Second Ave. Sagas

Category: Asides

  • Report: TWU calls off negotiations, for now

    The Transport Workers Union Local 100 has pulled out of talks with the MTA over claims that that the authority is attempting to negotiate through the media, according to reports. After an article appeared in today’s Daily News charting the MTA’s demands in light of the union’s request for a raise, TWU President John Samuelsen said he would banter through the press. “You had bus operators, track workers, signal maintainers, reading the newspaper today, with a better grasp of what the MTA was going to do with the negotiation committee of the union than the leadership of the union,” he said, “and that’s an outrage.”

    According to The Daily News, the MTA appeared willing to budge on the union’s request for a one-percent raise this year and next, but its demands were high. The MTA had wanted to change overtime rules to kick in after a 40-hour work week rather than an eight-hour work day and had planned to demand part-time bus drivers, less vacation time and revised health care plans. Raises too will come with other work rule changes as well.

    For its part, the MTA denied negotiating through the press, and TWU leaders said they would be willing to resume talks eventually. For now, we wait.

  • Report: Despite SAS blasting, UES air quality safe

    Despite constant blasting and an increase in dust particles, Second Ave. Subway construction has not led to an unsafe level of air pollutants on the Upper East Side, a study released today by the MTA claims. The report, prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff, reviewed by the EPA and available right here, was conducted over a four-week period this fall. It found that pollutants were below nationally acceptable air quality standards and that spikes in pollutant levels coincided with increased automobile traffic and not blasting frequency.

    “Based on the results of the study, there are no concerns that Second Avenue Subway construction is causing any danger to the public’s health,” MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything we can to be a good neighbor as we complete this critically important project as quickly as possible.”

    I can’t speak to the validity of the findings, but it seems that residents are skeptical. Some have noted that Parsons Brinckerhoff is an MTA contractor while others are complaining about smoke from blasting in addition to dust particles and debris. With station work expected to begin at 86th St. this year, these complaints will not cease. Just 59 more months to go.

  • Cuomo: MTA ‘working on additional transit applications’ for Ozone Park

    As Gov. Andrew Cuomo embarks on an extensive press tour to promote his plan to bring a privately-funded convention center to the Ozone Park area, reporters have asked him about the transit implications of such a plan. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the proposed area out near the Aqueduct and JFK Airport, isn’t particularly transit-accessible with only sporadic A train service and a nearby AirTrain. That isn’t stopping the governor though from eying the spot — and the $4 billion in private funds that come with it — optimistically.

    Speaking with reporters earlier today, Cuomo said in a reponse to a question on mass transit, “The MTA is working on additional transit applications.” He touted the fact that Genting will pay for the construction of the convention center and will carry the costs of some transportation-related aspects of the project as well.

    Admittedly, it’s still early in this process, but early is when key decisions are made. The MTA, governor and Genting must be as transparent and inclusive as possible in this process. A successful convention center will incorporate increased transit access without taking frequency away from popular stops further down the line, and the MTA should not be expected to cover the operating costs of increased service or the capital costs of building out a rail extension or new station stops. Now is the time for these concerns to see the light of day and not when the shovels are entering the ground.

  • TWU, MTA demands coming into view

    As the MTA and TWU continue working toward a new contract, the expectations and demands from both sides are coming into view. We learned yesterday that the TWU plans to tell the MTA and Gov. Cuomo to “take their set of demands and shove it,” but what exactly are those demands?

    According to Crain’s New York, the MTA’s demands are in line with what other New York unions have received recently. MTA CEO and Chairman Joe Lhota has proposed a five-year deal with no wage increases in years 1-3 and two percent bumps in years four and five. The MTA also has reportedly requested higher health care contributions from workers, a furlough period, a part-time bus driver position and a lower salary for station cleaners.

    On the other hand, the TWU wants constant wage increases, especially if it signs a five-year deal, and seems cool on the thought of productivity gains, according to The Wall Street Journal. The union, says The Journal, wants five years of wage increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. They won’t get any such raises without major productivity gains though.

    Ultimately, the issue boils down to money. The MTA doesn’t have money to usher in an increase in labor costs. A wage increase will come at the expense of the number of TWU members on the work rolls and their job descriptions. The union has mentioned slowdowns as they operate without a contract, but for now, the two sides will continue to negotiate.

  • Sticking with a MetroCard replacement plan

    One of the key items Jay Walder had hoped to accomplish during his time atop the MTA involved the fare payment technology. The MetroCard, practically obsolete since it was first introduced in 1994, hasn’t seen an upgrade in 18 years, and I can’t imagine keeping one computer around for the better part of two decades. Walder had been pushing forward on a contact-less smart card plan using credit and debit cards that would have saved the MTA millions in fare-collection costs, but his departure and the MTA’s general financial woes cast some doubt on a plan that’s been in the works for nearly a decade.

    While speaking with The Times this week, new MTA Chairman and CEO Joe Lhota issued something of an embrace of the smart card project. “Anything we can to do to make it easier for our customers to get on, to get off our system, is the right thing to do,” he said. “But we have to evaluate it. Does the investment make the most amount of sense? So we need to evaluate new technologies; we have to, always.”

    After the interview, Lhota stressed that is “fully committed to moving the smart-card program forward.” One way or another, the MTA has to move forward with something. They spend too much on fare collection and MetroCard Vending Machine maintenance today, and the technology has long since passed its prime. Someday, our contact-less fare payment system will come. (For more on the MetroCard replacement project, check out my past coverage of what the MTA termed “an E-ZPass for Transit.”)

  • Round-up: Lhota confirmed, FastTrack starts tonight

    Two brief items for the end of your day: The New York State Senate confirmed Joseph Lhota as the next CEO and Chairman of the MTA. I’ll have more from the confirmation hearings later, but as a preview, the lovely “two sets of books” meme that just won’t die reared its head. Lhota acquitted himself quite well during the committee confirmation hearings, and after expressing initial skepticism over his appointment, his performance today gave me hope that he’ll be an effective leader who won’t just rubber-stamp everything Gov. Cuomo sends his way.

    In more important news, the MTA’s partial line shutdown program, dubbed FastTrack, starts tonight along the East Side. The full details are right here in a press release. Starting tonight and continuing for four nights, there will be no 4, 5 or 6 service between Atlantic Ave. and Grand Central Terminal from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Straphangers are, of course, treating this like the apocalypse. Plan your evening rides, late-night journeys and early-morning commutes accordingly. I’ll have more on this as well tomorrow.

  • Link: End the ‘No Pants Subway Ride’

    Yesterday afternoon, thousands of straphangers gathered at various subway rides to participate in Improv Everywhere’s 11th Annual No-Pants Subway Ride. Although I participated one year, I didn’t even bother to give the event any press beforehand. It’s a stale idea that no longer carries with it any element of fun, surprise or prank simply because people without pants now outnumber people wearing pants on the subway when the times comes. AT&T’s flash mob commercial is more original than that.

    I’m not the only one who finds the annual event past its prime. Over at Gothamist, John Del Signore urges the organizers to just give it up already. Generally, he writes, we have either no or too much desire to see each other in our underwear. I like the money ‘graph though: “It’s not edgy if hundreds of people are doing it. It’s conformity, not originality, no matter what message you’re advertising on your ass. Want to be bold and daring? Take off your pants and ride the subway on any other day than this. Dropping trou and following the herd as part of a premeditated Facebook status update isn’t outrageous.”

    Perhaps Del Signore and I need to lighten up or perhaps you kids need to get off our lawns. Either way, if and when this event becomes but a footnote in the history of the subways, I won’t shed too many tears or my pants.

  • Thoughts on the price of a subway ride

    Forty years ago today the cost of a subway ride jumped, literally overnight, from 30 cents to 35, as the New-York Historical Society reminded us via Twitter. At the time, the MTA had just gotten approval from Albany and D.C. to raise the fares, and so barely 13 hours after voting for a fare hike, the new price went into effect. That five-cent jump, as Matt’ Johnson pointed out, is the equivalent of an increase from $1.62 to $1.89 in 2011 dollars. All of these figures got me thinking about the fare structure.

    Today, with all of Transit’s various per-ride discounts and unlimited-ride cards, the average subway fare is $1.64. That essentially corresponds to the pre-Jan. 5, 1972 fare of $0.30 in 1972 dollars. Without the average fare from 1972, it’s tougher to draw a comparison, but the only discounts then were for seniors. Many New Yorkers were subject to a two-fare zone as well. So essentially, after the Jan. 5 fare hike, New Yorkers paid more for worse subway and bus service in 1972 than they do in 2012.

    What then does all of this math mean for our current fare structure? Is it too low? Is it too complicated? Over the past few years, the MTA has been aggressively trying to tie its fares in with inflation, and as they point out every month, the current average fare still trails the pre-Unlimited Ride average fare by 27 inflation-adjusted cents. It seems to me as though we don’t pay enough for our subway rides, but who really wants to make that argument anyway?

  • Walder: MTA infrastructure in ‘terrible condition’

    When Jay Walder announced in July his abrupt departure from the MTA, transit advocates viewed his resignation as a major blow to the authority. His was an independent voice with a mind for both fiscal savings and progressive transit policies, and his decision to move to Hong Kong was viewed as another sign of brain drain impacting the MTA due to a lack of support and investment from Albany. I had hoped that Walder would conduct an exit interview, but in an effort to avoid burning bridges, he never did.

    Now that he’s settling into his new high-paying job in Hong Kong and must get the MTR budget into shape, the Hong Kong press has asked him about the numerous layoffs he instituted in New York. Vowing not to do the same in Asian, he spoke of the way New York politicians simply failed to support transit. “The assets were not renewed and the infrastructures were in terrible condition,” he said.

    That pretty much sums up the state of the city’s vital transportation infrastructure. The assets aren’t there and haven’t been for decades. Yet, the aging system must transport over 5 million people a day and plays a major role in driving the city’s economy. Will anyone wake up to this reality before it’s too late?

  • Daily News: TWU must be prepared for ‘tightened belts’

    As 2012 dawned, the day of reckoning for the MTA and TWU drew ever closer. In 12 days, the union’s current contract will expire, and John Samuelsen and Joe Lhota are working to forge a settlement. Still, the MTA’s fiscal reality requires a net-zero increase in labor costs or else the riders will have to pay. That is a point not lost on the editorial boards of the city’s newspapers.

    Yesterday, the Daily News’ editors chimed in with their take on the labor situation. Noting that an arbitration panel recently determined that Long Island Bus workers will have to forego their expected three percent raises in 2011 since the MTA doesn’t have the money for it, the News called upon the TWU to take note and expect to give out concessions. “This is a time for tightened belts,” the editorial said. “Any and all raises will have to be bought with work rule changes and productivity gains.”

    Over the last three years, as TWU members have enjoyed raises, the MTA has slashed its administrative payroll while freezing wages. It’s creating to something of a brain drain at MTAHQ, but that’s a problem for a different post. Now, it’s time for the TWU to show flexibility. As the News says to Samuelsen, “He should remember that the best interests of all concerned — taxpayers, riders and workers — are to keep the MTA as efficient as it can be.” That will be a key point over the next few weeks as the two sides work toward a deal.