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AsidesTransit Labor

Walder’s new apartment; TWU’s Six Flags excursion

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

As the TWU and Jay Walder square off over pay cuts and wage freezes, two stories garnered headlines that are sure to play in the labor battle. In this corner, we have The Observer with the Walder family’s new $1.599 million Upper West Side apartment. In the other corner, we have a $2 million trip to Six Flags for which the TWU paid $2 million. Let’s call it fodder for ignoring the real issues.

Walder worked for Transport for London and the high-powered consulting firm McKinsey before arriving at the MTA. He and his family certainly have the dollars to spend on living arrangements, and the fact that he spent money doesn’t hinder his transit credibility. The TWU should be delivering benefits for its members, and even though tickets to this Family Day outing went fast, the union doesn’t plan on such an extensive excursion in the future. Discretionary personal spending is discretionary personal spending, and no amount of it will change the fact that the MTA has some deep and serious financial issues.

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AsidesMTA Economics

What future the payroll tax?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 28, 2010

Now that the MTA has unveiled a four-year plan, it’s possible to see what level of government contributions the agency expects. Going forward — as page 19 of the PDF details — the authority will derive significant revenue from the payroll tax. By 2014, the authority believes it will draw in $1.5 billion from the payroll tax or nearly 27 percent of its total government subsidy. This controversial tax, then, is a vital one, and if the state’s candidates for governor have their way, the MTA may not see much from it.

The Times Herald Record released polled Rick Lazio and Andrew Cuomo about their stances on hot-button issues. For MTA supporters, the news is dismaying. Lazio, the GOP candidate, says he’s for repealing the tax, and the Democrats’ nominee Andrew Cuomo offered up a little tap dance that basically says as much. “The MTA payroll tax is something we must revisit by coming up with a more equitable system,” he said. “We cannot place unfair burdens on counties with families and businesses struggling.”

Neither candidate, as Mobilizing the Region noted, offered up a solution to the MTA’s budgetary woes nor did they identify a replacement revenue stream were the payroll tax to be abolished. The uncomfortable truth is that the new payroll tax fixes many of the inequities of the original proposal, and it remains a vitally necessary source of MTA funding. The region and its businesses would suffer more were the MTA cut $1.5 billion worth of service, and unless another revenue source is put into place, the state cannot afford to repeal the payroll tax.

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AsidesMetro-North

At Fordham, $392K to alleviate overcrowding

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 28, 2010

As part of this month’s real estate deals, Metro-North Railroad has requested to purchase 7128 square feet of land from Fordhma University in order to widen a platform that often suffers from overcrowding. This station — the second busiest for reverse commuters — sees nearly 6000 people board the northbound trains in the morning rush, but the current platform, just eight feet wide in some places, can barely contain the crowds. When Fordham University made the land available, the MTA jumped. “The current outbound platform is narrow and gets crowded during the AM rush,” Metro-North President Howard Permut said in a statement. “This purchase will enable the railroad to improve conditions for its Fordham customers.”

With this extra land, Metro-North plans to widen a 515-foot section of the platform to 20 feet and completely cover it with a new canopy. The remainder of the platform which is under the station building and Fordham plaza cannot be widened. The land itself will cost $392,000 to acquire, and the station renovation project will carry a $14-million pricetag. “Metro-North and MTA have worked closely with Fordham to secure this property and it is a win-win-win, for the railroad, for the university and most importantly for the customers,” Permut said.

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AsidesFare Hikes

For the right price, unlimited cards could stay that way

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 27, 2010

For the last few weeks, we’ve heard all about the MTA’s plans to cap the number of rides available on the so-called unlimited MetroCards, and earlier this morning, I discussed how the authority may eliminate the one- and 14-day cards. As more details have emerged today, the MTA may not axe those unlimited cards after all. According to a report in The Post, the authority will consider two proposals: one in which the unlimited ride cards become limited and another in which the cards cost more but stay unlimited.

According to Tom Namako, the two plans will look a little something like this: The weekly card could increase slightly from $27 to $28 but with a 22 ride cap or it could go to $29 with no cap. The 30-day card would increase from $89 to $99 with a 90-ride cap or it could go to $104 with no cap. The MTA also says it will lower the pay-per-ride volume discount from 15 percent to a mere seven percent and will also attempt to negotiate no-raise provisions into its expiring labor contract.

The final fare proposal will emerge after public hearings in September or October, but I would urge the MTA to maintain limitless subway rides on the unlimited cards. Even if most people do not use the cards to a full 90 rides, there’s something to be said for encouraging transit use without requiring customers to keep an eye on their ridership volumes. That said, if a 90-ride cap is met by day 28 and the cap serves to counter MetroCard fraud, it may yet be a worthwhile proposal.

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AsidesService Cuts

MetroCard turnstile readers as the next labor battle ground

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 26, 2010

As part of the collateral damage from the MTA’s decision to shutter station booths and axe station agents, MetroCard readers in the subway turnstiles are getting cleaned less often, says The Post, and labor officials are making it a point of contention with the MTA. According to Janet Roth’s brief report, station agents used to clean the readers daily with an alcohol-based cleaning solution on a dummy card, but with fewer agents to clean the slots, straphangers might notice more reader errors. The MTA told The Post that station chiefs and cleaners are to do these daily cleanings, but union officials are telling the cleaners that cleaning isn’t part of their job.

This sort of funny, sort of predictable story leads me to two conclusions: First, the riding public yet again comes out the losers in this battle between a cost-cutting agency and its employee unions. Second, when the MTA finally implements a contact-less fare payment system, this petty argument won’t matter any longer.

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AsidesRolling Stock

Transit accepts final R160 units

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 23, 2010

The era of the new R160s is officially over as New York City Transit announced that they have received the final units of the 1662-car order. The new cars are in use on the E, F, N and Q lines, and the technology behind the R160s — including the underutilized FIND signs — should keep this series of rolling stock on the rails for the next four decades.

Transit officials have spoken glowingly of the new cars as they now average approximately 370,000 miles between mechanical failures. “A lot of work went into the development of the R160 fleet and these cars have allowed us to retire hundreds of subway cars that first entered service in the mid to late 1960s, Carmen Bianco, senior vice president of the Department of Subways, said. “These cars are state-of-the-art, and designed to provide customers with far more information and comfort than older models and they are designed to last at least through mid century.”

The R160 order wraps up the MTA’s rolling stock expenditures under the 2005-2009 capital plan, and the next order — the so-called R179s — will come under the next five-year plan. Current plans for the R179s include a 290-car order for 60-footers that will replace the remaining R32 and R42 sets. The R188 order for the 7 line will start arriving in 2012, and the R211s are slated to arrive in 2015 to replace the R46s.

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AsidesMoynihan Station

Moynihan construction start in October

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 23, 2010

After this week’s PACB approval, construction on Phase 1 of Moynihan Station will begin in October. With a tortured history that rivals many of New York City’s late-20th Century transit expansion plans, a firm start date for the project is good news indeed. Phase 1 is a $267-million expansion plan for Penn Station, and it is expected to be completed by 2016. When the $1.5-billion Phase 2 will get off the ground is anyone’s guess, but when the project is finally completed, New Yorkers will enjoy a much airier and roomier commuter rail hub, evocative of the old Penn Station. Issues concerning track capacity into and out of New York City will not be addressed.

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AsidesMoynihan Station

Public Authorities Control Board OKs Moynihan Phase 1

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 22, 2010

The New York State Public Authorities Control Board has approved Phase 1 of the Moynihan Station project. The vote today is a significant step forward as four years ago, the same board blocked then-Governor Pataki’s plan for the station. With a significant amount of federal funds in place and plans for the station complex broken up into the cheaper Phase 1 and the most costly Phase 2, the early work can go forward while the state scrounges up the dollars for the $1.5 billion Penn Station expansion.

Phase 1 of the Moynihan Station plan is a $267 million cosmetic and infrastructure project. It involves building two entrances to Penn Station, dropping 13 new “vertical access points” to the platforms, and widening some underground concourses. The Empire State Development Corporation had signed off on it in March.

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AsidesCongestion Fee

The son of the return of congestion pricing

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 22, 2010

As the MTA struggles to find a reliable source of dedicated revenue and the city remains choked by traffic, higher-ups in the Bloomberg Administration appear to be putting out feelers again on a potential congestion pricing plan. Stephen Goldsmith, the new Deputy Mayor for Operations, sat down for a chat with NY1 this week, and during the interview, he spoke at length about the future of congestion pricing.

While he isn’t sure if the New York political climate in Albany would pass a congestion measure, Goldsmith understands the need for traffic pricing and the costs driving exerts on society. “The issue is,” he said, “you’ve got a limited number of transportation mechanisms and different ways to get around — Both how you get around and where you are driving or what subway you are taking or what bus you are on. How New Yorkers use those resources will have to be very efficient for the infrastructure to maintain the number of people, and congestion pricing causes people to think differently about how they consume those roads and consume those bridges. So it’s a very important signal to the populace.”

If Bloomberg wanted to make one last play for congestion pricing in the final years of his reign as mayor, after the upcoming election would be a fine time to do so. Those in Albany whose support is required wouldn’t be fighting a campaign, but even still, congestion pricing with revenues dedicated to the MTA has the support of the majority of New Yorkers. The measure also passed the City Council two years ago and would do so again. The time might be right for another push.

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AsidesBuses

Bananas, and not buses, should come in bunches

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on July 21, 2010

When the MTA cut bus service in Brooklyn, they restructured existing lines in such a way that often combined parts of two routes into one. For example, the B69, which used to run south along Prospect Park West and north along 8th Ave., now runs north and south along 7th Ave., sharing a road with the B67. By implementing this service change, the MTA could down on the frequency of both buses while ostensibly maintaining service levels on the busiest corridors — that is, 7th Ave. — of those routes. On paper the plan works, but on practice, it has ran into some problems.

As Ben Kochman in The Brooklyn Paper details today, the buses have been arriving not at all and then in bunches. Oftentimes, riders wait up to 10 minutes between buses during rush hour before both a B67 and a B69 show up at the same time. During the off-peak hours, with each bus set to come every 30 minutes, instead of four evenly spaced buses every 15 minutes, the bunching has led to very long wait times. I too have noticed this peculiarity as I’ve walked along 7th Ave.

For its part, the MTA cited “scheduling snags” in the weeks after the cuts as well as the vagaries of traffic, always an easy fallback for bus bunching excuses. A spokesperson said the authority will try to adjust bus times accordingly as the fallout from the service cuts just keeps on coming.

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