MTA Economics

Comptroller: MTA short over $9 billion for capital plan

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 14, 2008

During the build-up to the fare hike, a common refrain emerged from the mouths of New York’s elected legislatures. “Ask us for money, and we’ll give it to you,” these representatives said to MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander over and over again. They practically begged for the chance to dole out funds to the financially-strapped transportation agency.

Now, based on a newly-released Comptroller’s report, the legislature will have a chance to make good on their promise to the tune of at least $9 billion over the next five years. Whether or not they can deliver the funds will impact the MTA and the region for years to come.

In his report (available here as a PDF, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli crunches the numbers in the MTA’s proposed capital plan for 2008-2013(PDF) and determines that the MTA needs at least $9.3 billion more to fully fund the plan. That number could climb to $13.8 billion if congestion pricing fails.

DiNapoli’s report paints something of a bleak picture regarding the MTA’s financial future. Under the current iteration of the next five-year capital campaign, the agency will be saddled with rising debt service costs that could end up crippling the agency. New York City cannot afford a repeat of the 1970s when it comes to its public transportation network.

“The MTA is absolutely vital to the region’s economy,” DiNapoli said. “The system must be kept in good repair and crucial expansion projects must be completed as planned and on time. But the MTA can’t close the funding gap without the help of the State and the City. And the MTA should not rely too heavily on debt. Debt service is already placing increasing pressure on the MTA’s operating budget.”

According to DiNapoli’s report — which I’ll be examining further next week — the MTA has proposed a capital plan that, annually, is 36.6 percent larger than the current five-year program. But the plan is not without a trade off. As DiNapoli writes, “every $1 billion in MTA capital spending generates 8700 jobs, $454 million in total wages, and $1.5 billion in economic activity in the metropolitan region.” Might MTA construction actually pay for itself? Shouldn’t the MTA deserve some more state money based upon these figures? It seems so.

In the end, though, for DiNapoli, it all boils down to debt payments. Once the MTA covers the portion of the plan that they can through potential federal contributions due to congestion pricing, farebox revenue and bond issues, they will be left with large debt service payments that could cripple the agency in ten or fifteen years. “Debt service on bonds issued in support of approved capital programs will peak at $2.1 billion annually beginning in 2013 — 38 percent higher than the current level — and will reach $2.5 billion by 2017 based on the proposed capital program,” he wrote. “Debt service will place increasing pressure on the MTA’s operating budget and will consume 43 percent of fare and toll revenue by 2017, compared with 28 percent today.”

So here then is the chance for the legislature to step in. The MTA is at least $9.3 billion and will be facing burdensome debt service payments in the near future. After years of neglect, the state and city could rescue the MTA from a fiscal crisis. It’s time to make good on those pleas we’ve been hearing for the last few months. Give the MTA the money.

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AsidesCongestion Fee

Maybe the Spitzer scandal saved congestion pricing

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 13, 2008

Despite my previous predictions that Gov. Spitzer’s resignation may signal the end of congestion pricing, a growing crowd of voices is now suggesting that maybe his resignation will save the pricing plan. Alec Applebaum at New York Magazine’s Daily Intel blog speculated that incoming Gov. Patterson could shepherd the plan through the legislature. The Times predicts an era of reconciliation now that the self-proclaimed steamroller is out. Could this just be the sex scandal that saved congestion pricing?

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MTA Technology

Gear problem puts the brakes on R160 delivery

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 13, 2008

These will have to wait. (Photo by flickr user craigshadow2007)

Surprise, surprise! A contract issued by the MTA will not be fulfilled on time because of a mechanical problem. This time, a whole bunch of R160 cars won’t hit the tracks on time due to a gearbox defect, according to the Daily News. Pete Donohue has more:

NYC Transit stopped putting new R160 model subway cars on the rails shortly after they arrived from the assembly line after a gearbox defect was detected about two weeks ago, transit officials confirmed.

The agency won’t put the high-tech cars – and hundreds more yet being built – into service until a fix is designed and approved by the agency, officials said.

Under a $950 million contract awarded to two manufacturers that joined forces, a total of 660 cars were to be in service by May, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority documents. Now, it looks like it will be late this year, or early next year, before the full allotment is shuttling straphangers from station to station.

Of course, officials from Alstom Transport, the company responsible for the new cars, declined to comment. Meanwhile, the MTA says they are pleased with the cars currently in use. Those do not suffer from the gearbox defect and will not be taken off the rails. The losers then are those folks along the N and Q lines who were due for new cars sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, this defect is just another issue of an MTA partner failing to fulfill the terms of a contract. Already this year, we’ve seen stories about problems with the MTA’s security camera project and its bus arrival board project. We know that implementation of the arrival boards on the L line has been fraught with delays and implementation problems.

At some point, the MTA should take a public stance here. It’s simply not acceptable for all of these companies to miss deadlines set forth in contracts. Over the next few months, the MTA is going to put out a text message alert contract, and Rick Bowen, one of the unsuccessful bidders for that deal, said on this site yesterday that the MTA’s demands “may not be technically possible.” If the MTA is serious about getting more funding and delivering more service, it must show more responsibility with their preexisting contracts, unforeseen mechanical problems or not.

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AsidesCongestion Fee

The congestion pricing edition of ‘Now It’s Probably Gone’

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 12, 2008

Yesterday, I speculated that Gov. Spitzer’s scandalous problems may signal the end of our congestion pricing hopes. Today, with Spitzer out, pricing foe Assemblyman Richard Brodsky gleefully predicts the downfall of Mayor Bloomberg’s radical and necessary plan. “Whatever political efforts he was intending to make are certainly not going to be there over the next days and weeks. That certainly means we’re in a fair fight, which we’ll win,” he said. Maybe Gov. Patterson can turn this into a win, but if not, the city’s environmental and transportation future will be the big losers here.

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MTA Technology

Supposedly coming soon, MTA text message alerts

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 12, 2008

Every few months, it seems, I run the same story about the MTA and text message alerts. But I — or at the least the MTA — swear that things are moving closer to reality on this technological front.

The saga started in August when a flood knocked out subway service in New York and a crush of visitors downed the MTA’s Web site for the better part of a day. Shortly thereafter, the MTA announced their desire for a text messaging alert system, something sports leagues had managed to produce for a few years. Then, in November, the MTA announced a call for proposals from external companies to provide just such a system. Apparently, things move a bit slowly through the MTA bureaucracy.

Now, nearly four months later, the MTA has announced that it is still another three months away from implementing the text message alert system. But at least it’s on the horizon with a debut date set for June, just two months shy of the one-year anniversary of the flood. Marlene Naanes of amNew York has more:

Within the next 90 days, transit and commuter rail riders are expected to be able to go to the MTA Web site and customize alerts they want sent to their cell phones or computers, MTA executive deputy director Chris Boylan yesterday told the MTA Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee.

“We are looking to see if we can get all of our messages distributed in five to 10 minutes or less,” Boylan said.

The agency also will redesign its Web site, and add an online lost-and-found service. Transit riders will be able to log on to inquire about lost items. Metro North already offers this service. The new face of the Web site will be less cluttered and easier to navigate. It’s unclear when it will launch.

Before getting to the juicy stuff, let’s just review this text message alert system. I love the idea; it’s a long time coming; what took so long? In August, MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander said this idea had been in the works for a while and the flood “made it clear that timely text and email alerts are necessary.” Seven months later, the MTA says they’re still about three months away from a launch. I can only wonder how long this would have taken had there been no flood.

Meanwhile, I eagerly anticipate a redesigned MTA Web site. The current incarnation has a lot of information and no easy way to access it. Separate agencies maintain their own pages, and everything is just jumbled together. Any redesign aimed at uncluttered the site is a huge step in the right direction for an agency that, over the last year, has shown a willingness to embrace technological innovation in a big way. That is good news for straphangers.

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Congestion Fee

With Spitzer in trouble, congestion pricing hangs in the balance

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 11, 2008

When the Eliot Spitzer scandal hit on Monday afternoon, my thoughts turned to congestion pricing. Slowly gaining momentum with New Yorkers but losing the support of key politicians, the congestion pricing plan was going to require a monumental negotiation in Albany. With this scandal, I fear it is all but dead, and with it, we lose a chance to significantly improve both the environment and mass transit in New York City.

Recently, it seemed, the tide had been turning in favor of the congestion pricing plan. With Elliot Sander’s State of the MTA speech last week, improved mass transit partially funded by congestion pricing revenues took center stage. His plan showed a New York with better transit options and fewer cars.

Then, last week, The Times wrote a stridently pro-congestion pricing editorial:

New York riders pay a considerably higher share of the cost of mass transit than riders in other cities. Fares for buses, subways and commuter rails increased again this week to help pay the M.T.A.’s operating costs. It is time for New York drivers to help carry the burden. Congestion pricing fees can produce significant and recurring new money for mass transit’s capital expenses.

Congestion pricing, of course, has many other virtues. New Yorkers would enjoy the health and economic benefits of less gridlock and tailpipe emissions — and faster commutes. Getting money to help fix mass transit is yet another reason why the City Council and state lawmakers should approve congestion pricing before the end of the month — when a deadline to receive more than $350 million in federal funds expires.

I’ve said it before myself, and I continue to agree with The Times. The city needs congestion pricing badly.

Meanwhile, an amNew York story published today notes that nearly two-thirds of bus commuters approve of the congestion pricing plan. “Bus riders are really the unsung winners of congestion pricing. They win with faster, more reliable buses,” Transportation Alternative’s Wiley Norvell said.

The opposition however is gaining strength too. As Gotham Gazette notes, the City Council is now leaning 20-12 against congestion pricing. And here I thought elected officials were supposed to represent the desires of their constituents.

All of these political machinations bring us back to Gov. Spitzer, the man who could have brokered a deal for the congestion pricing plan. As Streetsblog commenter momos aptly noted, Albany will now be consumed with this scandal and the ensuing fallout. In fact, we could find ourselves with a new governor this week.

“Both the budget and congestion pricing had to be negotiated by the end of the month,” momos wrote. “The negotiating environment was bad enough. Now it’s downright destroyed. Spitzer is weakened if not replaced entirely, while the uproar in Albany will give the Assembly cover to do as it will. If there were several months for things to settle it would be difficult enough; with critical deadlines in 3 weeks, forget it. This is so tragic. Congestion pricing dies not in a debate over its merits but in the ashes of a Governorship imploding from a sex scandal.”

And that about sums it up.

As congestion pricing goes, however, all is not lost. The MTA can still pressure the legislature to make good on its promises of funding that emerged during the fare hike hearings. Now more than ever in fact, the state and city should be willing to pony up other funds to ensure the financial health of the MTA. While congestion pricing is seemingly on its last legs, the MTA need not be at all.

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Fare HikesMetroCard

MTA sets June grace period on all pre-hike MetroCards

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 10, 2008

Shortly before the MTA raised the fares last week, the agency announced a grace period of indeterminate length ending no early than today. With that early deadline upon us, the MTA has issued guidelines for all pre-fare hike MetroCards that savvy straphangers looking to save a few bucks purchased.

According to the release, the MTA, after assessing the run on MetroCards, set a series of June dates for the Unlimited Ride cards. The MTA set the following deadlines to allow riders to receive the full number of days:

  • 30-day MetroCards purchased for $76 must be first swiped no later than June 1.
  • Seven-day MetroCards purchased for $24 must be first swiped no later than June 24.
  • One-day Fun Pass MetroCards purchsaed for $7 must be first swiped no later than June 30.

As long as you begin to use your Unlimited Ride cards on or before that date, you will be entitled to the full time period of the card. If you stockpiled more cards than you can use before June, the MTA will provide refunds for unused cards and pro-rated refunds for partially used card.

To get a refund, straphangers will have to mail their cards back to the MTA or drop them off at the NYC Transit Customer Service Center in Lower Manhattan. I’ve had to mail back a MetroCard once to get a refund, and the process works painlessly. Three weeks later, I had my card back with the proper balance. All told, this seems like a fair deal to me.

As always, you can use your pay-per-ride cards with no worry about a grace period. The machines will simply deduct $2 per ride until empty.

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Fulton Street

MTA: No, really, we’ll build something at Fulton St.

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 10, 2008

After last week’s discussions about circumferential subway lines of the future, let’s step back and look at something on the MTA’s table that the agency can’t get off the ground: the ever-popular and ever-delayed Fulton St. Transit Hub.

When last we checked in with the Hub in January, the MTA had just scrapped plans for the Hub’s dome and displaced business owners and downtown residents were not too pleased to hear about the project’s uncertain future. Following the apparent end of the MTA’s grand plans for an ornate subway hub-cum-shopping center, downtown denizens were concerned that the MTA would build only an entry plaza and leave the land relatively undeveloped.

Well, late last week, the MTA officially announced that something will arise above the Fulton St. station. The agency doesn’t yet know however what form this building will take. Julie Shapiro, a reporter for the Downtown Express, has more on this ill-fated project’s latest developments:

“It’ll be something more than a plaza, but less than the oculus,” M.T.A. spokesperson Aaron Donovan said, referring to the dome. Donovan also said the building would contain retail, though he did not know what type or how much…

The M.T.A.’s capital plan, released last week, suggests allocating an additional $295 million for the Fulton St. hub, bringing the total for the project to $1.198 billion, more than $400 million over the original estimate for the center before it was scaled back. So far, the M.T.A. has awarded Fulton contracts worth close to $1 billion, Donovan said…

The project’s completion date, last scheduled for June 2009, is listed as “To Be Decided” in the capital plan. Donovan said he would have more information in 30 to 45 days. The below-ground work, to ease connections between 12 subway lines, is moving forward as planned and was never in jeopardy.

So basically, the MTA is seemingly back at Square One with the Fulton St. hub. They will build something, but they don’t know when it will open, what it will look like or who or what may be the commercial tenants. I’m still angling for a ladder leading into a hole in the ground. Perhaps a hatch-like structure a la Lost would be appropriate.

Meanwhile, Shapiro’s article is a treasure trove of angry residents, business owners and Community Board members all opining about the MTA’s inability to deliver the proposed and promised Fulton St. Hub. “We’re very frustrated with this switch-and-bait plan,” Catherine McVay Hughes, a CB1 member, said. “What was promised appears like it’s not going to be delivered.”

Downtown residents are also wary of the MTA’s plan to attract retail to the Hub. Citing the high-end mall at Columbus Circle, Lower Manhattan residents would rather see something that fits the needs of those who live and work in the area. “It’s going to have nothing to do with most of the people who live Downtown and work Downtown,” Arthur Castle, a one-time downtown worker, said. “They should put up something there that will serve a good public purpose, something for the community. I don’t think it should be a big decoration that’s a magnet for high-end retail stores.”

As we sit around here and debate the possibilities of a Brooklyn-Queens-Bronx subway line, a quick glance at Lower Manhattan could dash our hopes. If the MTA can’t get a building off the ground in a real estate space they own, what hopes do we have for a three-borough subway line that would have a greater impact on the city than some ornate transit hub anyway?

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Service Advisories

F/G nearly back to normal, but other work abounds

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 7, 2008

After last weekend’s F/G service change disrupted travel for many folks heading to and from Brooklyn, this weekend’s relatively light slate of your typical service changes is a welcome relief.

Sadly, for those on the West Side, the IRT is back up to its old tricks again. There will be no express service as the endless work continues at Cortlandt Street. One day ever this project may be finished. The worst of the changes involve the A and C in Upper Manhattan. The press release is here. The changes are, as always, below:


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, 1 trains skip 28th, 23rd, and 18th Streets in both directions due to underpinning work at Cortlandt Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, there are no 1 trains between 14th Street and South Ferry. Customers may take the 2 or 3 between 34th Street and Chambers Street. Free shuttle buses are available between Chambers Street and South Ferry. These changes are necessary due to underpinning work at Cortlandt Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, 2 and 3 trains run local between 96th Street and Chambers Street due to underpinning work at Cortlandt Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, the last stop for selected Bronx-bound 4 trains is 149th Street-Grand Concourse due to track panel installation between Burnside Avenue and Woodlawn.


From 12:01 a.m. Sunday, March 9 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, downtown 4 and 6 trains skip Astor Place, Bleecker St., Spring and Canal Sts. due to inspection of gap filler at 14th Street/Union Square.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, Manhattan-bound 7 trains skip 69th, 52nd, 46th, 40th, and 33rd Sts. due to track work at 69th St.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, free shuttle buses replace A trains between 168th Street and 207th Street. Customers may transfer between the Broadway or Fort Washington Avenue shuttle buses and the A train at 168th Street. There are no C trains between 145th Street and 168th Street. Customers should take the A instead. These changes are due to tunnel structure and lighting repairs between 168th Street and 207th Street.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, uptown A and C trains skip Spring, 23rd and 50th Streets due to Chambers Street signal modernization.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, there are no E trains between West 4th Street and World Trade Center due to Chambers Street signal modernization. Customers should take the A instead.


From 12:01 a.m. to noon, Saturday, March 8, Queens-bound E and R trains run express from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt Avenue due to installation of track drains between 36th Street and Roosevelt Avenue.

From 12:01 a.m. to noon, Sunday, March 9, Manhattan-bound ER trains run express from Roosevelt Avenue to Queens Plaza due to installation of track drains between 36th Street and Roosevelt Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10, Queens-bound F trains run on the V line from 47th-50th Streets/Rockefeller Center to Roosevelt Avenue due to communications equipment installation between 36th Street and 47th-50th Sts/Rockefeller Center stations.


From 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 10 (and weekends until further notice), there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to track work. Customers should take the E or R instead.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 9, there is no M train service. One branch of the J service will operate between Middle Village/Metropolitan Avenue and Chambers Street. The other J service will operate between Jamaica Center/Parsons Archer and Cypress Hills. Free shuttle buses replace J trains between Cypress Hills and Myrtle Avenue. These changes are due to switch renewal south of Broadway Junction.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Monday. March 10, Brooklyn-bound NR trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to DeKalb Ave. due to tunnel rehabilitation between Prince St. and Whitehall St. stations.

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Subway Maps

New York mags give subway map its just dues

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on March 7, 2008

Nothing screams New York City quite like the subway map. The iconic map — or at least the 1998 redesign of The Map — appears in every guide book about to New York and is a ubiquitous decoration in subway cars and stations alike.

Recently, the map has made a few cameo appearances in the New York media as well. The ever-popular Best of New York issue of New York Magazine hit the stands this week. Featured on the magazine’s Web site is an artistic spelling of the words “Best of New York” as told by a folded-up subway map. Might that be because, despite all of its problems, the subway system is one of the best things about New York? I think so.

But more fun than the New York feature is an homage to the subway that appeared in the pages of The New Yorker a few weeks ago. Every year, near the February 21 anniversary of the debut of the venerable magazine, Eustace Tilley appears on The New Yorker cover. This year, the magazine opened up the Eustace Tilley design to readers and graphics designers across the country. While the Tilley issue came adorned with a Hillary/Obama cover, the winning submissions — online at The New Yorker website and Flickr — were quite entertaining.

To me, one jumped out from the pack:

That’s right; it’s a Massimo Vignelli-inspired Eustace Tilley superimposed over the stylized map of New York City. Drawn by flickr user panutfla, the Tilley subway map evokes New York and the subways in all its glory. It is the quintessential image for The New Yorker, and while he magazine didn’t honor the underground veins of the city by placing this image on the cover, it is by far one of the most New York-centric images from The New Yorker I’ve seen in a long time.

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