Archive for Asides
Apr
24
After attacks, a weekend beer ban on the LIRR
Posted by: | CommentsAlthough the beer selection in Penn Station leaves much to be desired, kicking back and enjoying a nightcap on the right home has become a rite of passage for many a Long Island-bound reveler on a weekend evening. Now, though, after a few recent high-profile incidents and a long-standing file of complaints, the LIRR will no longer allow alcohol on late-night weekend trains. Starting May 14, between midnight and 5 a.m., passengers will no longer be able to imbibe booze on Long Island Rail Road trains.
According to The Times, two March incidents involving unruly passengers punching conductors led the MTA to consider such a ban. Riders, however, had long referred to the late-night weekend rides as “drunk trains.” LIRR President Helena Williams did not mince words. Alcohol, she says, “continues to fuel some of the rambunctious behavior we’ve been getting, all the way up to criminal behavior.” This ban will be in place indefinitely.
Apr
20
Senate Committee approves $20M for Gateway planning
Posted by: | CommentsWhen New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie canceled the ARC Tunnel, a few projects rushed in to the fill the void. We know the 7 train to Secaucus won’t happen any time soon, but Amtrak’s Gateway Tunnel seems to have legs. Projected today to cost $14.5 billion and still an optimistic decade away from seeing the light of day, Gateway is nonetheless moving through Congress.
As NorthJersey.com’s Karen Rouse reported, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a $20 million grant for preliminary design and engineering work. The measure still must clear the full House and Senate, but transit advocates are cautiously optimistic. “It’s the most promising rail project at the moment,” Veronica Vanterpool of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign said. That’s not saying much as after preliminary engineering work, the price tag for Gateway has jumped by $1 billion and the estimated completion date has moved from 2020 to 2025.
Gateway is of course part of an intercity high-speed rail network that could change long-distance commuting patterns in the northeast. It’s not quite a solution to commuter issues that current plague New Jersey Transit. Plus, someone will have to come up with those billions of dollars, and New York and New Jersey aren’t rushing to embrace this project. It may not have much of a long-term future, but for now, planning may move forward.
Apr
19
Taxi & Limousine Commission approves street hail plan
Posted by: | CommentsWhile Gov. Cuomo took his sweet time signing the bill authorizing street hails of livery cabs, the Mayor’s pet project is set to go into effect now that the Taxi & Limousine Commission has approved the details. By a 7-2 vote, the commission OK’d the controversial plan even as current medallion owners raised a big stink about it. (Check out Kathleen Horan’s Twitter feed for some great comments. The WNYC reporter was all over this story.)
Even though finding a yellow cab outside of Manhattan or even north of 96th St. can be a challenge, medallion owners viewed these limited-range options as a threat to their core business model. The plan will introduce 18000 new medallions over the next few years and will generate some much-needed cash for the city as well as improving transportation options. The first 6000 will, says Transportation Nation, go on sale in June as long as a lawsuit filed by current cabbies does not succeed in putting a temporary stop to this plan.
Apr
19
Suburban representatives decry commuter tax
Posted by: | CommentsAfter Manhattan Borough President and 2013 mayoral hopeful issued his call for a commuter tax as part of a comprehensive overhaul of MTA financing earlier this week, suburban interests from around the region were, predictable, unimpressed. As various New Jersey newspapers are reporting, nearly everyone in the Garden State opposes the measure, and the state legislature wants to condemn Stringer’s speech. They’d rather take advantage of our city’s services but not pay for them as well.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, Gov. Chris Christie was quick to lend his voice to the issue. He called the plan “penny-wise and pound foolish” and claimed boosting the transit system that powers the city would harm the region’s economy.
For his part, Stringer fired back with a statement. “Job killing?” he said. “When Gov. Christie de-railed the ARC tunnel, he cost the region more than 150,000 jobs and $9 billion in economic activity. That’s how you kill jobs, governor. Gov. Christie should do his homework and get his facts right about the commuter tax. The greatest expansion of jobs in the nation’s history occurred in the 1990s – when New Jerseyans who worked in NYC rightfully paid their fair share through a small commuter tax.”
Meanwhile, as other mayoral hopefuls stay silent on the issue, the Senate Republicans and some State Democrats also spoke out against Stringer’s plan. Sen. David Carlucci from Rockland and Orange Counties called it “an onerous tax that would negatively affect working families, many of whom commute to and from New York City every day.” No one is willing to show much foresight or understanding of the nuances here even though Stringer as mayor would little control over how the MTA is financed.
Apr
17
Today in Bad Ideas: Tasers for all MTA employees
Posted by: | CommentsEvery now and then, high-profile incidents involving a transit worker on one side and a disgruntled and crazy rider on the other make the headlines. We’ve seen a bus driver murdered and other workers assaulted. Even outside of a crime — which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years — transit workers often bear the brunt of the irate public. They are yelled at and spit upon. One State Senator now wants transit workers to be better prepared for the abuse, but his suggestion is, well, a bit extreme.
As The Daily News reported today. Sen. Eric Adams of Brooklyn wants to arm transit workers with tasers, something most rank-and-file cops aren’t even permitted to carry in New York City. The TWU rushed to embrace this measure. “Equipping and training our members to responsibly use Tasers will end the assaults that are currently plaguing our members,” union head John Samuelsen said. “Additionally, it will act as a strong deterrent against crime against our riders on the buses and trains.”
Adams’ bill has rightfully languished in committee for a while, but he is amending it to allow bus drivers to carry tasers as well. In response, the TWU, reports Pete Donohue, will be featuring the bill at an upcoming conference on transit worker safety. But does this really sound like a good idea or just a political talking point? Giving cops tasers is generally a recipe for trouble; I can’t imagine how straphangers would feel with thousands of armed transit workers carrying these things.
The NYPD and the MTA, however, are not buying it, and can you blame them? “The MTA makes protecting our transit personnel a top priority in everything we do,” MTA chief Joe Lhota said. “However, the proposed legislation is the wrong way to go about protecting MTA employees. Asking them to carry weapons would cross the line into law enforcement, a function that is best left to the NYPD.”
Apr
13
BusTime Notes: M34, B61, Transit Museum
Posted by: | CommentsA few quick notes on BusTime: The MTA’s in-house real-time bus tracking system is making its debut in bits and spurts. With Staten Island and the B63 on board and the Bronx on tap for later this year, Transit has unveiled the service on a few other routes. Manhattan’s M34 and M34SBS buses are now available on BusTime. This route had been the subject of an earlier, much more expensive tracking pilot, and the MTA switched over to the in-house solution earlier this week. On the downside, the bus countdown clocks along 34th St. are no longer in use.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, with word that the Smith-9th Sts. renovation will take nearly six months longer than anticipated, the MTA will introduce BusTime to the B61 in June. This bus — the only one serving Red Hook — helps alleviate the lack of nearby subway service, and Transit says they readied these buses ahead of schedule to help stranded straphangers adjust their travel schedules.
Finally, BusTime will take center stage at my next Transit Museum Problem Solvers event. Michael Frumin who has spearheaded the BusTime effort will be my guest. He’ll be on hand to discuss how BusTime can help with the problem of declining bus ridership throughout the city. It’s set for Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Transit Museum. Save the date.
Apr
11
ARC Report Fallout: How many years until Gateway?
Posted by: | CommentsIn the aftermath of yesterday’s GAO report criticizing the cancellation of the ARC Tunnel, the political air has been rife with acrimony. Christie, of course, has been defending his decision while his political opponents have renewed their attacks. A former New Jersey Governor accused Christie of playing the state for a short-term gain, but none of these reactions are unexpected.
If we step back and take a look at the larger picture, though, things are a bit gloomy. NJ Spotlight offers up a very thorough overview of the problems plaguing trans-Hudson rail access and the prospects for the future. Mark Magyar devotes quite a few inches in his piece to the goings-on involving Amtrak’s proposed Gateway Tunnel. Although it would provide only around 65 percent the capacity of ARC, it seems to have the best future. However, with no real funding in place, Thomas Wright of the RPA said, “2022 is probably too ambitious a target date.”
Without the 7 extension and without ARC, Gateway is indeed our best (and possibly last) hope for improved trans-Hudson rail access in this generation, and that fact is not lost on those paying attention. In an editorial today, The Star-Ledger urged Christie to provide “more than his moral support” for Gateway. That’s an exhortation that runs both ways. Both New York and New Jersey will have to put their support behind Gateway, and politicians in New Jersey who have spent a few years pointing fingers over ARC will have to work together. The future of our region may depend upon it.
Apr
09
FASTRACK returns to the West Side, now in Queens
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone’s favorite late-night service suspension returns this week as the MTA gears up for another round of FASTRACK work. The agency quietly unveiled the year’s remaining dates in posters that have sprung up over the past few weeks, and tonight, work begins anew on the West Side IRT. As of 10 p.m. tonight, all 1 train service is suspended south of 34th St.; 2 trains will not run between 34th St. and Atlantic Ave.; and 3 train service is suspended entirely. Those leaving the Bruce Springsteen concert at MSG this evening will find no southbound 1, 2 or 3 service at Penn Station.
Meanwhile, Transit is beginning what could be called Phase 2 of FASTRACK this week as well. Beginning on Saturday at 5 a.m., the authority shuttered Manhattan-bound stations on the Queens Boulevard line between Parsons Boulevard and 71st Ave.-Forest Hills. The closure is supposed to last until 5 a.m. on Monday, April 16th. According to Transit, this full segment shutdown for an extended period of time is aimed at speeding up work. Through weekend advisories, such a treatment would generally last many weekends, and both progress and commutes would be slow. By targeting the area in a condensed period of time, the inconvenience is greater for a week but lesser overall.
For those riders impacting, the following applies: E and F riders at 75th Avenue wishing to travel toward Manhattan must board a Queens-bound train, travel to the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens station and transfer to a Manhattan-bound train; E and F riders at Briarwood-Van Wyck Boulevard must board a Queens-bound train and travel to the Jamaica-Van Wyck (E) or Parsons Boulevard (F) stations to transfer to a Manhattan-bound train; F riders at Sutphin Boulevard (F) must board a Queens-bound train and travel to Parsons Boulevard (F) to transfer to a Manhattan-bound train.
Apr
03
Transit quietly unveils remaining FASTRACK dates
Posted by: | CommentsGet ready for more “partial-line closures” this year. With little fanfare, Transit has unveiled the remaining FASTRACK dates for the rest of 2012. The announcement came via poster, and you’ve probably seen the signs in the fare control areas at your favorite subway station. I guess these week-long, late-night service shutdowns are the new normal.
Anyway, here goes: Service on the 7th Ave. line from 34th St. to Atlantic Ave. or South Ferry will be suspended from April 9-13, June 25-29 and October 15-19. Service along the 8th Ave. line from 59th St.-Columbus Circle to Jay St.-MetroTech or the World Trade Center will be shut down from April 23-27, July 9-13 and October 22-26. The 6th Ave. line will not run from 59th St.-Columbus Circle to West 4th St. from May 14-18, July 23-27 and September 24-28. The Lexington Ave. routes will be suspended from Grand Central-42nd St. to Atlantic Ave. from June 11-15, September 3-7 and November 5-9. All service suspensions will run from 10 p.m.-5 a.m. as MTA crews blitz the tracks without trains speeding by.
Apr
03
Lhota dashes dreams of a 7 train to Secaucus
Posted by: | CommentsThe Mayor Bloomberg-inspired plan to extend the 7 train underneath the Hudson River to Secaucus has captured transit dreamers’ imaginations over the past few years, but the odds have long been stacked against it. The subway expansion would require interstate cooperation and billions of dollars that aren’t readily available. Useful? Yes. Practical amidst the current political and economic climates? Probably not.
Today, while speaking at a meeting of the New York Building Congress, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota threw an ice cold bucket of water on those dreaming of such a subway plan, as Transportation Nation reported this morning. The extension, he said, not going to happen in our lifetime. It’s not going to happen in anybody’s lifetime…The expense is beyond anything we’re doing.”
From the cost of construction to the need to build railyards and shops in New Jersey to the more pressing needs within the city, Lhota was unequivocal in his stance. “I’ve told the mayor this, I can’t see that happening in our lifetime,” he said. The Mayor, in his response, seemed to accept the MTA head’s assessment. Calling Lhota a “realist,” Bloomberg said later that he hopes it “happens within someone’s lifetime. Those people may not have been born yet whose lifetime it would be.” Ain’t that aiming for the stars?
