In its materials for Monday’s Transit Committee meeting (PDF here), the MTA Board has released its preliminary numbers for the 2009 ridership totals. Later in the week, I’ll offer a more complete look at the numbers, but the initial figures show a very popular subway system. Despite a down economy and high New York job loss totals, Transit’s overall farebox revenue total came to $3.1369 billion last year, just $2.1 million less than the agency’s final estimate. The average fare across subways and local buses came to a hair under $1.40, and Transit saw 2.31 billion trips in 2009, just 63.5 million (or 2.7 percent) fewer than in 2008 and the second highest total ridership since 1969. For all of the MTA’s troubles, 7.4 million people per weekday rely on the authority to get them around New York City, and as the agency fights for its fiscal future, that’s not a number we should ignore.
Category:
Asides
The C Train blues
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 18, 2010
With apologies to Duke Ellington for the headline, it seems as though some Transit riders were stymied by the MTA’s last-minute IND midweek service changes. When the snows came last week, Transit had to postpone a major service change along the Central Park West lines north of 59th St., and after a three-day weekend, the agency decided to announce the changes late on Monday afternoon. Despite getting the word out to news outlets throughout the city, the Daily News notes that many C train riders simply didn’t get the message.
According to Kate Nocera and Pete Donohue, Transit workers manning the system on Tuesday weren’t prepared for widespread ignorance of the last-minute change. Signs on the platforms did not reflect the temporary service patterns, and major stations did not feature additional MTA personnel instructing straphangers of the changes. Conductors on some E trains made announcements but not, says the Daily News, at stations where riders would usually be able to transfer to the C. As a result, many riders were simply unaware of the problems they would face.
What is comforting, though, is Transit’s willingness to accept responsibility for the lack of information. In an era in which Jay Walder, the new CEO and Chair, has pushed for transparency and accountability, Transit took the blame. “This was a last minute addition to the diversion schedule but there’s no excuse for not having the proper information out at affected stations,” agency spokesman Paul Fleuranges said. “We can and should do better and we will.” Fleuranges’ statement doesn’t get at the fact that people in the subways often simply disregard the signs even when they’re up, but that’s a topic for another day.
MTA slowed by old office computer technology
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 17, 2010
Over the years, one of my major themes here at Second Ave. Sagas has been the MTA’s love/hate relationship with technology. When it comes to technological innovation and adaptation, the MTA has seemingly been mired in the early 1990s, and in fact, the Regional Plan Association just profiled the MTA’s technological woes in its latest Spotlight on the Region. Only over the last few months with MTA CEO and Chair Jay Walder leading an increased push for better service and customer relations has the agency embraced newer transit technologies. Still, the agency can go only as far as their operating system can take them, and to that end, Heather Haddon reported in amNew York yesterday, the agency has some work to do.
According to transit watchdogs, old software and inadequate Internet connections are plaguing work at MTAHQ and interfering with basic tasks. Based on information Haddon received, the MTA is stuck with Microsoft applications from 2003 or earlier and have trouble with large-scale tasks. Work assignments take four months longer to generate than they should, and the MTA has run into legal sanctions when data has been lost due to computer errors. Meanwhile, Internet bandwidth is so scarce at the officers that the Internet slows to a crawl everyday.
In the end, Walder recognizes these institutional problems. “These are things we have to find out how to be more nimble about it,” he said. Yet, the problem remains the money. It costs a lot to upgrade computer equipment, and I know plenty of businesses still trying to rely on computers that are pushing seven or eight years of age. Better technology at the office will lead to a more efficient and streamlined operations, but can the MTA afford to get there in the first place?
For Michael Jackson, a mural but no station name at Hoyt/Schermerhorn
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 16, 2010
In August, two months after Michael Jackson’s death, Council Member Letitia James created a stir when she called upon the MTA to name its Hoyt/Schermerhorn stop after the King of Pop. He and Martin Scorscese made the station famous when the duo filmed Jackson’s video for Bad there in 1987, and James wanted to honor the late great music star. The MTA, which has a smart policy of naming stations after nearby geographical markers, rejected her request, but still, she pressed onward in her efforts to somehow glorify Jackson at this Downtown Brooklyn stop.
Today, we learn that despite the MTA’s own refusal to name the station after Jacko, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has brokered a deal to honor Michael through some exterior art at Hoyt/Schermerhorn. The Post reports that a now-blank building facade at 45 Hoyt St. will become a mural memorializing the star. The DBP has yet to choose an artist or artistic style for their project, but it promises to be a grand display of pop music love. Now, if only Letitia James would put this much effort into securing real financing for the MTA.
Saturday service on a Monday
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 15, 2010
I’ll be back later in the day with some posts, but for everyone traveling on Presidents Day, keep in mind that service will run on a Saturday schedule. Some weekend service changes are still in effect while others are not. Listen to the on-board announcements, and check the signs in your local station.
Real Estate developers lobby for sensible 7 extension
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 12, 2010
As the 7 line extension’s tunnel boring machines continue their treks toward the existing sections of the route, the elimination of a stop at 41st St. and 10th Ave., killed for lack of funds, has become a sore point for the project, and now, real estate developers are calling upon the city and MTA to act sensibly. As Lori Weiss noted in The Post, Mary Anne Tighe, the head of the Real Estate Board of New York, believes the long-discarded stop should be built. She wants the MTA and city to anoint it a shovel-ready project so that it would be eligible for stimulus funds. However, others say there just isn’t money — some estimates put the price tag at $500-$800 million — available for it.
I’ve long wondered why the real estate lobby hasn’t been more vocal on this issue. New developments line 42nd St. far west of any current subway route, and Related is planning on constructing a building at 41st St. and 10th Aves., right above the new 7 line tunnel. It’s still not too late for the city and MTA to set this project on a better path, but time is short. Construction of a station there after the fact will be even more costly than it will be today, and as I’ve said in the past, this station would greatly improve the utility of this expensive subway extension.
On the brink of bankruptcy, some fingerpointing
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 11, 2010
As the MTA rushes headlong toward financial ruin, a few questions have repeatedly popped up in the debate over the authority’s future: Could the agency declare bankruptcy to escape its debt obligations? Who is to blame for the the fiscal state of such a vital part of the New York City (and state) economy? In today’s Post, Nicole Gelinas and E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute tackle those two questions. Although the piece features some of Gelinas’ concerns over the MTA’s escalating labor and pensions costs, it mostly focuses on those who have allowed the MTA to slip toward financial ruin.
The two point fingers at Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. George Pataki, MTA heads, labor heads and the state legislature all for failing to rein in costs, and on that front, they’re right. More important, however, is the discussion on the parallels between the Urban Development Corporation’s fiscal state in the 1970s and the MTA’s in 2010. When the UDC defaulted on its short-term debt obligations, it triggered a crippling financial crisis in 1970s New York. If the MTA has to do the same soon, the outcome could be disastrous for everyone.
Transit to implement inclement weather plan again
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 10, 2010
Just a brief heads up for those still on traveling as snow continues to flutter: New York City Transit will be implementing its inclement weather plan again tonight. For more info on the service changes, check out yesterday’s summary. The B, V and W will all end early, and most routes will run local for all or part of their runs. Transit urges straphangers to allow extra time for travel and to tread carefully in wet and icy subway stations.
Pols decry payroll tax changes as advocates push for money
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 10, 2010
As the snow blankets New York, the subway system is holding up for now. As we know, the same cannot be said of the MTA’s finances, and as Gov. Paterson’s new payroll tax plan percolates through the political bodies of the area, New York City reps are up in arms. Today’s anti-Paterson rant comes to us from City Council Speaker Chrstine Quinn. Calling the new plan “outrageous” and “twisted,” Quinn slammed business for not complying and the governor for foisting more taxes on the backs of New York City business.
“Why do we have to pay for absolutely everything in the state of New York? It’s outrageous! It’s outrageous! I mean, we’re not a piggy bank! I mean, we’re not an ATM machine for the state. We’re willing to pay our fair share, and we do in greater amounts than our numerical, you know, whatever. But this is just above and beyond,” she said. “And it’s really – while we’re at the same moment talking about eliminating MetroCards, cutting back on disabled Access-A-Rides, cutting back on bus lines and subway lines – at the same time, we’re going to tell New York City workers who are getting less they’re going to pay more. And they’re going to pay more than other counties. It’s just twisted.”
Meanwhile, as Mt. Quinn erupted, the Empire State Transportation Alliance went north to Albany to lobby for better transit funding. Alliance members asked the state to restore $143 million in appropriations cuts to the MTA, to approve the next five-year capital plan and to fully fund the student MetroCard program. These funds, they say, can be found via “congestion management tacits” including tolls or congestion fees. “We are not asking the state for a bailout or handout,” Veronica Vanterpool, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said. “We are asking state legislators to restore transit funds that were taken and to keep last year’s promise for a financially solvent and sustainable funding plan.” Sounds good to me.
At Tompkinsville, the first fare-beating charge
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 5, 2010
Toward the end of January, the MTA had instituted fare collections at the Staten Island Rail Road’s Tompkinsville, and this week, cops nabbed their first fare-beater at the station. As the Staten Island Advance reported on Tuesday, not only did the cops get their first Tompkinsville fare perp, but the man arrested had an outstanding warrant in Massachusetts. Police say he will most likely be extradited back to the Bay State after he clears up that $100 fine.
At first, I was amused by this story. It’s fairly apt that the first person to get caught evading the new fare control measures was wanted in another state. But then I realized this is a far more common occurrence. Nearly three years ago, I noted how cops often find subway perps have outstanding warrants, and this is a prime example of that phenomenon. I’ve always wondered why people who are on the lam continue to break the law, and here it is again.