Archive for the 'MTA Absurdity' Category

NYC Transit won’t begin anti-groping PSAs for fear of encouraging more groping

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

If anything ever deserved that MTA Absurdity tag I like to stick on posts, this is it.
According to news stories released on Tuesday, New York City Transit is holding back on a planned anti-groping ad campaign because officials fear it will encourage more deviant behavior than it would combat. That’s right; the MTA feels that […]

NYC Transit unveils a new PSA for an old problem

Monday, July 14th, 2008

With the number of delays caused by track files mounting by the year, New York City Transit is stepping up awareness efforts aimed at combating litter in the subways.
The new public service campaign — built around a fake newspaper this time instead of a real one — uses the Subway Gazette, a creation of […]

We now rejoin ‘As the Escalator Doesn’t Rise’ already in progress

Friday, July 11th, 2008

When last we checked in on the MTA’s escalator problem in May, a few local New York papers had documented rampant elevator outages throughout the subway system, and The New York Times had issued a stunning indictment of the MTA’s escalators and elevators. The Straphangers Campaign jumped on the bandwagon, urging New York City Transit […]

The accuracy of the advisories

Monday, July 7th, 2008

Every Friday, I post the MTA’s weekend service advisories, and every weekend, I notice that the MTA’s official announcement of the weekend changes are either incomplete or flat-out wrong. Sometimes, trains go over bridges when they shouldn’t; they run local when they should run express; signs that promise service advisories are wrong while trains run […]

Subway delay numbers a typical ‘dog bites man’ story

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

I’ve had a busy few days at the good ol’, bill-payin’ day job. So I had no chance to draw your attention to a lovely story yesterday morning in the New York Post proclaiming subway delays up 44 percent. Now, on the one hand, that’s a shocking number, but on the other hand, as anyone […]

MTA Board votes to end free perk program

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

After weeks of bad publicity and legal threats from New York’s Attorney General, the MTA Board voted this morning to end the free perk program. No longer will current and former board members enjoy free E-ZPasses and MetroCards for life. Instead, only current board members will receive the passes, and they are too be used […]

Free ride, take it easy

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

So just how much driving do the folks in charge of our public transportation network do in a year? Well, according to numbers crunched by reporters, the MTA officials receiving free E-ZPasses tallied up bills worth over $30,000 in 12 months. According to William Neuman of The Times, 45 board members used their E-ZPasses 7513 […]

Mack attacked over MTA Board perks and gives in

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Thursday will long be a day that David Mack tries to forget.
It started out with a ridiculous and clueless comment about the potential end of the MTA Board perks. Mack decided to share his belief that he, an MTA Board member tasked with improving public transportation, is inconvenienced by public transit and would […]

Millionaries on MTA Board fight for their perks

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

During E-ZPass-gate three weeks ago, shortly before seeing their free perks disappear, the ever-generous MTA Board vowed to fight to the death for their E-ZPasses and the various sundry perks these men and women, some of the richest in the city, enjoy.
Well, it’s good to see that the Board is staying true to its […]

Perhaps now isn’t the best time for a raise

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

While the MTA is crying poverty and threatening fare hikes and service cutbacks, the Authority is also doling out raises to its executives. According to a report in the Daily News, MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger has authorized what Pete Donohue termed “a $10,000 boost” to CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander’s compensation package.
Hemmerdinger attempting to defend […]