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Asides

Update: Northern end of M train resume services

by Benjamin Kabak November 1, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on November 1, 2012

A brief mid-afternoon update: At around 3:15 p.m. today, the MTA restored service on the M line between Parsons-Archer and 34 St-Herald Square. The trains are running along the Queens Boulevard line to Herald Square via the 63rd St. tunnel. There is, as yet, still no service via the 53rd St. tunnel, and Queens Plaza, Court Square-23 Street, Lexington Avenue/53 Street and 5 Avenue/53 Street remain closed.

Meanwhile, the current subway and Brooklyn Bus Bridge service will run on a 24/7 schedule with additional services added as they are announced. (Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to issue another update on transit service this evening.) Due to safety concerns, local buses in Manhattan will not run south of 23rd St. once it gets dark out this evening, but the Brooklyn shuttles will continue to operate overnight.

November 1, 2012 6 comments

Asides Service Advisories

Post-Sandy subway service update to come at noon

by Benjamin Kabak October 31, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 31, 2012

An FYI: MTA Chairman Joe Lhota and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo will provide the long-awaited update on the subway system and the status of the transportation network at a 12 p.m. news conference. According to Pat Kiernan, NY1 will cover it live, and the Governor’s website will be streaming it. I’m sure the other networks will carry it as well. I’ll have updates here on site and via the Second Ave. Sagas Twitter account as well. Stay tuned. I’m not anticipating good news, but the MTA is trying to restore at least partial subway service as soon as possible.

October 31, 2012 7 comments

Asides MTA Bridges and Tunnels

Sandy Updates: City’s tunnels and bridges closing

by Benjamin Kabak October 29, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 29, 2012

Updated (5:30 p.m.): As Sandy’s landfall nears and the wind speeds around the city pick up, the MTA is starting to shut down its bridges and tunnels. The Gov. Hugh L. Carey (nee Brooklyn-Battery) Tunnel is closed, and the Cross Bay Bridge has been shuttered immediately. The Verrazano and RFK Bridges are under a Phase II wind restriction order which limits the types of vehicles and speeds permitted to cross, and the Throgs Neck, Bronx Whitestone, Marine Parkway, Henry Hudson and Verrazano Narrows Bridges will close at 7. New York City has announced that the four bridges under its purview — the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Queensboro — will close at 7 p.m. as well.

The RFK Bridge and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel will stay open for now. That decision is subject to change pending weather conditions. This storm — and the incoming storm surge — is going to get worse over the next few hours. Stay off the roads if at all possible.

October 29, 2012 7 comments

Asides Service Advisories

MTA to decide Sunday on transit service shutdown ahead of Sandy

by Benjamin Kabak October 27, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 27, 2012

As Hurricane Sandy continues to churn its way north toward the New York City area, the MTA will wait until tomorrow to make a final determination on any potential service shutdown for Monday and beyond, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said today. Any move to curtail subway and other transit service will begin at 7 p.m. tomorrow night with a total shutdown achieved by 3 a.m. on Monday morning. “We’re planning for the worst, we’re hoping for the best, and all decisions will be made on this tomorrow,” Lhota said. “If the storm continues on the path it is on…it’s of great concern to the entire transportation system in New York.”

Lhota is concerned with storm surges of up to four to eight feet as the storm is due to hit south of the city. Such a track would create a potential for damaging surges, high winds and a lot of rainfall, and in the event such shutdown plans are put into place, service will be inconsistent after 7 p.m. tomorrow. I will continue to update the site as news of any potential subway shutdown breaks.

October 27, 2012 3 comments

Asides Buses MTA Technology

Transit Tech Update: BusTime set to hit the Bronx next week

by Benjamin Kabak October 26, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 26, 2012

Over the past few years, we’ve seen Transit begin the process of bringing real-time bus tracking to New York City. Eschewing an expensive, closed solution, the MTA instead went the open source route and has been developing BusTime, with its public API, in house for nearly two years. I explored the inner workings of the technology as it existed in February of 2011. Since then, a few routes in Brooklyn and Manhattan along with all of Staten Island have been added to BusTime, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Now, it’s nearing time for its Bronx debut.

Earlier this week, during testimony in front of the City Council, Craig Stewart, a Senior Corporate Management from Transit, said that the Bronx would, in fact, receive BusTime by the end of the month. “We are scheduled to fully deploy BusTime in the Bronx by the end of this month and to have it in all remaining boroughs by the end of 2013,” he said. “It is worth noting that customer feedback on the MTA Bus Time initiative has been overwhelmingly positive.” According to The Daily News, nearly 30 percent of Staten Island bus riders have used the service.

Available online via a mobile or full-featured browser and with the information accessible via text message as well, BusTime informs riders of how far away the next bus along the chosen route is. It’s a little less precise than a countdown clock with minutes, but bus travel time varies based on surface traffic. From my use of it in Brooklyn, it seems to take only a few refreshes to ascertain how long a wait will be and how distance translates into time. As the city-wide rollout continues, this technology should vastly improve the experience of traveling on — and waiting for — our buses. Now how about more dedicated lanes and a city-wide pre-board payment system?

October 26, 2012 4 comments

Asides Service Advisories

Nearing the ’12 end, FASTRACK hits 8th Ave.

by Benjamin Kabak October 22, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 22, 2012

A funny thing happened on the way to December: After an initial flurry of concern and media coverage over the MTA’s decision to shutter a subway trunk line overnight a few times a year, FASTRACK has become a part of the way we live. Last week, the West Side IRT went down for four nights, and this week, the 8th Ave. lines are re-routed during the overnight hours. Yet, the complaints, at least in the media, have disappeared. I’m sure those who suffer re-routes and longer rides home late at night still aren’t happy, but that’s the price we as a city seem willing to pay.

Stating tonight at 10 p.m. and running each night this week until 5 a.m., Eighth Ave. subway service will be suspended between 59th St.-Columbus Circle and either Jay St.-MetroTech or the World Trade Center station. Instead, A trains will run on the Sixth Ave. line south of 59th St. making local stops via the F line to Jay St. E trains will run via the Sixth Ave. local as well, terminating at 2nd Ave. C service to Manhattan will end at 9:30 p.m., and Brooklyn-bound C trains will run until 10 p.m.

It is always strange to see no subways west of 7th Avenue, but with plenty of alternate routes, those folks coming to and from Chelsea and Hells Kitchen will have options for their longer walks home. The last FASTRACK of the year will run from November 5-9 on the East Side, and the program is set to expand beyond Manhattan in 2013.

October 22, 2012 1 comment

Asides MTA Bridges and Tunnels

On the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, renamed

by Benjamin Kabak October 19, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 19, 2012

Flitting across the inbox this afternoon came a missive from the MTA: On Monday morning, Joe Lhota, public officials and Hugh Carey’s surviving family members will gather in Lower Manhattan for a ceremony officially renaming the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in honor of the late governor. Instead of a useful name signifying place, the river crossing will be called the Gov. Hugh L. Carey Tunnel.

The Carey Tunnel renaming wasn’t unexpected. The dedication was approved by politicians in 2010, and at the time, I railed against the inanities of renaming tunnels and bridges. Does it make sense to spend taxpayer dollars to rename a river crossing or roadway whose name serves a purpose? Once we could take the West Side Highway to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel or else we could take the East River Drive to the Triborough Bridge. Now, we can ride the Joe DiMaggio Highway to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel or ride the FDR Drive to the RFK or Ed Koch Bridges. Does anyone really know where we’re going any longer?

October 19, 2012 42 comments

Asides Self Promotion

Event Tonight: Sam Schwartz my ‘Problem Solvers’ guest

by Benjamin Kabak October 17, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 17, 2012

Tonight, my popular Q-and-A series run in conjunction with the Transit Museum returns for its fall debut. I’ll be interviewing “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, and we’ll be discussing his plan to mitigate traffic congestion in New York City while generating revenue for transit investments. We’ll talk about the ins and outs of his plans, the opposition it faces and the paths toward implementation. At some point, after all, New York City will have to address its traffic and transit issues head on.

Tonight’s event happens near, but not at, the Transit Museum. We’ll be at The Actors Fund Arts Center at 160 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. Doors open at 6, and the session kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 17. To reserve your seat now, mosey on over to this link. I’ll see you there.

October 17, 2012 1 comment

Asides Self Promotion Service Advisories

Reminder: FASTRACK this week, ‘Problem Solvers’ Wednesday

by Benjamin Kabak October 15, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 15, 2012

A few mid-day reminders for you: First up is some FASTRACK news. This week marks the final shutdown on the West Side IRT for 2012. Beginning at 10 p.m. and running through 5 a.m. each night this week, there will be no 1, 2 or 3 train service between 34th Street-Penn Station and South Ferry or Atlantic Ave./Barclays Center, as the case may be. The 5 will make local stops to Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, and the 4 will do the same to New Lots Avenue. The Shuttle will operate through the night. Check out the map here, and plan accordingly.

Next, on Wednesday evening, my popular Q-and-A series run in conjunction with the Transit Museum returns for its fall debut. I’ll be interviewing “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, and we’ll be discussing his plan to mitigate traffic congestion in New York City while generating revenue for transit investments. We’ll talk about the ins and outs of his plans, the opposition it faces and the paths toward implementation. At some point, after all, New York City will have to address its traffic and transit issues head on.

This month’s event happens near, but not at, the Transit Museum. We’ll be at The Actors Fund Arts Center at 160 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. Doors open at 6, and the session kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 17. To reserve your seat now, mosey on over to this link. I’ll see you there.

October 15, 2012 0 comment

Asides Self Promotion

Event: Interviewing Sam Schwartz for ‘Problem Solvers’

by Benjamin Kabak October 10, 2012

written by Benjamin Kabak on October 10, 2012

Next week, my popular Q-and-A series run in conjunction with the Transit Museum returns for its fall debut. I’ll be interviewing “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, and we’ll be discussing his plan to mitigate traffic congestion in New York City while generating revenue for transit investments. We’ll talk about the ins and outs of his plans, the opposition it faces and the paths toward implementation. At some point, after all, New York City will have to address its traffic and transit issues head on.

October 10, 2012 2 comments

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