Archive for June, 2010
Jun
08
Judge orders shuttered booths reopened
Posted by: | CommentsMTA Board to meet to address station booth closure plans
Updated (5:50 p.m.): Four days after ruling that the MTA couldnot shutter station booths because the authority did not follow proper procedure, the same Manhattan judge has ordered the MTA to reopen token booths and station kiosks that were closed last month as part of the MTA’s budget crisis. Despite holding mandated hearings in early 2009 on the same closure plans, Judge Saliann Scarpulla has ordered the MTA to hold hearings this year because concerns over the closures may have changed. The new ruling is a blow to the MTA, and the authority says it will appeal the order tomorrow morning.
The agency released a statement this afternoon:
The MTA continues to disagree with the court’s ruling that additional public hearings are required before the station booths and kiosks can be closed, and that the kiosks closed in May need to be re-opened. These closures were necessitated by the MTA’s dire financial situation, and the need for the savings they generate remains.
We believe the prior public hearings fully conformed with the legal requirements and will be appealing the judge’s order as soon as it is entered. The appeal triggers an automatic stay of the lower court’s order, and the MTA therefore should not be required to re-open the recently-closed kiosks at this time.
At the same time as the MTA pursues the appeal, we will be proceeding on a parallel track with the public hearing process. With that in mind, an MTA Board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at which the Board will be asked to authorize the public hearing process to move this vital cost-saving initiative forward.
Concurrent with this appeal, the MTA Board in a special session at 9:30 a.m. tomorrowwill meet to discuss the future of the station agents under fire. Per a note from MTA CEO and Chair Jay Walder, the board will “address the litigation strategy” and will vote to start the public hearing process on the booth/kiosk reduction plans.
Friday’s ruling and today’s order both hinge on technical procedural issues, and the MTA can overcome the findings simply by holding another round of costly and time-consuming hearings. In the meantime, the agency will pay out at least $100,000 per day in taxpayer money until the station booths are closed for good in a few months. The TWU may have won this round of lawsuits, but I have to wonder who comes out ahead.
Jun
08
At Jay St., a station rehab but no coat of paint
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When entering the newly-renovated Jay St. station, don't look up. Credit: The Brooklyn Paper
For as long as I’ve been writing Second Ave. Sagas, I’ve wondered about the MTA’s rationale or lack thereof for its painting program. In 2007, the MTA couldn’t get a $50-million station painting plan off the ground because authority heads could not figure out which stations to paint first. In 2008, Transit announced that, instead of painting 46 a year and covering the system with new paint within a decade, only 12 stations per year would receive a fresh coat of paint, and the entire project would take four decades to complete. Can it truly be that hard to paint some subway stations?
Apparently, the answer is yes, and this year’s story about painting woes comes to us from right under the MTA’s collective nose. The IND stop beneath 370 Jay St. in Brooklyn is amidst an extensive renovation that will see this station connected to the R stop at Lawrence St./MetroTech. The station rehab is set to cost $110 million and won’t rap until August 2011, but the MTA is conveniently omitted a paint job for the ceiling above a few of the station entrances. Gary Buiso from The Brooklyn Paper has more:
The transit agency said this week it will not repaint the peeling ceilings on either exit on the west side of Jay Street between Willoughby Street and Myrtle Avenue, leaving a moonscape of potentially toxic paint chips raining down…
Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker insisted that the areas in question are safe, noting that the ceiling was re-painted in the 1990s with a non-lead based paint. But even so, the agency regards the situation as dangerous: Above-ground station cleaners are instructed to sweep the courtyard area with wet cloths and a HEPA vacuum — which contain specialized filters to trap dangerous lead particles, which can cause serious health problems. “It’s just a precaution in case there are previous coats of lead-based paint underneath,” explained Parker. The agency has not provided straphangers with masks or HEPA filters.
The ceiling work is not included in the current rehab plan, which will be completed by August, 2011. Transit officials said that intra-agency discussions are underway to try to secure funding for the paint job — but could not provide a cost estimate or a time frame for the work, vexing area business leaders.
The property at Jay St. has, as I recently explored, been a huge thorn in the authority’s side. It is an eyesore amidst a revitalized part of Downtown Brooklyn and has sat empty since Transit acquired the building well over 10 years ago. The authority continues to promise that something will happen. But storefronts are empty and scaffoldings mar the neighborhood.
A paint job, of course, is the least of anyone’s concerns when it comes to reliable transit service and the MTA operations. But the paint jobs have vexed the authority for over four years. Nicer station environments encourage more transit riders and make everyone’s day more pleasant, and yet, if the authority cannot do something so simple as to recognize when a fresh coat of paint is necessary, no wonder public faith in the MTA is never very hight.
Jun
08
Dutchess County Assembly rep fails the MTA test
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Joel Miller, a doctor and a Republican Assembly representative from the Poughkeepsie area, should know about transit in New York City works. After all, he grew up and went to school in the city, and although he has lived in Poughkeepsie since 1969, he has served on the New York State Assembly since 1995. Considering how Metro-North serves his district and how people rely on the trains to get to and from the city, he should know all about it.
Of course, he doesn’t, and we can induct Rep. Miller into the ever-growing club of Albany politicians who have no clue how the MTA and its internal structure works. Even as Rep. Miller brings up some valid points about the authority, he does so by accident, and his critiques should fall on deaf ears.
The extant charges involve this article and this press release, both of which touch upon similar concerns. The gist of Miller’s complaint is that the payroll tax harms his constituents and that the MTA should not be “bailed out” by Albany — those responsible for MTA oversight and funding — time and time again. How utterly uncreative.
The recent quotes concern the report from the Empire Center for New York State policy concerning the MTA payroll. Noted that the MTA payroll has increased in a time of bailouts and funding crises, Miller did not miss a beat or the chance to get his name in the paper. “I am very alarmed with the findings of this report, which detail the level of ineffectiveness and degree of mismanagement at the MTA,” he said. “With the ballooning state debt and an ongoing fiscal crisis in Albany, the MTA should not be authorizing an increase in pay for hundreds of its employees. While state officials have been forced to make tough decisions and cut spending, the MTA has chosen to continue its path of irresponsible spending. This stems from a lack of accountability.”
The emphasis, of course, is mine for obvious reason. While the MTA payroll inched up by a few percentage points last year, one of the greater sources of increase came from the arbitration-awarded raises the MTA’s TWU workers earned. Now, this isn’t to say that these workers should not have won those raises or that the MTA should not be paying them. It is to note that Rep. Miller seems to believe the MTA opted to give everyone raises when quite the opposite was true. The authority had no choice in the matter, and if Miller doesn’t recognize that reality, I wonder if he’s the one suffering from a lack of voter accountability.
For Miller, bashing the MTA is nothing new. Over the last ten years, he’s repeatedly tried to sunset the MTA payroll tax. He claims it puts a “disproportionate burden” on Dutchess County and should be rescinded completely because some of his constituents don’t use the MTA.
“It is unfair and unwise to force people to shoulder this weight,” he said of the payroll tax last fall, “despite the fact that many of them do not use mass transit while continuing to reward the MTA for years of fiscal irresponsibility and mismanagement.” Clearly, the lessons of positive externalities are lost on Rep. Miller.
As with many New York politicians on both sides of the aisle, Miller can’t make a good point without dragging down his arguments. The MTA does have a bloated payroll; the MTA is mismanaged; and Dutchess County shouldn’t carry more than its fair share of the tax burden. But it’s not because the MTA awarded raises and wants to pick on the suburbs. Until our elected start showing a modicum of comprehension when it comes to the way the MTA works, I fear that fighting for transit under this modified home rule political scheme is an uphill battle, and Rep. Miller is just one more boulder we need to push up the hill.
Jun
07
East Side SBS to debut in October without separated lanes
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Politicians and MTA officials pose in front of the new M15 SBS bus. (Photo via NYCTBusStop on Twitter)
DOT's map for the East Side SBS routes. Click to enlarge.
After months of planning, the MTA and New York City’s Department of Transportation announced finalized plans for the East Side’s Select Bus Service. Construction on both new bike lanes and the city’s version of Bus Rapid Transit will commence immediately, and the service will debut along 1st and 2nd Aves. in October.
According to the city, 54,000 daily riders of the M15 will benefit from the speed and service upgrades, and what is now a 90-minute, 8.5-mile ride from South Ferry to 125th St. via bus will be vastly improved. With the Second Ave. Subway half a decade away from even Phase 1, Select Bus Service should help ease the commutes for residents along the East Side.
“Low-cost changes, such as off-board fare payment, new bus lanes and bus-priority signals, will transform Manhattan’s busiest route from an exercise in patience to one of the city’s best bus lines,” DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said. “Re-making First and Second Avenues to improve bus service has also given the City the opportunity to improve safety for every type of street user – drivers, pedestrians, transit riders and cyclists.”
Despite the excitement over this rollout, however, I maintain that this BRT plan is still the wrong one for Manhattan. Glaringly absent are physically separated bus lanes. Instead of standard BRT-format lanes in which buses are protected from straying cars by a physical barrier, the 1st and 2nd Ave. bus lanes will be painted a different color, and drivers will be urged to keep out. Since Albany has to authorize camera enforcement against bus-lane violators, the city will be able to target taxi drivers only in initial enforcement efforts, and politicians and transit advocates are continuing to push Albany for more complete bus-lane enforcement legislation. Whether Select Bus Service can work in Manhattan without dedicated lanes will be the true test of this East Side experiment.
“New York City’s plan to get buses moving and keep people safer on First and Second Avenues will be a godsend for the 54,000 people who ride the M15 every day. Adding over 12 miles of bus lane and features like prepaid boarding will bring faster, more reliable service to New York’s second busiest bus route and give riders more time to spend with family and friends. Because the plan will separate bus and car traffic and add left-turn lanes, drivers will also enjoy faster trips,” the Tri-State Transportation Campaign said in a statement. “The next step to keep bus riders out of gridlock should be the approval of bus enforcement cameras by the City Council and State Legislature. These would keep lanes clear of violators, allowing the NYPD to focus on other important matters.”
The Select Bus Service route will run from Houston St. to 125th St. along the right side of the street. However, within the Second Ave. Subway work zones, buses will run in regular traffic patterns to accommodate the temporary decrease in road space. From Houston St. to 34th St., the city will also install physically protected bike lanes and landscaped pedestrian islands, thus increasing safety for both bikers and pedestrians at the same time.
Work with commence next week as city crews install new street markings and paint the new dedicated lanes. Parking regulations will be changed, and space will be reserved for commercial deliveries. Bus shelters and the pre-board fare collection machines will be installed in September, one month before SBS launch.
While the bulk of the SBS planning will occur in Phase 1, Phase 2 will launch in 2012 and should bring signal prioritization to the avenue. Hopefully, by then, the city will be allowed to install cameras for enforcement and adequately tackle fare-evasion problems as well.
Jun
07
Transit unveils online delay verification app
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A screenshot of New York City Transit’s new delay verification web application. It is available online right here.
“My train was delayed” is to New York City as “my dog ate my homework” is to high school. It is an excuse so common that many employers now require an official notice from the MTA that their employee’s tardiness was in reality due to a late train.
For the past few years, New York City Transit has provided snail-mail correspondence that allows workers to show their bosses proof of a delay. In fact, from 2007-2009, Transit sent out over 103,000 letters, and the process has long been cumbersome for the authority.
With a new website, though, and more attention on technological development, Transit unveiled an online delay verification application last week. Now, those delayed and in need of proof can enter the train, the time and their e-mail address. A few days, the verification will show up as an email.
“Our goal is to provide safe, reliable and on-time subway service,” Transit President Thomas Prendergast said in a statement. “While we do our best to make sure every trip is on time, things can and do happen. With this new service, any rider who needs it can easily request and obtain the necessary delay documentation for school or work.”
According to Transit, the authority had received 232 online requests between when the application went live on Thursday and the end of the day on Friday. As of early Saturday morning, 213 of those requests had been processed, but as the popularity of the new application increases, MTA officials say the turnaround time will be somewhere between five and 15 days. For an agency with a past history of poor technological innovation, this application, development in-house and designed to reduce postage and other mailing costs while improving customer service efficiency, is a sure step in the right direction.
Jun
07
A Ferry good idea for New York City travel
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A New York Water Taxi en route to Battery Park. (Photo via flickr user Tomas Fano)
For a city whose central business area is an island, New York City is surprisingly cut off from its waterways. With a road network ringing the island, numerous bridges and tunnels connecting Manhattan to the outside world and an extensive subway system that makes interborough travel an afterthought, the city can feel like just another landlocked metropolitan urban area.
Last week, though, I challenged that paradigm en route to a Yankee game. After more than two and a half decades of taking the 4, the D or the B (and once the C) to Yankee Stadium, my sister and I headed down to Pier 11 on Wednesday night, and at 5:30, we boarded the game-day special water taxi. The boat leaves 90 minutes before game time and drops its 150 passengers off on the far side of the new Metro-North stop at 153rd St. From there, it is about a ten-minute walk through a parking lot, over a train station and past the old stadium to the new ballpark.
As a means of travel to the stadium, the water taxi is more gimmick than practical mode of transit. Our door-to-door trip from Wall St. took over an hour while the 4 train takes approximately 35 minutes to make the same trip and leaves you closer to the stadium than the boat does. Yet, as we traveled, I marveled at the route. We motored past parts of the city most New Yorkers never see from the water, and my sister and discussed just how far some of those East Side dwellers are from the nearest subway stop. With a ferry stop only at 34th St. along the East Side, those who live far east either walk, take the bus or drive.
But what of the waterways? Ferry service in New York is never taken seriously, but a Times article published yesterday suggests that may change. Currently, approximately 100,000 people per day take ferries in New York, and according to Ariel Kaminer, most of those who aren’t taking the Staten Island ferry travel between New Jersey and Lower Manhattan. Some use the Ikea shuttle, and the once-a-day shuttle to and from the Rockaways has its followers.
Kaminer reports though that the city is looking to expand its use of the water ways. She writes:
Three public entities have been considering it from different angles. The Economic Development Corporation is soon to release its “Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study.” The Department of City Planning is interested in how ferries could revitalize the waterfront. And the Office of Emergency Management is looking around for mass-evacuation plans. (In a crisis, you wouldn’t want to be left hailing a taxicab.) Put all that together, and there’s a chance that a decade from now, ferries could be mentioned along with buses and subways as main-course options on New Yorkers’ transportation menu…
Ferries are a growth opportunity. To add new routes, you don’t need to dig a tunnel or lay a track. You don’t need to reroute traffic, build bridges or add lanes. And in many parts of New York, unlike almost every other city, you wouldn’t need to build big parking lots where riders could leave their cars. What cars?
What you need is a viable pier and a boat. You need a convenient way to get from water’s edge to people’s ultimate destinations. And you need someone to be in charge of it all…
It’s hard to imagine ferry service expanding very far unless it becomes a public initiative, an integrated system with coordinated schedules and MetroCard access. But who would lead such an initiative? The Metropolitan Transportation Authority? The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey? The Department of Transportation? No one seems to know.
Whatever value these public agencies ultimately assign to reducing car traffic, easing interborough transit, supporting waterfront development or other such civic goals, New Yorkers have a personal reason to care. Ferries are fun. They tend to cost a few dollars more than other forms of mass transit, but you can think of the difference as an inexpensive form of mental health care.
In a sense, Kaminer treats ferries like a gimmick. They’re fun, she says, because to landlocked New Yorkers, they are. But ferries could do a lot for the city’s transit pathways as long as planners recognize something about ferries: They aren’t very fast, and they should be used to connect areas of the city that aren’t near or accessible to other transit options.
Because New York City opted to ring its waterfronts with roads, the bulk of development has occurred near the middle of the island. While people do live along the waterfront, far more people work, live and play in the center of the island, and for millions, ferries are inconvenient, impractical and slow. But if the city can figure out a way to run cost-neutral or even profitable ferry service from areas that don’t enjoy easy access to subways or regular bus routes, the only thing in the way, as Kaminer notes, would be a lack of a pier.
For most, ferries won’t become a way of travel. We live far from the shorelines and work far from the shorelines. Plus, as my meandering trip up the East River last week demonstrated, ferry travel can take twice as long as a subway covering the same ground can. Yet, it makes sense to invest in the waterways. If even enough people for a few boat rides a day find the taxis cheaper and more convenient than their current commutes, the ferries will have paid off.
Jun
04
The month ahead for Fulton, the weekend ahead all around
Posted by: | CommentsBefore I launch into the service advisories, let me plug a piece from Friday afternoon. A Manhattan Supreme Court judge issued an injunction against the MTA in the station agent case. The MTA cannot close the station booths or fire agents until it holds the necessary public hearings. After that, the station agents will be dismissed, but not before the MTA doles out more money in salary. My coverage — with the court’s decision — is below.
Anyway, onto the good stuff: First, with June upon us, the MTA has issued another slew of changes for Fulton St. The poster is below, but note how there is an odd mid-month lull in work.
As for the weekend, it’s a tough one for Brooklyn. The 2 and 3 aren’t crossing the water, and the R is out of commission. SubwayWeekender has the map. These come to me from New York City Transit and are subject to change without notice. Be sure to check signs in your local station and leave plenty of time for traveling.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, 2 trains run between Wakefield-241st Street and Chambers Street, then are rerouted to the 1 line to South Ferry. For service between Manhattan and Brooklyn, customers should take the 2 to the South Ferry 1 station and use the free out-of-system transfer to the 5 at Bowling Green. These changes are due to a concrete pour at Borough Hall and track completion work between Wall Street and Fulton Street. Note: 5 trains make 2 stops to Flatbush Avenue. During the late night hours, shuttle trains run between Atlantic and Flatbush Avs. Manhattan-bound shuttle trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, 2 trains run local between 96th Street and South Ferry due to reconstruction of a track bridge underpass at 96th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5, to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, 3 trains run local between 96th Street and Times Square-42nd Street due to Reconstruct Track Bridge at Underpass at 96 Street. – I have no idea what this means.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, there are no 3 trains between 14th Street and New Lots Avenue. For service between Manhattan and Brooklyn, customers should transfer between the 3 and 2 at 14th Street, take the 2 to the South Ferry 1 station. Use the free out-of station transfer to the 4 at Bowling Green, making all 3 stops to New Lots Avenue. These changes are due to a concrete pour at Borough Hall, and track completion work between Wall Street and Fulton Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, 4 train service is extended to/from New Lots Avenue to replace the 3 in Brooklyn. These changes are due to a concrete pour at Borough Hall, and track completion work between Wall Street and Fulton Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6, 5 train service is extended to/from Flatbush Avenue to replace the 2 in Brooklyn. These changes are due to concrete pour at Borough Hall, and track completion work between Wall Street and Fulton Street. Note: Late night shuttle trains run between Atlantic and Flatbush Avs. Manhattan-bound shuttle trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, the last stop for some Bronx-bound 6 trains is 3rd Avenue-138th Street due to track panel installation between Morrison-Sound View Aves. and St. Lawrence Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains run express from Hunts Point Avenue to Pelham Bay Park due to station rehabilitation and structural repairs at Whitlock Avenue, Morrison-Sound View Avs and Parkchester and track panel installation between Morrison-Sound View Avs and St. Lawrence Avenue. Note: At Parkchester, train doors open onto the Manhattan-bound platform.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, A trains run local between 145th Street and 168th Street due to stair and column work at Broadway-Nassau Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, downtown A trains run local from 59th Street to West 4th Street and are then rerouted on the F line to Jay Street due to stair and column work at Broadway-Nassau Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, A trains run local between Euclid Avenue the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. due to stair and column work at Broadway-Nassau Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, there are no C trains running due to stair and column work at Broadway-Nassau Street. Customers may take the A or D instead. Note: D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street. A trains run local with exceptions.
From 11 p.m. Friday, June 4 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, Manhattan-bound D trains skip 174th -175th Sts. and 170th Street due to a track chip-out near 170th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, D trains run local between 59th Street and 145th Street due to stair and column work at Broadway-Nassau Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, Coney Island-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to rail and platform repairs along the West End Line.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 4 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, Manhattan-bound E trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to a track chip out north of Elmhurst Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 4 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, free shuttle buses replace E trains between Jamaica Center and Union Turnpike due to track switch renewal and asbestos abatement at Jamaica Center. Note: E trains are rerouted on the F between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Jamaica-179th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, Manhattan-bound F trains run on the A line from Jay Street to West 4th Street due to Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker St Transfer Construction.
There are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square. Customers should take the E or R instead. Note: Manhattan-bound E and R trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue over the weekend.
From 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6, J trains run every 24 minutes between Chambers Street and Broadway Junction due to rail replacements. Note: The last stop for some Manhattan-bound J trains is Broadway Junction.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 5 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, N trains run local on the R line between Canal Street and 59th Street in Brooklyn due to station work at 86th Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6, Manhattan-bound R trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to a track chip out north of Elmhurst Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 4 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7, there are no R trains between Whitehall Street and 95th Street in Brooklyn due to station work at 86th Street. The N trains and free shuttle buses provide alternate service. To travel between Whitehall Street and 59th Street in Brooklyn, customers should take the N. Between 59th Street and 95th Street in Brooklyn, customers should take the shuttle bus.
Jun
04
Judge orders MTA to keep station booths open
Posted by: | CommentsMTA will appeal ruling but begin public hearing process as well
The legal dispute over the MTA’s desires to close token booths will continue. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
A New York State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan has ordered the MTA to keep station booths open and staffed until the Authority can hold public hearings on the closures. This decision — a legal blow to the MTA — came nearly a month to the day after another judge issued a temporary restraining order that kept station booths open. The authority, which says it will both appear and follow the ruling, will now have to hold public hearings on the station booth closures before proceeding with the dismissal of 222 workers and the shuttering of over 100 booths.
The MTA first proposed closing the station booths in 2009 when a budget shortfall emerged. At the time, the authority held the hearings legally required under New York Public Authorities Law § 1205(5). When Albany approved the payroll tax package that guaranteed funding for the MTA, the authority decided to eliminate positions and close the booths through attrition rather than layoffs. Yet, when an $800 million deficit emerged in 2010, the authority announced its decision to implement layoffs but this time without a public hearing.
In its legal argument, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 challenged the decision to eschew hearings. The TWU alleged a violation of the Public Authorities Law that requires the MTA to hold a hearing when it is contemplating “any complete or partial closing of a passenger station…or any means of public access to such facility.” The judge agreed with the TWU that these closures proposed for 2010 warranted a new hearing even though they were materially identical to those put forward last year.
Taking an expansive view of the MTA’s requirements under the Public Authorities Law, Judge Saliann Scarpulla ordered the MTA to maintain the booths until hearings could be held. “As of May 2009, [the MTA] had informed the public that the earlier plan for mass subway token booth and customer assistant kiosk changes was not going to be implemented,” she wrote. “Once the respondents decided, almost a year later, to reimplement that plan, new hearings were required.”
In a sense, though, Judge Scarpulla’s order hinges almost exclusively on this technicality. Because the MTA is cutting station agents through firings after saying it would so through attrition 12 months ago, it must hold another hearing. After all, as the TWU alleged, the “concerns of the citizenry” could have shifted in time.
In a separate part of the opinion, however, Judge Scarpulla refuses to side with the TWU as it attempts to question the overall safety impact of the station agent dismissals. The TWU had wanted a judge to find that the booth closures would violate the MTA’s “statutory obligation to promote the safety and convenience of the public.” Since the MTA has traditionally been granted wide latitude in its operations, the final decision to close the booths is not, said the judge, “subject to judicial review.”
So where then does this decision leave the MTA? First, the authority does not have to rehire the 250 station agents who were fired in early May. As long as the authority maintains staffing levels necessary to keep the booths open, it can do what it pleases with its employees. Second, the MTA can go ahead with dismissals and closures after it follows the legally mandated procedures as set forth in the Public Authorities Law. In other words, after going through another public comment and hearing process, the Board can still vote to close the stations and still vote to fire the workers.
This ruling, then, is nothing more than a procedural and fiscal thorn in the MTA’s side, and it will probably cost $100,000 a day plus the expenses for the public hearings for the MTA to comply with it.
In response, the MTA expressed is displeasure over the ruling and vowed to both appeal and start the lengthy public hearing process. “The MTA is disappointed in today’s ruling that we cannot proceed with slated subway booth and kiosk closures without repeating the public hearing process. These closures were necessitated by the MTA’s dire financial situation, and the need for the savings they generate remains,” the authority said in a statement this afternoon. “While we disagree with the ruling and intend to appeal, we will be proceeding on a parallel track with the public hearing process. With that in mind, an MTA Board meeting will be scheduled for next week at which the Board will be asked to authorize the public hearing process to move this vital cost-saving initiative forward.”
I am still awaiting comment from the TWU.
After the jump, a copy of the court’s decision is embedded. Read More→
Jun
04
Cablevision proposes WiFi for LIRR, Metro-North
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As the MTA looks to equip its commuter rail trains with WiFi access, a major player in the New York telecom scene has entered the fray. Cablevision, owner of Optimum Online, wants to extend its burgeoning WiFi network onto the trains. The company says it can accomplish a rollout in 12 months at no cost to the MTA.
“Access to the Internet on MTA trains will transform the riding experience, and we believe Cablevision is uniquely positioned to deliver this enhancement through the extension of Optimum WiFi – already the nation’s largest and most advanced WiFi network – onto the rails,” John Bickham, Cablevision’s president of cable and communications, said in a statement. “As a New York-based company already providing popular WiFi access at nearly 200 MTA commuter rail stations we propose to deploy wireless Internet access across the entire MTA system within 12 months of selection, at no cost to the Transportation Authority or taxpayers.”
In a press release, Cablevision touted the high points of its proposal:
Under Cablevision’s proposal, submitted to the MTA today, the company would provide unlimited free access to its Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers and would provide a reasonable access option for non-customers. Cablevision would assume all costs associated with extending its Optimum WiFi network onto the trains and would also create a separate, private and secure, WiFi network exclusively for MTA use…
One of the key advantages of the Cablevision proposal to the MTA is that it provides for trackside WiFi backhaul – connected to Cablevision’s fiber optic wired network – as opposed to cellular transmission, ensuring network availability and sufficient bandwidth for riders. Trackside WiFi backhaul can support more than triple the number of simultaneous users and data capacity than a cellular-only option, promoting customer satisfaction by delivering a positive experience.
According to a Multichannel News report, AT&T, RailBand Group LLC, Mastech Enterprises and Mobilite all submitted RFPs as well prior to the June 2 deadline. The MTA has not yet determined when it will select a carrier, and the authority has not yet put forward a potential timeline for installation and activation of a WiFi network for commuter rail. Needless to say, the sooner the better for New York’s economy and those who need or want to work on the ride home or just surf the Internet.
Jun
04
A vote against Select Bus Service for all the wrong reasons
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NYC DOT’s proposed Select Bus Service plan for Rogers Ave. in Brooklyn includes bulbs for BRT, inset stops for local service and fewer parking spaces. (Rendering via the MTA/DOT SBS Presentation from Dec. 2009)
When it comes to purely local government in New York City, nothing stands in the way of progress more than the Community Boards. These glorified neighborhood associations are generally stocked with people who aren’t representative of their constituents and have not embraced a pro-transit, pro-biking, pro-pedestrian livable streets/livable city agenda. They vote against protected bike lanes and true rapid transit bus lanes because their cars need valuable on-street real estate for below-market parking spots. In a sense, the community boards are a mockery of democracy.
Late last week, in a move that would surprise no one, Community Board 15 out in Sheepshead Bay voted against Select Bus Service along the B44. The DOT and MTA — two organizations that will probably not heed the non-binding CB15 vote — have been planning to unveil a Select Bus Service route from Sheepshead Bay itself to Williamsburg with subway connections to the B, Q, 2, 5, A, C, J, M and Z trains. Already, 42,000 people ride the B44, and the SBS route should increase that total.
The Community Board though doesn’t want it. In car-heavy CB15 where only 50 percent of residents rely on mass transit, its representatives say the elimination of parking spots hurts “the little guy.” “I might start riding the bus more often,” Tom Bowers, a senior who no longer uses his car, said to a reporter. “But most of the time, things like this hurt the little guy.”
Others claimed the new bus route would “inconvenience” the neighborhood while at an April Community Board meeting, members decried the lost parking spaces. Comparing the long Brooklyn route to the Bronx’s Bx12 service, CB15′s chair cast a skeptical eye on the whole thing. “For all this money they’re putting out during a time when they’re cutting service, how much time are they really saving?” Theresa Scavo said. “I dont think six minutes is worth all of this disruption.” If my commute were six minutes faster each way every day, I’d save an hour a week and over two full days in commuting per year.
Of course, these Community Board vote comes as no surprise. As Ben Fried from Streetsblog meticulously detailed in May, CB15 is opposed to safer streets for seniors and feels that SBS pre-boarding receipts would lead to an immeasurable increase in paper trash on the floor. But, hey, more car emissions. I sometimes wonder if these Community Boards are simply parodies of government.
The real problem with this Brooklyn Select Bus Service route isn’t its impact on parking or the supposed cost of painting some lines on the ground and building out some bus bulbs. It’s the route selection. The B44 already serves its purpose; it gets riders to the nearest subway line while passing through some business corridors. Few, if any, people ride from Sheepshead Bay to Williamsburg, and that probably won’t change much with the introduction of Select Bus Service. A Flatbush or Utica Ave. route would have been preferable choices over the Nostrand/Rogers Ave. combination for both the traffic-calming impact and ridership levels.
When time comes to evaluate the bus lanes, NYC DOT and the MTA aren’t bound by the Community Board 15 vote. They can disregard it as the bitter rantings of an auto-centric neighborhood that can’t stand to lose some lane and parking space for the good of everyone else. While Tom Bowers may think better transit service will “hurt the little guy,” he’s completely wrong. Community Board vote or not, the little guy will win when buses move faster.
