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Service Advisories

Work train derailment at DeKalb leads to Brooklyn changes

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 17, 2011

Update (4:04 p.m.): The MTA says that service through DeKalb has been restored. All B, D, N, Q and R trains are running normally right now.

* * *

Update (1:30 p.m.): Due to a derailment of a work train at DeKalb Ave., the MTA is reporting a series of major service changes along the B, D and Q lines. The following changes are in effect as of 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Crews are working to rerail the train and inspect the track for damages. The MTA hopes to have normal service restored by rush hour. However, customers traveling around Brooklyn should check MTA.info for the latest.

  • B service is suspended in both directions between Brighton Beach and Bedford Park Boulevard.
  • D service is rerouted via the local track between 145th St and 59th Street – Columbus Circle.
  • Brooklyn-bound D service is being rerouted via the F between West 4th Street and Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue.
  • Brooklyn-bound N rerouted on the R line between Canal Street and DeKalb Ave. In Brooklyn, some N trains are running along the D line between 36th St and Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue.

Please expect delays in service on the A, B, C, D, F, N and R trains at this time.

Leave plenty of time to travel this morning and take alternate routes where possible. I’ll update this post as more information comes in.

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Public Transit Policy

Pondering political priorities as transit withers

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 17, 2011

Let’s talk about priorities. New Jersey doesn’t have enough money for the ARC Tunnel, but it can find funds for the Xanadu project or road expansion. Nassau County can’t afford the fund Long Island Bus service, but it can fork over significant tax subsidies for a new sports arena. New York City can’t afford more money for student fares or a subway station at 41st St. and 10th Ave., but Bruce Ratner doesn’t have to pay even market value for the rights to develop the area above the Vanderbilt rail yards.

These are the stories I’ve been following closely over the past few years. Along the way, I’ve been accused of focusing too much on the ARC Tunnel, of giving the city or the MTA a pass on the Ratner deal or simply staying the course in Nassau County. Right now, these can be viewed as isolated incidents, but they are part of a larger problem: The political priorities in and around New York City are conspiring against transit progress, and citizens who are supposed to be represented at various levels of government are simply being ignored.

Over at his site, Cap’n Transit has published the following graphic to represent what transit advocates should be fighting for. It is a rather simple circle that distills potential policy preferences to a signal graph. Take a look:

Lately, it seems, nothing has come of this cycle. Whether you believe transit policies should focus on government or societal efficiencies, cleaner air or water or even a blanket mobility for everyone, investment choices haven’t come to represent those myriad choices.

Take, for example, the news from Nassau County last week. Edward Mangano, the Nassau County Executive, has waged a ludicrous war against the MTA. He wants the authority to provide bus service to his constituents, but he doesn’t want to pay. In a process derided as opaque by transit advocates, Mangano has tried to privatize bus service, and he claims the county can spend as little as $2 million a year on a private solution without sacrificing any service. That pie-in-the-sky dream simply will not come to pass.

Meanwhile, last week, Mangano announced a plan to spend $400 million to rebuild the Nassau Coliseum so the Islanders do not jump ship. The County’s official release is available online, and various media outlets covered the story. Essentially, a county to broke to pay for bus service is going to borrow $400 million against future tax revenues to build a sports arena. It is a terrible investment.

By now, the vast majority of urban economists agree that publicly-financed stadiums never live up to their revenue promises, and Nassau County’s deal is no exception. The funding is going to be realized through a sales tax increment financing (STIF) scheme, and as Neil deMause told me last week, these never work out. The county is going to sell bonds and kick back the sales tax collected at the arena to sell the bonds. If enough people spend — a dicey proposition — the bonds will be paid out. However, these deals nearly always suffer a tax shortfall and the revenue collected would otherwise have gone to other projects. It’s not new financing at all; it’s simply reappropriated revenue.

Meanwhile in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie’s spending plans are leaving commuters high and dry. The New Jersey governor is raising tolls without delivering on the promise to expand cross-Hudson access, and he gave up a few billion dollars in federal funding to do so. It is, in a word, a mess.

Right now, New York is a juncture. Its politicians can continue down a path of ignoring transit problems and solutions in exchange for quick and obvious fixes such as arenas and malls. Else, its leaders can actually lead. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of the former and very little of the latter, and the millions of people who need public transit are going to continue to suffer.

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AsidesNew York City Transit

Bloomberg: ‘There aren’t very many panhandlers’ in the subway

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 16, 2011

While speaking with reporters this morning, noted subway rider and billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg declared the subways relatively free from panhandlers. A reporter discussing underground cell service asked him if the subways were the “last bastion of quiet, except for panhandlers,” and the mayor responded in turn. “There aren’t very many panhandlers left, in all fairness to the MTA, come on,” he said, praising the MTA for “work[ing] very hard to fix that.”

Homeless advocates disputed this claim. Joel Berg of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger called it an “absurd” remark that “bears no relation to reality.” “I’d love to live in whatever city the mayor lives in,” Berg said. “It’s an entirely different one from the one that I and eight million other New Yorkers live in.” Others noted that, under Bloomberg, homeless levels in New York City have reached record high.

I constantly see homeless folks in the subway; in fact, I had one living in my station a few weeks ago. Panhandlers too are a common sight. They might be less aggressive than they used to be, but they’re still there. Not all of us can ride the trains with same security detail the mayor takes with him, and his comments certainly strike me as a bit wrong-headed here.

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BusesMTA Absurdity

Report: New buses too short, low on legroom

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 16, 2011

One of the bigger comfort issues with New York City subway rolling stock prior to the R142 series concerned the bucket seats. Introduced in the mid-1980s, these seats were designed by people far skinnier than the average American, and straphangers would either squish themselves in or sacrifice potential seating space. When bench seats returned, so did a certain level of comfort. Unfortunately, the city’s bus fleet is a different story all together.

Currently, the buses still enjoy bucket seats not wide for anyone who weighs much more than 110 pounds, and on the newer model, legroom is nearly non-existent. If I’m riding the B63 or B67, I try to find side-facing seats so that my knees don’t hit the back of the seat in front of me, and I’m of average height. I can’t imagine how anyone larger than I am feels.

With new buses hitting the streets, the MTA had a chance to address these problems, but according to a report in The Post, they have not done so yet. Heather Haddon writes:

The MTA’s newest buses have New Yorkers scratching their heads at the numskull design, where riders 5-foot-2 or taller can easily hit their noggins on the low roofs. The Nova Diesel Standards are 61.5 inches high at their lowest point along the rear windows, as compared to 69 inches in the Nova RTS buses dating from the late 1990s. The older models don’t have interior steps leading to the back section in the rear…

A group of eight seats in the back are also dramatically short on legroom, with 15 inches of space total. Passengers sit facing each other in these intimate quarters, leaving 7.5 inches of space per person. The old RTS buses gave 10 inches of space for riders. The strange setup forces the long-legged to sprawl themselves into the aisle, The Post observed during a recent ride…

MTA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said that the reduced headroom is necessary to accommodate power and suspension systems. The buses are lower to the ground, making boarding quicker and eliminating the temperamental wheelchair lifts used in the older buses, she said.

The MTA hasn’t committed to ordering a full slate of new buses yet, but even if 90 arrive on the city streets with these legroom issues, that’s too many. Passenger comfort and convenience, often overlooked by the MTA, is apparently again being forgotten in the rush to purchase new equipment.

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Transit Labor

Taking advantage of arcane work rules

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 16, 2011

Every year, a story similar to this one comes around. The Daily News or The Post writes about an MTA employee who uses overtime to pad both his annual salary and his pension. Feet are stomped; fists are shaken; and nothing ever changes.

Here’s this year’s version as reported by two Daily News reporters:

An LIRR engineer punched his ticket on the MTA gravy train again, pocketing nearly $175,000 in overtime and other perks in 2010 – his third straight year as one of the agency’s top earners. Though Dominick Masiello’s base salary was $75,389, he took home more than triple that amount – a staggering $250,401, payroll records show.

The monster payday was nothing new for Masiello, 57. For the past three years, the Long Island man has ranked among the top 10 highest-paid workers in terms of overtime and extras. In 2009, he raked in $147,514 in overtime and perks on top of his $75,389 salary. The previous year, he scored $160,000 in extras to pad his $73,193 salary.

Masiello retired from the Long Island Rail Road in December, but he still managed to take home a quarter-million dollars for the year – putting him among the MTA’s top 10 best-compensated employees in 2010, records show…Masiello defended his haul, saying union work rules allowed him to rake in big bucks. For example, he made an extra day’s pay when he was moved to a different station. “There’s nothing to hide,” he said from his modest, two-story brick home in Port Washington. “I worked hard for that money.”

The story makes more sense when you realize that worker pensions are based off of an employee’s final three years of earnings. It makes sense for those on the verge of retirement to pad their salaries with overtime in order to secure a more lucrative payoff after they hang it up.

Masiello wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the system. A few others cashed in on overtime and unused sick days to triple their salaries, and the MTA says it can’t do much about it. “Pension padding is an issue that we are trying to address through collective bargaining, but many of our pensions are legislatively mandated,” an authority source said to the News.

There’s certainly enough blame to go around here. The MTA’s management should attempt to approve and schedule overtime in such a way that puts an end to this practice while the union should be willing to reform its work rules. This is bound to be an issue during the looming collective bargaining sessions as the authority is hoping to change the way it does business.

Meanwhile, over at Market Urbanism, Stephen Smith this weekend explored five work rules that harm transit operations. The ones he explored aren’t quite as applicable in New York as they are elsewhere, but he focuses on how cross-utilization is not allowed and overtime abuse as well. With regards to the MTA, we see how station agents aren’t tasked with cleaning or security, and we see how work roles in maintenance shops hinder productivity as well. As commenters on Smith’s article noted, work rules have also prevented the MTA from adopting OPTO technology or better proof-of-payment systems on board commuter rails lines.

Ultimately, as the MTA will work this fall to secure capital funding, it will also try to improve the way it spends dollars on its payroll. While the authority has trimmed payroll by around $100 million through staffing cuts, labor efficiencies could push those costs — currently at $5.11 billion — down further. To save the system, the two sides will have to find an agreeable middle ground.

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Service Advisories

Weekend work impacting 16 subway lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 14, 2011

Sorry for the delay in getting these up. I was out celebrating the end of law school last night. As always these come to me from New York City Transit and are subject to change without notice. Check signs in your local station and listen to on-board announcements. I’ve always received word from Shawn at Subway Weekender that he has removed the malware, and the site again safe to use as a resource. Check out the map here.


From 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, uptown 1 trains skip 103rd, 110th, 116th, and 125th Streets due to abatement work and painting at 125th Street. Customers may take the 1 to 168th Street and transfer to a downtown 1 train.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 10 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Bronx-bound 2 trains skip Jackson Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Street, 174th Street and East Tremont Avenue due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, 3 trains operate between 148th Street and New Lots Avenue due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, there is no 4 train service between Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street. The 3 and special J shuttle trains provide alternate service. Customers traveling to Brooklyn from Manhattan may take the 4 to Brooklyn Bridge-Chambers Street and transfer to the special J shuttle, making stops at nearby stations. Customers traveling to Manhattan from Brooklyn may take the 3 train to Atlantic Avenue and transfer to the special J shuttle to Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge, where uptown 4 trains are available. Note: 4 trains run local in both directions between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge.


From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, May 15, Bronx-bound 5 trains skip Jackson Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Street, 174th Street and East Tremont Avenue due to track panel installation at Freeman Street and 174th Street.


From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, May 15, there are no 5 trains between Grand Central/42nd Street and Bowling Green due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street. Customers may take the 4 and/or special J shuttle train instead. Note: During this time, 5 trains operate every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Grand Central/42nd Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Bronx-bound 6 trains skip Whitlock Avenue and Morrison Avenue/Soundview due to station rehabilitations at Elder and St. Lawrence Avenues.


From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, Queens-bound 7 trains skip 82nd , 90th, 103rd and 111th Streets due to electrical work, surface prep and painting of the elevated structure at 111th Street. Customers traveling to these stations may take the 7 to Junction Blvd. or Mets-Willets Point and transfer to a Manhattan-bound 7.

(Rockaway Park Shuttle)
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Beach 90th Street and Far Rockaway due to station rehabilitations at Beach 36th and Beach 60th Streets. Note: A train replaces the S shuttle between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park.


During the overnight hours, from 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 6 a.m. Saturday, May 14, from 11:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14 to 7 a.m. Sunday, May 15, and from 11:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, uptown A trains skip 72nd, 81st, 86th, 96th, 103rd, 110th, and 116th Streets due track work north of 110th Street. Customers traveling to these stations should take the A to 125th Street and transfer to a downtown A.


During the early morning hours, from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, downtown A trains skip 50th, 23rd, and Spring Streets due to track work north of Canal Street.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, uptown C trains skip 72nd, 81st, 86th, 96th, 103rd, 110th and 116th Streets due to track work south of 110th Street.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, downtown C trains skip 50th, 23rd and Spring Streets due to track work north of Canal Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Bronx-bound D trains run on the N line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to station rehab and structural repair work at stations between 71st Street and Bay 50th and ADA work at Bay Parkway. There are no Bronx-bound D trains at Bay 50th, 25th Avenue, Bay Parkway, 20th Avenue, 18th Avenue, 79th Street, 71st Street, 55th Street, 50th Street, Ft. Hamilton Parkway or 9th Avenue stations.


During the overnight hours, from 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, May 14, from 11:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, May 15, and from 11:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Manhattan-bound E trains skip 65th Street, Northern Blvd., 46th Street, Steinway Street and 36th Street due to track work north of 36th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, downtown E trains skip 23rd and Spring Streets due to track work north of Canal Street.


At all times until 5 a.m. Monday, May 23, 2011, Manhattan-bound F trains skip Ft. Hamilton Parkway and 15th Street-Prospect Park due to the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation Project. Manhattan-bound F trains will continue to bypass Smith-9th Sts.


From 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, free shuttle buses replace F trains between Avenue X and Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue due to rail installation.


From 11 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Queens-bound F trains will skip 14th Street and 23rd Street due to platform edge, substation rehab and track work at 34th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Brooklyn-bound F trains operate on the M line from Roosevelt Avenue to 47th-50th Sts. due to platform and ceiling work at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street. Customers traveling to 21st Street-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Avenue-63rd Street and 57th Street may take the Brooklyn-bound F to 47th-50th Sts. and transfer to a Queens-bound F.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, Brooklyn-bound N trains operate on the D line from 36th Street to Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue due to track panel installation along the route. There is no Brooklyn-bound N service at 8th Avenue, Ft. Hamilton Pkwy, 18th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Bay Pkwy, Kings Highway, Avenue U or 86th Street stations.


From 5 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, Brooklyn-bound R trains skip 65th Street, Northern Blvd, 46th Street, Steinway Street and 36th Street due to track work north of 36th Street. Customers traveling to these stations may take the R to Queens Plaza and transfer to a Forest Hills/71st Avenue-bound R.

(Rockaway Park Shuttle)
From 11 p.m. Friday, May 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, May 16, A trains replace the S shuttle between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park due to station rehabilitation work at Beach 36th and Beach 60th Streets.

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AsidesTaxis

Council approves higher fines for recalcitrant cabbies

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 13, 2011

As Mayor Bloomberg and the Taxi & Limousine Commission continue to search for ways to provide better cab service outside of Manhattan, the City Council took a step that should create greater incentives for cranky cabbies. The Council has voted to increase fines for cab drivers who refuse passengers a trip anywhere within the five boroughs. Under the new fine structure, cab drivers who are found in violation of the rules will be fined $500 for the first offense and $1000 for a second offense within two years. A driver found guilty of three offenses in three years will likely lose his or her license.

The new fines represent an increase of $150 for first-time violations. “This legislation is designed to send a very specific message, and that message is that no cab driver should refuse a person access to a cab based on where they want to go,” James Vacca, chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee said. “These days are coming to an end. People have a right to go where they want to go.”

We’ve debated the economics of fare refusals for a few weeks now as the city looks to find a way to add medallion cabs for people to hail to the streets of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The argument essentially boils down to Vacca’s statement. Not only do people have the right to go where they want, but cab drivers licensed by the city must follow the city’s rules. If they don’t, they’ll have to pay.

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BusesSubway Maps

Building a better bus map

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 13, 2011

Over the past few years, I’ve often examined the debate surrounding the New York City subway map. The map is far from perfect, and functionality and form often fight it out with design and readability emerging as the losers. While recent redesigns have pared down the extraneous information, the subway map is an incomplete glimpse at the subway system as it runs during certain hours of the day. For all of that, the bus maps are even worse.

Most notably is a lack of a comprehensive bus map. There is no publicly available map that unites bus service in all five boroughs. Instead, the maps focus on individual boroughs with some interborough express bus service highlighted as well. Even still, they are borderline illegible. Take a look, for instance, at the inset of Downtown Brooklyn available on the latest version of the borough-based bus:

It’s no wonder New Yorkers often find the bus system so hard to untangle when the visual representations do nothing to help. It’s almost easier to say what’s right about this map than what’s wrong. The New York City grid is very easy to follow here. Otherwise, colors, lines, shapes, arrows and numbers all bleed together to create something often harder to unpack that even the world’s toughest maze.

These days, it seems as though the MTA has given up on the bus map. The notes on the back are as tough to follow as the schematic on the front, and those in the city who rely on the buses learn their routes through either trial and error or the the strip maps on the bus poles. Admittedly, it’s tough to represent the bus system graphically, but with no rhyme or reason to the map’s colors, the current iteration fails.

Enter Anthony Denaro. The third-generation New Yorker has redesigned the Brooklyn bus map to show how one might better illustrate the system. Noting that the current map “lacks visual and operational organization strategy” and “underplays transfers with subway stations,” he introduces a map simplified by hub. The hubs are centered around Williamsburg, Ridgewood, East New York, Downtown, Bay Ridge, and Coney Island, and buses are grouped by color. “Riders,” he writes, “can make an approximation that a line will travel towards their neighborhood and ‘localizes’ those routes to their neighborhoods.”

Here’s the same Downtown Brooklyn inset:

What this move loses in geographical accuracy it more than makes up for in terms of readability. Overall, it’s much easier to trace the path of a bus and get a general sense of where the route will take a potential rider. Furthermore, instead of a confusing mass of information on the back, Denaro’s map offers neighborhood insets too. Here’s Williamsburg with subway transfers shown:

Right now, it’s clearly a work in progress, but it highlights a problem often ignored. If people can’t understand the bus system, they’re apt simply to ignore it. By presenting a map that makes more sense — one that is organized and color-coded — the MTA could indirectly encourage potential riders to hop on the bus. After all, knowing where you’re going is half the battle.

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Capital Program 2010-2014

The MTA Capital Program’s fall date with destiny

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 12, 2011

The MTA’s current five-year capital program, unfunded after 2011 and facing a $10-$13 billion funding gap, will live or die this fall, according to a report today by Crain’s Insider. The city’s daily newsletter reports today that Cuomo Administration will wait until the fall to attempt to usher through a political and economic compromise that will save the MTA’s ambitious capital improvement budget.

The brief report aptly sums up the state of things. “Transportation advocates are anxious but not panicked,” it says. “The Legislature rarely acts before it must, and the MTA’s capital plan is funded through 2011.” After 2011 remains a black hole of uncertainty, but Crain’s sources are cautiously optimistic with a few caveats. The report details:

Funding talks will coincide with contract negotiations with the MTA’s largest union, Transport Workers Union Local 100. That will add an extra wrinkle to discussions, perhaps creating a perception that the MTA is “getting squeezed from all sides to make ends meet,” said one transportation insider.

Binding arbitration could neutralize the contract’s politics. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrests concessions in a new contract with state workers, arbitrators might award the MTA a similar deal…

It remains unclear exactly how much the MTA will need to borrow, but insiders say bonding could require $750 million to $1 billion in new annual revenue starting next year. Fares have been raised for three consecutive years, and a fare hike is already scheduled for 2013, so another one in 2012 is unlikely. The Legislature will instead have to vote on new taxes or fees during a special session late in the year or early next year.

A few things: I’ve heard from a few people that the MTA’s borrowing capabilities are completely maxed out right now. Without an additional revenue source, it cannot bond out more money for the capital plan. Additionally, while Crain’s suggests binding arbitration for the MTA’s looming negotiations with the TWU, the last time the authority agreed to such a plan resulted in the 11 percent raises. The MTA is already under intense pressure not to go binding arbitration without wresting concessions from the TWU, and I’m surprised Crain’s would even suggest it.

The report notes that state Republicans may resist an effort to identify a revenue source for the MTA without an ironclad promise to fund the next state Department of Transportation capital plan as well. Such a compromise would likely lead to increased state spending, but by keeping these capital budgets funding, the state will guarantee jobs for the construction industry as well. For now, this looming political fight is on hold, but come the fall, the fight for funding will grow tense.

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MetroCardSelf Promotion

Video: Talking MetroCard futures on NBC

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on May 12, 2011

View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com

Last night, I made an appearance on NBC New York Non-Stop’s Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough to talk about the future of MetroCards. For regular SAS readers, this is a topic well covered in recent months as the MTA gears up to phase out the MetroCard in exchange for a tap-and-go system revolving around bank cards and an MTA Card. If you missed it last night, you can check out my appearance in the video embedded above. Enjoy.

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