AsidesMetroCard

MetroCard surcharge not on tap until 2013

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 24, 2011

When the MTA unveiled its fare hike plan last year, a controversial centerpiece involved a MetroCard surcharge. In order to cut down on trash and the costs of printing new cards, the MTA proposed a $1 fee for every new MetroCard. This measure will make unlimited cards refillable and will help generate $20 million for the MTA in both cost savings and added revenue. It’s still a few years away though.

According to Transit documents released this week, the authority is not planning on introducing the surcharge until 2013 at the earliest. Agency officials tell me that the TA is experiencing “issues with the software that’s needed to implement the surcharge,” and troubleshooting is taking longer than expected. This is, of course, the problem with modifying 20-year-old proprietary software for a use that wasn’t contemplated at the time the system was built, and for now, discarded MetroCards will continue to build up.

Eventually, the surcharge will become but a footnote in the history of the MTA’s fare payment systems. If Joe Lhota sticks with Jay Walder’s plan, the MetroCard could become a thing of the past by 2015, and the surcharge will wind up as a prime example of the need to maintain current technology.

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BusesMTA Technology

MTA eyeing April ’13 for city-wide BusTime rollout

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 24, 2011

Bus riders throughout the five boroughs will enjoy real-time bus tracking by early 2013.

While Londoners can now track their city’s buses, New York City isn’t too far behind. According to MTA documents released this week, if all goes according to plan, the MTA’s BusTime system, in use in Brooklyn and nearly ready on Staten Island, will be available city-wide by April of 2013. It could revolutionize the way New Yorkers use the bus system.

For the past few years, as surface travel has grown slower and bus service less frequent, the MTA has noted a marked decrease in bus ridership. According to numbers released this week by Transit, average weekday bus ridership in August was below 2.3 million for the first time in years. Although some of that decline was due to the total shutdown of the transit system in advance of Hurricane Irene, the bus system has not enjoyed an increase in ridership in years.

We could spend hours debating the reasons for the declining bus ridership. The vehicles are slow and uncomfortable. They don’t run on or close to the MTA’s posted schedules. Facing congestion and long boarding lines, crosstown trips in Manhattan, in particular, are often slower than walking. It’s no coincidence that as Select Bus Service improvements are rolled out across the city, bus ridership along those lines are among the highest around.

One of the key drivers behind the lack of faith in the city’s bus service concerns reliability. Although the authority posts schedules, buses come when they feel like it, often in bunches and rarely on time. Bus tracking projects, similar to the ones in place along 34th St. in Manhttan and the B63 route in Brooklyn, take the surprise out of bus travel and better allow riders to program their trips. If all goes according to plan, every bus will be equipped with such a tracking system by April of 2013, and riding the bus in New York City should become convenient again.

According to the presentation (found in the Capital Program Oversight Committee materials), the MTA is moving forward aggressively with plans to outfit the entire bus fleet with the tracking software. It will be activated in all 830 Staten Island buses by December of this year, and the project is coming in within the allocated budget. The city-wide rollout will begin next year.

Already, the project in Brooklyn, according to the MTA, is drawing high praise. The authority reports 1500 daily requests each day, and 94 percent of current users want to see it available through the city. I wonder what the other six percent want, but I digress. A “small percentage” of users find the text messaging function or website interface “difficult to use.”

For Staten Island, meanwhile, the project has been exceedingly simple to introduce. The authority awarded three contracts — one for on-bus hardware, one for back-office software and one for text message services — and installation began on the first of this month. Once the service is nearly ready, the MTA will begin a publicity blitz to prepare Staten Islanders for bus tracking.

Meanwhile, this project has an added benefit in that it will help drive forward the plan to replace MetroCards with a smart card tap-and-go payment system. The project was budgeted with $6.9 million from the New Fare Payment System initiative, and the $1.2 million in technology the MTA purchased for Staten Island’s bus tracking system will work with the new fare system as well. Furthermore, they’ve locked in software development through the city for $7.5 million, a total that includes development and six years of maintenance and hosting services. All in all, that’s not a bad deal.

As an information geek and transit advocate, I’m excited for the potential that BusTime should realize. If riders of any bus route can easily look up how far away the next bus is, they can better plan travel of all kinds. It should encourage people to use the buses as a way to supplement their subway rides, and it will take the sheer mystery out of riding the bus. Eliminating both the surprise of the schedule and the frustrating aspects of the wait should only increase customer satisfaction and use.

The buses have had a tough go of it lately, but things are starting to look up. Now if only we could bring a pre-boarding fare payment system to the entire bus network as well.

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Service Advisories

Weekend work impacting 15 subway lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 21, 2011

I made an appearance on NBC New York’s nightly news show last night. Check out my interview with Chuck Scarborough below. We talked about the challenges facing Joe Lhota as he readies to take over the MTA’s top spot. Good weekend viewing.

Meanwhile, time for the service advisories. Subway Weekender has the map.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, there is no 2 service in Brooklyn due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. 2 trains run between the Dyre Avenue 5 station and the South Ferry 1 station.

  • 5 trains replace the 2 in Brooklyn.
  • 2 trains are rerouted to the 1 between Chambers Street and South Ferry.
  • 2 trains replace the 5 between East 180th Street and Dyre Avenue.
  • 5 trains replace the 2 between East 180th Street and 241st Street.

Note: Customers may use a free out-of-system transfer between the 2 at South Ferry and the 4 or 5 at Bowling Green station.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, there is no 3 service in Brooklyn due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. 3 trains operate between 148th Street and 14th Street. Customers should take the 4 instead.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, 4 train service is extended to and from New Lots Avenue due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. 4 trains operate local in Brooklyn.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, 5 service is extended to and from Flatbush Avenue due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street. (See 2 train entry for details.)


From 12:15 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 4:45 a.m. Monday, October 24, shuttle trains and buses replace A trains between Howard Beach and Far Rockaway due to the rebuilding of piers and bearings on the South Channel Bridge and the replacement of drain pipes between South Channel Bridge and Hammels Wye.

  • Rockaway Park shuttle train operates between Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park.
  • Free shuttle buses operate between:
    • Howard Beach and Far Rockaway, non-stop
    • Howard Beach and Rockaway Park, making one stop at Broad Channel


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, Manhattan-bound A trains run on the F line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street, then local to 59th Street-Columbus Circle due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech. For Chambers Street, Canal Street, or Spring Street, customers should transfer between the A, C and E at West 4th Street. Repeats next weekend.)


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, there are no A trains at Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit. Customers should use Chambers Street instead. (Repeats next weekend.)


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23, uptown C trains run on the F line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech. (See A entry for travel information.) (Repeats next weekend.)


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23, there are no C trains at Fulton Street in either direction due to the Fulton Street Transit. Customers should use Chambers Street instead.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, Manhattan-bound D trains run on the N line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to structural repair and station rehabilitation from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway. Notes: 71st Street station is closed October 22-28; customers should use free shuttle buses between 71st Street and 62nd Street. 18th Avenue station is closed October 22-24; customers should use the B1 or free shuttle buses between 18th and 20th Avenues.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, the World Trade Center E station is closed due to track work south of Canal Street. E trains originate and terminate at the Chambers Street A, C station. (Repeats next weekend.)


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, Manhattan-bound E and F trains operate local from 71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to track cable and interlocking work along the Queens Boulevard line.


From 11 p.m. Friday, October 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, there are no G trains between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Church Avenue due to station painting at Classon and Clinton-Washington Avenues. G trains operate in two sections:

  • Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs
  • Between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts.

Note: A trains provide connecting service between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Jay Street-MetroTech.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 10 p.m. Sunday, October 23, Jamaica-bound J trains skip Hewes Street, Lorimer Street and Flushing Avenue due to track panel installation north of Hewes Street. (Repeats next weekend.)


From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 10 p.m. Sunday, October 23, M trains operate every 20 minutes between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue due to track panel installation north of Hewes Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, there are no N trains between Manhattan and Queens due to plate and rail installation north of Lexington Avenue-60th Street. N trains run in two sections:

  • Between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and Lexington Avenue-59th Street
  • Between Queensboro Plaza and Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard.

For connecting service between Manhattan and Queens, customers should take the 7 between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 24, there are no Q trains between 57th Street-7th Avenue and Times Square-42nd Street due to plate and rail installation north of Lexington Avenue-60th Street.


From 6 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 6 p.m. Sunday, October 23, Brooklyn-bound Q trains skip Parkside Avenue, Beverley Road, Cortelyou Road, Avenue H, Avenue J, and Avenue M stations due to overcoat painting of Brighton Line bridges.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23, R trains are rerouted to the F line between Manhattan and Queens due to plate and rail installation north of Lexington Avenue-60th Street.

(42nd Street Shuttle)
During the weekend, the 42nd Street (S) shuttle extends operating hours overnight and runs every 10 minutes due to track work south of Wall Street, platform edge rehabilitation at Hoyt Street and the installation of fiber optic cable ducts between Nevins Street and Hoyt Street.

(Rockaway Shuttle)
From 12:15 a.m. Saturday, October 22 to 4:45 a.m. Monday, October 24, there are no S shuttle trains between Broad Channel and Beach 90th Street due to the rebuilding of piers and bearings on the South Channel Bridge and the replacement of drain pipes between South Channel Bridge and Hammels Wye. Shuttle trains operate between rockaway Park and Broad Channel. (See A entry for shuttle bus information.)

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View from Underground

Photo of the Day: Why we can’t have nice things

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 21, 2011

Remember the pilot program featuring in-station strip maps that was designed to improve wayfinding underground? Well, take a look at what happened to one of the maps in Grand Central barely four months after they were first unveiled. It ain’t pretty.

As seen at Grand Central on Wednesday evening. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)

Of course, it’s not a big surprise that a free-standing sign at a busy subway station was vandalized. Basically anything the MTA installs — from signs to benches to garbage cans — is at risk of suffering the same fate. But on the other hand, this outcome raises a question: Why should the MTA bother to invest in simple things that improve the system if this is how riders respond?

One of the endlessly annoying messages the TA broadcasts into the new rolling stock concludes with an exhortation: “Courtesy is contagious and it starts with you.” As cheesy as it sounds, it’s true, and the same can be said for the way we treat our system. If we’re respectful, if we don’t destroy signs, litter or use the subway was a public toilet, everyone would enjoy a more pleasant commute.

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AsidesTaxis

On the $1 million taxi medallions

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 21, 2011

Taxi medallions — a better investment than gold or a house over the past 30 years — reached a new milestone this week. As Michael Grynbaum reported yesterday, two medallions sold for $1 million. With so few medallion-owners willing to sell, corporate buyers jump at the chance to get their hands on this precious commodity. “It’s a lot of money, and it is an investment that someone would not make without being confident in the industry and the future of the city,” David S. Yassky, head of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, said.

While the $1 million mark provides a nice round number and a bit of news for the transit media, the sale underscores the absurdity of the taxi industry. By artificially limiting the number of medallions available, the City of New York has ensured that only potential buyers with deep pockets can buy medallions, and the city has ensured that cabs will operate in profitable areas without providing comprehensive service. No wonder the rich medallion owners have mobilized to beat back the taxi reform bill currently awaiting Gov. Cuomo’s signature.

Even if and when Albany hammers out a compromise on the plan to allow livery street hails outside of Manhattan’s Central Business District, with proper enforcement the medallion owners will not see their investments decline. Yellow cabs — the only cars permitted to pick up street hails in the lucrative areas — will continue to dominate the business while the rest of us who need taxis but can’t find them will have more options available for travel. Albany is beholden to the $1 million medallion owners when it’s the riders whose needs should come first.

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MTA

Judging Jay: The Chairman’s final day

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 21, 2011

For two years, Jay Walder served as the center of attention at the MTA. (Benjamin Kabak/Second Ave. Sagas)

For the MTA, today is the end of a tumultuous four-year era during which its Executive Director has been known more for his transit background than anything. Today is Jay Walder’s last day as the MTA CEO and Executive Director, and after two years of Lee Sander followed by two years of Walder, the authority will soon welcome Joe Lhota, a leader some have called a “fiscally prudent and seasoned manager,” into the fold. I’ve heard rumors of a $70-a-head going-away party for Walder, but I’m much more concerned with this transportation legacy and lasting impact on New York City.

When then-Gov. David Paterson nominated Walder back in July of 2009, the nominee said all the right things. His top priority — and one he never realized — was a fully funded capital plan, but he knew he had to deliver more.

“There’s no question,” he said, “the taxpayer and the riding public need to understand, need to demonstrate, need to see and need to believe that they’re getting value for the money in the way we operate the trains and the buses and the bridges and tunnels, in the way that we undertake the massive capital investments that are underway. And that has to be an immediate focus. We must restore the public trust and confidence to this organization. We won’t have the credibility to argue for the capital program that this system needs unless we restore the accountability of public trust and public confidence. I believe we can do that. I’m certain we can achieve that.”

At the time, I offered up my own list of the challenges that awaited Walder. Before we knew the depths of the MTA’s fiscal crisis and the ways in which Albany would repeatedly twist the knife into the wounded authority, we thought Walder would lead an MTA renaissance. He would see stalled technology projects through to completion while earning Albany’s trust through a convincing PR battle. He would add service in exchange for fare hikes and find a way to work out a funding plan for the five-year capital project.

So how did he do? Due in part to circumstances beyond his control and those very much under his control, Walder’s tenure atop the MTA has been a rocky one. On the bright side, the MTA has indeed entered the 21st Century. Perhaps it’s still trying to catch up with the rest of city, but the authority has embraced technological innovation like never before. We have countdown clocks, touch-screen info centers, Help Point intercoms and a real-time bus-tracking program in the works. While Walder may not have created these programs, he pushed through to completion. It was supposed to be his crowning achievement, and for that he deserves praise.

Yet, technology is not the only barometer. Jay Walder is leaving a system that has less service than we he began and costs more. In the eyes of the public, that’s his final legacy. Trains are more crowded and they run less frequently. Stations are dirtier and staffed with fewer people. Crime — thanks to gadget theft — is on the rise, and subway fares went up in 2009 and 2010. They will go up again in 2013 and 2015, if not sooner.

As far as the capital program is concerned, Walder’s approach was the best the MTA could do, but it’s far from perfect or complete. The MTA is proposing another round of debt-based funding that will lead to higher debt service payments and more pressure on the operating budget. Furthermore, while Walder pledged in 2009 to focus on capital budget funding, he has not succeeded in securing that funding as he heads to Hong Kong.

Finally, with union negotiations set to begin in January, the relationship between management and labor hasn’t been this frigid since 2005. Walder, who earned $350,000 a year as MTA head and took a lot of grief for it, was unsympathetic toward labor and cut numerous jobs. Meanwhile, departments like the Business Service Center continue to serve as magnets for charges of bloat in the bureaucracy. Thanks to Walder’s focus on making every dollar count, the MTA is more efficient today than it was two years ago, but it’s hardly a model of lean operations.

As with most outgoing MTA heads, then, Walder leaves behind a mixed legacy and one I believe to be unfinished. He’s departing before the job is through. We don’t know what the future holds for the MTA’s capital budget or its union negotiations. We may or may not see a MetroCard replacement plan see the light of day by 2015. We hope the Second Ave. Subway and East Side Access will continue apace. Everything, though, is very open-ended.

And so two years after taking the reins and riding in as a potential savior, Jay Walder will depart this afternoon. He likely was the most qualified transit guy to head up the MTA in recent years, but his tenure is over, a fleeting and incomplete one. So I leave you then with a question: Did he leave the MTA better off than when he started? I think so, but it’s not as good as it could have been.

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MTA Politics

Lhota named to replace Walder atop the MTA

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 20, 2011

Joseph Lhota, a former Giuliani official, has been named chairman and CEO of the MTA.

Jay Walder’s replacement atop the MTA now has a name and a politically pedigree, but much like the new incoming head of the Port Authority, he doesn’t have a resume replete with transit experience. After conducting an extensive search and interview process over the last few months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has named Joseph Lhota, a MTA Board member and one-time deputy mayor during the Giuliana Administration, to succeed Jay Walder as CEO and Chairman of the MTA. Nuria Fernandez will serve as the authority’s Chief Operating Officer.

“I am pleased to accept the recommendation of the extraordinary search committee and nominate Joe Lhota to be the next chairman and CEO of the MTA,” Governor Cuomo said this afternoon. “Joe Lhota brings one-of-a-kind managerial, government, and private sector experience to the job and a lifelong commitment to public service that will benefit all straphangers. I look forward to working together as we continue to reform the MTA, reduce costs, and improve service for New Yorkers. I thank the members of the MTA Search Advisory Committee for their diligent work and thorough review.”

The search committee had also recommended Neil Peterson and current Transit president Thomas Prendergast as potential replacements for Walder, but Lhota earned the Governor’s stamp of approval. “Millions of New Yorkers depend on the MTA every day and they deserve the most efficient and effective service. Throughout my career in both the public and private sectors, I have initiated reforms that are performance-based and that cut costs, and I look forward to bringing this same approach to the MTA,” Lhota said.

Lhota, who will begin serving as the interim head of the MTA later this year and must face a Senate confirmation process, first came to light as a potential candidate last week. At a time when the MTA must confront intense union negotiations and a multi-billion-dollar gap in the capital funding plan, Lhota will be expected to serve as a manager during tense times. No stranger to New York State government, Lhota served as the Deputy Mayor for Operations under Rudy Giuliani and spent time as the city Budget Director as well.

While Budget Director, Lhota, according to the governor’s press release, “cut costs, led agency reorganizations and consolidations, and implemented performance-based strategic planning,” and it’s clear that he is expected to do the same with the MTA. Fernandez, his new COO, was the one-time head of the Chicago Airport Systems and has served as an executive with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Chicago Transit Authority. She has significant transit planning experience in the private sector as well.

Lhota, who will receive a salary that will be five percent less than Walder’s, has a full plate. Senate Republicans are still making noises about repealing the payroll tax — a move that would cripple the MTA — while riders want more frequent service and cleaner trains without having to pay a higher fare. Few people, it seemed, really wanted to inherit the CEO/Chairman job, and Lhota will have to convince skeptical New Yorkers and transit advocates who fear more service cuts that he’s up to the task.

Various members of the governor’s search committee praised the selection — some with more hyperbole than others. “The ideal candidate to lead the MTA is experienced in finance, business, and government, and cares deeply about public service. Joe Lhota meets all of these criteria, and I can think of no one better suited to this critical position,” Richard Ravitch said.

Other advocates were a bit warier. “We hope Mr. Lhota’s business acumen will help guide the agency towards more sound fiscal footing without compromising service and affordability for the system’s 8.5 million daily riders,” Kate Slevin from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign said. “We also hope he will continue the innovative service improvements executed by his predecessor, including subway countdown clocks, rapid bus service, and nonstop tolling.”

Lhota, who Robert Yaro of the RPA called a “fiscally prudent and seasoned manager,” will face increased scrutiny over the next few months as he readies for the job and undergoes what is sure to be a loud confirmation hearing. As Paul Steely White, the head of Transportation Alternatives, said, “To succeed, Joseph Lhota must continue Jay Walder’s commitment to transit riders. With the MTA facing a $9.9 billion gap in its capital budget, New Yorkers want an MTA Chair will ensure that elected officials increase the funding needed to maintain the public transit system and prevent further fare hikes and service cuts.” Savior or stop-gap, Lhota will have to deliver.

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AsidesMTA Politics

Ravitch: Bridge tolls should help fund transit

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 20, 2011

As the whispers grow louder that Gov. Andrew Cuomo will nominate former Giuliani confidante Joseph Lhota as the next MTA head, former authority leaders and transit advocates are weighing on the challenges facing Jay Walder’s replacement. Yesterday, we heard from Gene Russianoff, and today, Richard Ravitch chimes in. In an interview with New York 1, he warned that the next MTA head will face a tough job environment.

With Albany reluctant to act sensible measures designed to identify sources of transit revenue and protect MTA funding, the MTA and person leading it must become a politician willing to ask tough questions, Ravitch said. “You have to persuade a lot of people to spend a lot of money, whether they are taxpayers or whether they are transit riders,” said Ravitch. To maintain and grow the system, to provide better service and cleanear subways, as everyone wants, it’s going to cost money.

To find the dollars, Ravitch continued to pound the drum he’s been beating since he released his report urging sensible funding mechanisms for the MTA: toll the free East River bridges. Keeping these bridges free while other crossings aren’t harms the city’s economy by creating congestion and the environment. Ultimately, fare hikes every two years are inevitable as the MTA’s debt payments escalate, but until Albany stops forcing the MTA to pay for its capital program with credit card, that’s the price we all have to pay.

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MetroCard

Inside the way we pay for our subway rides

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 20, 2011

In my Brooklyn neighborhood, over 40 percent of commuters use a 30 day unlimited ride MetroCard. That figure is well above average. (Source: WSJ)

Over the past few months, as my schedule has allowed for it, I’ve spent some time poking around inside the MTA’s datasets. I’ve explored turnstile numbers along the L train in Brooklyn, and I’ve looked at glimpses of exit and entry data at various times of the day. If I had the time and coding skills, I would have explored the fare media breakdown across the system. Luckily, The Wall Street Journal has seemingly done it for me (and you and anyone else who gets lost in data about the subway).

The visualization — available right here in its interactive glory — is a near-textbook use for governmental datasets. Two Journal reporters have provided an unprecedented snapshot into the way we pay. They’ve broken down MetroCard use — pay-per-ride, senior fares, 30- and 7-day Unlimited swipes — by station over time periods both before and after the December 2010 fare hike. It’s quite the glimpse into ridership patterns.

In an accompanying article, Andrew Grossman and Albert Sun discuss their methodology and findings. Essentially, they mapped a few different variables. First, they categorized every MetroCard swipe by type of card. Second, they looked at changes in use during the 27 non-holidays before and the 27 non-holiday days after the December 30th fare increase. They explained some highlights of their findings:

Users of 30-day unlimited MetroCards tend to be wealthier than those who pay per ride, MTA surveys show. Their growing use in neighborhoods such as Greenpoint (up 11.8%) and Bushwick (16.7%) in Brooklyn could point to gentrification under way there. The monthly MetroCard use in those areas came despite a Dec. 30 fare hike pushing the cost from $89 to $104.

The fare hike appears to have hit other neighborhoods harder. In Broad Channel, Queens, about an hour from Midtown Manhattan by subway, use of monthly passes dropped 15.5%. Riders said they had stopped buying it because of the cost. “You are paying more per month if you are only using it going back and forth to work,” said Teri Bautz, a Verizon worker who rides the A train to Manhattan from Broad Channel. “Some months, you have an entire week off. In the beginning it was beneficial, now, not so much.”

According to recent MTA data, overall use of the 30-day card is now around 31 percent. Before the fare hikes, around 33 percent of straphangers used a monthly unlimited. But if anything, the decrease represents a market correction. As I explored last October, MTA demographics surveys revealed that 25 percent of 30-day card users did not reach the break-even point. At the time, that point came on the 46th swipe. When the MTA raised fares, the break-even point for the $104 card moved to 50 rides, and in October 2009, 36 percent of 30-day card users did not reach 50 swipes.

Similarly, Grossman and Sun found that seven-day card use has increased. Although few riders used the 14-day card, it’s likely that many of them switched to the seven-day card either because use patterns or personal economics dictated the expense. Furthermore, some 30-day card users who couldn’t afford to pay $104 at once for a MetroCard likely downgraded to a seven-day card as well. They may pay more over the course of four weeks, but the seven-day purchases allow them greater flexibility for start dates. Still, in 2009, nearly 36 percent of seven-day card users never reached the break-even point (as compared with a pay-per-ride discount), and that trend likely continues today.

Anyway, the map is fascinating. It’s broken down into neighborhoods based upon the areas surrounding the closest subway stops, and the data is tremendous. We can see across-the-board increases in the use of pay-per-ride cards after the fare hikes. In fact, the only stations that didn’t enjoy such an increase were closed due to construction work. The use of 30-day cards declined in the city’s less well-off areas, and seven-day cards rose in popularity at nearly every subway stop after the fare hike.

Over the next few weeks, I’d love to spend some more time with the data. It seems, for instance, that MetroCard purchases break down across socio-economic lines as well as neighborhood and borough, and the data could raise some interesting questions concerning the MTA’s pricing schemes. For now, just enjoy the visualization. It’s a great example of the creativity that can emerge from open data.

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PANYNJ

Patrick Foye, MTA Board member, to head Port Authority

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 19, 2011

Patrick Foye, a current MTA Board member and one-team downstate head of the Empire State Development Corporation, has been picked to run the Port Authority, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this morning. Koye is a lawyer who has worked for powerhouse law firm Skadden Arps and served as a Nassau County Deputy County Executive under Ed Mangano.

In announcing the appointment this afternoon, the New York Governor took another swipe at Ward. The two have been battling it out in the press since the outgoing Port Authority head slammed New York and New Jersey for playing politics with Port Authority budgets. “The Port Authority must meet its potential as a major economic engine that plans for the region and attracts business on an international scale,” Cuomo said. “We must also improve its operations and maximize the value out of every dollar spent so that it is financially responsible and respects the tax and toll payers.”

For transportation advocates, Foye’s choice sets a tone at the Port Authority that, at a time when concerns over Port Authority expenditures are running rampant, money management will trump development or growth. Foye, a lawyer with close ties to Long Island real estate industry, has worked in economic policy throughout his political career. A Spitzer nominee to the Empire State Development Corporation, he led the ESDC as it put forth controversial plans to redevelop the Javits Center and was instrumental in securing support and funding for the long-awaited Moynihan Station. The impact and expense of this new Amtrak depot are both hotly-contested issues.

Recently, Foye has served as one of Cuomo’s top economic advisers, and in a statement, he expressed his enthusiasm for the job. ““I am honored to be recommended for Executive Director of the Port Authority,” he said. “Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, we have begun to re-energize New York’s economy and pave the way for job growth in the state. I thank Governor Cuomo for this opportunity and look forward to working closely with him and the Board of Directors at the Port Authority on maintaining and improving the New York metropolitan region’s vital transportation, infrastructure and economic development assets.”

At this same time, Cuomo announced today that he would be folding both the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Moynihan Station Development Corporation into the Port Authority. “Too many different agencies doing the same or closely related work makes little sense,” he said in a statement. “The Port Authority is best situated to oversee the development at Moynihan Station and the orderly wind down of the LMDC and these changes will consolidate responsibility within the Authority.” Foye’s work then on Moynihan Station will continue.

As a transportation wonk, Foye’s experience has come via his time on the MTA Board. He was appointed by Mangano in 2010 for a term that ends in 2015, and it is unclear how this appointment to the Port Authority will impact his Board seat. Fellow Board members praised his service though. “He’s delved into operating details of the system, communication issues with commuters and fare structure,” Mitch Pally said to Transportation Nation.

Although I’m hesitant to read too much into one appointment, Cuomo’s decision to name an economics adviser to the PA’s top spot portends a similar outcome for the MTA. It certainly strengthens the rumors that Joe Lhota will be nominated this week, and it showcases how Cuomo seems more focused on budgetary and management issues than with transportation and transit operations. Yet, on the other hand, the Port Authority is more akin to a traditional economic development agency than the MTA is, and in that sense, Foye’s background makes him a fairly solid candidate for the post.

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