares and Unlimited Ride MetroCard cost increases, I thought it would be fun to see just how much per ride I pay for my 30-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard each month. I take at least two rides a day during the work week as I commute to and from my job. I lead a fairly active social life as well. Since I started a new card on Wednesday, this month is a great time for my experiment. I’ll update my data – which you’ll find in the center column at top – each day and chart my progress. My guess is that I get a pretty sweet deal.
Nov
26
G train activists await an F grade
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It’s nearly time for the G train’s moment in the sun, and the line’s riders couldn’t be happier.
Last week, the MTA passed out the Rider Report Cards at the stations along the much-maligned and neglected G train, and, as The Times wrote in the City Section yesterday, G train advocates are gearing up for the line to receive an F when the grades are released next month.
The G train has long been regarded by those who rely on it as the MTA’s neglected stepchild. The train, the only non-Shuttle train never to reach Manhattan, can’t quite fulfill the promise of reaching all the way to 71st St-Continental Ave. in Queens, and service is spotty at best. During peak hours, trains — four cars instead of the MTA’s usual eight- or ten-car affairs — are supposed to show up every 7-9 minutes, and only about three or four off-peak trains run per hour. No wonder the people who love to hate the G train affectionately term it the Ghost train.
The Times details how those riders — among them Teresa Toro who runs Save the G Train! and the organization’s accompanying blog — are getting ready for the worst:
“Everybody knows what the rider report card on the G is going to be,” said Teresa Toro…
Ms. Toro, for her part, has urged riders to candidly respond to the transportation authority on her blog Save the G, which takes its name from a coalition of community advocates in Brooklyn and Queens. For each line, the agency distributes paper report cards to riders at train stations for one week, and riders have additional time to fill out identical report cards online. The deadline for the G train was Thursday; Marisa Baldeo, an M.T.A. spokeswoman, said the results would be announced in December.
But this fatalistic attitude is not without its upside. Riders are hoping that the report card results will catapult the problems of the G onto the plates of MTA officials. When the complaints come in about infrequent service, could those riders who need or want better G service be in for more frequent service and longer trains?
Maybe the tide really is turning on the G train. The service extension to Church Ave. in Kensington, once thought to be temporary, will remain in place permanently once work on the Culver Viaduct is completed. With, as The Brooklyn Paper reported last week, the population and ridership exploding along the G line, maybe its day in the sun will finally come. Who needs Manhattan anyway?
The map of the permanent G extension comes to us via The Brooklyn Paper.
Nov
26
NYCT plans years of ‘F’-ing construction on Culver Viaduct
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The designs for the Culver Viaduct work at 4th Ave. are a huge improvement over the current bombed-out shell of a subway station. (Source: New York City Transit)
The Culver Viaduct sure has been on our minds for the better part of 2007. A key component to the dreams of Brooklynites to enjoy the F as an express train, the Viaduct is in terrible shape and living seemingly on borrowed time.
Earlier this month, the MTA announced the details of their viaduct rehabilitation plans which will turn the Viaduct stations — one at Smith-9th Sts. and one at 4th Avenue — into crown jewels of the subway system. Recently, at a Community Board 6 meeting in Brooklyn, New York City Transit unveiled the architectural renderings and track work plans for the extensive renovations. There is, of course, good news and bad news.
The good news first: The renderings of the stations look fantastic. On top of this post is what the station at 4th Ave. will look like in a four years. At left is what the station looks like now. (Click to enlarge.) The difference is night and day. Gone are the boarded-up windows and grungy outside.
With views up and down Brooklyn’s admittedly less-than-scenic 4th Ave., the station will no longer be an isolated island in the subway system. Meanwhile, the stations will look just as nice on the inside (see left). Looks good. Too bad we have to wait so long for the finished product.
Finally, in the good news department, comes news of the G train. Beginning next year, the MTA will run the G out to Church Ave., and that service addition will be permanent. In an effort to alleviate F train overcrowding, Manhattan-bound passengers in Kensington and Park Slope can now take the G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn and transfer to the A or C. Otherwise, the G will now allow riders to take a one-seat ride from Greenpoint to Kensington. The good folks at Kensington (Brooklyn) are quite pleased with his news.
But — and this is a rather big but — the project comes with its fair share of bad news, both centered around things we already knew. As I’ve reported in the past, the F Express Plan won’t come to fruition until this viaduct work is completed, but that’s bad news only in the abstract. Worse is the news that the Smith-9th St. stop will be closed for the better part of 2010 with service changes (details available here in PDF form and below) affecting the line for the better part of four years.
This project will be divided into four phases, each with varying degrees of impact. Take a look:
Phase 1 – Set to kick off next fall, the first phase, lasting 15 months, will have only a minimal impact on the line. The center express tracks will be closed as crews will be conducting structural work on the viaduct. At this point, the G will begin running to Church Ave., and the F will run normally.
Phase 2A – During the second stage of work, things get dicey. For four months, the northbound local tracks will be out of service. The F and the G will run express from Church Ave. to Smith-9th Sts. with southbound trains providing service to 15th St.-Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway. Northbound trains will service 4th Ave. via a temporary platform, and Smith-9th Sts. will be closed completely with shuttle bus service running along the path the train currently takes. Good thing that’s only four months in MTA time.
Phase 2B – The second part of Phase 2 will last 8 months, but service will slowly return to some semblance of normality. The F and G will run local on the northbound tracks except the trains will bypass Smith-9th Sts. for the first five months of this phase. Smith-9th Sts. will reopen after nine months of repairs and renovations in the middle of phase 2B, but at that point, northbound, only the G will stop there while southbound both the F and the G will service that station.
Phase 3A – This is, in effect, the opposite of Phase 2A. Southbound trains will run express from Smith-9th Sts. to Church Ave. with northbound service only to 15th St.-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway. Temporary platforms will service southbound F and G riders at 4th Ave. and southbound G riders only at Smith-9th Sts. This phase will take around five months.
Phase 3B – The last ten months before things get back to normal constitute phase 3B. Here, F and G trains return to local service south of Smith-9th Sts., but Smith-9th Sts. will be service southbound by G trains on a temporary platform. Northbound service will be normal.
Phase 4 – For the last three months of work, riders along the newly-extended G line and F line won’t notice a thing. NYCT is installing new switches on the express tracks just north of 4th Ave. that should allow for that long-awaited F express service.
So there you have it. That is a 45-month project to completely renovate the Culver Viaduct. When all is said and done, the G train will be vastly improved, and if NYCT holds to its word, express service will start along the F line. But for now, as residents in Brooklyn face around four years of service delays and shuttle buses, it’s no wonder that many residents are not too happy.
Nov
23
Thanksgiving weekend service advisories
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Not much doing this weekend, folks. Enjoy it will it lasts.
Downtown 1 trains skip 238, 231, and 225 Sts
Nov 24 – 25, 7 AM to 6 PM Sat and Sun
Manhattan-bound 4 trains skip Bedford Pk Blvd, Kingsbridge, Fordham Rds, and 183 St
Nov 24 – 25, 7 AM to 7 PM Sat and Sun
Bronx-bound 6 trains run express from 3 Av to Hunts Point Av
Nov 24 – 26, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon
Brooklyn-bound A trains run on the F line from West 4 to Jay Sts
- For Spring, Canal, and Chambers Sts take the E instead.
- From High St and Broadway-Nassau take an uptown A to West 4 St and transfer to a Brooklyn-bound A.
Nov 25 – 26, 12:01 AM Sun to 5 AM Mon
Manhattan-bound A trains run local from Euclid Av to 168 St
Brooklyn-bound A trains which run local from
- 168 to West 4 Sts
- Jay St to Euclid Av
Nov 25 – 26, 12:01 AM Sun to 5 AM Mon
No C trains running – take the A or E train instead
Nov 25 – 26, 12:01 AM Sun to 5 AM Mon
Uptown F trains skip 14 and 23 Sts
Nov 24 – 26, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon
Queens-bound F trains run on the V line from 47-50 Sts to Roosevelt Av
Nov 24 – 26, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon
Nov
23
Something doing on the L line?
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to a recent Subchat post, all of the L line stations in Brooklyn are getting a facelift. All painted surfaces are getting a fresh coat, and all wooden benches are getting striped and recoated. Supposedly, something is going on next month along those tops. I wonder what it is. [Subchat]
Nov
22
Remembering the subways on Thanksgiving
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On Thanksgiving, it’s always nice to recognize those things for which we are thankful. As an regular reader of this site knows, I am at all times thanksful for New York City’s subway system. But why?
Presented below are a few of the reasons why I’m thanking the MTA and New York City Transit today. Feel free to add you own.
I’m thankful for…
- 24-hour subway service. The ability to take the train at 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. makes this subway system great and is the prime reason why New York is the City that Never Sleeps.
- The MTA’s efforts at reaching out to the public. While I think we should question the recent changes to the fare increase proposals, I certainly appreciate the way the MTA is trying to engage its riders in discussing long-term planning.
- The Shuttle. The various shuttle trains in New York are the unsung heroes of our subway system. Whether they’re connecting Times Square to Grand Central or the C stop at Franklin Ave. to the 2 and the 3 further south on Franklin Ave. or the Q and the B at Prospect Park, these shuttles help integrate the system and make daunting walks or crosstown trips manageable. If only we had some more in northern Manhattan.
- The 18th St. stop on the West Side IRT. Because people along 7th Ave. couldn’t walk five blocks north to 23rd St. or four blocks south to 14th St. Gotta save those legs. (Hint: I’m being sarcastic with this one.)
- The view of the city from the Manhattan Bridge. Except for the brief glimpse of the Statue of Liberty from the F train on the cursed Culver Viaduct, nothing rivals that journey over Manhattan Bridge with Brooklyn to the east, the Manhattan skyline to the west, the East River snaking north and the harbor to the south. It’s sightseeing from a subway.
- The Transit Museum. If you’ve never been there, check it out. It’s a must-see for fans of the subway.
Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Remember: Trains are running on a Sunday schedule, and enjoy that turkey.
