Archive for June, 2011
Jun
22
From Toronto, a familiar cry on naming rights
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The naming rights wave has become a plague throughout North America. What started a successful one-off in Philadelphia with AT&T purchasing the rights to SEPTA’s stadium stop has turned into an unobtainable Holy Grail for cash-strapped transit agencies. If they could just convince major companies and big advertisers to pony up dollars for naming rights, all of the financial ills can be cured. Or at least, that’s the thinking.
Over the last year or so, we’ve seen countless cities bring up naming rights deals. Chicago tried to parlay the success of its venture with Apple into a broader attempt to attract corporate sponsors. Austin and New Jersey Transit have mentioned their interest, and Boston too wants to lure in naming partners.
It is, though, just a mirage. Companies don’t draw much power from teaming up with transit agencies that often aren’t very popular in the public mind to stick their names on stations that attract a few thousand folks per day. Still, that won’t stop everyone from trying, and this time, it’s Toronto’s turn.
The story from Canada is frankly hilarious. Toronto has a $774 million budget gap, and it thanks it can close a significant portion of that gap by renaming everything. Never mind that few cities have been able to attract $10 million in naming rights, let alone a few hundred. “As long as it’s called the right name — Spadina McDonald’s, whatever — if it brings in revenue, I honestly don’t believe anyone cares,” City Councillor Doug Ford said.
Toronto officials claim that the TTC is in dire need of both an infusion of cash and some renovations. If private companies want to help out, some will welcome them with open arms. Others, however, seem to recognize the reality of the situation. “There is not big money in them there hills,” Joe Mihevc said. “You need millions of dollars to fix up a subway. It really is not the way we should be naming these public assets.”
The complaints put forward by those in support of the deal in Toronto are the same we’ve heard everywhere. Station names should retain their geographic signifiers as both tourists, locals and everyone in between need to be able to navigate the system. If corporations are willing to work out deals within those parameters involving significant amounts of cash, TTC officials are certainly willing to listen. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
The problem, as it always is, boils down to the dollars. Naming rights deals are over. The Nationals, playing in a new baseball stadium in DC, haven’t found a corporate naming partner in four years. The Meadowlands closer to home are still just that. On a more local level, authorities often find it difficult to scrounge up those willing to commit to more ambitious display ads or wrapped subway cars. Naming rights are rarely even on the table.
For all of the talk of naming rights as the next great thing, the largest deals barely deliver revenue. Barclays will append its name to Atlantic/Pacific for a few hundred thousand dollars a year over 20 years. AT&T’s deal with SEPTA runs for a few million over five years. Other than that, politicians and transit planners are wasting their time and shirking their duties. Across the country, officials should try to find true and steady sources of revenue. Naming rights just represent an idea that wasn’t very good in the first place and hasn’t led to any significant amounts of money.
Jun
21
Map of the Day: Smith/9th closed until 2012
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In the grand scheme of New York City’s subway system, the Smith/9th Sts. station along the IND Culver line isn’t a very popular one. Averaging just under 4000 passengers a day in 2010, it was only the 287th most popular stop around. Despite its low ridership, it is both one of the most picaresque and precarious in the city. The highest station in the system with views of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline, the viaduct on which it sits has been draped in a protective sheathing for years, and the station has been badly in need of a rehab.
Since late 2007, the MTA had been planning a full station overhaul for the Smith/9th Sts. stop, and for the past few years, they have warned community boards and neighborhood groups of a looming 2011 full station closure. When the service cuts came last year, the authority warned that it would not be able to provide additional shuttle bus service, but when zero hour arrived yesterday and the MTA shuttered the station until next March, people were still upset.
Both Carroll Gardens’ Patch site and NY1 covered frustrated commuters, and the two resulting stories are among my favorites in local outrage. Red Hook residents, who clearly drew the short straw here, will have to take a bus ride either into Park Slope or Downtown Brooklyn to reach their trains, and while these folks complained the most about the state of the station and the safety concerns of the Culver Viaduct, they now are going to complain about the MTA’s fixing up the station as well.
My favorite quotes came from Henry Ramos who spoke to a Patch author. “I am pissed,” he said. “I’m like ‘What am I gonna do now?’” Ramos comes from Williamsburg regularly, and despite a partial platform closure for three months, numerous signs and years of outrage, he wanted even more signs that he probably wouldn’t have read anyway at the station.
Furthermore, he’s bemoaning the fact that the bus isn’t a free shuttle. “If you don’t got a MetroCard for the bus, you gotta walk,” he said. Does that mean he was hopping the turnstile to board the subway? If he has a MetroCard for the bus, he has a free transfer for the ride to Red Hook. But then again, it’s far easier to complain about something long expected than it is to plan ahead.
Once the work on the viaduct that doesn’t require trains to be re-routed is finished, the station will reopen. For those in Red Hook and the southern ends of Carroll Gardens, it’s going to be a long nine months.
Jun
21
Schumer: Spend ARC money on East Side Access
Posted by: | CommentsWith the MTA’s capital budget funded only through the end of the year, New York’s Senators down in D.C. are growing worried that key infrastructure (and job-creation) projects are going to run out of dollars when the calendar flips to 2012. To that end, Sen. Chuck Schumer has called upon the U.S. Department of Transportation to shift $2.2 billion in what would have been ARC Tunnel money over to the East Side Access project as a low-interest loan. This would guarantee completion of the project and avoid a slowdown should the state fail to act on the MTA capital budget this fall.
“While we have collectively committed billions of dollars to this project, it’s vital that the MTA has the resources it needs to finish this critical mass transit project that has the potential to alleviate congestion for tens of thousands of commuters who use the Long Island Rail Road every day,” he said in a letter to FRA officials. “Though the USDOT has never approved a financing package of this size under the RRIF program … the USDOT was willing to approve a loan of similar size for New Jersey to fund the ARC tunnel.”
DOT did not comment to Transportation Nation, but the MTA confirmed it had applied for a grant for the project. An authority spokesman said the MTA is “in discussions with the U.S. DOT as part of the application process but we don’t have an estimate on when we’ll hear back.” It would be money well spent.
Jun
21
Turning to buses for better LaGuardia access
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Initial DOT plans for bus access to LaGuardia have focused on five potential routes.
For an airport so close to Midtown Manhattan, LaGuardia often seems very far away. The N and Q trains terminate tantalizingly close to the airport, and the 7 train seems to skirt right on by. But with no direct subway access, one of the nation’s busiest airports remains trapped on the wrong side of a bunch of roads, accessible only by cars, taxis or buses that slowly wind their way through local Queens streets.
The dearth of adequate transit options for the nearly 24 million passengers who pass through the airport isn’t for lack of trying. As I’ve written in the past, many wanted to bring the subway to LaGuardia, but intense NIMBYism and a high pricetag killed the project. Now, we’re left with five local buses, an array of private operators and surface transit. That might change soon.
For as long as the New York City Department of Transportation has focused on its so-called “bus rapid transit” plan, the LaGuardia-Elmhurst corridord has sat atop the priority list. New Yorkers long identified it as an area in need of better access, and city planners know that the area is underserved. Finally, DOT is getting around to studying the corridor.
I learned today — via Cap’n Transit’s post to Twitter — of this DOT web page touting the LaGuardia Airport Access Alternatives Analysis. The snazzy map up on top of this post came from that page in fact. Right now, the website is bare bones. In addition to the map, it features three paragraphs of text:
LaGuardia Airport is the only major airport in the New York metro area without a rapid transit connection, and much of western Queens lacks easy access to the subway for local travel. The idea of providing rapid transit for the airport and the surrounding community has been studied many times over the years, but nothing has ever been implemented.
The LaGuardia Airport corridor was identified as needing shorter term, lower cost transit improvements by area residents as part of the Bus Rapid Transit Phase II study in 2009. In particular, the area generates a high density of transit trips that are a long distance from the subway. The corridor is currently served by the M60,Q33, Q47, Q48 and Q72 bus routes, but service on these routes is often slowed by narrow streets and long dwell times.
With this in mind, DOT requested and received funding from the Federal Transit Administration to conduct a LaGuardia Airport Access Alternatives Analysis. The Alternatives Analysis began in May 2011, and will focus on implementable recommendations. The study will look at both airport trips and trips made by the many residents that live close to the airport. DOT will work closely with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and other City and State agencies throughout the study.
Essentially, two years after residents urged DOT to explore improving access to LaGuardia, the department is finally ready to begin that study. The process is going to be a slow one, and it will likely be at least two years before we see any real transportation improvements. In fact, according to DOT’s schedule, although this month will play host to the first public meeting, the selection of the “Locally Preferred Alternative” won’t happen until next May, and the agency anticipates implementing the initial recommendations sometime in 2013. Obvious transit improvements happen very slowly in New York City.
What then should we anticipate? Although the plans are rough sketches based upon public input from 2009, DOT will have to find a way to overcome the narrow streets and long dwell times. To that end, we’ll see buses focused on wider corridors, and we’ll see Select Bus Service-like improvements implemented. Pre-board fare payment is an obvious one, and while a Manhattan-to-LaGuardia route would be ripe for a truly dedicated lane, the city has not been able to overcome small but loud complaints concerning those types of beneficial travel lanes.
Essentially, earlier studies identified five potential routes, and each should see travel upgrades. The city would like to connect LaGuardia to Willets Point and the 7 in Flushing, the Jackson Heights hub at Roosevelt Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, 125th St. via a stop along the N/Q in Astoria and into the Bronx via Third or Webster Avenues. That’s the easy part. Getting the right improvements implementing on the ground will not, but DOT now has a chance to improve travel to and from a popular urban airport that has never been connected to the subway. It’s an opportunity the city can’t afford to let slip away yet again.
Jun
20
Photo of the Day: Juicy ads at Grand Central
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Photo by Benjamin Kabak
When: June 15, 2011
Where: The staircase leading up from the Shuttle platform to the entryway to Grand Central Terminal at 42nd St.
I found myself last week walking past the Shuttle platform after entering the subway on 42nd St. and Madison Ave. As I neared the walkway to the IRT complex, I spied these in-staircase advertisements on the steps leading up from the Shuttle platform. As an orange juice connoisseur, I thoroughly enjoyed the subject matter, but what struck me even more so was the presentation of the advertising. I believe this is the first time the MTA has placed a billboard ad inside a staircase.
The ad, on display just a few yards from a train wrapped in a promotional campaign for Lady Gaga’s latest album, works best from a distance. As harried straphangers approach the staircases, the ad comes into view, and Simply Orange is on display for everyone to see. This presentation too is appropriate only for stations that have expansive views and staircases. It wouldn’t work at, say, the 79th St. entrance along the 1 train because those exiting the station never see the staircase from a distance.
As we know, the MTA is trying to eke as many advertising dollars as possible out of the subway system, and the 42nd St. corridor is the ideal location for it. Grand Central is the system’s second busiest subway station, and commuters bound for Midtown office buildings filter through the Shuttle station. This isn’t the first advertisement to adorn the staircase, and we’ll have to see where else these types of ads end up. For now, I’m a fan of the presentation even as advertising becomes more pervasive throughout the system.
Jun
20
State legislature approves railroad platform smoking ban
Posted by: | CommentsAs part of its flurry of late-session legislation last week, the State Senate approved a measure that would ban smoking on all LIRR and Metro-North platforms. Sponsored by Sen. Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. from Merrick, the bill (S3461C) mimics a move made by both New York City and New Jersey within the past few years. It would ban smoking in outdoor spaces for ticketing, boarding or platforms of train stations operated by the MTA or its subsidiaries, and it has already cleared the state Assembly.
“Thousands of commuters are being exposed to harmful second-hand smoke every time someone lights up a cigarette while waiting for a train,” Senator Fuschillo, a leading anti-smoking representative, said. “Second-hand smoke exposure can lead to a number of different health problems, even among non-smokers. New York needs to expand its own anti-smoking laws to better protect people from second-hand smoke.”
The bill has garnered the support of the American Cancer Society and will now be presented to Gov. Cuomo for his signature. Enforcement, of course, remains another matter entirely.
Jun
20
Action on livery cab hails could come from Albany
Posted by: | CommentsAs the City Council, beholden to the interests of those who own taxi medallions, has delayed action on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to expand taxi service beyond the cozy confines of Manhattan, the mayor has found an ally in Albany. In an attempt to bypass the city’s homerule and with prodding by the mayor, the Assembly and Senate are both considering a bill that would legalize street hails for livery cabs north of 96th St. and outside of Manhattan. With the legislative session set to end this week, action could come quickly.
Both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported on this news late Sunday night, and the full text of the bill under consideration is available here. The move is essentially an end run around the City Council. Andrew Grossman from The Journal has more:
Lawmakers are on the verge of approving sweeping changes to New York’s taxi industry with the aim of improving cab service outside Manhattan. The changes include the creation of 30,000 permits that would allow owners to pick up passengers who hail them on the street everywhere in the city except at the airports and below West 110th Street and East 96th Street in Manhattan. Those permits would sell for $1,500, and the new cabs would likely have meters.
Currently, only yellow cabs with one of the 13,000 medallions—which sell for more than $800,000 on the open market—tacked to their hoods are allowed to pick up passengers who haven’t called ahead. But city data show that yellow taxis rarely stray beyond the airports and Manhattan south of Harlem. Everywhere else, New Yorkers looking to hire a car usually either have to call ahead or flag down a livery cab. The latter practice is illegal but common.
Since January, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been trying to change that by creating a new kind of taxi that could be hailed legally in places where pickups that are currently illegal often happen. Each new plan presented by the city has angered a different part of the taxi industry. A version of the plan similar to the one under consideration in Albany was stopped by the yellow-taxi industry’s allies in the City Council earlier this year. But the bills lawmakers could vote on early this week don’t require council approval because they deem improved taxi service in the outer boroughs a matter of “substantial state concern.”
If Albany acts on this measure, you can bet that lawsuits will follow nearly immediately. The bill itself says that the “substantial state concern” focuses around the “public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the state of New York traveling to, from and within the city of New York.” It claims that “the majority of residents and nonresidents of the city of New York do not currently have access to the necessary amount of legal, licensed taxicabs available for street hails when traveling within the city.” Despite the truth of that statement, relying on that claim for purposes of overriding home rule in regards to a matter entirely within the purview of the City of New York may be a different (legal) matter all together.
Ultimate legal challenges aside, the livery and yellow cab industries are, as The Times notes, springing into action. Yellow cab owners worry about the devaluing of their medallions. “If one livery car has a meter in it and has the right to pick up street hails, every single livery in New York City will look at that as a green light to do what they are doing illegally now, and that’s picking up our fares,” David Pollack said. “This is life and death for the yellow taxi industry.”
But it isn’t. In fact, recent news coverages has more than adequately exposed the contradictions inherent in Pollack’s hyperbole. Yellow taxi drivers often refuse to take folks to non-Manhattan destinations and rarely cruise for hails in those neighborhoods because it’s just not worth it. In fact, some in the taxi industry say outer borough fares are just three percent of their total take. These yellow cab drivers can’t complain about longer trips over bridges and through tunnels while the medallion owners complain about competition. Something has to give. (For more, check out Cap’n Transit’s recent post.)
Meanwhile, the livery owners aren’t too keen on this plan either. Fernando Mateo of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers summed it up: “We are in disbelief that this is what we’re winding up with. It’s better that we keep the status quo as it is. Why create change? It’s not right. I don’t understand what the mentality at City Hall really is right now.” The federation seems to be concerned that the cost of the medallion will price some livery drivers out. Those who can afford it will legally be allowed to pick up street hails while others will fall behind.
Ultimately, then, this seems to be an imperfect solution to a problem that no one is willing to tackle properly. Taxis play a vital role in urban life where people can’t afford to and don’t want to rely on personal automobiles for trips that aren’t suitable for buses or subways. People in New York City need taxis to play a role travel, and right now, medallion owners, yellow cab drivers and livery cab companies do not see their interested aligned with each other or with the 7 million of us who live outside of Manhattan or north of 96th St. This plan seems to be a solution, but it likely isn’t the solution.
Jun
17
Weekend work impacting service on 16 lines
Posted by: | CommentsBusy weekend of work again. Watch the IRT lines in particular. Subway Weekender has the map.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, there are no 1 trains between 242nd Street and 168th Street due to station and structural rehab work at Dyckman Street, canopy and platform edge work from 242nd Street to 207th Street. A trains, free shuttle buses and the M3 bus provide alternate service. Free shuttle buses operate:
- On Broadway between 242nd Street and 215th Street, then connect to the 207th Street A station.
- On St. Nicholas Avenue between 191st Street and 168th Street
From 4 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 19, Bronx-bound 2 trains run express from 3rd Avenue-149th Street to East 180th Street due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Brooklyn-bound 3 trains run express from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue due to cable installation at Nostrand Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, downtown 4 trains run express from Grand Central-42nd Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound 4 trains run express from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue due to cable installation at Nostrand Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, there is no 5 service between Dyre Avenue and 149th Street-Grand Concourse due to track work south of Morris Park. Free shuttle buses and 2 trains provide alternate service. Shuttle buses replace the 5 between Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street. Customers may transfer between the shuttle bus and the 2 train at East 180th Street. The 2 makes all 5 stops between East 180th Street and 149th Street-Grand Concourse. Note: 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Bowling Green and 149th Street-Grand Concourse.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, downtown 6 trains run express from Grand Central-42nd Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Manhattan-bound 6 trains skip Morrison Avenue-Soundview and Whitlock Avenue due to station rehabilitation at Elder Avenue and St. Lawrence Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, overnight uptown A and daytime uptown C trains operate express between 59th Street-Columbus Circle and 125th Street due to track work south of 110th Street. There is no uptown local service at 72nd, 81st, 86th, 96th, 103rd, 110th, and 116th Streets this weekend. Customers traveling to these stations may take the uptown A or C to 125th Street and transfer to a downtown train. Customers heading to stations above 125th Street from these stations may take the downtown A or C to 59th Street and transfer to an uptown train.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to West 4th Street, then are rerouted to the F line to Jay Street-MetroTech due to escalator installation work at Fulton Street and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound C trains run on the F line from West 4th Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to escalator installation work at Fulton Street and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue (express during the day) due to structural repair/station rehabilitation from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway.
From 5:30 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Manhattan-bound E trains run local from Union Turnpike to Roosevelt Avenue due to cable replacement.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Queens-bound F trains run on the A line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound F trains run on the M line from 36th Street in Queens to 47th-50th Sts. due to station rehab work at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street.
From 12:01 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Union Turnpike to Roosevelt Avenue due to cable replacement.
From 11 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday June 20, there are no G trains between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Church Avenue due to track work north of Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. G trains operate in two sections:
- Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs and
- Between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. (every 20 minutes)
Note: The A provides connecting service between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Jay Street-MetroTech.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, L trains run in two sections due to track work between Union Square and 6th Avenue:
- Between Rockaway Parkway and Bedford Avenue and
- Between Bedford Avenue and Union Square (every 16 minutes). Trains skip 3rd Avenue in both directions.
M14 and free shuttle buses (overnight) replace trains between 1st and 8th Avenues.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, June 20, Brooklyn-bound N trains operate over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to installation of tactile and platform tiles at Cortlandt Street. There are no Brooklyn-bound trains at City Hall, Rector Street, Whitehall Street, Court Street and Jay Street-MetroTech. Customers may use the 4 train at nearby stations.
From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, June 18, Brooklyn-bound Q trains skip Avenue M due to completion work on southbound stairs and annex area. Free shuttle buses operate between Avenue M and Kings Highway.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, Brooklyn-bound R trains operate over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue due to installation of tactile and platform tiles at Cortlandt Street.
Jun
17
Gelinas: No Senate leadership on runaway wages
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this week, when the Republican-controlled State Senate voted to repeal the payroll tax, I accused them of playing politics poorly with the MTA. I’ve already explained why Sen. Lee Zeldin’s fiscal claims are pure fantasy, and I’m not the only one eying this measure with skepticism.
In The Post today, Nicole Gelinas takes the Senate to task for missing what she feels are the right issues. First, Zeldin’s charges that the MTA could save $1.4 billion seem to resemble nothing approaching reality, and second, she wants to see state leaders getting tougher on wages and employee benefits. I’ll excerpt extensively for the purposes of discussion:
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans fulfilled a longtime promise, voting to slash the tax roughly in half: Their plan would exempt small businesses and schools come January, then end the tax in the suburbs over two years, while reducing it by a third within the city. But the bill has no chance in the Assembly; all the GOP has done is remind us that the shift of party control of the Senate only changes the sound of the grandstanding. The Republicans are no more likely to stick up for taxpayers and riders against public-sector unions than were the Democrats.
Sure, Sen. Lee Zeldin, the freshman Long Islander who has pushed hardest for the bill, sounds good. He says correctly that the MTA can be more efficient, sell off real estate and explore some privatization. But the MTA is already doing the first two: Headcount is down 4,066 people since 2008. Even if it cuts 4,000 more, it would still face a $660 million annual deficit by 2014.
Plus, Zeldin and colleagues are tiptoeing around the elephant in the room: Albany has no idea where to get the $9.9 billion needed for the next three years’ worth of investments in rail cars and buses, plus construction projects like bringing the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central. Zeldin notes gamely that MTA Chairman Jay Walder can save bucks on capital. But even if Walder saved 20 percent, Albany would need to come up with nearly $8 billion. That’s an extra $520 million a year in debt costs.
The senators claim some of their tax repeal is pain-free. But this is fantasy: They’d give the MTA $100 million in revenues from New York’s carbon cap-and-trade plan — money that may well not materialize. And they’d restore state aid to the city, with the provision that Gotham devote $150 million to transit. That’s moving money around.
If the GOP were serious, it would address union-labor costs. In three years, MTA pension and health costs will rise 30 percent. It’s not just a city issue; suburban railroad workers enjoy benefits not available in the private sector. But in Wednesday’s debate, senators talked everything from MTA “mob infiltration” to “criminal accounting” to whether tax-paying is “patriotic.” Nobody said that the MTA’s workers should pay more for health care, saving $150 million, or that pensions for new workers should be less generous.
On a three-year wage freeze, Zeldin was less than firm, telling me that “I would support just about anything that the MTA and the unions agree to, provided it’s fiscally responsible.” He said that pressure should come from the popular governor, since “to do something that impacts large unions, it can’t be just one senator leading by the chin.”
GOP lawmakers, as usual, are gung-ho on the tax issue. But on the union medicine needed, they profess that it’s the MTA that has to come up with ideas. The MTA, in turn, knows not to ask for anything anti-union that Albany doesn’t support.
Democrats, who were too busy discussing Fernando Ferrar’s mustache, have been no better, she says, but that’s seemingly beside the point. No one in Albany is willing to push either the MTA or its unions to make some badly needed concessions.
Now, I’m not a stridently anti-union guy usually, and I’m certainly not as against organized labor as Gelinas and the Manhattan Institute are. Yet, it’s clear that the MTA has a labor problem. It cannot keep doling out wage raises and full pensions while the rest of its financial picture declines. It cannot become a welfare institution that cannot provide adequate transportation service because too much of its budget is tied up in employee compensation. Fiscal responsibility will start with better payroll measures.
Ultimately, the MTA should be looking at ways to streamline operations through OPTO, through overtime control and through better collaboration across departments. It’s slowly getting there, but it’s going to need political support to do so. Will the Governor step up? Will the Senate? Will anyone?
Jun
17
On SBS successes and meddling community boards
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Now that the MTA and DOT have been offering Select Bus Service for nearly nine months, the agencies have a better picture of how it’s shaping up, and the early returns have been quite positive. This week, DOT presented its findings on SBS to Community Board 3, and DNA Info was there. According to DOT, trips have increased along the M15 by 30 percent since Select Bus Service debuted, and travel times by 15-18 percent.
Meanwhile, enforcement remains a key concern for the city. Enforcement officials had issued nearly 4700 fare-evasion summonses to riders through April, and lane enforcement cameras had resulted in 5800 ticketed drivers who were parked in the bus-only lanes. People too are safer as injury-causing crashes have dropped by 14 percent on both avenues between 34th and Houston Sts.
Yet, CB3 didn’t seem satisfied, and here we see the dangers of community boards in the transportation planning process. Community Board members say that gaps between local and express stops and the frequency of Select Bus Service stops “make it difficult for riders to choose between the two buses.” Their solution? More Select Bus Service stops. CB3 wants to see “regular and SBS bus stops be placed closer together or combined at locations to provide riders with more options,” and one rider asked for a stop at Allen and Delancey Sts.
If Community Boards had their ways, Select Bus Service stops would be just as frequent as local service, and that’s the problem. SBS works because the stops are far apart, and that sometimes means skipping busy locations. Already, there’s a stop at Houston and Allen and Grand and Allen. That’s only a distance of 0.4 miles. Adding yet another stop in there — two blocks away from Grand St. — is entirely unnecessary.
I’m happy to see Community Board consulted in the planning process. Neighbors should have a say on changes that will impact their lives. But at a certain point, the experts have to be allowed to run the service. Local and express stations aren’t closer together so that SBS buses aren’t stuck behind local routes. Station distances on the SBS route are far apart to allow buses to build up speed. That’s what makes the system work, and it shouldn’t be changed.
