Archive for May, 2011
May
16
Report: New buses too short, low on legroom
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the bigger comfort issues with New York City subway rolling stock prior to the R142 series concerned the bucket seats. Introduced in the mid-1980s, these seats were designed by people far skinnier than the average American, and straphangers would either squish themselves in or sacrifice potential seating space. When bench seats returned, so did a certain level of comfort. Unfortunately, the city’s bus fleet is a different story all together.
Currently, the buses still enjoy bucket seats not wide for anyone who weighs much more than 110 pounds, and on the newer model, legroom is nearly non-existent. If I’m riding the B63 or B67, I try to find side-facing seats so that my knees don’t hit the back of the seat in front of me, and I’m of average height. I can’t imagine how anyone larger than I am feels.
With new buses hitting the streets, the MTA had a chance to address these problems, but according to a report in The Post, they have not done so yet. Heather Haddon writes:
The MTA’s newest buses have New Yorkers scratching their heads at the numskull design, where riders 5-foot-2 or taller can easily hit their noggins on the low roofs. The Nova Diesel Standards are 61.5 inches high at their lowest point along the rear windows, as compared to 69 inches in the Nova RTS buses dating from the late 1990s. The older models don’t have interior steps leading to the back section in the rear…
A group of eight seats in the back are also dramatically short on legroom, with 15 inches of space total. Passengers sit facing each other in these intimate quarters, leaving 7.5 inches of space per person. The old RTS buses gave 10 inches of space for riders. The strange setup forces the long-legged to sprawl themselves into the aisle, The Post observed during a recent ride…
MTA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said that the reduced headroom is necessary to accommodate power and suspension systems. The buses are lower to the ground, making boarding quicker and eliminating the temperamental wheelchair lifts used in the older buses, she said.
The MTA hasn’t committed to ordering a full slate of new buses yet, but even if 90 arrive on the city streets with these legroom issues, that’s too many. Passenger comfort and convenience, often overlooked by the MTA, is apparently again being forgotten in the rush to purchase new equipment.
May
16
Taking advantage of arcane work rules
Posted by: | CommentsEvery year, a story similar to this one comes around. The Daily News or The Post writes about an MTA employee who uses overtime to pad both his annual salary and his pension. Feet are stomped; fists are shaken; and nothing ever changes.
Here’s this year’s version as reported by two Daily News reporters:
An LIRR engineer punched his ticket on the MTA gravy train again, pocketing nearly $175,000 in overtime and other perks in 2010 – his third straight year as one of the agency’s top earners. Though Dominick Masiello’s base salary was $75,389, he took home more than triple that amount – a staggering $250,401, payroll records show.
The monster payday was nothing new for Masiello, 57. For the past three years, the Long Island man has ranked among the top 10 highest-paid workers in terms of overtime and extras. In 2009, he raked in $147,514 in overtime and perks on top of his $75,389 salary. The previous year, he scored $160,000 in extras to pad his $73,193 salary.
Masiello retired from the Long Island Rail Road in December, but he still managed to take home a quarter-million dollars for the year – putting him among the MTA’s top 10 best-compensated employees in 2010, records show…Masiello defended his haul, saying union work rules allowed him to rake in big bucks. For example, he made an extra day’s pay when he was moved to a different station. “There’s nothing to hide,” he said from his modest, two-story brick home in Port Washington. “I worked hard for that money.”
The story makes more sense when you realize that worker pensions are based off of an employee’s final three years of earnings. It makes sense for those on the verge of retirement to pad their salaries with overtime in order to secure a more lucrative payoff after they hang it up.
Masiello wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the system. A few others cashed in on overtime and unused sick days to triple their salaries, and the MTA says it can’t do much about it. “Pension padding is an issue that we are trying to address through collective bargaining, but many of our pensions are legislatively mandated,” an authority source said to the News.
There’s certainly enough blame to go around here. The MTA’s management should attempt to approve and schedule overtime in such a way that puts an end to this practice while the union should be willing to reform its work rules. This is bound to be an issue during the looming collective bargaining sessions as the authority is hoping to change the way it does business.
Meanwhile, over at Market Urbanism, Stephen Smith this weekend explored five work rules that harm transit operations. The ones he explored aren’t quite as applicable in New York as they are elsewhere, but he focuses on how cross-utilization is not allowed and overtime abuse as well. With regards to the MTA, we see how station agents aren’t tasked with cleaning or security, and we see how work roles in maintenance shops hinder productivity as well. As commenters on Smith’s article noted, work rules have also prevented the MTA from adopting OPTO technology or better proof-of-payment systems on board commuter rails lines.
Ultimately, as the MTA will work this fall to secure capital funding, it will also try to improve the way it spends dollars on its payroll. While the authority has trimmed payroll by around $100 million through staffing cuts, labor efficiencies could push those costs — currently at $5.11 billion — down further. To save the system, the two sides will have to find an agreeable middle ground.
May
14
Weekend work impacting 16 subway lines
Posted by: | CommentsSorry for the delay in getting these up. I was out celebrating the end of law school last night. As always these come to me from New York City Transit and are subject to change without notice. Check signs in your local station and listen to on-board announcements. I’ve always received word from Shawn at Subway Weekender that he has removed the malware, and the site again safe to use as a resource. Check out the map here.
From 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, uptown 1 trains skip 103rd, 110th, 116th, and 125th Streets due to abatement work and painting at 125th Street. Customers may take the 1 to 168th Street and transfer to a downtown 1 train.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 10 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Bronx-bound 2 trains skip Jackson Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Street, 174th Street and East Tremont Avenue due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, 3 trains operate between 148th Street and New Lots Avenue due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, there is no 4 train service between Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street. The 3 and special J shuttle trains provide alternate service. Customers traveling to Brooklyn from Manhattan may take the 4 to Brooklyn Bridge-Chambers Street and transfer to the special J shuttle, making stops at nearby stations. Customers traveling to Manhattan from Brooklyn may take the 3 train to Atlantic Avenue and transfer to the special J shuttle to Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge, where uptown 4 trains are available. Note: 4 trains run local in both directions between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge.
From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, May 15, Bronx-bound 5 trains skip Jackson Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Street, 174th Street and East Tremont Avenue due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street.
From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, May 15, there are no 5 trains between Grand Central/42nd Street and Bowling Green due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street. Customers may take the 4 and/or special J shuttle train instead. Note: During this time, 5 trains operate every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Grand Central/42nd Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Bronx-bound 6 trains skip Whitlock Avenue and Morrison Avenue/Soundview due to station rehabilitations at Elder and St. Lawrence Avenues.
From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, Queens-bound 7 trains skip 82nd , 90th, 103rd and 111th Streets due to electrical work, surface prep and painting of the elevated structure at 111th Street. Customers traveling to these stations may take the 7 to Junction Blvd. or Mets-Willets Point and transfer to a Manhattan-bound 7.
(Rockaway Park Shuttle)
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Beach 90th Street and Far Rockaway due to station rehabilitations at Beach 36th and Beach 60th Streets. Note: A train replaces the S shuttle between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park.
During the overnight hours, from 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 6 a.m. Saturday, May 14, from 11:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14 to 7 a.m. Sunday, May 15, and from 11:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, uptown A trains skip 72nd, 81st, 86th, 96th, 103rd, 110th, and 116th Streets due track work north of 110th Street. Customers traveling to these stations should take the A to 125th Street and transfer to a downtown A.
During the early morning hours, from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, downtown A trains skip 50th, 23rd, and Spring Streets due to track work north of Canal Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, uptown C trains skip 72nd, 81st, 86th, 96th, 103rd, 110th and 116th Streets due to track work south of 110th Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, downtown C trains skip 50th, 23rd and Spring Streets due to track work north of Canal Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Bronx-bound D trains run on the N line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to station rehab and structural repair work at stations between 71st Street and Bay 50th and ADA work at Bay Parkway. There are no Bronx-bound D trains at Bay 50th, 25th Avenue, Bay Parkway, 20th Avenue, 18th Avenue, 79th Street, 71st Street, 55th Street, 50th Street, Ft. Hamilton Parkway or 9th Avenue stations.
During the overnight hours, from 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, May 14, from 11:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, May 15, and from 11:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Manhattan-bound E trains skip 65th Street, Northern Blvd., 46th Street, Steinway Street and 36th Street due to track work north of 36th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, downtown E trains skip 23rd and Spring Streets due to track work north of Canal Street.
At all times until 5 a.m. Monday, May 23, 2011, Manhattan-bound F trains skip Ft. Hamilton Parkway and 15th Street-Prospect Park due to the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation Project. Manhattan-bound F trains will continue to bypass Smith-9th Sts.
From 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, free shuttle buses replace F trains between Avenue X and Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue due to rail installation.
From 11 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Queens-bound F trains will skip 14th Street and 23rd Street due to platform edge, substation rehab and track work at 34th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Brooklyn-bound F trains operate on the M line from Roosevelt Avenue to 47th-50th Sts. due to platform and ceiling work at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street. Customers traveling to 21st Street-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Avenue-63rd Street and 57th Street may take the Brooklyn-bound F to 47th-50th Sts. and transfer to a Queens-bound F.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Brooklyn-bound N trains operate on the D line from 36th Street to Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue due to track panel installation along the route. There is no Brooklyn-bound N service at 8th Avenue, Ft. Hamilton Pkwy, 18th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Bay Pkwy, Kings Highway, Avenue U or 86th Street stations.
From 5 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, Brooklyn-bound R trains skip 65th Street, Northern Blvd, 46th Street, Steinway Street and 36th Street due to track work north of 36th Street. Customers traveling to these stations may take the R to Queens Plaza and transfer to a Forest Hills/71st Avenue-bound R.
(Rockaway Park Shuttle)
From 11 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, A trains replace the S shuttle between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park due to station rehabilitation work at Beach 36th and Beach 60th Streets.
May
13
Council approves higher fines for recalcitrant cabbies
Posted by: | CommentsAs Mayor Bloomberg and the Taxi & Limousine Commission continue to search for ways to provide better cab service outside of Manhattan, the City Council took a step that should create greater incentives for cranky cabbies. The Council has voted to increase fines for cab drivers who refuse passengers a trip anywhere within the five boroughs. Under the new fine structure, cab drivers who are found in violation of the rules will be fined $500 for the first offense and $1000 for a second offense within two years. A driver found guilty of three offenses in three years will likely lose his or her license.
The new fines represent an increase of $150 for first-time violations. “This legislation is designed to send a very specific message, and that message is that no cab driver should refuse a person access to a cab based on where they want to go,” James Vacca, chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee said. “These days are coming to an end. People have a right to go where they want to go.”
We’ve debated the economics of fare refusals for a few weeks now as the city looks to find a way to add medallion cabs for people to hail to the streets of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The argument essentially boils down to Vacca’s statement. Not only do people have the right to go where they want, but cab drivers licensed by the city must follow the city’s rules. If they don’t, they’ll have to pay.
May
13
Building a better bus map
Posted by: | CommentsOver the past few years, I’ve often examined the debate surrounding the New York City subway map. The map is far from perfect, and functionality and form often fight it out with design and readability emerging as the losers. While recent redesigns have pared down the extraneous information, the subway map is an incomplete glimpse at the subway system as it runs during certain hours of the day. For all of that, the bus maps are even worse.
Most notably is a lack of a comprehensive bus map. There is no publicly available map that unites bus service in all five boroughs. Instead, the maps focus on individual boroughs with some interborough express bus service highlighted as well. Even still, they are borderline illegible. Take a look, for instance, at the inset of Downtown Brooklyn available on the latest version of the borough-based bus:
It’s no wonder New Yorkers often find the bus system so hard to untangle when the visual representations do nothing to help. It’s almost easier to say what’s right about this map than what’s wrong. The New York City grid is very easy to follow here. Otherwise, colors, lines, shapes, arrows and numbers all bleed together to create something often harder to unpack that even the world’s toughest maze.
These days, it seems as though the MTA has given up on the bus map. The notes on the back are as tough to follow as the schematic on the front, and those in the city who rely on the buses learn their routes through either trial and error or the the strip maps on the bus poles. Admittedly, it’s tough to represent the bus system graphically, but with no rhyme or reason to the map’s colors, the current iteration fails.
Enter Anthony Denaro. The third-generation New Yorker has redesigned the Brooklyn bus map to show how one might better illustrate the system. Noting that the current map “lacks visual and operational organization strategy” and “underplays transfers with subway stations,” he introduces a map simplified by hub. The hubs are centered around Williamsburg, Ridgewood, East New York, Downtown, Bay Ridge, and Coney Island, and buses are grouped by color. “Riders,” he writes, “can make an approximation that a line will travel towards their neighborhood and ‘localizes’ those routes to their neighborhoods.”
Here’s the same Downtown Brooklyn inset:
What this move loses in geographical accuracy it more than makes up for in terms of readability. Overall, it’s much easier to trace the path of a bus and get a general sense of where the route will take a potential rider. Furthermore, instead of a confusing mass of information on the back, Denaro’s map offers neighborhood insets too. Here’s Williamsburg with subway transfers shown:
Right now, it’s clearly a work in progress, but it highlights a problem often ignored. If people can’t understand the bus system, they’re apt simply to ignore it. By presenting a map that makes more sense — one that is organized and color-coded — the MTA could indirectly encourage potential riders to hop on the bus. After all, knowing where you’re going is half the battle.
May
12
The MTA Capital Program’s fall date with destiny
Posted by: | Comments
The MTA’s current five-year capital program, unfunded after 2011 and facing a $10-$13 billion funding gap, will live or die this fall, according to a report today by Crain’s Insider. The city’s daily newsletter reports today that Cuomo Administration will wait until the fall to attempt to usher through a political and economic compromise that will save the MTA’s ambitious capital improvement budget.
The brief report aptly sums up the state of things. “Transportation advocates are anxious but not panicked,” it says. “The Legislature rarely acts before it must, and the MTA’s capital plan is funded through 2011.” After 2011 remains a black hole of uncertainty, but Crain’s sources are cautiously optimistic with a few caveats. The report details:
Funding talks will coincide with contract negotiations with the MTA’s largest union, Transport Workers Union Local 100. That will add an extra wrinkle to discussions, perhaps creating a perception that the MTA is “getting squeezed from all sides to make ends meet,” said one transportation insider.
Binding arbitration could neutralize the contract’s politics. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrests concessions in a new contract with state workers, arbitrators might award the MTA a similar deal…
It remains unclear exactly how much the MTA will need to borrow, but insiders say bonding could require $750 million to $1 billion in new annual revenue starting next year. Fares have been raised for three consecutive years, and a fare hike is already scheduled for 2013, so another one in 2012 is unlikely. The Legislature will instead have to vote on new taxes or fees during a special session late in the year or early next year.
A few things: I’ve heard from a few people that the MTA’s borrowing capabilities are completely maxed out right now. Without an additional revenue source, it cannot bond out more money for the capital plan. Additionally, while Crain’s suggests binding arbitration for the MTA’s looming negotiations with the TWU, the last time the authority agreed to such a plan resulted in the 11 percent raises. The MTA is already under intense pressure not to go binding arbitration without wresting concessions from the TWU, and I’m surprised Crain’s would even suggest it.
The report notes that state Republicans may resist an effort to identify a revenue source for the MTA without an ironclad promise to fund the next state Department of Transportation capital plan as well. Such a compromise would likely lead to increased state spending, but by keeping these capital budgets funding, the state will guarantee jobs for the construction industry as well. For now, this looming political fight is on hold, but come the fall, the fight for funding will grow tense.
May
12
Video: Talking MetroCard futures on NBC
Posted by: | Comments
View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com
Last night, I made an appearance on NBC New York Non-Stop’s Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough to talk about the future of MetroCards. For regular SAS readers, this is a topic well covered in recent months as the MTA gears up to phase out the MetroCard in exchange for a tap-and-go system revolving around bank cards and an MTA Card. If you missed it last night, you can check out my appearance in the video embedded above. Enjoy.
May
12
Video of the Day: Fine dining on the L
Posted by: | CommentsWe know all about the folks along the L train who put on a movable feast nearly two weeks ago. The Times reported on the culinary ride underground and spoke to those who participated. As with any good media stunt, though, the organizers brought along their own videographers, and today, we have the video of the fine dining.
In the 5:45 clip, we see Michael Cirino, the event’s organizer, put on his meal. The chefs feed both suspecting and unsuspecting straphangers their meal, and of course, the crowd reactions are great. Who expects such fine dining on a Rockaway-bound L train anyway?
The folks in charge of this experience go by the name a razor, shiny knife, and they call themselves an educational, social and theatrical culinary experience. They put on themed events all over the place and have established a small website with a bunch of acknowledgments.
The MTA wasn’t originally too amused by the dinner party. “A dinner party on the L train?” Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said to The Times a few weeks ago. “No. Subway trains are for riding, not for holding parties.” I, however, find the idea amusing. I could see why someone might not want the interruptions or the hassle, but a dinner party would brighten up my usually mundane commute on the B train. Live and let live.
May
11
Talking MetroCards on NBC New York Nonstop
Posted by: | CommentsAs the MTA moves its long-standing plans to replace the MetroCard into gear, the city’s media outlets are starting to take notice. Will we see a debit/credit card-based system? Proof-of-payment expansion? A proprietary card? Or perhaps a combination of all four? Tonight, as part of NBC New York’s Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough, I’ll be on NBC Non-Stop’s 7 p.m. show. I’m not sure what specific time my segment will air, but it’s will likely be between 7:15 and 8 p.m. For channel listings, check out this page. Be sure to tune in, and for those who miss it, I’ll try to post a video tomorrow.
May
11
The federal rail debate as seen through Gov. Christie
Posted by: | CommentsWhen northeastern politicians gathered at Penn Station on Monday to accept Florida’s high-speed rail dollars, a handful of New Jersey’s representatives to Washington, D.C. made their appearances while New York’s Governor issued a perfunctory station. Conspicuous in his absence and silence was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. For more than six months now, Christie and the federal Department of Transportation have squared off over the New Jersey governor’s decision to torpedo the ARC Tunnel without first searching for a better funding solution. Now, as high speed rail plans inch slowly forward, Christie and his actions have come to represent one side of the great divide.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal today, Lisa Fleisher and Andrew Grossman explore how Christie’s position is representative of one line of political thinking on public infrastructure spending. It is newsworthy, and obviously so, to highlight how the redistribution of Florida’s HSR money intentionally omitted funding for New Jersey Transit projects. They write:
As spending on infrastructure projects becomes increasingly controversial, two camps of public officials have emerged. One is represented by Mr. Christie and some other Republican governors who have turned down federal money for rail projects because they’re worried about their states bearing the burden of cost overruns. The other is represented by the coterie of congressmen and officials from New York and New Jersey who surrounded Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as he declared that he’s willing to open his wallet to “reliable partners” who will also open theirs.
Federal officials were reluctant to fund the Portal Bridge project in part because they were wary of starting another major project with Mr. Christie, whom they viewed as unreliable because of his decision last year to cancel a trans-Hudson rail tunnel that was partially federally funded, according to people familiar with the matter. The calculation was a practical consideration, rather than spiteful or political one, these people said.
A spokesman for Mr. Christie said the governor is committed to rail projects. “The governor has been pretty clear that he recognizes the need for infrastructure investment and particularly increased trans-Hudson rail capacity,” a spokesman for Mr. Christie, Kevin Roberts, said. “That being said, the governor was obviously clear when it came to the [trans-Hudson tunnel] project specifically that it wasn’t an equitable deal for New Jersey.”
Whether or not the deal was an equitable one for New Jersey is still a point of contention. Proponents allege that the ARC Tunnel, despite potential cost overruns, would have led to markedly faster commutes and a corresponding increase in property values throughout the Garden State. They also claim that Gov. Christie did not attempt to figure out how to keep cost overruns from spiraling out of control. The DOT assessment issued last year said costs could have ranged from $1-$5 billion over budget, and while Christie has latched onto the higher figure, he didn’t even try to address the overruns while the project was still largely an idea on paper.
Opponents, though, see the federal government as cutting a good deal and then running away. Dangling federal dollars but no promises of future funding partnerships, the feds can convince states to shoulder the burden for expensive infrastructure upgrades. It’s a valid concern, but we haven’t seen those concerns play out in real life. Will the feds leave states high and dry or will Washington representatives find a way to forge better funding partnerships?
Ultimately, though, the words of Frank Lautenberg, a Senator from New Jersey who is embroiled in the battle over $271 million in ARC funding, ring true. “We learned something in New Jersey,” he said on Monday. “We learned that if you reject federal money, you gain nothing. You gain nothing. And you pay a heck of a price for it.”
