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Weekend protests and weekend service changes
It’s always fun when the weekends roll around. In one corner, we have a protest.
Concerned citizens are gathering this Sunday to protest the MTA Police’s recent harassment of woman taking pictures at the Atlantic Yards. (I wrote about that one earlier this week.) Those interested should meet at 3 p.m. Brooklyn Bears Community Garden at the intersection of Pacific St. and Flatbush Ave.
And in the other corner, we have weekend service advisories. Take a look.
Uptown 1 trains skip 50, 59, 66, 79, and 86 Sts.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
Uptown 2 trains skip 50, 59, 66, 79, and 86 Sts.
Weekend, Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
4 trains run in two sections:
- Between Woodlawn and 125 St.
- Between 125 St. and New Lots Ave.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
Manhattan-bound 4 trains skip 138 St.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
No 5 trains between East 180 St. and Bowling Green
Transfer between the 2 and 4 at 149 St.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
Free shuttle buses running along Broadway replace A trains between 168 and 207 Sts.
The M4 Special bus running along Ft. Washington Ave. provide additional service between 168 and 190 Sts.
Transfer between the buses and the A train at 168 St.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
No C trains between 168 and 145 Sts. Take the A instead
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
Coney Island-bound F trains skip 4 Ave., 15 St.-Prospect Park, and Ft. Hamilton Pkwy
Feb. 8 – 11, 11 PM Fri. to 5 AM Mon.
Uptown F trains skip 14 and 23 Sts.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
No G trains between 71-Continental Aves. and Court Sq.
Take the E or R instead
Until further notice, 8:30 PM Fri. to 5 AM Mon.
No G trains between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Smith-9 Sts.
Transfer between the A and F at Jay St.
Feb. 8 – 11, 11 PM Fri. to 5 AM Mon.
G trains run in two sections:
- Between Court Sq. and Bedford-Nostrand Aves.
- Between Bedford-Nostrand Aves. and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts.
Feb. 8 – 11, 11 PM Fri. to 5 AM Mon.
No L trains between 8 Ave. and Union Sq.
Use the M14 bus instead
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
1. Transfer between the M14 bus and the L at Union Sq. or 1 Ave.
2. L trains skip 3 Ave. in both directions.
Note: Trains operate in two sections:
- Every 15 minutes between Union Sq. and Bedford Ave.
- Every 8 minutes between Bedford Ave. and Rockaway Pkwy
Transfer at Bedford Ave. to continue your trip.
Brooklyn-bound N trains rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal St. to DeKalb Ave.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
Brooklyn-bound R trains rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal St. to DeKalb Ave.
Feb. 9 – 11, 12:01 AM Sat. to 5 AM Mon.
Brooklyn pols push G tunnel at Atlantic Ave.
The G train, running through Brooklyn and Queens, is almost a good train. You can almost get from Park Slope to Williamsburg and beyond. You can almost transfer to the other lines.
But the G train is also a big tease. For the next few months, until the Church Ave. extension is in place, the G doesn’t quite make it to Park Slope. And it stops tantalizingly close to the Atlantic Ave. hub, just four blocks away. There is, however, no transfer available.
A Brooklyn politician would like to fix that problem. Fresh off successful efforts to connect the A/C/F stop at Jay Street with the M/R stop at Lawrence St. via an underground tunnel, Brooklyn pols and business lobbyists are urging the MTA to study a connection between the G at Fulton St. and the Atlantic Ave.-Pacific St. complex. Separated by only 660 underground feet, a free transfer could give life to the oft-derided G train.
Sarah Ryley, reporting for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, has more:
Councilwoman Letitia James is asking the MTA to study whether the G Train at Fulton Street could be connected to the Atlantic Avenue transportation hub via an underground tunnel, she told the Eagle…
“I understand that the MTA is cutting back on all their capital projects, but I want them to at least look at it and get a feasibility study,” said James, who represents Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. She said she’s working with Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries on the matter and would suggest the project to help ease traffic as part of the mayor’s congestion pricing plan.
“It would definitely increase ridership,” she said.
According to an MTA spokesperson, the agency has yet to study this issue but will respond to James’ request shortly. Cost, however, will be a major red flag. The 50-foot tunnel at Jay St. will cost $130 million; a 660-foot tunnel would be significantly more costly, and in the end, its benefits would be limited in comparison to other capital campaign projects that could use the funds. I would probably study a connection between the G at Fulton St. and the C at Lafayette Ave. first. (Editor’s Note: Just use the connection at Hoyt-Schermerhorn.)
In the meantime, G riders could see a free above-ground transfer between Fulton St. and Atlantic Ave. similar to the one at 63rd St. in Manhattan between the F and the trains that stop at 59th St. and Lexington Ave. Even that small gesture would be a step in the right direction.
Tonight, we’re gonna cram into the subway like it’s 1951
The subways are crowded from any height. (Photo by flickr user allen81)
Subway riders, according to figures released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is at a 56-year high. As anyone who ever rides the trains could tell you, the subways are indeed crowded.
The MTA’s own press release fills in the details:
The efficiency, value and convenience of MTA New York City Transit’s network of subways and buses drew 2.3 billion riders last year, the highest annual ridership since 1969 and an increase of 2.7 percent or 60.1 million trips over 2006. Over the past five years alone, NYC Transit’s annual ridership has increased 6.1 percent. On average, weekday ridership was a combined 7.4 million, a 2.1 percent gain over 2006. Weekend ridership – Saturday and Sunday combined – also showed impressive gains up to 7.7 million, the highest annual weekend ridership in more than 35 years…
Subway ridership of 1.56 billion accounted for more than two-thirds of NYC Transit’s ridership, and was the highest annual subway ridership since 1951. Subway ridership jumped 4.2 percent or 63.6 million trips from 2006. Weekday subway ridership in 2007 averaged more than 5 million, the first time it has done so since 1952. In 2007, average weekend subway ridership was 5.1 million, an increase of 6.3 percent or 304,000 trips from 2006 and the highest weekend ridership in over 35 years. Annual subway ridership increased 10.6% from 2002 to 2007.
The L train, serving rapidly gentrifying and expanding neighborhoods in Williamsburg and points east, saw the highest growth with an eight percent increase in passengers.
Meanwhile, the MTA used this announcement to highlight the need for adequate funding for the subway’s future. With annual ridership constantly increasing and showing no signs of slowing down, officials called for sufficient money for infrastructure. “The continued investment in new subway cars and buses is not going unnoticed by our customers who are responding by increased usage of our system,” MTA NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said. “These historic ridership gains do, however, point out the increasing need for additional funding for continued infrastructure upgrades.”
On the other hand, Gene Russianoff, lawyer at the Straphangers Campaign, noted that supply is not keeping up subway demand. “The good news is people are flocking to the subways. The troublesome news is they are not keeping up with enough service,” he said.
So there you go. If the subways seem crowded, it’s because they are. And if this sounds familiar, well, just check out the news from February about 2006.
A 39-year paint program starts with six random stations
That guy is waiting for a paint job — or a J train — that is destined never to arrive. (Photo by flickr user silsurf)
The MTA works in mysterious and oftentimes inexplicable ways. This paint fiasco simply symbolizes the whole bureaucratic mess that current CEO Lee Sander seems to want to dismantle. If I were a betting man, I’d say the 39-year paint job effort finishes up first.
Paint fiasco, you may ask? What paint fiasco? Well, think back to July when word leaked out that the MTA couldn’t use $50 million they had set aside in 2006 to paint stations because they couldn’t figure out how to pick which stations should go first.
Well, it took the MTA just seven more months to figure out which stations should go first, and nearly two years after receiving the funds, they plan to start painting in April. Feel free to insert some sarcastic applause here.
So then, how did the MTA pick the six stations that will kick off a mind-numbingly slow process in which 12 stations per year will get paint? Seemingly — as I suggested at the time — by drawing names out of a hat. According to the Daily News, the winning stations are “77th St. (R line), Brooklyn; Grand Army Plaza (2,3), Brooklyn; Canal St. (J,M,Z), Manhattan; Spring St. (C,E), Manhattan; 135th St. (A,C), Manhattan, and 163rd St. (A,C) Manhattan.”
Now, there’s a lot going on here. At the rate of 12 stations per year, it could take the MTA the better part of the next four decades to paint the whole system. What is wrong here? Matthew Lysiak and Pete Donohue explain:
Top transit officials in 2006 announced plans for a decade-long program, initially funded with $50 million in surplus money, to paint every station in the system. That would equal about 46 stations a year, including some being done as part of larger station rehabilitation projects.
Seaton said that schedule has gone “out the window” because the paint jobs are more involved and costly than planners of the program estimated. The early estimates didn’t fully calculate such problems as the extra requirements of removing and disposing of lead paint, Seaton said.
Oy.
Now, the problem here is that, as KidTwist noted in July, every station needs a paint job, and yet, only two percent of the city’s stations will get what it needs each year.
Meanwhile, their choice of stations is hardly stellar. One of my closest subway stops is the Grand Army Plaza stop, and it’s looking pretty good right now. It was renovated within the past 15 years, and the paint — compared to, say, the 7th Ave. stop on the B and Q — doesn’t look bad at all. But beyond that better choice two blocks away are a multitude of stations that could use a paint job.
Imagine painting your apartment just once every forty years. Now imagine millions of people trampling through that very same apartment every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It wouldn’t look pretty, and you can bet that the subways won’t look too good either if the MTA can’t pick up the pace on these paint jobs.
One of my favorite features at Trainjotting is their Word of the Week. Today’s – spurnstile is particularly amusing. TJ defines it as “a subway turnstile that prevents you from entering the station, either because it’s malfunctioning or because there’s a flood of exiting passengers blocking your way.” I’d also add in something about Metrocard malfunctions. But we’ve all been on the wrong end of a spurnstile, and let me tell you, sometimes, it really hurts. [Trainjotting]
We apologize for the unavoidable delay
For those of you reading SAS through a feedreader who found they couldn’t access the site this morning, we’re back up and running. Ironically, I had to deal with some technical difficulties on the same day I criticized the MTA for the technical issues. Somewhere, Alanis Morissette is smiling.
When subway security and MTA technology collide
So cameras in the subway. I think it’s a good idea; at the very least, it’s a major deterrent. While I understand the concerns of civil liberties groups, the truth is that no one will ever watch thousands of hours of tape each day, and we’re already all videotaped just about everywhere in New York City. If cameras make the subways safer, that’s a trade-off I’m willing to make.
But this is a new technology and the MTA is involved. If you’ve read yesterday’s post, you can guess where this one is heading. According to a recent New York State Comptroller’s report (available here as a PDF), the project to install cameras in subway stations and cars is millions of dollars overbudget and nearly 18 months behind schedule. Bet you never saw that one coming.
Noah Shachtman, writing on Wired’s Danger Room blog, has the details:
A new report by the New York State Comptroller’s office reveals that “the cost of the electronic security program has grown from $265 million to $450 million, an increase of $185 million or 70 percent.” An August 2008 deadline has been pushed back to December 2009, and further delays may be just ahead…
At the heart of the program was a network of surveillance cameras, passing what they saw through a set of intelligent video algorithms, designed to spot suspicious behavior: a bag left on the subway platform, a person jumping down to the tracks, a mob running up a down escalator.
But after several years of planning and tests, at least “one particular element” of the intelligent video system — unspecified by the Comptroller’s office — “could not be advanced at this time due to difficulties tailoring the software to conditions in the MTA environment. The MTA provided extensive briefings to the media on the electronic security program in August 2005, shortly after the London bombings, creating expectations for this program that now may not be fulfilled.”
Maybe the MTA should use some of that $150 million from the Department of Homeland Security for the surveillance project instead of an automatic rifle program.
Anyway, once again, the MTA is having problems adjusting its aged system to 21st Century technology, and again, I’m left wondering if it is an institutionalized problem. This time, the contractor is Lockheed Martin, but the results are the same. The MTA simply has to prioritize programs that will modernize the system and secure it at the same time. If the London Underground, the World’s oldest underground passenger transit system, can arrive in the 21st Century, so can the MTA with the right motivation and prioritization.
MTA Police continue to harass photographers
Atlantic Yards Report has yet another tale of a photographer harassed by MTA cops for taking pictures in public spaces. Katherin McInnis was videotaping the Atlantic Yards footprints and railyard when a cop came up to her and began the inquisition. He demanded her camera, asked for ID and questioned her record.
While these questions seem aimed toward terrorist concerns, the exchange ended when the cop asked if she was a member of any group “opposing these Yards.” Valid anti-terrorism protocols are one thing, but blatant disregard of civil rights over purely political motivations is another. [Atlantic Yards Report via The Gowanus Lounge]
MTA scrapping the bus arrival board project
If London can do it, so can we.
The MTA’s mediocre technological track record is about to get worse.
As we know, the MTA has its issues with late 20th Century technology. Other subway systems in lesser cities have managed to figure out ways to display when the next train is coming, where the next bus is and how delayed the service is. But in New York, while we’ve long heard promises of seemingly futuristic technology and the L trains even offer us glimpses of that future, the MTA hasn’t figured out a way to implement basic transportation system technologies.
Now, though, we have news that these technologies — this one involving bus arrival times — aren’t coming as quickly as the MTA would like or as the riders expect. In fact, they may not even be implemented at all.
According to a weekend report in The Daily News, the MTA is shelving the bus arrival time project for now. Amanda Coleman and Pete Donohue have this tale of woe:
NYC Transit’s 12-year quest to display real-time bus arrival information at bus stops has hit another bump and veered off the road. Transit officials have stopped posting estimated arrival times to electronic message boards along six different Manhattan routes because of technical problems resulting in inaccurate arrival times being given, a transit official told the Daily News.
NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton couldn’t say when the communications system, which went online in October, might again be put into use.
This is just sad on so many levels, and Straphangers Campaign guru Gene Russianoff offers up just that assessment. “I’m saddened because I consider real-time information one of the best things a transit system can offer, and it’s frustrating it has been so hard for them to do it,” he said.
This project has its roots in the mid-1990s, but the MTA didn’t make real progress until they reached a $13-million deal with Siemens to begin a test pilot program along six bus lines. The contract had a full-scale implementation option for $109 million, but that reality is unlikely.
For some reason — a reason I can’t explain — the MTA can’t get their technological projects off the ground. Their underground cell service plan is fraught with difficulties, and the Citizens Adivsory Committee recently criticized the MTA for falling behind schedule with their plans to install train arrival information screens throughout the system.
Maybe it’s a matter of priority. If so, the MTA should being to prioritize these projects. New Yorkers need a 21st Century subway system, and right now, we don’t even have a late 20th Century system. We have fancy new train cars and a constant stream of renovated stations, but we don’t have the infrastructure of a forward-looking subway system.
Until the MTA can figure out how to get technological innovations in place in a timely and fiscally responsible way, we’ll be stuck peering into dark tunnels or down crowded avenues looking for any glimpse of an oncoming train or bus. That’s no way to run a transit system.