Archive for the 'Asides' Category

MTA still looking at station sponsorship plans

Friday, August 8th, 2008

When last we heard about the MTA’s plan to sell station sponsorship rights, it was July of 2007. Well, nothing has happened in the intervening 13 months. However, the MTA would just like to take the time to remind you that, yes, they’re still thinking about it, and it might happen soon. There’s nothing like [...]

MTA suffering from BAAAA-d security

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Want to penetrate the MTA’s crack security perimeters? Well, all you need is a heard of goats. According to the Daily News, a herd of goats sneaked their way under a fence near Verrazano Bridge on Staten Island without triggering an alarm. While the MTA claims that had the fence been damaged or tampered with, [...]

Mayor Mike proposes reservation tax to fund MTA

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

While Richard Ravitch and his commission are hard at work identifying potential sources of revenue for the cash-starved MTA, Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn’t letting the issue pass him by. Bloomberg, ever the businessman, calls upon the state to collect taxes on Indian reservation cigarette sales. For the past 14 years, since the Supreme Court decided [...]

The subways are cool

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Or at least, that’s what New York City Transit would have you believe. According to NYCT statistics, 97.3 percent of all subway cars are

The Return of the Son of Congestion Pricing

Monday, August 4th, 2008

The MTA has no money, and with subway officials acknowledging the system’s state of bad repair, everyone is focused on solving the MTA’s fiscal crisis. To that end, reenter congestion pricing. According to an article in The Times over the weekend, Richard Ravitch and his commission to save transit as we know it is seriously [...]

SAS construction delayed for more entrance studies

Friday, August 1st, 2008

According to NY1, the MTA is pushing back construction on parts of the Second Ave. Subway. As the news agency reports, the MTA will reconsider planned entrances at 86th and 72nd Streets because “East Side residents and city officials had expressed concern over the impact the mid-block entrances would have on parking and vehicle traffic [...]

When MetroCard Vending Machine fails, blame computers

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

So you know about this ongoing MetroCard Vending Machine problem, yes? Well, it seems that an encryption device is to blame. This problem, ongoing since Monday, has basically knocked out the MVMs throughout the city, and people have had to resort to cash-based transactions. For those pay-per-riders out there, now would be a good time [...]

Power to the (commuting) people

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA doesn’t feel that the current MTA Board has enough transit riders on it. To that end, they want to see more commuters on the board. I’m all for it. Who wants to be on the MTA Board?

Straphangers: L train ‘best subway line in the city’

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

The venerable Straphangers Campaign released its annual State of the Subway survey results this afternoon, and the results are, in a word, shocking. The L train has been ranked as the best subway line in the city. Never mind that the trains are packed like sardines and often suffer through slow rush hour trips; the [...]

A State of Disrepair

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn-based assemblyman, and Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, both have fielded their fair share of constituent complaints about the state of the subway infrastructure. So they took matters into their own hands and examined 100 subway stations throughout the city. According to a report the two plan to release later today, [...]