Second Ave. Sagas

From Cuomo, another raid or just accounting moves?

by Benjamin Kabak January 23, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 23, 2014

After Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed the lockbox bill, New York’s transit advocates worried that it would open the door to another raid. Now that the governor’s budget is out, there are concerns that Cuomo has again reappropriated transit dollars in a way that leaves the MTA without money it expects, but the details are a bit hazy. The missing money, in fact, may not be from a misappropriation but from a decision made over a year ago to roll back some of the payroll mobility tax.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign brought this issue to light yesterday. In Cuomo’s budget presentation, the Governor notes that “the Budget will use $40 million in surplus mass transportation operating assistance funds to pay for a portion of the debt service associated with previously issued MTA service contract bonds.”

The $40 million is barely a drop in the bucket for the MTA, and it’s not enough to avoid, say, any future potential fare hikes. But politicians are casting a wary glance. As the Daily News notes, one Brooklyn assembly rep has objected to the budget. “It’s a grab and he shouldn’t do it,” James Brennan said. “There are many possible uses of these funds that would benefit the riding public, from improved maintenance to restoration of service to mitigating fare hikes.”

The governor too defended the move. Suddenly, the same people who are always concerned with the MTA’s debt obligations are objecting to an effort to slowly pay it down. Cuomo has upped state contributions to the MTA’s operating budget and called the debt payments a “legitimate transit purpose.” I can’t get too worked up over this one.

But there’s another item TSTC highlighted that bears further examination:

While the Governor’s budget includes $310 million from the State’s General Fund to the MTA to compensate for lost revenue resulting from the rollback of the payroll mobility tax (PMT) in December 2011, this flat amount (which has been included every year since 2012) could be actually shortchanging potential revenue. The New York State Department of Labor estimates that 218,300 jobs were created in the downstate MTA region from November 2011 to November 2013, which means that additional PMT revenue likely would have been generated from these additional jobs, in excess of the $310 million. This additional revenue may have been enough to offset the proposed four percent MTA fare increase in 2015.

It’s not clear what, if any, effect the PMT would have on job-creation numbers, but it wouldn’t have led all downstate companies to freeze employment expansion. It seems clear the MTA is getting shortchanged here, and that was always a concern when Cuomo rolled back the PMTA. That, and not the debt payment issue, should be the real concern.

January 23, 2014 6 comments

View from Underground

Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution but endless announcement sure are

by Benjamin Kabak January 23, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 23, 2014

In running through the subway pet peeves last week, I didn’t talk about one aspect of the experience that drives me absolutely nuts. Ever since the MTA started investing in new rolling stock and better public address systems for its stations, the onslaught of public announcements has become infuriatingly annoying.

For me, personally, the problem reached a crescendo on Tuesday night while traveling home from work. Despite the snow drifts piling up throughout the city and warnings to stay home, I caught a Q train from Times Square in relatively quick order, and when we zoomed past the N train idling at Prince St., I knew we would cross the Manhattan Bridge first. All was well until we went back underground prior to De Kalb Ave.

My guess is that a B train had crossed the bridge just before us, and the Q had to wait. What I know happened is that four times — four times! — in a four-minute period in which the Q train idled in between the eastern end of the Manhattan Bridge and De Kalb Ave., every single passenger was told that we were being held for train traffic ahead of us, that we would be moving shortly, and that the MTA was thankful for our patience. Over and over and over again, we heard this message. We couldn’t stop anywhere else, and the situation in front of us hadn’t changed. For some reason though the conductor insisted on pressing play four times.

Generally, I’m a fan of the train traffic message. It’s an acknowledgment from the MTA that something isn’t right. The same holds true of the message concerning a delay to the train’s dispatcher. We want to be moving, but we can’t because someone is holding us up or something is in front of us. It’s not a long-term problem, like a sick passenger or a signal malfunction, and we should be moving shortly. There’s just no reason, though, to play it every 60 seconds when nothing else is happening.

This is hardly the worst announcement. For over a decade, we’ve been blasted with “an important message from the NYPD” about keeping our belongings safe at all times, checking ourselves, and seeing and saying something. I’ve become immune to that one Yet, it just keeps going. And going. And going. And going. And going. And go…

In one sense, these announcements serve a purpose. Any regular rider who doesn’t wear headphones can recite them all by rote, and that means they’re working. We’ve been trained to be whatever is on the right side of paranoid while traveling underground, and we know to be alert. But we’ve also been lectured about it nearly every day of every week of every month of every year since the early 2000s. At this point, it’s just another piece of noise to add to the clanks and squeals of our everyday subway commute.

January 23, 2014 38 comments

Podcast

Ep. 12 of ‘The Next Stop Is…’ on Penn Station Access and more

by Benjamin Kabak January 22, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 22, 2014

NextStopis It’s a snowy Wednesday in New York, but we’ve got our eye on a sunnier transit future for this week’s episode of “The Next Stop Is…” For the 12th episode of the Second Ave. Sagas’ podcast, Eric Basure and I talk about what might become.

Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State speech, we delve into the plans for Penn Station Access. Could Metro-North deliver riders to the West Side? It may be a few years yet, but if Cuomo has his way, that long-discussed project could see the light of the day.

Meanwhile, with big weekend changes for the 7 line on tap for 22 weekends this year, Eric and I discussed the benefits and pitfalls of this week. It’s taken the MTA an exceedingly long time to implement CBTC on the Flushing Line, and the end isn’t in sight for another three years. As frustration builds in Queens, the MTA, we posit, should be doing more to explain just how this work will benefit riders. It’s always a tough P.R. battle to win.

Finally, it’s worth noting that we start the show with a brief plug of my upcoming Problem Solvers Q-and-A session. I’ll be chatting with Bill Amarosa, Manager of Ridership & Revenue Analysis, and I’ll do a proper post on this tomorrow.

This week’s recording again runs around 20 minutes, and it is, as always, the perfect length for your subway ride home this evening. You can grab the podcast right here on iTunes or pull the raw MP3 file. If you enjoy what you hear, subscribe to updates on iTunes as well and consider leaving us a review. If you have any questions you’d like us to tackle, leave ’em in the comments below.

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January 22, 2014 6 comments

Service Advisories

Thinking about snow with ‘close to normal’ service for Wednesday

by Benjamin Kabak January 22, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 22, 2014

As the snow storm that calmly blanketed New York City on Tuesday moves out of the area and the deep cold of the return of the polar vortex settles in, the MTA expects to run “close to normal” subway and bus service for the Wednesday morning rush. The commuter rail lines present a different picture entirely as service will be rather curtailed. It’s a lot to track after a fairly routine winter storm.

Within New York City, Transit expects “close to normal” service for the morning rush hour as trains that are currently stored on express tracks move out to make way for trains running on those tracks. The agency expects buses running at around 80-90 percent of normal levels “depending on customer demand.” After a few articulateds got caught in the snow, the city’s buses will be equipped with chains, but street conditions may cause service changes. All in all, that’s one big paragraph of uncertainty.

For those traveling in from outside of the city, the conditions are no better. The Long Island Rail Road will operate on a weekend schedule, which means only around two-thirds of the weekday service, and Metro-North will combine some trains as well. It plans to offer around 80-85 percent of normal service, though that too many change depending upon “the condition of track and power systems, the number of train cars available and the availability of crews.” Leave extra time, don’t travel if you don’t have to, etc., etc., etc., and for the latest, check out MTA.info.

Meanwhile, as the snow fell and the streets filled with powder, I couldn’t help but think about the incongruity of snow planning across city and state agencies. The MTA threatened to curtail service early on Tuesday night while urging New Yorkers to leave work as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the mayor told everyone in the city to stay off the roads, if possible. The two messages are seemingly at odds with each other.

Winter is always a tough time for the MTA. Trains that are crowded in the summer are even more so when the deep freeze of winter settles in. People who walk or bike to work opt for the warmth of a subway car, and everyone’s wearing layers and puffy coats creating the illusion, if not the reality, of less room all over. With the MTA’s own load guidelines dictating that a peak-hour train isn’t full until every seat is taken and a quarter of the number of seated passengers are standing, trains fill up quickly already. The threat of early service and crowded roads only makes it worse.

When the mayor says stay off the road, the MTA should try to bump capacity to encourage folks to avoid driving. Instead, in order to ensure, perhaps overly cautiously so, that trains are not iced in and that, unlike in late 2010, riders are not stranded in the snow, service across the board is reduced. Subways run local, express bus routes are culled, and commuter rail trains reduce their frequencies. The MTA should be able to deploy personnel and equipment to adequately remove snow while keeping service at normal levels for as long as possible.

As with many aspects of the city’s transit service, it’s a balancing act. In response to the 2010 problems, has the pendulum swung too far back into the realm of caution? Trains, after all, can push around a bunch of snow, and it’s far safer to have people riding the rails than driving the streets. It’s easy for me to second guess from the comfort of my couch, but maybe the MTA isn’t giving its services enough leeway in winter weather right now.

January 22, 2014 19 comments

Service Advisories

MTA to NYC: It’s snowing. Go home.

by Benjamin Kabak January 21, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 21, 2014

It’s January. It’s snowing. It’s New York City. That must mean one thing: Time to panic. Grab that milk; get that bread. There’s a good chance some stores in this city of 16,000 bodegas may run low on the essentials before deliveries can resume in a day or two. So, please, by all means, pretend we don’t go through this a few times a year every winter.

The MTA’s advice is simple: Go home and stay home. Here’s their statement:

The MTA urges customers to leave work early today and finish traveling early tonight, especially those who use Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road. The storm has arrived earlier than predicted, bringing higher snow accumulation and stronger wind gusts, raising the prospect of snow drifts of up to two feet. Service on railroads, subways and buses can be curtailed or suspended entirely or on a route-by-route basis depending on snowfall accumulation. If you do not need to travel tonight, we urge you not to.

The agency has become canceling a variety of trains on LIRR and Metro-North. For details on points north of the city, click here. For details on service to the east on the island, keep an eye on this page.

As far as subway service goes, the peak rush hour service will run as normally scheduled, and then the MTA will start emptying out the yards to park trains underground. Expect service on the B train to end early; expect express trains to run local after around 8 p.m.; and expect for a mix of cold, snow and ice all night long. Buses will run at around 80-90 percent of schedule. (There is something to be said about the MTA curtailing service at the same time the city is urging drivers to stay off the road, but we’ll cover that in due time.)

If things change for the worse, I’ll update this post.

January 21, 2014 7 comments

Superstorm Sandy

With Montague Tube out, other trains more crowded

by Benjamin Kabak January 21, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 21, 2014

Here’s a shocker from The New York Post: In light of the ongoing R train service changes related to Sandy recovery work, other train lines between Brooklyn and Manhattan are more crowded than ever. This is, I’d say, an ON IT-style story, but on a slow news Monday, it made some headlines in Alexander Hamilton’s old newspaper.

Sarcasm aside, there are some bits and pieces of a more meaningful story in here. Let’s take a look at the story that starts out, hyperbolically, with a quote from a former NFLer:

The R train’s damaged Montague tube was shut down in August, sending displaced straphangers to alternate subway lines. Since then, C-train ridership has jumped 40 percent during morning peak periods, according to new MTA data obtained by the Riders Alliance and Straphangers Campaign. “I feel like a sardine packed in a can,” Ellis told The Post. “It’s the worst feeling in a world.”

The MTA said there were an additional 32 riders per car at the Jay Street-MetroTech station between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. from September to November of last year, as compared with the months of January to June. The extra passengers bring the C train to a near- capacity level of 98 percent, up from 70 percent. “That’s inhumane,” said Kahtrell Lewis, a 23-year-old member of the Riders Alliance, blasting the overcrowding. “You can’t move. Everyone is on top of each other.” He added that passengers at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station often have to watch two or three trains go by before they can squeeze in.

The C isn’t the only line where riders are squeezed. The A train saw a 21 percent increase between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. at Jay Street-MetroTech station. And at the nearby Borough Hall station, ridership on the 4 line is up nearly 24 percent from 59 to 73 travelers car, while the 5 train saw a 22 percent increase.

The story came to The Post from the Riders Alliance, of which I am a board member, but I’m not sure the increased crowding is the real issue here. I’ve noticed some more crowded trains on my morning commute on the 2 or 3, but the articles doesn’t touch upon the increased ridership on these lines early in the morning. I’ve also noticed these crowds before the Montague Tube underwent repairs, and it wasn’t pleasant then. That said, the C has long had excess capacity between Brooklyn and Manhattan in the morning, and as much as we don’t like to admit it, so has the 4 and 5.

As always, if any area was designed to withstand the pressures of a 14-month outage, it was this particular corridor between Kings and New York Counties. With multiple options and express and local trains serving all corridors, riders fan out across four or five subway lines, and while trains overall are more crowded, the end result isn’t that one line is overtaxed. There is also no other way to perform urgently necessary work on the Montague Tube.

But what the real story is here concerns the C train. It is terrible. It doesn’t run frequently enough; the rolling stock is decrepit; the announcements are inaudible; the stations — including Hoyt/Schermerhorn — are visually unappealing and are generally downright messes. There’s no easy fix that doesn’t involve a lot of money and a commitment the MTA doesn’t seem able to make right now, but at least more people are paying attention. When more people pay attention, good things can happen. For now, though, Sandy reroutes are going to lead to crowded trains, and the C train in particular won’t get any better. After all, it gets only 2 stars on Yelp for a reason.

January 21, 2014 33 comments

Queens Service Advisories

Big changes for the 7 on tap; weekend work affecting 11 lines

by Benjamin Kabak January 17, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 17, 2014

How about some bad news for 7 train riders on Friday evening? As part of the never-ending work to install a communications-based train control system on the Flushing Line, weekend shutdowns will resume at the end of February. Luckily for Mets fans — if Mets fans can ever be described as lucky — the work has been scheduled to coincide with away games. Any time the Mets are on the road, there’s no 7 service; any time they’re home, trains run with no problems.

According to the MTA’s announcement, the work scheduled for these weekends will also involve two other projects: replacement of track panels and reconstruction of the Steinway Tube, including Sandy recovery work. “We understand that these service disruptions are inconvenient to the customers who depend on the 7 train and we appreciate their patience,” MTA NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco said in a statement. “We have made every effort to schedule these projects simultaneously to get as much work done as we can during these periods.”

Generally, the work will be focused around segments from 74th St. – Broadway to Times Square, but sometimes work extends from Willets Point to Flushing. There will be no 7 service between Mets-Willets Point and Flushing-Main St between 11:45 p.m. Friday, February 15 and 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 18, as well as between 11:45 p.m. Friday, February 22 and 5 a.m. Monday, February 24.

The work, says the MTA, is beyond the capacity of a FASTRACK treatment, and as a carrot to those left stranded, weekend N and Q service will be increased. Here’s what 7 train riders and Long Island City residents have to look forward to:

No service between Times Square-42 St and Queensboro Plaza on these dates unless noted with asterisk:

February 28-March 3
March 7-10, 14-17, 21-24, 28-31
April 11-14
May 2-5, 16-19 (No service between Times Square-42 St and 74 St-Broadway)
May 30-June 2
June 6-8, also reduced service between 74 St-Broadway and Queensboro Plaza (Service resumes early a.m. Sunday, June 8 for Puerto Rican Day Parade)
June 20-23, 27-30, also reduced service between 74 St-Broadway and Queensboro Plaza
July 18-21, also reduced service between 74 St-Broadway and Queensboro Plaza

That’s the long-term future. Now, after the jump, let’s dive into this weekend’s changes.

January 17, 2014 10 comments

View from Underground

The people that you meet each day

by Benjamin Kabak January 16, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 16, 2014

Seat pigs (Photo by flickr user Scott Lynch)

For better or worse, I spend a lot of time observing people and their behavior in the subway. Much as Matt Flegenheimer did for his Times piece Thursday on above-ground access to cell service, I like to look for the quirks of the subway. How do we ride and behave in a public space while simply trying to get from Point A to Point B in our private lives?

By and large, New Yorkers try to keep to themselves in the subway. We have shared experiences and knowing glimpses that can pass between passengers during pregnant moments. But all it takes is one person to stick out like a sore thumb and lead to groans, eyerolls, thrown elbows or worse. On Wednesday, for instance, when I got back to Brooklyn and climbed a crowded staircase at Grand Army Plaza, I encountered a familiar and frustrating sight we all know too well.

The early 21st century is plagued by an epidemic of people who stop walking at the top of subway staircases to check their phones.

— Second Ave. Sagas (@2AvSagas) January 16, 2014

As an off-kilter post for a Friday morning, I want to run down nine other subway regulars that seem to throw a wrench into anyone’s plans for a quiet ride. This is a non-exhaustive list, and I know that fans of the group that claims my top spot are vocal. We could call these my pet peeves; we could call these my own etiquette tips. Either way, here goes.

1. ‘What time is it? Showtime!’
I spent some time talking about Showtime kids last week when we ran a poll. Right now, the anti-Showtime! factions have a 72-28 lead. There is nothing quite as disruptive and annoying as a bunch of teenagers shooing people out of the way so they can attempt to avoid kicking you in the face at 6:15 each night. Nothing can stop by anti-Showtime! crusade.

2. Seat hogs
Don’t spread your legs; don’t plop your bags down on that empty seat next to you. Courtesy is contagious, and it starts with…never mind.

3. Leaky headphones
This is almost as bad as the people who stop at the staircases to whip out their phones. Headphones these days are just so cheaply made that sound leaks all over the place. I’m glad you’re enjoying Ke$ha at 8:30 in the morning, but does everyone in a five-foot radius around you have to also? I guess this is better than the 1980s boombox phenomenon, but these days, subway cars are filled with the faint sounds of music dripping out of headphones.

4. Cell phone games…with the sound
I don’t begrudge anyone a cell phone conversation on the phone. Those are generally either easy enough to tune out or intriguing enough to eavesdrop on. But why, oh why must a grown adult — or anyone old enough to own their own phone — play a cell phone game with the sound on while riding the subway? Why? Why! Why.

5. Backpacks
On Thursday, on the way to work, I had to scoot into the 2 train as the doors closed behind me, and at first, it wasn’t too crowded. But by the time we passed Atlantic Ave., the train was packed, and I kept feeling something rub up against me. When I turned to look at the offending passenger, lo and behold, I spotted a backpack. The proper place for a backpack on any train is either held below its owner’s waist or placed on the floor between its owner’s legs. This is a matter of both anatomy and courtesy.

6. Nail clippers
Nope.

7. Food
This is another with proponents on both sides of the argument. Some people point out that New Yorkers don’t always have time to eat a proper meal. Maybe that person on the subway chowing down is in between two jobs and won’t have a break until 2 a.m. On the other hand, I read this Metropolitan Diary entry earlier this week and wondered how not one but two people thought Lo Mein was an appropriate subway food. Eat something that won’t make a mess and won’t smell if you absolutely have to eat on the train.

8. People who get up too early
Yes, you want to get out at the next stop. What a coincidence; so do I. Wait your turn. The train won’t leave with you still on it.

9. Door blockers
I have to admit that I’m guilty of this offense on a somewhat regular basis. Take, for instance, my Q train ride home. I board at 42nd St. and can stand in front of doors that won’t open again at De Kalb Ave. Not too many people get off there, and I can easily get out of the way of those getting off. Then I can move further into the car before the doors on the other side open at 7th Ave. I’m not a door-blocker per se; I like to think of that as strategic standing. But there are straphangers who stand in front of the doors, won’t move and then get upset when other passengers brush past them. Why? I have no idea.

Your turn.

January 16, 2014 57 comments

Subway History

Throwback Thursday: Canal St. ca. 1980

by Benjamin Kabak January 16, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 16, 2014

I recently found myself exploring the voluminous image archives the Museum of the City of New York has made publicly available via their Collections website, and wow, is that a great way to get lost on the Internet for good chunk of time. They have, unsurprisingly, a good number of images showing subway construction and subway history, and I’m going to showcase some of my favorites in the coming weeks.

The week’s entry is a glimpse inside the Canal St. station from around 1980. I love the old signage with the QB and RR trains, the Jennifer Convertibles add and the general sense of decay that pervades the station. A similar photo from this set shows signage from the time when both of the BMT Nassau St. platforms were in service. The western most set of tracks is now no longer in use but remains visible from today’s J/M/Z platform. The garbage can in front of the sign in that one is a nice touch.

January 16, 2014 5 comments

LIRR UTU

On Long Island, slowly inching toward a strike

by Benjamin Kabak January 16, 2014

written by Benjamin Kabak on January 16, 2014

It’s been a few weeks since Presidential Emergency Board recommended a series of wage increases for the Long Island Rail Road’s United Transportation Union workers, and the MTA has come back with a resounding response to the non-binding suggestions. Setting the stage for a summer of labor unrest, the MTA will not grant the raises to UTU Local 645.

For the MTA, this is a risky, if necessary, move to keep the budget and the dream of net-zeroes in tact. It should lead to a permissible strike, and the MTA is gambling that Long Islanders will allow their support of getting to work quickly and easily trump their support of labor unions. It could also foreshadow how the MTA plans to address the TWU’s ongoing contractual situation.

Pete Donohue offers up this take in today’s Daily News:

MTA Labor Relations Director Anita Miller notified the National Mediation Board that the authority would not enact a contract settlement for the commuter railroad that was crafted by an independent panel. The move prompted an angry response from a top union leader representing LIRR workers, who have labored without a contract since 2010. “If a strike occurs, it’s the sole responsibility of the MTA for being unwilling to accept the results,” said Anthony Simon, general chairman of the United Transportation Union. “It’s not a matter of them being unable to pay. It’s a matter of them not wanting to pay.”

Simon’s union is one of eight representing LIRR workers that are involved in the labor showdown with MTA brass. The MTA, meanwhile, all but accused the unions of being indifferent to the possibility that the raises sought would necessarily result in fares being increased to levels higher than that which the authority has already planned.

Federal law says commuter railroad workers can legally walk off the job if a contract deal is not reached after a lengthy process involving negotiations, mediation and mandatory “cooling off” periods. That process is expected to be played out by this summer.

As Donohue details, the MTA’s beef with the PEB decision is as much over what it doesn’t contain as it is over what it does contain. While it required higher union contributions to benefits, it did not include work rule reform which the MTA has repeatedly said is key to its net-zero plans and is also key to future improvements in its operating model.

Meanwhile, in rejecting the raises, the MTA also played to the fears of its riders. Miller told the feds that union officials have no issues with the LIRR passengers paying significantly more for service. One union rep reportedly told the PEB, “The passengers have had a good run at the MTA, and it is about time the fares went up.” Fares have not always tracked inflation.

The path to a strike is a slow one with mandatory cooling periods and enforced negotiations on tap first, but the MTA seems to recognize that a strike may be the only way for it to get what it wants. You can be sure, too, that the TWU is watching as well. They don’t have the right to strike under New York State law, but they’ll push for whatever favorable outcome the UTU can draw out from the MTA. That contract is worth far more in current dollars and future savings, and right now, the UTU fight is a proxy for the larger war with riders and fares serving as the battlegrounds.

January 16, 2014 32 comments

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