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AsidesMTA

Searching for more alluring subway retailers

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 12, 2010

The MTA takes in approximately $70 million a year in rent from stores that take out space in subterranean complexes, but most of these shops are nothing more than an after-thought. Some are designed to entice tourists searching for novelties, and others offer up little bit more than drab clothing, obscure CDs or lukewarm sodas. Few, if any, would be considered high end, and the MTA could be sitting on some untapped real estate resources.

Now, faced with the need to generate more revenue, the MTA is looking to attract what Heather Haddon called high-end retail stores to take out space in the subway. One — called Grast — opened recently at 42nd St. and 8th, and the authority’s real estate folks are looking for more. “It’s a new approach,” agency spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. “We’re looking to attract a new wave of edgy and stylish vendors that put some thought into their store’s design.”

Just imagine that: the subway system as a shopping destination.

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AsidesSubway Security

Station agent dismissals set for Friday

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 11, 2010

The news from amNew York is short but to the point: The MTA on Friday will layoff 202 station agents and shutter 44 token booths across the city. This dismissals come just three weeks after the MTA voted to axe these positions following judicially-mandated public hearings. According to agency reports, the May injunction against the dismissals and the need to go through the hearing process cost the authority approximately $49,000 per day. As fewer eyes and ears are now around to greet passengers at station entrances, hopefully the new intercom system will be an effective safety tool and criminal deterrent.

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AsidesMTA Economics

Inside the origins of the MTA’s debt burden

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 10, 2010

City Limits, the online magazine focusing on NYC civic life, has published the final installment of its three-part series focusing on the MTA’s financial problems. Today’s piece focuses on the MTA’s debt burden brought about by its massive five-year capital plans. For those familiar with the MTA’s economic picture, Jake Mooney’s piece treads familiar ground, but it does an excellent job exploring the origins of the MTA’s debt.

Mooney summarizes why debt payments will reach $2.5 billion in 2014 and how Albany and City Hall are to blame: “While federal government support for capital projects has remained strong, city and state contributions over the years have dwindled. To make up the difference, the authority has increasingly borrowed money by issuing bonds, and that borrowing has taken a toll. The MTA’s outstanding debt, which was $13 billion in 2000, had reached $31 billion by this past July.”

As Mooney notes, without congestion pricing or bridge tolls — two plans that would generate revenue while encouraging more efficient travel — the system is bound to be mired in financial troubles for the foreseeable future. “They’re really just kicking the can down the road,” John Petro of the Drum Major Institute said to City Limits. “It’s going to mean more pain for riders. All the tinkering we do and belt-tightening is not really going to address the problem. Hopefully voters will realize that the source of their grief is not this nameless, faceless authority, but the people that they vote for.” [City Limits]

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AsidesService Cuts

Disabled groups to file lawsuit over MTA service cuts

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 9, 2010

Over at Transportation Nation today, WNYC’s Alisa Chang profiles the plight of the city’s disabled transit riders in the aftermath of the service cuts. With Outer Borough bus service significantly scaled back, these travelers, many of whom are wheelchair-bound, find themselves taking fewer excursions and suffering through longer trips and inconvenient routes when they do head out. The anecdotes are numerous, and while firm numbers are hard to come by, Chang reports that various groups are gearing up to sue the MTA over the service cuts. These suits will allege a discriminatory effect on the basis of a disparate impact as the service cuts hit disabled riders particularly hard. I’m not familiar with the mandates of the ADA, but these legal challenges could present a problem for the MTA.

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AsidesSubway Advertising

Highlighting some innovative subway advertisement

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 5, 2010

In a certain sense, subway advertisement is a great untapped medium in New York City. A business looking to reach a captive audience could do far worse than renting out some space in a subway station or on board a train, and yet, the vast majority of the MTA’s advertising seems to come from pulp fiction novels, community colleges and ESL programs. Over at Flavorwire, Paul Hiebert a few weeks ago profiled ten innovative subway advertisement campaigns. Some of them involved turnstile branding; others involved in-station set ups; and one even focused on the straps and poles within a train car. Not surprisingly, none of them were in New York City. As the MTA is looking for ways to expand its revenue base, I hope the marketing department is paying attention to some of the more involved and creative underground campaigns out there.

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AsidesMetroCard

Fare media liability expected to stay at $52 million

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 4, 2010

As with any transportation business, the MTA enjoys a small but significant revenue stream from unused pre-paid fares. For instance, if I were to buy a $25 pay-per-ride MetroCard and use only $20 of it before it gets lost to the sands of time, the MTA would enjoy a $5 profit from my card. Last year, when the MTA announced $53 million in fare media liability, I explored the whys of it. That budget item had jumped by 12.5 percent, and I speculated that New Yorkers simply don’t want to take the time to do the math involved with the MetroCard bonus system.

Over the next year, the Daily News reports today, the MTA again expects nearly $52 million to fill their coffers from unused MetroCards. The News notes that this amount is the same as 23 million rides at the base fare, but I have to wonder if it will truly be that high. If the MTA is charging $1 per new MetroCard, will straphangers be more inclined to zero their cards over their lifespans? Or will people simply refill with no regard to the discount or an uneven balance? Plenty of people will still buy cards and forget about them, but if the MTA is requiring us all to watch our MetroCards’ bottom lines, the fare media liability total could shrink a bit.

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AsidesFare Hikes

With the fare hike, anticipating a small ridership drop

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 3, 2010

In the months prior to the June service cuts, the MTA saw its ridership increase for the first time since the recession hit. Now, however, forces are gathering against the authority, and with the cuts in place and fare hikes coming our way in January, the authority believes it will see a slight decline in ridership come 2011.

As Pete Donohue reports in the Daily News, the MTA expects 16 million fewer trips in 2011 than in 2010, a decline in subway ridership of approximately 0.7 percent. The authority believes a rebounding New York economy will dampen the impact of the fare hike as the projected 66,000 new jobs will lead to more transit use. “Because we are cautiously optimistic about the recovery of New York’s economy, we expect the fare increase to cause a very small decrease in ridership,” Jeremy Soffin, MTA spokesman, said to Donohue.

Still, despite the improving economy, if the MTA opts to limit the currently unlimited MetroCards, the ridership drop could be larger than expected. Those riders on a budget who currently enjoy unlimited transportation won’t swipe as often as they do now and may take fewer trips for pleasure. The hikes though will see the authority’s revenue take increase significantly. “Poor people and people of modest means count their trips more often after a fare hike, and they’ll cut out some nonwork trips,” Straphangers guru Gene Russianoff said.

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AsidesMTA Technology

Mixed results for ATO on the L

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 2, 2010

The Post this weekend ran an article on the use of automated train operations on the L line, and Janet Roth’s story focuses on “aggravating delays for riders and multimillion-dollar repairs for the MTA.” Basically, according to transit workers, ATO has created more problems than it has solved along the L line. It doesn’t always work reliably well, and it has led to some monumental delays. Transit watchdogs too have confirmed that. “It’s trying to fit new technology into an old system,” William Henderson, head of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said. “There is some skepticism about why we are doing this.”

And what do the numbers say? It cost over $340 million to implement, and the L line has suffered from a high number of delays. Not all of those, however, are related to ATO. There have been, however, 100 glitches a year on the L, and the authority had to hire special contractors to fix the problems. Still, the automated control system, says a Transit spokesman, works on more than 20 trains a day, but it has suffered a “higher than expected failure rate.”

As with every MTA technological project, this one hasn’t been the success the authority had hoped. As the authority looks to bring ATO-based train control to the 7 line, it will use a different contractor and a different set of rolling stock. MTA officials are hopeful that they can learn from the mistakes of the L and bring a better service to the IRT Flushing route.

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AsidesBuses

DOT: Former bus stops will become parking spots

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on August 2, 2010

As the MTA prepared to shutter bus routes across the city, I joined with livable streets advocates in calling for the city’s Department of Transportation to turn former bus stops in bike parking spaces, among other non-auto-centric uses. When the NYPD, however, told its enforcement agents to avoid ticketing cars parked in the old bus zones, I was not optimistic that the battle would be won. Today, the New York Post reports that, by and large, DOT will convert the bus stops into parking spaces, thus handing over premium curbside space once reserved for transit to drivers.

According to Rich Calder and Tom Namako’s reporting, 365 of the 600 bus stops no longer in service are being used by drivers searching for more parking space. Although DOT has yet to decide which areas will be permanent parking spots and which will be deemed school or loading zones, no bike parking or pedestrian spaces will be considered. Hopefully, some of the abandoned shelters can be converted to that purpose instead. DOT says the removal of the bus signs and the installation of signs proclaiming the new use will be completed “over the next few weeks.”

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ARC TunnelAsides

RPA: ARC tunnel will cause spike in property value

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 30, 2010

The new cross-Hudson River tunnel under construction as part of the effort to improve access to the New York region’s core could generate nearly $18 billion in property value increases, the Regional Plan Association said yesterday. A new study of the ARC Tunnel found that home values could increase by an average of $19,000 if homes are within two miles of a commuter rail stop and nearly $30,000 if homes are within walking distance. Additionally, ARC will double the number of residents west of the Hudson River who are within a 50-minute train ride to Midtown and increase those who are within 70 minutes by 25 percent.

RPA officials were quick to praise the project. “There is not a more clear-cut instance of a project with tremendous public benefits
that will improve the region for decades to come,” Bob Yaro, association president, said. The ARC Tunnel is expected to be completed by 2018 and will carry a price tag of $9 billion. The RPA’s full report is available here as a PDF.

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