Transit

Photo courtesy of Roman Kruglov on Flickr

September 25, 2017

MTA to provide more honest stats about subway service with new digital dashboard

While your train will probably still be delayed and overcrowded, the reasons behind your slow commute may soon become clearer. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority managers will present statistics to the agency's board on Monday that reflect the rider’s experience, rather than MTA staff. As the Daily News reported, the MTA will unveil a digital dashboard that informs strap-hangers how much longer than usual they will wait for a train and how many minutes are spent on delayed trains. Plus, the new service will provide a tally of major incidents.
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September 21, 2017

Eight months after opening, Second Avenue Subway still doesn’t have its safety certificate

By Dana Schulz

When the Second Avenue Subway opened this past New Year's Day, it was nothing short of a miracle. Not only had the $4 billion infrastructure project been 100 years in the making but in the months leading up to its deadline, there was much talk about delays related to the system’s “rigorous testing schedule" not being met. As it turns out, the testing wasn't met; the Times tells us that when the train opened on January 1st, "the fire alarm system was still being tested and more than 17,000 defects found during inspections had not been fixed." And eight months later, the train is still operating under a temporary safety certificate.
Get all the details

John Catsimatidis wants his Coney Island development to have its own street car

A rendering of Ocean Dreams from January via Dattner Architects

September 11, 2017

John Catsimatidis wants his Coney Island development to have its own street car

By Devin Gannon

As part of his “Ocean Dreams” development in Coney Island, billionaire real estate mogul John Catsimatidis plans to build a streetcar that would link the mixed-use project to the Stillwell Avenue subway station in Coney Island. Developed by Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group, the project at 3514 Surf Avenue includes three buildings between West 36th and West 37th Streets that will feature retail space, 440 market-rate apartments and a 254-car garage. As the Coney Island News first reported, Catsimatidis said the streetcar would be available to everyone, not just residents of his development.
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Trump appears receptive to funding multi-billion Gateway tunnel project

The path for a future Hudson River tunnel is being preserved at Hudson Yards, photo via Amtrak

September 8, 2017

Trump appears receptive to funding multi-billion Gateway tunnel project

By Devin Gannon

Even though the U.S. Department of Transportation withdrew in July from the board that oversees the Gateway Program, President Trump is keeping an open-mind about the nearly $30 billion project that would add a second rail beneath the Hudson River. According to the Daily News, during a meeting at the White House between New York and New Jersey elected officials and the Trump administration, the president showed interest in the project and appeared to support having the federal government pay for half of the cost. The new train tunnel under the Hudson would provide a critical link between NJ and Penn Station.
More this way

Governor Cuomo’s new ‘Keep It Clean’ initiative doubles the fine for subway littering

Photo via Office of the Governor

September 7, 2017

Governor Cuomo’s new ‘Keep It Clean’ initiative doubles the fine for subway littering

By Dana Schulz

A week from today, those who litter in the subway system will face a $100 penalty, double the current $50. The increased fine is part of Governor Cuomo's newly announced "Keep It Clean" initiative, which will discourage subway littering through a new public awareness campaign. Each year, 700 fire-related track incidents are caused by littering. And in just the past six months, incidents related to standing water conditions (litter hinders the MTA's ability to pump out millions of gallons of water daily) increased by 56 percent.
Learn more and watch the MTA's new PSA

September 5, 2017

EVENT: Explore the art and architecture of the Second Avenue Subway with a 6sqft editor

By 6sqft

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Second Avenue Subway's long-awaited opening, it's the perfect time to step back and marvel at the $4 billion infrastructure project. Join 6sqft senior editor Dana Schulz for a tour with the Municipal Art Society about the history, art, and architecture of the Second Avenue Subway. Taking place on Saturday, September 16th, the two-hour event will explore why it took nearly 100 years for the train's wheels to get rolling, how it was designed, and what engineering feats set it apart. Guests will also view the impressive collection of public art from Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz, and Jean Shin, learning about these contemporary artists and the significance of their work.
All the event details right this way

Not-so-hellish repairs at Penn Station finish ahead of schedule

Amtrak workers setting concrete on track 10 at Penn Station, image via Amtrak

September 1, 2017

Not-so-hellish repairs at Penn Station finish ahead of schedule

By Devin Gannon

Amtrak announced on Thursday that the eight weeks of infrastructure repairs at Penn Station predicted to be the “summer of hell” by Governor Cuomo, have officially ended ahead of the scheduled Monday deadline (h/t WNYC). Following a series of train derailments and system failures, Amtrak began repairing and replacing tracks in July. Over 360 workers installed six football fields worth of track and 176 yards of concrete this summer, according to Amtrak. While regular transit operations at Penn Station will resume Sept. 5, more repair work will continue through June 2018, with most of the work taking place on the weekends.
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Transit

Citi Bike considers adding dockless bicycles to their fleet

Image via Citi Bike

August 30, 2017

Citi Bike considers adding dockless bicycles to their fleet

By Diane Pham

Just a couple weeks ago, San Francisco-based bike-share Spin announced plans to bring 300 dockless bikes to NYC. However, the day before the operator was set to drop off its convoy, the Department of Transportation slapped the company with a cease and desist letter. Although Spin's dockless entrance into NYC's market has been thwarted, Citi Bike appears to be stepping up in its place. The Post reports that Citi Bike is now exploring how they can incorporate dockless vehicles into their system. As it stands, the blue bike network includes about 10,000 bicycles across Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, all of which must be returned to designated stations following use.
more here

Transit

Photo courtesy of Roman Kruglov’s Flickr

August 30, 2017

City workers missed over 17,000 hours of work due to subway delays this year

By Devin Gannon

New Yorkers employed by the city have missed 17,143 hours of work because of transit delays and malfunctions, according to the Daily News. A new analysis by the Independent Budget Office (IBO), shows that city workers are on track to miss nearly 26,000 hours of work for the entire year, an increase of almost 30 percent from previous years. The report found the incident that caused the most city workers to be late happened in January when city workers lost a total of 1,075 hours after water spilled onto the tracks at West 4th Street-Washington Square station.
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New Queens-to-Manhattan NYC Ferry route launches today

By Devin Gannon

The Astoria route of the NYC Ferry officially launched today, the fourth route introduced by the city this year. The service stops in Astoria, Roosevelt Island, Long Island City, East 34th Street and Wall Street, the complete trip totaling 47 minutes. While the ferries have been popular with commuters, two extra boats were added and fleets under construction were redesigned to be larger in June, concerns about recreational boaters coexisting without colliding into ferries have grown. As the New York Times reported, one free kayaking class won’t run their program until deciding it’s safe enough to do so.
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Transit

‘Citymapper’ app translates confusing MTA alerts into easy-to-read alternative directions

Graphic via Citymapper

August 28, 2017

‘Citymapper’ app translates confusing MTA alerts into easy-to-read alternative directions

By Devin Gannon

With subway disruptions and delays becoming a part of daily life in New York City, even lifelong New Yorkers sometimes have trouble finding alternative routes when their F train switches to a different line. Thankfully, there’s now an app that aims to make commuting in NYC a little less confusing. Citymapper, a transportation software start-up based in the UK, uses artificial intelligence to recommend new routes in response to MTA alert statuses. As CityLab reported, the app’s “bot” reads the complicated message from the authority and uses the relevant information to offer a clearer route change to avoid the problem.
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Photo via Kev Harb via Flickr

August 25, 2017

The ‘summer of hell’ at Penn Station will finish on time, Amtrak says

By Devin Gannon

The emergency Penn Station repairs that began in July will be completed on time with regular operating service resuming on Sept. 5, Amtrak announced Thursday. After delays and a few train derailments, Amtrak closed 21 tracks at Penn earlier this summer. Nearly seven weeks of the eight scheduled weeks of repair work for this “summer of hell” have been completed thus far.
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Cuomo calls de Blasio’s millionaires tax plan ‘dead on arrival’

Photo © Governor Andrew Cuomo/Flickr

August 23, 2017

Cuomo calls de Blasio’s millionaires tax plan ‘dead on arrival’

By Devin Gannon

As the dilemmas of New York City's subway system continue, so does the public feud between Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio. Cuomo on Tuesday called de Blasio’s plan for the wealthiest New Yorkers to fund the MTA’s emergency action plan “dead on arrival” because of Republican opposition in Albany. As the Daily News reported, Cuomo’s remarks come just a day after de Blasio said he does not "believe in" congestion pricing, an idea the governor said he will be pushing for in January.
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To avoid the PATH, will Hoboken commuters pay for pricey ferry service?

NY Waterway Ferry via Wikimedia

August 22, 2017

To avoid the PATH, will Hoboken commuters pay for pricey ferry service?

By Devin Gannon

As 6sqft reported in April, NY Waterway launched an additional ferry route running from Hoboken to Midtown Manhattan in response to a train derailment and delays at Penn Station. And since Amtrak closed a few tracks for repairs, more commuters have opted to take the scenic ferry as an alternative. While the eight-minute ride was normally only available during transit crisis, it will become a permanent transit option on Sept. 5. And although the ferry is perhaps a quicker and more scenic alternative, it comes with a steep price of $274.50 per month, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Transit

MTA will ‘modify’ Times Square subway mosaics that resemble the Confederate flag

Image via Wiki Commons

August 18, 2017

MTA will ‘modify’ Times Square subway mosaics that resemble the Confederate flag

By Dana Schulz

The day after Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo announced plans to review and remove controversial public Confederate structures and markers throughout the city, the MTA says it will do the same. Well, sort of. Over 90 years ago, station architect Squire J. Vickers installed mosaics resembling the Confederate flag at the 40th Street entrance for the 1, 2, 3 trains to honor early New York Times owner and publisher Adolph S. Ochs, who had "strong ties to the Confederacy" and was buried with a Confederate flag when he died in 1935. But yesterday, MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz told Gothamist, "These are not confederate flags, it is a design based on geometric forms that represent the 'Crossroads of the World' and to avoid absolutely any confusion we will modify them to make that absolutely crystal clear."
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Cuomo releases new renderings of Moynihan Station as major construction gets underway

Iage via the office of the Governor

August 17, 2017

Cuomo releases new renderings of Moynihan Station as major construction gets underway

By Dana Schulz

At a press conference this morning in the under-construction space, Governor Cuomo announced that major work has begun on transforming the James A. Farley Building into the state-of-the-art, 225,000-square-foot Moynihan Train Hall. Along with the news that the $1.6 billion project will create 12,000+ construction jobs and 2,500 permanent jobs, come new renderings of the station, showing more exterior views and looks at the 700,000-square-foot shopping and dining concourse.
All the renderings and more details this way

Bus station beneath Javits Center proposed in new plan to fix cross-Hudson commuter hell

Image via Office of Gov. Cuomo depicting the Javits’ upcoming expansion

August 17, 2017

Bus station beneath Javits Center proposed in new plan to fix cross-Hudson commuter hell

By Michelle Cohen

As the "summer of hell" days of emergency repairs to Penn Station's rail system roll by, the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit transportation advocacy group, is intent on tackling the transit system's biggest messes; specifically, the association warned that “public transportation across the Hudson River is in crisis,” and is in the process of updating its regional plan to address that issue and other transportation snarls. Among the group's suggestions: building a terminal for intercity buses underneath the Jacob K. Javits center on Manhattan's West Side, the New York Times reports.
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Taxi map shows where New Yorkers take cabs and how they pay for them

Images: Esri Taxi Cab Terrain map

August 15, 2017

Taxi map shows where New Yorkers take cabs and how they pay for them

By Michelle Cohen

Looked at from any distance, New York City may appear to be a honking sea of cars and taxis, with the latter making the biggest visual impact (and probably doing the most honking). Thanks to GIS gurus Esri via Maps Mania, we have a snapshot–an aggregate vision, if you will–of a year of life in the Big Apple made up of the city's taxi journeys. The Taxi Cab Terrain map allows you to zoom in and find out about the many millions of rides that start and end in the New York City and New Jersey metro areas based on data from the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission. Mapping yellow cab travel data covering July 2015 to June 2016, the map shows how different NYC boroughs use taxis and how they pay for their rides. Esri's John Nelson then takes a look at socioeconomic data to look for influences that might impact how different neighborhoods use and pay for cab rides.
More from the map, this way

Cuomo to offer a congestion pricing plan to fund transit repairs

Photo via Lucas Klappas on Flickr

August 14, 2017

Cuomo to offer a congestion pricing plan to fund transit repairs

By Devin Gannon

With New York City’s subway system currently in a state of emergency, public officials and advocates have been developing ways to pay for its urgent repairs. According to the New York Times, Governor Cuomo is planning to release a congestion pricing plan as a way to provide a dedicated source of funding for the transit system, as well as a way to reduce traffic on some of the country’s busiest streets. Ten years ago, Mayor Bloomberg pushed for a similar plan, charging drivers $8 to enter the most congested parts of Manhattan during peak commuting hours, but the legislation faced resistance and was never brought to a vote.
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300 dockless bikeshares are coming to NYC Monday

Image via Spin Bikeshare Facebook

August 11, 2017

300 dockless bikeshares are coming to NYC Monday

By Diane Pham

UPDATE 8/13/17: Spin will not debut their bikes in NYC Monday. Gothamist writes that that the company is postponing operations following a cease and desist letter received from the Department of Transportation. Watch out Citi Bike, some new competition is rolling in on Monday. As the Post first reports, San Francisco-based bike-sharing company Spin has plans to drop off 300 bikes across NYC—150 throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and another 150 in the Rockaways. Unlike Citi Bike, however, these new rides will be equipped with a self-locking mobile app-based technology, giving riders the option to leave their bikes in any location they please. One of the biggest challenges for Citi Bike has been figuring how to rebalance docking stations for users, particularly around rush hour when docks are either completely full or empty.
Find out more here

Transit

August 10, 2017

Cuomo gives Con Ed one year to repair the subway’s power system

By Dana Schulz

Just in the past month, power problems caused 32,000 subway delays, prompting Governor Cuomo to direct "Con Edison to take significant and immediate actions to improve the subway's power reliability and prevent future service failure," according to a press release. Less than two months after declaring a "state of emergency" for the subway system, Cuomo's given Con Ed and the MTA one year to identify and repair the problems, the most comprehensive power review ever done, leaving them on the hook to inspect 470 manholes, 1,100 boxes, and 221 power substations at street level and 1,100 energy distribution rooms, 300 signal relay rooms, 15,000 track circuits, 11,000 signals, 13,750 insulated joints, 11,000 trip stops, 220 interlockings, and 1,800 switch machines below ground. The cost? It's not yet been officially calculated, but Con Ed chairman John McAvoy says it's likely to be tens of millions of dollars.
Get all the info

‘Delayed’ is Blue Point’s exclusive new Penn Station beer

Photo courtesy of Blue Point Brewing Company

August 9, 2017

‘Delayed’ is Blue Point’s exclusive new Penn Station beer

By Dana Schulz

What to do when sitting in Penn Station for hours waiting for yet another late train? A cold beer sounds like a good idea. And that's exactly the mindset that Blue Point Brewing Company is capitalizing on with their clever albeit gimmicky new "Delayed" pilsner. The cans resemble the station's departure board with the Long Island destinations showing as, you guessed it, "delayed." Newsday tells us that the cans will be available at Penn Station's Shake Shack starting Monday, followed by elsewhere in the home of the "summer of hell."
Find out about the beer's launch party

Construction officially underway at Delta’s new $4B LaGuardia facilities, new renderings and details

Interior rendering of Delta’s eastern half, via Governor Andrew Cuomo

August 8, 2017

Construction officially underway at Delta’s new $4B LaGuardia facilities, new renderings and details

By Dana Schulz

Governor Cuomo first unveiled his plans for a revamped LaGuardia Airport two years ago. Since then, the cost has ballooned from $4 to $8 billion, with $4 billion alone going towards Delta's rebuilt 37-gate facilities. As of today, construction has officially begun on this part of the project, with the Port Authority signing a new, long-term lease with Delta Air Lines, which "marks the beginning of construction on the final component of the entirely new, unified airport at LaGuardia, which will provide all LaGuardia travelers with state-of-the-art amenities and expanded public transportation, including the planned AirTrain," according to a press release from the Governor. And along with the terminal's physical groundbreaking, he shared new details and renderings.
Get it all here

New renderings of proposed Triboro Corridor, 17-stop outer borough light rail and linear park

Rendering: Only If + One Architecture

August 8, 2017

New renderings of proposed Triboro Corridor, 17-stop outer borough light rail and linear park

By Michelle Cohen

Back in June, the Regional Plan Association (RPA), an urban research and advocacy organization, in conjunction with the Rockefeller Foundation, announced a design competition asking for proposals that would transform various areas of the New York metropolitan region. One of the four ideas chosen to receive $45,000 was a transportation alternative that would serve the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. As 6sqft reported, the proposal, developed by New York-based firm Only If along with Netherlands-based firm One Architecture, focuses on using a light rail to move passengers between the outer boroughs to alleviate some of the overcrowding that has plagued the current subway system with delays. On August 4, the organizations held an event at Fort Tilden to mark the opening of a public presentation of the selected proposals. "4C: Four Corridors: Foreseeing the Region of the Future" spotlighted this plan to strengthen the Triboro Corridor, a plan to address the future of the suburbs, and more.
See the renderings and learn more

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