Archive for December, 2007

View from Underground: Dreaming of an F Express

Friday, December 21st, 2007

Today’s View from Underground comes to me from a reader Matt who saw the Culver Express sign on the F train earlier this week. An F Express train has long been a pet project of Second Ave. Sagas, and this sign represents what the future holds for riders along the Culver Line once the Gowanus [...]

Doctoroff: Let’s go halfsies on the 10th Ave. 7 line extension station

Friday, December 21st, 2007

I bet tourists would be really confused by this sign if it were still there. (AP Photos)
When last we checked in on the 7 Line Extension at the project’s groundbreaking, Senator Chuck Schumer had just called upon the City of the New York and the MTA to resolve their differences concerning cost overruns for the [...]

Did the Mayor torpedo instant service upgrades?

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

When the MTA announced yesterday the service upgrades to go along with the fare hike, I applauded the agency for its fiscal restraint. The upgrades, you see, are being delayed until June or later so that the MTA can make sure its tenuous finances are in order.
But today, news emerged that shed [...]

Fulton hub beset with cost overruns

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

The MTA is running into more problems with the proposed Fulton Street hub. The station — a massive underground catacomb designed to connect the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, R, W, J and Z trains — was meant to be an anchor in the Lower Manhattan revival. But the project is running into [...]

MTA, Siemens at odds over technology projects

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

This sign may or may be accurate. That’s the problem. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
For years, New Yorkers have bemoaned the state of the MTA’s technology. While London has advanced tracking systems that show how far away, in minutes, the next Tube trains are and GPS systems that display the same information in bus stations, New [...]

MTA Board approves fare hike

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Stock up on those $76 MetroCards while you still can.
The MTA Board has voted to approve the proposed fare hike. Beginning March 2, 2008, fares for New York City buses and subways will increase. CityRoom has the story:
The majority of riders — who use unlimited-ride MetroCards or get a discount for buying multiple rides at [...]

Subway crime reaches record low

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Don’t feel safe on the subway? Well, then, what’s wrong with you? Subway crime has hit a new low with an average of just six reported crimes per day. Once upon a time, back in the good old days of 1990, subway crime numbers sat at 48 per day. Maybe all of the people who [...]

A subway Bill of ‘Yeah, Rights’

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Welcome to the day of fare hike reckoning. Some time after 9:30 a.m., the MTA Board will vote to approve the fare hike. By all accounts, the rate increase is a foregone conclusion.
While straphangers may enjoy some service upgrades with the fare hike, two city councilmen and a whole slew of rider advocates want [...]

Pork for Second Ave.

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

On the same day that the Second Ave. deli reopened, the Second Ave. Subway got a little pork of its own. New York City House Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Jose Serrano announced yesterday that the federal government will be sending an additional $160 million New York’s way for the Second Ave. Subway. The money comes [...]

Added service could come with higher fares

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

Abandon hope, all ye who hate fare hikes. Today, the MTA board’s finance committee voted to approve the fare hike plans. While the full MTA board still has to decide on the hike tomorrow, that vote is all but a formality at this point.
“There is little question that this will be approved, if not [...]