Home Podcast Ep. 12 of ‘The Next Stop Is…’ on Penn Station Access and more

Ep. 12 of ‘The Next Stop Is…’ on Penn Station Access and more

by Benjamin Kabak

NextStopis It’s a snowy Wednesday in New York, but we’ve got our eye on a sunnier transit future for this week’s episode of “The Next Stop Is…” For the 12th episode of the Second Ave. Sagas’ podcast, Eric Basure and I talk about what might become.

Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State speech, we delve into the plans for Penn Station Access. Could Metro-North deliver riders to the West Side? It may be a few years yet, but if Cuomo has his way, that long-discussed project could see the light of the day.

Meanwhile, with big weekend changes for the 7 line on tap for 22 weekends this year, Eric and I discussed the benefits and pitfalls of this week. It’s taken the MTA an exceedingly long time to implement CBTC on the Flushing Line, and the end isn’t in sight for another three years. As frustration builds in Queens, the MTA, we posit, should be doing more to explain just how this work will benefit riders. It’s always a tough P.R. battle to win.

Finally, it’s worth noting that we start the show with a brief plug of my upcoming Problem Solvers Q-and-A session. I’ll be chatting with Bill Amarosa, Manager of Ridership & Revenue Analysis, and I’ll do a proper post on this tomorrow.

This week’s recording again runs around 20 minutes, and it is, as always, the perfect length for your subway ride home this evening. You can grab the podcast right here on iTunes or pull the raw MP3 file. If you enjoy what you hear, subscribe to updates on iTunes as well and consider leaving us a review. If you have any questions you’d like us to tackle, leave ’em in the comments below.

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6 comments

Patrick O'Hara January 22, 2014 - 3:23 pm

I see tons of posters and such from the MTA advising riders of what’s going and why they’re doing it…heck, there are half or whole subway cars that have nothing but their “Improving, non-stop” posters). Here’s an example of a photo I took last June of a sign that gives riders information on the project. I’ve seen similar signs like these at almost all of their construction sites lately…

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Eric Brasure January 22, 2014 - 4:22 pm

I think the Improving, Non-Stop posters were well-intentioned, but they look too much like ads. People tune them out. The MTA needs something in between the ad-focused and the purely short-term informational (planned service change posters.) What that is, I don’t know.

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John Doe January 22, 2014 - 6:01 pm

Been riding the 7 for about 30 years and for the past 20 years they’ve been doing weekend track work on and off. The MTA can go to hell. Why can’t we get it right like other countries??????

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Chris C January 23, 2014 - 2:33 am

Have you seen this write up on Penn Station Access? It’s very interesting: http://www.thelirrtoday.com/20.....th-it.html

Chris

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Brian Howald January 23, 2014 - 7:52 pm

I think one of the biggest problems with the CBTC installation on the 7 has been the Transit Authority’s (NYCT) attitude that this service outage is not substantially different from other outages that occur regularly. However, this is not the case. The only comparable situation with numerous service outages over many years is the installation of CBTC on the L. Riders who live in Long Island City are inconvenienced by losing a train for 13-22 weekends a year, and that calls for more than a simple shuttle bus that does not cover the entire affected portion of the 7 outage.

The silver lining on this year’s outages is that they occur during warmer months compared to last year’s outages. Walking a mile home or waiting 20 minutes in 20-degree weather is pretty insufferable. Add to that the frustration caused by constantly shifting the route of the shuttle bus without adequate notice at previous stop locations.

I have a hard time seeing how the benefits of CBTC – maybe a train every 100 seconds instead of 120 during rush hours – will ever make up the time I’ve lost to the 7 train being closed (23 weekends and counting). As someone who is throughly informed about transit and the necessity of performing continual repair work, I think there has been little that the Transit Authority has done to lessen the impact of these outages on those most affected.

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Jon January 24, 2014 - 1:21 pm

Some of the work is also on the steinway tunnel, one of the oldest in the system, which also flooded during Sandy.

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