During his State of the MTA speech on Monday, Elliot Sander, MTA CEO and executive director, gave a nod to an idea whose time has come. “We need to take a close look at the Regional Plan Association’s circumferential subway line, which would convert the lightly used Bay Ridge freight line into a subway service [...]

In a rather scathing editor, the New York Post rails on Elliot Sander’s State of the MTA address today. Citing the Fulton St. Hub, the delay in the Second Ave. subway and the whole flap over the 7 line extension, they note the MTA’s recent string of broken promises and wonder if it makes sense [...]

The MTA, on Wednesday, unveiled a $29.554 billion capital plan designed to cover maintenance, upkeep and system-wide expansions from 2009-2014. The plan, as I noted yesterday, is substantially similar to the broad one the MTA presented to the public in November and would allow for a wide transit expansion in and around the New [...]

Back in November, during the MTA’s public engagement workshop in anticipation of the fare hike, Linda Kleinbaum, the MTA deputy executive director for administration, and Ernest Tollerson, the MTA director of policy and media relations, spoke at length about the MTA’s capital future. Today, the MTA will publicly unveil a final version of the [...]

December’s groundbreaking ceremony for the 7 Extension may have been a bit premature. (AP Photos)
Ah, remember those glorious days in December when hope sprang eternal and the City and MTA broke ground on the 7 Line Extension?
Let the nostalgia wash over you because here comes the bad news: That 7 Line Extension project — and [...]

The MTA will delay but not cancel big capital construction projects in an effort to address nearly $1 billion in cost overruns, Marlene Naanes writes in amNew York. While disappointing, this development comes as no surprise after the news this week has focused on runaway inflation and over-budget MTA projects.
Despite these delays, however, MTA officials [...]

It doesn’t make sense to lay the floor first. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
As more details emerge about the MTA’s construction budget crisis, I keep coming back to Scott’s comment about the MTA and crown jewels. How do you balance form, function and visual appeal?
Right now, the MTA is in trouble. As the Daily News noted [...]

You get the point.
Originallly, plans called for it to be 50 feet tall. Then, rising costs pushed the height down to 30 feet and then 20 feeet. Now, the glass dome that was supposed to sit atop the Fulton St. Transportation Hub is gone from the plans, the victim of inflation and rising construction costs, [...]

Mysore Nagaraja, the head of MTA Capital Construction, has called it quits after two years, and the Daily News speculates that rising capital costs and frequent delays may be a motivating factor in his departure.
Pete Donohue has more:
The MTA official in charge of mega-construction projects, including the LIRR extension to Grand Central Terminal, is [...]

The MTA is running into more problems with the proposed Fulton Street hub. The station — a massive underground catacomb designed to connect the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, R, W, J and Z trains — was meant to be an anchor in the Lower Manhattan revival. But the project is running into [...]