PANYNJ

How much for a PATH extension to the Airport?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 27, 2013

So little for so much: A possible route for the PATH’s pricey extension to the airport.

The slow lumbering ball that is the PATH train extension to Newark airport took another turn forward this week amidst some wheeling and dealing concerning Atlantic City. The stories and rationale are vague, and the extension’s future remains murky. But no matter the outcome, various reported cost estimates that have risen precipitously over the past 14 months should have even the project’s proponents eying it with some skepticism.

The story as we know so far involves trade-offs. According to a September report, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been dangling the PATH extension in front of United in exchange for the airline providing service to the struggling Atlantic City airport. On the record, Christie officials and United executives have not confirmed the report, but the denials haven’t been particularly rigorous.

Last week, United seemingly caved. As Ted Mann reported in The Journal, United will run flights from Houston and Chicago to Atlantic City. And how does that relate to PATH? Mann offered up a bit more:

An authority official said Thursday that Mr. Christie’s representatives within the authority have been “absolutely insistent” that hundreds of millions of dollars be included in the next capital plan to begin work on the PATH project. The full project could cost from $2 billion to $4 billion, the official said, and some within the authority question the use of the funds on a connection to the Newark airport. The capital plan isn’t expected to be released before the end of the year.

A United spokesman said the airline received no incentives to provide the Atlantic City service, though he didn’t rule out applying for any existing incentive programs provided by the airport. “Any discussions about the PATH train are irrelevant to the Atlantic City service,” spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said…

Some aviation experts are skeptical that United would risk a potential money-losing service expansion without assurances elsewhere, such as the potential for a one-seat ride from Lower Manhattan to Newark that a PATH extension would bring. “It’s hard to know whether it’s a virtual carrot or a real carrot,” Robert Mann, an aviation consultant, said of the New Jersey push to fund the PATH extension. “It would be of very great interest to United.”

It’s going to be some time before the future of the PATH extension comes into view, and there’s certainly a case to be made for a more direct connection between Lower Manhattan and any of the area’s airports. But let’s look at costs. When word first leaked of Port Authority’s intentions to study the extension, the bi-state agency estimated $600 million in design and construction costs. A year later, Crain’s New York spoke of the PATH hub as a $1 billion project. For an at-grade extension over existing right-of-way, the costs seem palatable for a New York rail project.

Now, though, Mann’s report estimates costs of $2-$4 billion, and the price tag raises questions and eyebrows. Under no circumstance should a PATH extension from Newark Penn Station to Newark Liberty International Airport cost anything close to billions. Even if PATH offered a one-seat ride to the terminals — effectively swallowing the Newark AirTrain — costs shouldn’t run this high. At some point, we’ll find out more, but as details emerge, this is shaping up to be another Port Authority project with a questionable origin and runaway costs. That’s some pattern emerging.

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Congestion Fee

Can a traffic pricing plan make a return?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 26, 2013

MoveNYC

Once of Mayor Bloomberg’s defining moments in the middle of his second term was to be a traffic pricing plan. Designed to raise revenues for the MTA whiling reducing congestion across the city’s East River Bridges, Bloomberg proposed a daily fee for automobiles entering Manhattan south of 59th St. with revenues set to bolster rail and bus service. The congestion pricing plan was controversial but had garnered the support of a majority of New Yorkers so long as the money went to transit. What happened next was Albany at its finest.

Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan passed the City Council, and the measure went to Albany for a home rule request. Usually, Albany is generous in granting these measures, but this time, Sheldon Silver had other plans. The powerful Assembly speaker and Lower Manhattan rep let the bill die in committee. It never even came up for a vote, and at that point, Bloomberg’s 2030 plan lost a major source of revenue. Albany, coincidentally, lost a major ally too as New York’s mayor, never one to embrace the upstate capital, seemed largely at odds with New York’s state leadership after the vote.

For years, a congestion pricing plan has hovered around the edges of New York City politics. The idea itself hasn’t completely died, but support for a pricing scheme hasn’t rematerialized. Over the years, Sam Schwartz has continued to refine the idea into a fair tolling scheme, and he and I spoke on it at my Problem Solvers event last October. Now, with a new mayor — albeit one who hasn’t embraced a congestion pricing or East River bridge toll plan — and the MTA’s five-year needs coming into view, time may be right for another attempt.

That, at least, is what Matt Flegenheimer argues in The Times today. Here’s his story:

First, the name had to go. There could be no more talk, transit advocates reasoned, of “congestion pricing,” a phrase Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg often used before his sweeping plan to overhaul New York City’s bridge tolling system was vanquished in 2008, and treated as political arsenic ever since. Then, with a clean slate, supporters could move on to the hard part: sculpting a proposal that might succeed where the mayor failed.

And so, more than five years after Mr. Bloomberg’s plan died in Albany, a cadre of the city’s transit minds has primed a successor, fine-tuning a pricing model that might be more palatable to residents outside Manhattan, meeting quietly with former opponents and preparing to take its case early next year to a public that has grown accustomed to free, if traffic-choked, rides over the East River.

Political obstacles abound, including securing the support of the State Legislature. But in what the plan’s supporters have billed as the most significant change of heart so far, Councilman Mark Weprin, an outspoken critic of the old proposal, said in an interview last week that he was receptive to this reimagined version. “I’d like to have a chance to talk to them again,” he said of his constituents, “and say this makes a lot more sense.” (Mr. Weprin, a Queens Democrat, is running for City Council speaker.)

The latest version of Schwartz’s plan is available in a presentation on his website (pdf), and it essentially involves a series of trade-offs. The Verrazano Bridge toll would be lowered while the free East River crossings would come with a charge. Direct routes through and into Manhattan would all carry the same charge so that traffic would find the most efficient route and not the cheapest while transit would enjoy added revenue.

It’s a much more rigorous plan than that put forth by Mayor Bloomberg, but absent some serious political pressure it won’t happen. The first obstacle is the MTA. The agency won’t advocate for this plan on its own, and any proposal that involves reducing Verrazano tolls means that the MTA’s own revenue streams would be reduced. Unless the city bridges are all turned over to the MTA, lowering MTA tolls is risky, and I’ve received indications that MTA doesn’t particularly want control over all the bridges and all the attendant headaches that came along with it.

Next up is the idea that change emerges out of a crisis. Right now, reports indicated that the MTA’s finances are stronger than expected and that the agency is enjoying unexpected surpluses. We know how fragile the budget is, and we know that the MTA needs to fund a $28 billion five-year capital plan. But the average voter may not recognize as much. Levying more fees on people who think New York is already too pricey won’t go over well in bad economic times; it certainly won’t be smiled upon in good times.

Finally, there are the Usual Suspects. Take, for instances, Richard Brodsky. The one-time Westchester rep is still leading the charge against congestion pricing, and he still doesn’t understand who drives into Manhattan on a daily basis. “It will modify the behavior of the guy driving the ’97 Chevy,” he said to The Times, “but will do nothing to modify the behavior of the guy driving the 2013 Mercedes.” Brodsky has yet to realize, five years later, that the guy with that ’97 can’t afford to drive into Manhattan anyway.

I want Schwartz’s plan to succeed. I want to see an equitable pricing scheme that reduces traffic into Manhattan and along the arteries that serve the island at the center of the city. I want Lee Sander’s comments to The Times — “If people oppose this, there is an obligation for them to come up with their alternative for how we fund the region’s subways, commuter rail and bus system” — to come true. But I’m not sure the political will is there quite yet. Someone high up will have to be a champion.

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AsidesQueens

Goldfeder: Queens College to study Rockaway Beach Branch reactivation

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 25, 2013

As the Friends of the QueensWay continue their taxpayer-supported push to develop a greenway on the fallow Rockaway Beach Branch right-of-way, Phil Goldfeder, Assembly representative from New York’s 23rd district, announced a competing study to be undertaken by Queens College urban studies students that will ascertain the best uses for the right-of-way. Goldfeder, a supporter of rail, has called this effort a “comprehensive and objective” one that will “assess the community impact of the proposed options for the abandoned tracks,” as compared with the park-only assessment underway by the Trust for Public Land.

In announcing the study, Goldfeder noted the disparity in focus. On Twitter, he said that the QueensWay team is wasting “tax money on expensive consultants” while the Queens College will “utilize local experts” and “undertake real objective study.” This new examination of the right of way is expected to take nine months, and it will include a full needs assessment as well as a cost analysis of the various options. Additionally, Congressmen Gregory Meeks (NY-5) and Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) continue to work with Goldfeder as well to ascertain if Sandy recovery money can be used for reactivated rail service.

In a subsequent press release, the Assembly rep added, “The Queens College Department of Urban Studies’ Office of Community Studies is renowned for its community-based research. It is the perfect partner to help determine what is in the best interest of Queens and city residents. Now that the MTA has signaled an interest in reactivating the Rockaway Beach Rail Line as an efficient and cost-effective way to significantly increase public transit for Queens residents, it’s important we do appropriate studies to determine the next steps. While other groups are using tax dollars to hire expensive consultants and do one-sided studies, we’re utilizing local expert resources and educating our students while supporting an objective study that will enormously benefit all our hardworking Queens families.”

The details are still coming out, but for those of us very hesitant to embrace a QueensWay solution that would essentially cut off the rail option forever, this is a best-case scenario. A third party will assess the various proposed uses and develop cost estimates for each case. We’ll find out what rail reactivation would take, what usage a park would get, and what doing nothing would mean for Queens. Clawing back part of this process from the Trust for Public Land is a very good step indeed.

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International Subways

Dispatches from the UK: 24-hour weekend Tube service

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 25, 2013

A glimpse at the London Tube’s night map for Zone 1 service.

Every now and then, I like to check in on how some of the other global subway systems are faring. Today, we have some interesting news out of the United Kingdom where Boris Johnson and Transport for London have ushered in a move long necessary.

As far as mad rushes go, it’s quite a sight to stand in Trafalgar Square a little before 12:30 a.m. on a Friday night as Londoners and tourists alike stream through the fare gates in an effort to catch the last Tube train home. TfL makes its operating hours very well known, and as that last train time inches closer, walks become jogs, jogs become sprints. That is one train no one wants to miss.

Because the Tubes don’t run for five hours every night, London is a relatively early town. The night owl bus service is far superior to most cities’ bustitution plans — Boston, I’m looking at you — but restaurants and bars close up shop far earlier there than here. It’s always been a sore subject for Londoners, but change is a-comin’.

Last week, London mayor Boris Johnson announced that, starting in 2015, some Tube trains will operate overnight during the weekends. It is a major sea change for London. Katrin Bennhold has a report for The Times:

The London Underground is facing one of the most drastic overhauls in its 150-year history. Starting in 2015, its trains will start running throughout the night, and most of its ticket offices will be replaced by upgraded machines or turnstiles that accept contactless bank cards as part of a plan meant to bring the world’s oldest subway system “into the 21st century.”

The announcement on Thursday brought mixed reactions. In a capital that prides itself on its theater scene and night life, the prospect of 24-hour train service has been one of the most popular campaign pledges of Mayor Boris Johnson. But at a time of sluggish economic growth, declining real wages and austerity policies, the planned closing of ticket offices, which will cost about 750 Underground workers their jobs, has angered transport unions. Some warned that it could prompt the first major strikes in four years…

The 24-hour service will start in 2015 on five lines during Friday and Saturday nights and is expected to eventually be extended to other lines and nights of the week. Among the pilot lines are the Piccadilly, the Victoria, the Central, the Jubilee and important sections of the Northern. Ticketing and the current system of payment cards, known as Oyster cards, will start to be phased out next year, when the Underground will encourage passengers to move to a system of direct payments by using bank debit cards. Already, ticket offices sell less than 3 percent of the tickets used for the system, down from 10 percent 10 years ago, Transport for London said.

This is a small story, but there’s a lot going on here. Besides the welcome news that Tube service will run throughout the weekend on some of the busier lines, that London is phasing out the Oyster card before New York even adopts a contactless payment system is intriguing. London is looking to a bank card-based system just as New York is. Hopefully, the two transit systems are keeping each other appraised of their moves and the payment standards.

So London gets its 24-hour subway, finally, in 2015, and the Oyster Card will go the way of the token. Our MetroCards will be around through the end of this decade, but at least we’ve had overnight train service since the beginning.

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Service Advisories

Weekend work affecting 15 subway lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 22, 2013

It’s been a busy week for me, and posting was a little on the lighter side this week. I’ll do what I can over the next few weeks, but end-of-year work has me focusing elsewhere. As always, if you’d like to contribute to Second Ave. Sagas, feel free to drop me a line, and we’ll talk.

Here’s this weekend’s slate of work.


From 3:30 a.m. Saturday, November 23 to 10 p.m. Sunday, November 24, there are no 4 trains between Woodlawn and 161st Street-Yankee Stadium due to track panel installation at Burnside Avenue. Customers may take the D train and free shuttle buses instead.

  • 4 service operates between Utica Avenue/New Lots Avenue and 161st Street-Yankee Stadium.
  • Transfer between 4 and D trains at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium.
  • For service to and from 167th Street, 170th Street, Mt. Eden Avenue, 176th Street, Burnside Avenue, 183rd Street, Fordham Road and Kingsbridge Road, use nearby D stations instead. Walk or take a crosstown bus between 4 and D stations.

Take free shuttle buses to and from Bedford Park Blvd, Mosholu Parkway and Woodlawn. Free shuttle buses connect with Bedford Park Blvd D station.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, downtown 5 trains run express from Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street due to preliminary work for platform construction and signal modernization at Eastchester-Dyre Avenue. Note: Trains run every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 4 a.m. Monday, November 25, Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains run express from Parkchester to Pelham Bay Park due to station work and platform demolition work at Castle Hill Avenue and Middletown Road stations.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, there is no 7 train service between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to CBTC work south of Queensboro Plaza.

  • Customers should use E, F, N, and Q service between Manhattan and Queens.
  • Free shuttle buses make all stops between Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue and Queensboro Plaza.
  • In Manhattan, the 42nd Street S shuttle operates overnight.
  • Q service is extended to Ditmars Boulevard from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.


From 5:30 a.m. Saturday, November 23 to 10 p.m. Sunday, November 24, there is no A train service between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue due to track panel work at Lefferts Blvd. and Rockaway Blvd. and track tie renewal and maintenance at Grant Avenue. A trains operate between Inwood-207th Street and Howard Beach-JFK Airport or Lefferts Blvd. Rockaway Park shuttle operates between Rockaway Park and Far Rockaway. Free shuttle buses operate in two segments:

  1. Non-stop between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and Far Rockaway via the Nassau Expressway.
  2. Between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and Rockaway Parkway, stopping at Broad Channel.

Customers may transfer between trains and free shuttle buses at Howard Beach-JFK Airport, Far Rockaway or Rockaway Park.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Brooklyn-bound A trains run express from 168th Street to 125th Street due to track tie renewal south of 168th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, November 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from125th Street to 59th Street-Columbus Circle due to track tie renewal north of 59th Street-Columbus Circle.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Brooklyn-bound A trains run express from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to Canal Street due to track tie renewal north of 59th Street-Columbus Circle.


From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24, Brooklyn-bound C trains run express from 168th Street to 125th Street due to track tie renewal south of 168th Street.


From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24, Euclid Avenue-bound C trains run express from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to Canal Street due to track tie renewal north of 59th Street-Columbus Circle.


From 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24, there is no D service between Stillwell Avenue and Bay Parkway and no N service between Stillwell Avenue and 86th Street due to FASTRACK shutdown for maintenance, testing and inspection of signal equipment. Customers may take F or Q trains and the B1, B4, B64 and B82 buses instead.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, November 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Coney Island-bound D trains run local from 145th Street to 59th Street-Columbus Circle due to track tie renewal north of 59th Street-Columbus Circle.


From 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, November 23, the last stop for some trains headed toward Coney Island is Bay Parkway due to FASTRACK shutdown. Customers may transfer at Bay Parkway to a Coney Island-bound D train to continue their trip.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, there are no E trains between Jamaica Center and Van Wyck Blvd due to track maintenance between Jamaica-Van Wyck and Sutphin Blvd-Archer Avenue. E service operates between World Trade Center and Van Wyck Blvd and via the F line to and from 179th Street F station. Free shuttle buses operate between Jamaica Center and Union Turnpike, stopping at Sutphin Blvd-Archer Avenue, Jamaica-Van Wyck and Van Wyck Blvd.


From 11:15 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Coney Island-bound F trains are rerouted via the M Line from Roosevelt Avenue to 47th-50th Sts due to station work at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street for the Second Avenue Subway Project.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Queens-bound F trains run express from Church Avenue to Smith-9th Sts due to work on the Church Avenue Interlocking.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, Queens-bound G trains run express from Church Avenue to Smith-9th Sts due to work on the Church Avenue Interlocking.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, November 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, November 25, M service is suspended due to station renewal work at Fresh Pond Road, Forest, Seneca, Knickerbocker and Central Avenues. Free shuttle buses operate between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue, making all station stops.


From 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, November 23 and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, November 24, Q service is extended to Ditmars Blvd due to 7 suspension between Manhattan and Queens.

(42nd Street Shuttle)
From 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m., Saturday, November 23, Sunday, November 24 and Monday, November 25, 42nd Street shuttle operates through the night due to 7 suspension between Manhattan and Queens.

Rockaway Park Shuttle)
From 5:30 a.m. Saturday, November 23 to 10 p.m., Sunday, November 24, there are no Rockaway Park shuttle trains between Broad Channel and Beach 90th Street. (See A entry.)

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AsidesSecond Avenue Subway

MTA: All SAS Phase 1 blasting now complete

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 22, 2013

The Second Ave. Subway took another step toward completion today — and Upper East Side residents will now get something of a reprieve — as the agency announced that all blasting for Phase 1 construction is complete. The controlled explosions began in November of 2009, and the final blast, for a future escalator at the north side of 86th St., took place at 5:21 p.m. this past Monday. “This is a significant milestone, and one which I am sure will be welcomed by all of our Second Avenue community neighbors,” Michael Horodniceanu, President of MTA Capital Construction, said.

Additionally, the heave construction for the 96th Street station cavern wrapped earlier this month. The $365 million contract award to a joint venture of E.E. Cruz and Company and Tully Construction Company Joint Venture is the third of ten to finish for the long-delayed subway line. This contract involved utility relocation, demolition of existing buildings, underpinning, slurry wall construction, station excavation, and concrete placement of the station invert slab of the main station, entrances, and ancillary facilities. Crews relocated approximately 82,000 linear feet of Con Ed cables and 4500 feet of Verizon cables and removed 440,000 tons of soil, rock and concrete debris.

The MTA says that completion of Phase 1 is still on pace for December of 2016. So we have now just three more years to go before the Second Ave. Subway becomes, in part, a reality.

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View from Underground

From South Ferry, some thoughts on station aesthetics

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 22, 2013

I had to run a few errands in Lower Manhattan yesterday and found myself with just enough time to kill to check out the South Ferry station. The new two-track terminal on the 1 train — lost to Sandy — are walled off to the world as some sort of recovery effort continues, but the old station and the loop are back. It’s the closet we can get in New York to taking a ride back in time.

Of course, it hardly seems like it was that long ago that we had to ride the South Ferry loop, and that’s because it wasn’t. The one-track loop with its old gap-extenders and in which only the first five cars of every train can fit was decommissioned in 2009 only to be recommissioned in 2013 when the $600 million station was lost in the flood. The old station survived relatively unscathed because it’s not as far underground as the new station and because much of the sensitive infrastructure had been removed.

As I walked the curve, I was struck by the station design. On the one hand, it’s not a particularly memorable station aesthetically. As it was out of service for four years and hastily returned to use, the platforms are looking a little shoddy, and the platform extender barriers have always had a makeshift quality about them. But look up and you’ll see mosaics — like the one atop this post — that may make you smile. The old South Ferry ships line the small, curved platform, and they add character.

Throughout the subway system, these mosaics pop up with some regularity. They were a hallmark of the early IRT stations and can still be seen at Chambers St. and Astor Place, among others. They’re far more intriguing than the IND’s station tiling scheme and put the newer stations to shame. In fact, I couldn’t help but compare the old South Ferry to the new.

When the South Ferry terminal opened and I had a chance to tour it, I was struck by how sterile it appeared. The walls were infinitely white with no unique signifiers, and while the station features some of my favorite Arts of Transit installations, those hardly redeem the platforms.

This design — white on white on white — will be the norm for the foreseeable future. When the 7 line extension opens in six or seven months, the station will look quite similar to the South Ferry stop, and renderings of the Second Ave. Subway show a similar design. Anything noteworthy or specific to that particular station won’t be a part of the design.

As much as I scoff at faux-nostalgia surrounding New York’s good old days, the early teams that built the IRT had a much more aesthetically pleasing environment for the subways than the one we enjoy today. They wanted to tie each subway stop into its community and not just present something monolithically dirty. Interestingly, though, the IRT came of age when construction costs weren’t astronomical and design could be entertained. Today, costs are so high to preclude creativity, and stations will all resemble one another. Where did we go wrong?

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New York City Transit

The day nearly six million people rode the subways

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 20, 2013

Due to a variety of circumstances yesterday, I had the opportunity to take five subway rides at various hours of the day. My peak-hour trains were packed to the gills, but I also rode an uptown A train in the early afternoon and another uptown E train 90 minutes later that were both tight on space. Everyone, it seemed, was on the subway.

Yet, November 20 paled in comparison with October 24, for that day, according to The Times, was the busiest since the MTA started keeping records in 1985. As Matt Flegenheimer reports, the MTA has determined that 5,985,311 people used the subway that day, a record high in MTA history. It was a perfect storm for record high ridership:

The feat was consistent with a pair of little-publicized trends: Ridership tends to peak on Thursdays, transit officials said, and the last two Octobers are responsible for the five busiest subway days on record — three Thursdays and two Fridays. Before the new high, the record was 5,938,726, set on Oct. 11, 2012.

“October is a month where you have school in session for a majority of the days,” said Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the authority, adding that Columbus Day was the only major holiday. “It’s also a month when a vast majority of the working public is at work.”

Thursdays, meanwhile, combine the high peak-period ridership of a midweek morning with an after-work slate of happy hours and late nights out, Mr. Ortiz said. Ridership on Thursdays in 2012 was 2.4 percent higher than the average weekday figure, the authority said. Wednesday was second busiest, Tuesday was third, and Friday — when high late-night numbers are often offset by sleepier rush hours — outpaced only Monday, the typical coda to a long weekend.

If the subways seem crowded, I’ve often said, that’s because they are. It’s hard to read too much into this trend other than as a clear indication that people are using mass transit, but it’s also easy to draw a lesson from increasing ridership. Investment in transit continues to be an important piece of the New York City puzzle. The MTA’s next five-year capital plan is going to be a huge ask, and it needs to come through.

Meanwhile, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is taking the reins of a city where, on one weekday shortly before Election Day, subway ridership was nearly three-quarters of the entire population of the city. That’s one very large constituency that deserves more than it’s getting.

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MetroCard

With the $1 fee, an expected decline in fare media liability

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 20, 2013

I have, I must confess, a problem. I can’t throw out MetroCards any longer. I receive my 30-day card through a WageWorks, and I don’t pay the $1 surcharge each month. Still, at the end of the month, I can’t bring myself to throw out the empty card; it’s like flushing a dollar down the toilet each month.

The MTA’s $1 surcharge is something of a new creation. Discussed for years, it arrived in February with some fanfare. Initial coverage indicated that the MTA had made more money than expected as New Yorkers grew accustomed to reusing their empty MetroCards, and litter around turnstiles seemed to vanish as well. By August, the MTA estimated that the total impact on its bottom line would be a net gain of a hair under $20 million as the total from fare media liability — the industry term for unused but prepaid MetroCard balances declined.

So how’s it doing? Based on the numbers available, everything seems to be on target, but that’s not, surprisingly, the gist of this post from the IBO. Doug Turetsky of the city’s Independent Budget Office offers up his take on the perception of a decline in fare media liability and the overall impact of the $1 surcharge. He writes:

Last year, the jar was pretty full since it held more than $95 million—an unusually large amount that resulted from transit riders stocking up on MetroCards prior to the December 2010 fare increase and then some of those cards expiring with funds left unused…But the jar may not be nearly as full in the future. The reason is that in March New York City Transit started to charge riders $1 every time they bought a new card rather than refill the one they already had (at least until that card expires and you can then get a free replacement). The transit agency expects fare media liability will drop to the more typical amount of about $52 million this year and, with a full year of the replacement fee in place, fall to $41 million in 2014.

…as the transit agency’s financial plan anticipates, there will still be a stash of unspent change on expired MetroCards. Some of that will come from tourists and other short-term or occasional riders who buy a card and wind up not using all of the money placed on it.

Many everyday riders also will contribute to the ongoing accumulation of fare media liability. The transit agency’s method of providing discounts ensures this…Many cards are likely to be lost or forgotten before the 5 percent bonus adds up to a ride or they will expire with an odd amount left on them. Although the transit agency gives riders two years to replace an expired card and have the funds on it transferred to a new one, many old cards are also likely to slip away with unused value.

These findings from the IBO aren’t a surprise. Since unveiling the so-called green fee in 2011, the agency has made clear that fare media liability would be likely to decline by around 20 percent while the fees and savings in MetroCard production costs would more than off-set the revenue loss. Whether it’s more honest to balance the books on a $1 surcharge or the expectation of unspent MetroCard swipes is a question I’ll leave up to you.

Meanwhile, I have 11 MetroCards accumulating all over the place. I’ve used one or two of them as pay-per-ride spares to be broken out in the event of an emergency, but otherwise, I guess I’ll sit on them until the expiration date on the back. Eventually, the MetroCard with its artificial expiration date and prickly magnetic strip will be a thing of the past, but for now, that $1 fee seems to be doing exactly what it was intended to do.

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BrooklynBuses

What we celebrate when we celebrate Select Bus Service

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on November 18, 2013

The B44 SBS makes one of its early runs along Nostrand Ave. (Photo: MTA / Patrick Cashin)

Monday was a momentous day for one corridor in Brooklyn. After years and years of planning, the B44 finally has some upgrades to make a Select Bus Service. This isn’t bus rapid transit for a variety of reasons, but it’s faster service than a local bus. For that, the politicians were out en masse for some back-slapping and ribbon-cutting.

It makes sense, of course, for Mayor Bloomberg to show up for another streetscape initiative. He only has a few more weeks of ceremonies to attend, and the 7 line, his signature transit initiative, won’t be in revenue service before he departs for Bermuda from City Hall. The city says travel will improve by 20 percent along the 9.3-mile route, and everyone else is thrilled.

Thomas Prendergast, MTA head, called it “a game-changer” for riders of one of Brooklyn’s more popular bus lines, and the Mayor spoke effusively as well. “Improved bus service in all five boroughs has been one of our principal goals under PlaNYC and thanks to our partnership with the MTA, we have increased ridership and improved travel times along our Select Bus Service routes,” Bloomberg said said. “We’ve had great success with Select Bus Service in other boroughs and Brooklyn’s first route will bring a new and necessary mass transit option to more New Yorkers.”

Janette Sadik-Khan had an even more myopic take. “With six routes launched in just six years, SBS has delivered low-cost transit options to underserved parts of the city faster than any transit project in generations,” the DOT Commissioner said. The emphasis was mine. Imagine that! Six whole bus routes in six years.

I’m not going to pass judgment on the B44 SBS route yet. I’m a supporter of better bus service, and I believe that bus service in New York is criminally overlooked. Buses stop every two blocks and inch through traffic at the speed of a snail. They don’t run frequently or on schedule, and they carry with them the burden of low expectations that they cannot even fulfill. I’ve heard some very early criticisms of the B44 route focusing around station spacing and subpar local service, but it’s been a day or two. We’ll revisit that when the time comes.

Instead, I’d like to look at what it is our politicians are so proud of. Why is there a ribbon-cutting for a nine-mile strip of colored pavement? The mayor’s own press release couldn’t name much more beyond bus bulbs, pre-board fare payment and improved customer information boards along the route. The MTA’s release mentioned signal prioritization, a long-planned benefit, but the lanes are physically separated. We’re patting ourselves on the back for just the sixth iteration of a glorified express bus service since 2007, and that’s what counts for transit innovation these days.

Nearly all of these improvements should, for the most part, be implemented in the course of normal MTA operation procedures throughout the city on any major bus route. Pre-board fare payment is the number one driver behind speeding up the buses. Just imagine how much faster the M86 would be if the Lexington Ave. crowds had to pay before boarding the bus. But here we are at the end of the Bloomberg administration, and a bunch of on-street MetroCards are the most exciting initiative DOT could find. Never mind the fact that it takes four years and countless consultations with community members who want nothing to do with street redesigns to get just one route off the ground.

I understand why the ribbon-cutting may be symbolically necessary in that it shows the community these changes are worthy and worth celebrating. It also allows politicians to get out there to discuss changes. But our sights are aimed too low. The city gave up on 34th St.; they gave up, temporarily, on 125th St. Now, leaders want kudos from incremental improvements. Pardon me for not being too impressed.

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