Brooklynites line up to wait for buses to carry them to Manhattan. (Photo via Virginia Laird on Instagram)
The city slowly began its march toward normalcy this morning as subways, dormant since Sunday, begin their severely limited runs through the city. Manhattan south of 34th St. is still without power — and thus without subway service — but many bound for the isle were able to complete their commutes thanks to a flotilla of buses. Still, it was far from easy-going.
According to various reports sent to me by those in motion, commute times ranged from around 70 minutes to two hours. Lines at Jay St., the Barclays Center and Hewes St. for buses were immense with wait times around 60 minutes during the morning rush. I’d expect Midtown Manhattan to be similarly packed come 5 p.m. today. Those coming from MetroTech and the Barclays Center reported very slow traffic to the Manhattan Bridge but a smoother ride in Manhattan. Transportation Nation has a full report from the Bus Bridge.
The subways seem to be running smoothly if slower. Wait times are longer, but trains have not yet been overly crowded. On the West Side, some 1 and 2 trains have been running to 34th St., one stop further south than expected. The MTA has yet to announce any additional service for tomorrow, but they still hope to have more trains up and running.
In terms of restoring underwater service between Brooklyn and Manhattan, the timeline is anyone’s guess. Some of the equation depends upon when power is restored to Lower Manhattan and some of it depends upon the damage to the system. In a piece in today’s Daily News, Pete Donohue says that the MTA is focusing on the Rutgers St. and Joralemon St. Tunnels so that F and 4/5 service, respectively, can be restored between the boroughs. The West Side IRT’s Clark St. tunnel and the 7’s Steinway Tubes are nearly dry as well.
The mayor though was less optimistic this afternoon. “I’m not confident that the underwater tunnels will be back on Monday,” he said. Again, the MTA has no timeline.
As the MTA continues to offer free rides at least through Friday, the economics of this disaster will begin to take centerstage. The MTA was losing $9 million per day when the system was shut down, and current estimates with service running focus around a $18 million daily loss. But the federal government may be able to help. Earlier today, Sen. Chuck Schumer said FEMA dollars would help the MTA recover from the fare loss, and that money will also be available to help the agency rebuild the system.
Restoring transportation has been a slow process so far that hasn’t been fun for New Yorkers. It underscores how badly we need the transit network and how fragile it has become. As some workers head into Manhattan and others remain at home, we yearn for our subways to come back. Soon, soon.
Meanwhile, for those who can get to Downtown Brooklyn, the Transit Museum is open and free for the day. Their vintage rolling stock survived the storm, and power has been restored to the lower level platform. It could create a fun transit-oriented diversion for those suffering from Sandy-induced cabin fever.
31 comments
Ben your continued coverage of all of this rocks. It’s my go-to to know what’s really going on. Big thanks!
Coney Island is a major hub of Brooklyn school buses
my guess is that the switches are screwed up. at least some of them. the trains seem to be operating in a straight line with no swithing or a minimum. Like no E and F running on the same lines in Queens even though there is power.
it will be interesting to see if anything comes up next week. i took the LIRR home today and the West Side Yards were empty and still being cleaned. and the trains also run with no switching to different tracks.
I think it has more to do with the lack of access to rolling stock, but I could be wrong.
I get the feeling the trains are still parked on the express tracks, and will be until they can re-open the Coney Island yards.
What’s wrong with the #7 line?
yep
lots of trains on E and F still parked on express tracks and not powered on. saw them this morning.
for me i’ll just head on over to jamaica and take LIRR
I’m sure you know about the Steinway tunnel being out of commission. However, Corona Yard is flooded, too.
Oh wait, never mind, signal equipment damage on the el.
You’ve got to be kidding. Is that the brand new signals that cost a few $billion? I hope that isn’t true, but then again, if it isn’t why not run from Flushing to Queensboro?
Someone commented on another thread that an interlocking was out at Queensboro, but I haven’t seen corroboration anywhere else.
There is also the problem of terminal capacity. Turnaround capacity at 34th st on both 6th and 8th Ave lines are limited. However, they should get the R up and running in Queens between Jamaica and Broadway-Herald Sq.
A good lesson the MTA should take from this is they should rebuild Marcy Ave on J,M,Z into a high capacity terminal.
The City should setup slugging in the Barclays Center parking lot, at Brooklyn Borough Hall, and at the corner of Metropolitan Ave and Union Ave (L,G). The same for Williamsburg Bridge Plaza/LaGuardia Playground, Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Ave express stops.
The big question is, when power is restored will the MTA be able to turn trains at Chambers Street? This would allow Brooklyn commuters to take a long walk over the bridge between two subway commutes, possibly with less time and discomfort than the bus bridge. And perhaps service over the Manhattn and Williamsburg Bridges could be restored.
Another question — why is the Rutgers Tunnel the priority over the Cranberry Tunnel, given the possibility of running Culver service on the G line from Avenue X to Nassau Street in Greenpoint, and short-turning the F at Second Avenue?
1) it’s Nassau Avenue, not Nassau Street.
2) I’m not sure what the Cranberry St tunnel has to do with short-turning the F at Second Ave. What am I missing?
I’m not sure why they aren’t trying to get the A/C through rather than the F, since the F could run on the G. The four track turnaround at Jay Street limits capacity.
Oh, I gotcha. That’s a good point–maybe there are issues we don’t know about? How did the Fulton Street line fare?
I don’t know, but the entrances to the Fulton St. complex do extend into flood zone A if I’m not mistaken, so it’s possible it’s in bad shape.
I’m guessing the A is going to run via the F from West Fourth to Jay Street and continue to scrape the wall in Manhattan and Brooklyn until Cranberry Street is back and C service is restored.
Bloomberg, Cuomo, and Christie should mobilize the school buses until subways are back.
That should add 1000 buses for the bus bridge and create a true BRT system.
And what would be done about kids going to school? Remember: school buses are mostly used by kids attending far away/magnet/choice/legacy schools, they can’t just walk there.
Yeah. I think I just figured out what’s happening. (Figured out why the F is being prioritized over the A.) I’m comparing the current service map to the flood zone map, and something clicked.
I suspect that the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridge lines are fine as are their approaches.
The J line manages to avoid not just flood zone A, but also flood zone B (which partially flooded) all the way to downtown.
Most of the N route in Manhattan is also free of flood risk, apart from Canal St., and that’s deep in zone B nearly to zone C, so I’m guessing it’s probably fine.
So I think as soon as the power is restored, full service can be restored on the J/Z/M/D/N.
This would leave the northern part of the F, the part coming from Queens, trying to reverse along these same tracks. The first reasonable opportunity is at 2nd Avenue.
But it would be much simpler operationally if the Rutgers St. tunnel were clear and they could just run the F according to normal schedule, rather than in two sections.
Now, restoring either the F or the A would eliminate the need for all three of the current shuttle bus services. Two of them will probably be eliminated with the opening of the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridge routes to traffic. The third… starts at Jay St / Metrotech.
But the A will not be back to normal for a while even if the tunnel is restored, because the Far Rockaway Branch is messed up, so it will need a new employee schedule designed in any case. I suspect the F is the priority because it eliminates operational hassle and the need to design temporary schedules.
I’m not sure why the Jorelemon St Tunnels for the 4/5 are top priority. It seems like they’re in the worst shape, with multiple stations flooded out. While they are probably the busiest on normal days, the A/C and L tunnels seem like they could restore “more service faster” since there’s presumably less damage. But perhaps it has to do with rolling stock; the BMT/IND division may need more yard restoration before it can take advantage of more tunnels.
Why are half of all photos from this hurricane ruined by instagram? Are people so stupid that they think its a good idea?
I wonder when the next round of re-openings will be announced.
When power is restored.
Correct for the subway.
Next round of restorations on regional rail will be the restoration of Metro-North from Stamford to New Haven, since that’s also Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. I’m not sure what that will take — anyone know how bad things are around Bridgeport?
Does anyone know if the shuttle buses are running into the city tonight, midnight?
Shuttle buses are due to run 24/7. Last night, the MTA pulled buses south of 23rd St. due to dangerous conditions, but for now, they plan to run ’em all night.
thanks Ben; now my trip to the city for work will be a journey.
That is a lot of people.
Mobilize the school buses. The Tri State Area has over 3000 large school buses. That can form a high capacity BRT system. Run them through the Lincoln Tunnel, and over East River Bridges and down Bus Lanes. Run them until the trains and transit fares are back.
Update: The M is running in 2 sections:
Between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Metropolitan Avenue.
Between Parsons-Archer and 34 St-Herald Square making train stops between 71 Av-Forest Hills and 34 St-Herald Square.
From what I saw on the MTA Flickr page the (A) to Rockaways going be not up and running for a while.