Governor Andrew Cuomo announced some design changes and upgrades for the subway this morning. I’ll have the details in a full post tonight, but to wet your whistle, an early glimpse at the renderings. Enjoy.
A new color scheme, brighter LED lights and a return of the properly-hued route designation bullets are a part of Antenna’s design for the new subway cars.
Flip seats will allow for my car capacity at peak hours.
Open gangways and wider doors are part of the new design plan for the R-211s.
Transit analysts and advocates have engaged recently in an interesting, if wonky, battle over the state of the MTA’s finances. Taken as a whole, these arguments lead to the conclusion the MTA is both over- and under-funded. It doesn’t have enough money but can’t spend the copious billions it does have efficiently or quickly enough to warrant giving it more. It is stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place.
On the one hand, the MTA has access to around $30 billion in capital funding (though the dollars will materialize through debt service and other questionable financial practices), and on the other hand, $30 billion at the MTA’s current spending levels and efficiencies isn’t enough for the agency to do everything that needs doing. Two recent articles underscore these tensions, but the fix remains elusive.
The first comes from The Post. Former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow had some unkind words for his one-time ally Gov. Andrew Cuomo over MTA financing:
“It’s not right. Cuomo is wrong. He’s nickled an dimed the MTA on the capital program,” Kalikow told The Post, in rare criticism of the governor from a former MTA chair. He said while Albany has promised $8.3 billion toward in the $27 billion five-year capital plan, the state has handed over less than two billion dollars of the promised funds so far. “They have not funded it properly,” Kalikow said. “If you get Prendergast the money needed, he could do the job.”
It’s not quite clear how much Kalikow wants, but there is a sentiment that the MTA needs more than $30 billion to keep things running smoothly. One problem with that argument is that the MTA’s spending practices are woefully inefficient, and cost control is something I’ve covered extensively in the past. The other is that it isn’t clear if the MTA can spend more than what it has. After a while, there are only so many qualified contractors in New York City who can do the work the MTA funds. But the former point is more important than the latter. Should the MTA get more money before it improves its spending practices?
The second article is even wonkier. Here’s The Wall Street Journal on how recent accounting changes have exposed the MTA’s long-term pension obligations:
New accounting rules are shining a light on more than $7 billion in pension liabilities facing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. While the disclosures won’t force the MTA to raise tolls or cut service, they quantify the authority’s tab for commitments to pay retirees, and some critics detect a mounting potential burden on riders and taxpayers. “I would hope there would be some sticker shock” with the pension-cost reporting, said Charles Brecher, director of research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a civic group based in Manhattan. “You want to inform people about the cost of these promises.”
The MTA pays steeper costs for employee pensions and other retirement benefits than its peers in London and Paris, Moody’s Investors Service analysts said in March report. For each ride, the MTA paid $3.06 in overall personnel costs in 2014, compared with $1.05 for Paris and 75 cents for London, according to the report. Nearly $1 of every MTA ride goes to health care, pension and retirement costs…
the MTA’s labor-related costs could reduce its budget flexibility and compete with capital improvements, the Moody’s report noted. An MTA spokeswoman said the market understands the authority’s cost structure “and still rates our bonds highly.” A downgrade in the MTA’s bond ratings could increase its borrowing costs…The relatively high cost of the MTA’s pension liabilities could increase pressure to raise fares and tolls or cut service. “If you have some downturn in your revenues, those are expenses you can’t cut so all the cuts have to come out what’s left of your budget,” said Marcia Van Wagner, a Moody’s analyst.
The MTA’s pension costs have been a long-standing issue that few people like to take up because of the explosive nature of issue. In the article, TWU President John Samuelsen defends the MTA’s pensions for its drivers as part of a “dignified retirement.” He doesn’t address how workers pad their pensions through overtime in their final years or how employers across the nation outside of the public sector have essentially eliminated pensions entirely. Rather, he offers us this defense of the job: “They,” he said of financial analysts, “would pee themselves if they had to drive a bus up Utica Avenue for an eight-hour shift.” It’s part of a straw-man argument that cuts both ways.
The MTA’s pension obligations are a part of a broader conversation about how the MTA spends its money. The pension dollars will eventually come out of fare revenue, and the fares will go up to support pensions. Meanwhile, the capital dollars — which should fund more than they do — are bandied about by politicians as part of a game. The MTA can’t spend the money it has wisely and can’t access the dollars it needs properly. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Next week, I’ll tackle the MTA’s new fare payment plans and a familiar name entering with a familiar technology. It certainly would be something if, after all these years, the MTA ends up adopting this technology, but that’s a conversation for next week.
If you’re looking for some weekend reading, the city named Adam Giambrone the head of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, and New York Magazine published quite the profile. Giambrone, as city officials assured me, is certainly an expert in planning streetcars, but he carries with him some scandal-plagued years in Toronto. He also doesn’t seem quite familiar with New York City and will be thrown into the fire of a tempestuous project that many are eying skeptically for a variety of reasons.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of weekend service changes to go around. As always, these come to me from the MTA and may change without notice. Check signs; listen to announcements; stay out of the heat.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 1 trains are suspended in both directions between 14 St and South Ferry. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Chambers St and South Ferry. Transfer between 1 and 2/3 trains at Times Sq-42 St or 14 St. Transfer between 2/3 trains and shuttle buses at Chambers St.
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 16 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 17 2 trains operate in two sections: between Flatbush Av-Brooklyn College and E 180 St, then via the 5 to/from Eastchester-Dyre Av, and between E 180 St and Wakefield-241 St. To continue your trip, transfer at E 180 St.
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 16 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 17, E 180 St-bound 2 trains run express from Wakefield-241 St to E 180 St.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 2 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 3 service operates to/from New Lots Av, replacing the 4 in Brooklyn.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 3 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 4 trains run local in both directions between 125 St and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 4 trains are suspended in both directions between New Lots Av/Crown Hts-Utica Av and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall. For service between Manhattan and Brooklyn, take the D, N, Q or R. Transfer between the 4/6 and N/Q/R at 14 St-Union Sq or Canal St. Transfer between the D/N/Q/R and 2/3 at Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr. For service to/from Wall St and Bowling Green, use the R train. For service to/from Fulton St and between Borough Hall and Franklin Av, take the 2 or 3 instead. For service between Franklin Av and New Lots Av, take the 3 instead, running all weekend.
From 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, July 16 and from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Sunday, July 17, 5 trains are suspended in both directions between Bowling Green and Grand Central-42 St. For stations between Grand Central-42 St and Brooklyn Bridge- City Hall, take the 4 or 6. Transfer between 5 and 4/6 trains at Grand Central-42 St. For service to Fulton St, Wall St, and Bowling Green, use nearby R stations at Cortlandt St, Rector St, or Whitehall St. Transfer between 4/6 and R trains at Canal St, or transfer between 5 and R trains at 59 St-Lexington Av. As a reminder, 4 service is suspended in both directions between Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and New Lots Av all weekend, until 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18.
From 3:45 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Saturday, July 16, and from 9:45 p.m. Saturday, July, 16 to 9:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17, 5 shuttle trains are suspended in both directions between E 180 St and 149 St-Grand Concourse. Take the 2 instead.
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 16 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 17, Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains run express from Parkchester to Pelham Bay Park. For service to Castle Hill Av, Zerega Av, Westchester Sq, Middletown Rd, and Buhre Av, take the Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 to Pelham Bay Park and transfer to a Brooklyn Bridge-bound 6. From these stations, take a Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall bound 6 to Parkchester and transfer to a Pelham Bay Park-bound 6.
From 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, July 16 and from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday, July 17, 6 trains run every 16 minutes between Pelham Bay Park and 3 Av-138 St.
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 16 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 17, Main St-bound 7 trains run express from 74 St-Broadway to Mets-Willets Point.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, A trains are suspended in both directions between 168 St and Inwood-207 St. a service operates between 168 St and Far Rockaway/Lefferts Blvd. Free shuttle buses operate along two routes:
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, A trains are rerouted via the F in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and Jay St-MetroTech. To/from Spring St, Canal St, and Chambers St, take the e instead via transfer at W 4 St. To/from Fulton St, take the J instead via transfer at Delancey-Essex Sts F station. Or, use the E at nearby World Trade Center station; transfer between trains at W 4 St-Wash Sq. To/from High St, use the nearby York St F station.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, July 17 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, downtown A trains run express from 145 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 16, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, A trains run local in both directions between 168 St and 145 St.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 16, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, A trains run local in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 16, and Sunday July 17, C trains are suspended in both directions between 145 St and 168 St. Take the a instead.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 16, and Sunday July 17, downtown C trains run express 145 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 16, and Sunday July 17, C trains are rerouted on the F line in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and Jay St-MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 16, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, Coney Island-Stillwell Av bound D trains stop at 23 St and 14 St.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 16, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, E trains run local in both directions between Queens Plaza and Forest Hills-71 Av.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, Coney Island-Stillwell Av bound F trains run express from Jay St-MetroTech to 4 Av-9St.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 16, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, F trains run local in both directions between 21 St-Queensbridge and Forest Hills-71 Av.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, G trains are suspended in both directions between Church Av and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. A and F trains provide alternate service. G trains will operate in two sections between Long Island City-Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs, and between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts, every 20 minutes. To continue your trip, transfer at Bedford-Nostrand Avs.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, L trains are suspended in both directions between Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs. Free local shuttle buses provide alternate service between Rockaway Pkwy and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs, stopping at East 105 St, New Lots Av, Livonia Av, Sutter Av, Atlantic Av, Broadway Junction, Bushwick Av-Aberdeen St, Wilson Av, and Halsey St. Free express shuttle buses serve Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy, Broadway Junction, and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs only, days and evenings. Transfer between free shuttle buses and L trains at Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs. For service to/from Manhattan, consider the A/C or J trains via transfer between trains and buses at Broadway Junction.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, Astoria-Ditmars Blvd bound N trains are rerouted via the D line from Coney Island-Stillwell Av to 36 St.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 15 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, July 17 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 18, 36 St-bound N trains will stop at 53 St and 45 St.
These Ferrari-like buses won’t do much to increase ridership if the MTA doesn’t run them frequently or fast enough, a new study shows.
Over the past few months, it has been exhaustingly frustrating listening to Gov. Andrew Cuomo talk about transit. As I explored late last week, he has latched onto vaporware ideas and thinks he’s investing in smart and rational transit expansion programs. His ideas — AirTrains that go the wrong way, buses he termed “Ferrari-like” with ceiling-mounted USB ports, e-tickets that should been implemented years ago — don’t move the ball forward.
But, in the words of LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it. A study issued this week by the Transit Center called Who’s On Board [pdf] highlighted the factors that drive people to use transit, and these flashy benefits that Cuomo has been pushing rank dead last. Out of a series of 12 service improvements, wifi and power outlets finished behind the field while service frequency and travel time led the pack. Other leading factors, especially with regards to buses, included countdown clocks, one-seat rides, low fares, and seat availability.
“There’s no magic bullet for transit, but there are some simple rules,” Steven Higashide, the report’s lead researcher, said. “Make it easy for people to walk to transit, put it close to important destinations, and make transit frequent, fast, and reliable. Frequent transit networks in walkable neighborhoods reduce reliance on cars, spark economic growth, and create vibrant urban places.”
The report also served to validate other assumptions regarding transit riders. Higashide and the Transit Center team found that most transit riders walk from to transit, thus highlighting the need to locate stations in busy and walkable areas with safe access routes. More importantly for New York, the report highlights how transit users, particularly those who own cars or have access to other means of transit, are far more sensitive to quality. For years, transit planners and analysts have relied on the idea of a “captive rider” who uses transit because there is no other choice. But the report has found that those who live and/or work near higher quality transit — reliable trains, frequent buses – use transit whether they own cars or not. “When transit becomes functionally useless,” the report notes, “there are very few people who will continue to use it; agencies can take no one for granted.”
Is New York’s current focus wrong then? Highlighting Gov. Cuomo’s promise of Ferrari-like buses, the report states, “Our findings call into question the fad among transit agencies touting free Wi-Fi for customers who don’t care strongly for it.” Instead of focusing on gimmicks, transit investment should focus around more frequent service and faster travel, whether through dedicated lanes or otherwise. The orders from the governor then seem backwards. Slapping a new decal on a city bus and adding amenities that don’t get riders to their destinations faster is about branding that most see through; improving travel times by investing in more routes and prioritizing road space accordingly is a bigger political lift but with a greater pay-off at the end.
Ultimately, New York seems to be spinnings it proverbial wheels, but it’s not clearly who’s listening. And with ridership holding steady on subways and ticking downward on buses these days, it seems that the MTA is a living example of the Transit Center’s findings. Potential riders seek out transit that is of good quality, and declining service, whether through longer waits or slower speeds or disappearing routes, lead those commuters to seek other means. No number of USB ports will ever reverse that trend.
One table highlights the simple improvements that could speed up city buses outside of the slow SBS planning process.
As far as bus improvement efforts go, I’ve long maintained that the city’s and MTA’s Select Bus Service is something of a charade. It has so far taken these planners four or five years to identify a route, plan the service, hold the requisite community meetings, bid out the work, build the infrastructure and launch service along what is essentially a glorified express bus line. This isn’t Bus Rapid Transit with fully dedicated rights of way and constant service; this is New York’s “we have to please everyone all the time but especially drivers” middle-of-the-road stumbling toward transit upgrades.
From an assessment perspective, one of the frustrating elements has been the sheer lack of data made public about the success (or perhaps the failures) of the Select Bus Service routes. Are these improvements decreasing travel time while increasing ridership? If rides are faster, why? What is the effect of an SBS route on parallel local bus routes? Recently, in a report on the B44, some of these questions were answered, and the results highlight two simple reasons why buses are faster. We’ll get to those in a minute.
The B44 was one of those long-drawn out SBS routes. It debuted in late 2013 along Brooklyn’s third busiest bus corridor, and it’s a success story in a vacuum. According to the report [pdf], travel times have decreased by 15-31 percent depending upon the time of day and ridership is up 10 percent. Traffic crashes are down as well. Meanwhile, ridership has decreased on the local buses by only four percent, suggesting that the SBS route is a net gain. We don’t know how overall local travel times are affected by the shift in service though so it’s tough to analyze the overall impact.
Officials were pleased. “The B44 SBS along Nostrand Avenue is a tremendous success story, among the biggest successes in the eight years that DOT and MTA have coordinated Select Bus Service,“ DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said.
But this is a lot of back-slapping for two simple infrastructure improvements. Overall, SBS B44 travel times have decreased by an average of 17 minutes, end-to-end, but times in motion haven’t changed. Buses move for around 37 minutes out of every hour, but instead of sitting at stations for nearly 26 minutes and stuck in traffic for 20, buses are stopped at stations for 15 minutes and stuck in traffic for only 12 minutes. Why? Pre-board fare payment, dedicated bus lanes and signal prioritization. It’s not exactly a secret combination, and improving bus service is as simple as that.
DOT and the MTA have made better bus service into a big deal and something that warrants special consideration during the planning process and special treatment after. It involves branded buses, painted lines and special infrastructure. But it shouldn’t. It should just involve the recognition that buses shouldn’t be subject to the whims of surface traffic through busy corridors and that our fare payment system is horrendously antiquated and inappropriate for city buses. If DOT and the MTA wanted to, they could improve bus service tomorrow by significant amounts simply by giving buses their own lanes, and the fare payment problems should be a part of whatever comes along to replace the Metrocard.
For all the handwringing about declining bus ridership and the need to expand transit access, the answers are right in front of our collective faces. That DOT and the MTA haven’t been aggressively pushing these measures is a stain on their records that deserves a closer look. Improvements and faster travel times don’t need to come through such a torturous process.
Are concerns over gentrification enough to oppose the BQX?
As the summer heat descends upon New York City, transit news often slows down. It’s an annual tradition, one exacerbated this year by the looming Second Ave. Subway opening and a fall budget proposal that will reinforce another looming MTA fare hike, set to arrive in 2017. But in certain corners of the city, a debate over a transit proposal and its effects on neighborhoods has emerged. In a way, it’s a debate over the future of the city, and it’s a proxy for anti-development forces. But at the same time, it raises some uncomfortable questions regarding transit, gentrification and displacement.
This issue has arisen in the so-called visioning sessions New York City has held on the mayor’s Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar proposal. During multiple sessions, attendees have expressed concerns that the streetcar will speed up gentrification and displace long-time residents. Thus, the plan, these opponents say, should be discarded in the name of affordability.
Both Gothamist and amNY have explored these arguments, and for the sake of fairness, I have to note that those at these sessions have raised more compelling arguments against the streetcar, including the lack of subway connections, its location in a flood-prone area, and the overall concern with the viability of the route. It may not do what a transit line should do — that is, connect people with where they are with where they want to go — and concerns that the streetcar is a giveaway for developers and waterfront tourists rings true.
But I wanted to look at the idea that transit improvements should be opposed because they lead to gentrification. The underlying philosophy here is that areas are home to lower income residents because they are inaccessible. Accessibility increases demand, and an increase an demand means an increase in rent. Thus, to maintain a neighborhood’s “character” and avoid the forces of gentrification, areas must be kept relatively inaccessible (or, at least, accessible only by bus, which exists with the perception that the bus is for poor people only).
This doesn’t work for me. On a citywide basis, one of the challenges to affordability is transit, and it’s been one of my concerns with the mayor’s affordable housing plan. This plan simply does not have a transit component. The mayor can talk about prettying up some subway stations in East New York, but that doesn’t do a thing to decrease travel times and increase mobility. (Whether the BQX itself does that is up for debate, but on a general level, that’s what transit improvements should do.)
But opposing transit upgrades because they may lead to displacement seems to suggest that we cannot solve accessibility and affordability as improving accessibility decreases affordability. Over the years, studies have shown that transit access will be a factor in increased rents and gentrification, but transit access isn’t the only factor. It is, then, possible and necessary to implement zoning and housing policies that can tamp down on the upward pressures transit access exerts on the affordability of a neighborhood and stave off displacement. And that’s what we need to see here. If the city is going to push a streetcar funded by real estate developers who are keen on realizing property value increases, the plan must come with some anti-displacement policies that will keep neighborhoods in tact.
I don’t know where the Brooklyn-Queens Connector plan will go from here. Mayor de Blasio has had other issues on his plate in recent months, and the EDC has been forging ahead quietly. It’s not a route that many transit planners embrace even as certain advocacy groups have lined up behind it. But oppose it on its merits and not on a trumped-up charge that transit upgrades can’t occur in un-gentrified areas because of displacement. The end result of that argument leads to a dead end for increased transit usage, improved mobility and better opportunities for everyone.
Courtesy of Jessica Leibowitz and Gothamist, your New York City moment of zen:
As always, these come to me from the MTA. They may be incomplete or inaccurate. Check listings at your local station and listen to announcements on trains as you ride.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, 1 trains are suspended in both directions between 14 St and South Ferry. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Chambers St and South Ferry. Transfer between 1 and 2/3 trains at Times Sq-42 St or 14 St. Transfer between 2/3 trains and shuttle buses at Chambers St.
From 4:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Sunday, July 10, Flatbush Av-Brooklyn College bound 2 trains skip Jackson Av.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, 2 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.
From 6:30 a.m. to 12 midnight, Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10, 3 trains run local in both directions between Chambers St and 34 St-Penn Station.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 9 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, 4 trains run local in both directions between 125 St and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, 5 trains are suspended in both directions between Eastchester-Dyre Av and E 180 St. 5 service operates every 20 minutes between E 180 St/149 St-Grand Concourse and Bowling Green days and evenings only. Free shuttle buses operate all weekend between Eastchester-Dyre Av and E 180 St making all station stops.
From 7:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Sunday, July 10, 5 trains are suspended in both directions between E 180 St and 149 St-Grand Concourse. Take the 2 instead. Transfer between 2 and 5 trains at 149 St-Grand Concourse.
From 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, July 9, and from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Sunday, July 10, 5 trains run every 20 minutes. Trains run local in both directions between 125 St and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 9 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 10, Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains run express from Parkchester to Pelham Bay Park. To Castle Hill Av, Zerega Av, Westchester Sq, Middletown Rd, and Buhre Av, take the Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 to Pelham Bay Park and transfer to a Brooklyn Bridge-bound 6. From these stations, take a Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall bound 6 to Parkchester and transfer to a Pelham Bay Park-bound 6.
From 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, July 9 and from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday, July 10, 6 trains run every 16 minutes between Pelham Bay Park and 3 Av-138 St.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, A trains are suspended in both directions between 168 St and Inwood-207 St. A service operates between 168 St and Far Rockaway/Lefferts Blvd. Free shuttle buses operate along two routes:
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, A trains are rerouted via the F in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and Jay St-MetroTech in both directions. To/from Spring St, Canal St, and Chambers St, take the E instead via transfer at W 4 St. To/from Fulton St, take the J instead via transfer at Delancey-Essex Sts F station. Or, use the E at nearby World Trade Center station; transfer between trains at W 4 St. To/from High St, use the nearby York St F station.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, July 10, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, July 10 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, downtown A trains run express from 145 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, A trains run local in both directions between 168 St and 145 St.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 9, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, A trains run local in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 9, and Sunday July 10, C trains are suspended in both directions between 145 St and 168 St. Take the A instead.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 9, and Sunday July 10, downtown C trains run express 145 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 9, and Sunday July 10, C trains are rerouted on the F line in both directions between W 4 St-Wash Sq and Jay St-MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 9, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, E trains run local in both directions between Queens Plaza and Forest Hills-71 Av.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, Coney Island-Stillwell Av bound F trains run express from Jay St-MetroTech to Church Av.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 9, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, F trains run local in both directions between 21 St-Queensbridge and Forest Hills-71 Av.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 8 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, G trains are suspended in both directions between Church Av and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. A and F trains provide alternate service. G trains will operate in two sections between Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs, and between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts, every 20 minutes. To continue your trip, transfer at Bedford-Nostrand Avs.
Gov. Cuomo unveiled a new MTA ticketing app to much fanfare earlier this week.
By many accounts Gov. Andrew Cuomo, like many politicians, thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. No matter the field, whether its in his wheelhouse of expertise (whatever that may be) or not, if he gets an idea in his head, the people who report to him have to execute. It’s not a dialogue between career public servants who know what they’re doing and the state’s chief executive; it’s a command from a boss to those who report in to him.
With that background, it’s easy to see how Cuomo’s recent transit steps, while earning him headlines and being a major part of his public relations push around the state, have been missteps in the eyes of the transit community. It’s why MTA staffers groan when they hear the governor is coming and just wish he would stay out of the agency’s hair. It’s why buses have USB ports, and it’s why these USB ports are trumpeted as some sort of savior at a time when New York City’s transit system is bursting at its seams with no relief in sight.
Earlier this week, Cuomo again seemed to think that a basic technological upgrade that’s standard operating procedure for most commuter rail systems the world over is a sign of strong leadership when he held a circus of a press conference to announce the long-delayed rollout of a mobile ticketing app for Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road. The app is powered by Masabi’s JustRide platform, and the details are rather mundane. The app will support a variety of time- or ride-based tickets and will require riders to “activate” tickets before use, as New Jersey Transit’s app does. It is Apple Pay-compatible and can support purchasing a ticket, according to promotional materials, in under ten seconds. It’s available now on the LIRR Port Washington Branch and the Metro-North Hudson Line, and it will be rolled out throughout the system by the end of August.
Cuomo’s words in a statement underscore his beliefs that technology is a transit savior. “Our administration remains committed to building a transit network that is responsive to the needs of travelers who rely on mass transportation, and the launch of the MTA eTix app is a major step forward in our efforts,” the governor said. “This new app puts riders first by eliminating the ticket line and helping New Yorkers and visitors get where they need to go with more freedom and convenience than ever before. We will continue to create a 21st century transit system that embraces innovation to ensure that we are building a stronger, more competitive New York.”
The most interesting part of the announcement came as part of the kicker paragraph in the press release which noted that “next year, the MTA expects to make the MTA eTix app even more user-friendly by allowing LIRR and Metro-North customers who transfer to or from the New York City Subway or New York City Buses to pay their fares using a single app and a single transit account.” As the Metrocard replacement project is still in the RFP stage, it’s not quite clear how this functionality will be available by mid-2017, and I’ll follow up on this aspect of the story.
Now, don’t get me wrong; mobile ticketing is a big step. But is it worth the brouhaha of a press release and official back-patting? The MTA is years late to game on mobile ticketing thanks to a combination of recalcitrant LIRR unions and an institutional aversion to major technological change. This announcement, and the fact that the governor had to prod the MTA to release this app, should have been slipped into a press release on a summer Friday, not trumpeted on the day back to work after the July 4th holiday.
But that’s not the weird part. The weird part was Cuomo’s rant at the press conference which you can find in this 20 minute video of the presser.
At around the eight-minute mark, Cuomo starts going off the rails on the current state of the transit system. “You can’t make a system that was designed and constructed for that [early 1900s] scale work for the current-day scale, and government’s tried in fits and starts to use bailing wire and duct tape and bubble gum and all sorts of ways to make it work. It’s not going to work. You have to build a new system,” he said. He also claimed that “our society is more litigious than ever” and thus government cannot make the changes to create a new system. In a concurrent tweet, Cuomo confused daily subway and bus ridership with monthly LIRR ridership and seemed to over-simplify when the subway system as we currently know it opened.
It’s hard to parse Cuomo’s words here. He seems to think that basic technological upgrades are a sign of a “new system.” He seems to think mandating buses that are “Ferrari-like” and faster rollouts of mobile ticketing apps will help with the crowds on Lexington Ave. or the lack of capacity in Queens. He doesn’t want to hear about it or take on the root causes of the MTA’s problems: high costs, an inability to deliver projects on time and on budget, and a lack of institutional support from the governor.
I don’t know where anyone involved goes from here. It’s not an intractable situation for transit advocates or the MTA or the governor, but it’s a situation careening from one band aid to another when real leadership is required. It’s not the collective fault of the millions of riders that the MTA can’t handle the crowds, and a magic app for Metro-North and LIRR riders won’t fix that problem. Unfortunately, Cuomo, the one man who thinks he can solve these problems, is blind to this reality, and we’ll have to live through it instead.
Not a bad weekend’s slate of work for a three-day break. Enjoy your 4th. Travel safely.
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 2 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 3, 2 service operates in two sections:
From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, July 2 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 3, E 180 St-bound 2 trains run express from Wakefield-241 St to E 180 St. To Nereid Av, 233 St, 225 St, 219 St, Burke Av, Allerton Av, Pelham Pkwy, and Bronx Park East, take the Bx39 bus (days and evenings). Or take the E 180 St-bound 2 to Gun Hill Rd or E 180 St and transfer to a Wakefield-241 St-bound 2. From these stations, take a Wakefield-241 St-bound 2 to Gun Hill Rd or Wakefield-241 St and transfer to an E 180 St-bound 2.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1, to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, July 3, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, July 3 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, uptown 4 trains run express from Grand Central-42 St to 125 St.
From 3:45 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Saturday, July 2 and from 9:45 p.m. Saturday, July 2 to 9:30 a.m. Sunday, July 3, 5 Shuttle service is replaced by the 2 between Eastchester-Dyre Av and E 180 St.
From 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, July 2, and from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 3, 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Eastchester-Dyre Av and Bowling Green.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, uptown 6 trains run express from Grand Central-42 St to 125 St.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall bound 6 trains run express from Parkchester to 3 Av-138 St.
From 6:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, July 2, Flushing-Main St bound 7 trains run express from Queensboro Plaza to Mets-Willets Point.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1, to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, July 3, and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, July 3 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, downtown A trains run express from 145 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 2, and July 3, 168 St-bound C trains run express from Canal St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday July 2, and Sunday July 3, downtown C trains run express from 145 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, Norwood-205 St bound D trains are rerouted via the C line from W 4 St-Wash Sq to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 2 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, Coney Island-Stillwell Av bound D trains stop at 23 St and 14 St.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, Coney Island-Stillwell Av bound F trains run express from Jay St-MetroTech to Church Av.
From 11:45 p.m. Friday, July 1 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 4, G trains are suspended in both directions between Church Av and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. A and F trains provide alternate service. G trains will operate in two sections between Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs, and between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts, every 20 minutes. To continue your trip, transfer at Bedford-Nostrand Avs.
Just wanted to check in with my loyal readers to let you all know that I’m still here! I’ve been traveling a bit over the past few weeks, and among trips, my job and a relatively quiet summer on the transit front, I’ve let daily posts slip a bit. I have some catching up to do regarding recent news on SBS ridership and travel time figures and a lawsuit over subway accessibility and MTA ADA compliance. I should be back to a semi-regular schedule next week, and I’ll put up the service advisories for the long weekend later on Friday. Thanks to all who have reached out asking about the posts. Everything is a-OK, and I’m still here. Stay tuned, as always, for more.