Transit

December 14, 2015

VIDEO: 10 Days and 120 Subway Stations in Two Minutes

Most New Yorkers would be overjoyed if they only had to witness their subway station for a hot second. But since we can't teleport, this video from Snowday is the next best way to live out our fantasies (h/t Fast Co. Design). Titled "Stations: A Quick Scan Through NYC," this two-minute video was shot over ten days at 120 subway stations throughout the five boroughs, compiling footage as if the viewer were changing television channels. The quick scan, which features a somewhat odd blend of scripted scenes and documentary footage, is meant to evoke the "unique texture of New York...in a new and compelling way."
Watch the full video this way

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December 11, 2015

Subway Breaks One-Day Ridership Record With 6,217,621 Passengers

By Dana Schulz

For reasons unknown, the third Thursday in October is traditionally one of the busiest days for the NYC subway. Last year, on October 30th, a record was set with 6,167,165 passengers, and now, the MTA has put out a press release announcing that this past October 29th, this record was smashed when 6,217,621 customers swiped their MetroCards. "The new record day was one of five days in October when ridership exceeded the prior year’s record, and was one of 15 weekdays with ridership above 6 million. Daily subway ridership records have been kept since 1985, but the new record is believed to be the highest since the late 1940s," the agency reports.
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December 9, 2015

The Penn Station Atlas Wants to Make the Awful Space Less Confusing

By Dana Schulz

"The concept behind this project is simple but powerful: a user-centric atlas of a complex space – a unique set of maps designed to help anyone easily find the best way to their destination in Penn Station." Designer John Schettino realized that even though he traveled through Penn Station every day, he'd still find himself lost in the labyrinth that has become one of New Yorkers' most loathed destinations. So he studied maps of the underground station and observed how people interacted with the space to create the New York Penn Station Atlas. The project uses 2D and 3D models that make up a set of maps to show general layout, key locations, and routes for getting from one point to another. Schettino, with a boost from the Municipal Art Society, hopes all these resources will become available for electronic devices at no cost.
Plenty more details this way

Stiletto-Friendly Subway Grates Are Finally Here

Image via MTA

December 8, 2015

Stiletto-Friendly Subway Grates Are Finally Here

By Dana Schulz

Don’t you just hate getting your heel stuck in a subway grate and then ruining those beautiful stilettos? Well fear not, fashionistas, the MTA is employing high heel-friendly subway grates in their East Side Access Project. As Gothamist noted, the agency announced that they’ve completed construction on the 150-feet-below-ground ventilation facility at East 55th Street between […]

December 7, 2015

Chart Compares Suburb and City Commute Times–and How Much Extra We Pay for Convenience

By Diane Pham

When most of us rationalize our outrageous rents (and for buyers, real estate prices), our first go-to argument usually involves something along the lines of how great it is to live so close to work and the bustling city. But as it turns out, there are actually more than a handful of neighborhoods outside of the borders of Manhattan that boast way better commute times than even Brooklyn. Real estate data start-up NeighborhoodX is back again with yet another eye-opening visualization, this time pitting the commute times and real estate prices of various New Jersey, New York and Connecticut suburbs, and a few popular Queens and Brooklyn nabes, against one another.
See all the comparisons here

Transit Museum Brings Back Its Vintage Subways and Buses for the Holidays

Via *Bitch Cakes*/Flickr

December 7, 2015

Transit Museum Brings Back Its Vintage Subways and Buses for the Holidays

By Dana Schulz

Regardless of your faith, the holidays in New York City are a one-of-a-kind experience that many of us look forward to all year. For die-hard New Yorkers, it's not so much about the big attractions, but the smaller festivities that show the spirit of the city. Here at 6sqft, one of our favorites is the MTA's and New York Transit Museum's Nostalgia Trains. According to Gothamist, this year, they're rolling out eight subway cars from the 1930s to '70s and vintage buses from the 1940s to '80s, so holiday shoppers and history enthusiasts alike can revel in a little old-school charm.
Get the details

‘Open Gangway’ Subway Trains Getting a Trial Run in NYC

An open gangway subway in Berlin, photo via Second Avenue Sagas

December 3, 2015

‘Open Gangway’ Subway Trains Getting a Trial Run in NYC

By Dana Schulz

Despite the improved service that the MTA has been promising, most New Yorkers still find themselves crammed into subway cars like floundering sardines. But a newfangled, more spacious train could increase capacity by 8-10 percent. Second Avenue Sagas explores part of the MTA's 2015-2019 capital plan, released earlier this fall, that calls for the purchase of "10 open-gangway prototype cars with the $52.4 million expenditure allocated for 2016." This type of train, basically one long subway car with no doors in between, is popular all over the world, in most cities in China and Japan, in Berlin, Paris, and London, to name a few. It's not known yet when exactly they'll make their debut, how they'll be designed, or on what subway line they'll run, but of course the new idea comes with some concerns.
More details this way

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The Story Behind Those Infamous ‘Sick Passenger’ Subway Announcements

Image via MTA/Flickr

November 23, 2015

The Story Behind Those Infamous ‘Sick Passenger’ Subway Announcements

By Dana Schulz

Admit it–despite your general concern for the well-being of your fellow New Yorkers, you can't help roll your eyes when that dreaded "sick passenger" announcement comes over the subway intercom. "Why get on the train if you're not feeling well?" or "Can't they just move the person to the platform?" are common moans heard during these all-too-common delays. But, it turns out, it's a lot more complicated than that. The New York Times took a look at the rise in sick passengers, up to 3,000 a month this year as compared with 1,800 each month in 2012. Every time this happens, the train crew has to notify the rail control center, who then will call an ambulance. It depends on the specific station and time of day how long it will take emergency medical workers to locate the sick patient. Then, if it's deemed the passenger cannot safely walk, he or she must remain on the train to be assessed. Further, if the passenger has no one to wait with them and there's no police officer available, it falls on the train conductor to stay with the patient until help arrives. This can lead to the train being pulled out of service altogether. And of course, the delays start a ripple effect throughout the line.
More this way

November 19, 2015

Think You Can Design a Better NYC Subway System? Try It With Mini Metro

By Diane Pham

The New York subway system is a complex but pretty efficient network that (for the most part) gets us to where we need to get when we need to get there. But that's not to say there aren't some neighborhoods that wouldn't benefit from a few more stations—and better connections from one line to another. Well, if you're a savvy straphanger that thinks that you can engineer a far more efficient system than the MTA, the game Mini Metro is the perfect place to flex your dormant urban planning skills.
Where to try out the game here

November 19, 2015

Mapping All 1.1 Billion NYC Taxi Trips Since 2009

By Dana Schulz

That's 183,333,333 trips a year; 15,277,777 a month; and roughly 510,000 a day. And it likely took software developer Todd W. Schneider a long time to put all of that data into this stunning map of taxi pickups and drop offs over the past six years. Green boro taxis are represented in their signature color and traditional yellow cabs in white, with brighter areas representing more taxi activity. As Gothamist first noted, "Yellow cab pickups are concentrated south of Central Park in Manhattan, while drop offs spread north and east into Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx; drop off and pickup activity snakes like a glowworm from Manhattan to the airports: along the Van Wyck Expressway to JFK, and by 278 and 495 to La Guardia." Using the TLC's public data, Schneider also created charts and maps that show taxi travel compared with uber rides; weekend destinations of bridge-and-tunnelers; a late-night taxi index; how weather affects taxi trips; weekday drop-offs at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup; airport traffic; cash versus credit card payments; and the dramatic increase in North Williamsburg taxi activity.
Get a look at the data here

Should NYC Employ Liverpool’s Fast Walking Lanes?

By Dana Schulz

We already have express buses and subways, so why not fast track NYC's most widely used mode of transportation–walking. New Yorkers have long been known for their speedy strides, but with our population growing and texting addicts clogging up sidewalks, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get around slowpokes. Which is exactly why Liverpool just debuted Britain's first-ever fast pedestrian lane, "following research that claims 47% of the nation finds slow walking the most annoying aspect of high-street shopping," reports the Independent.
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November 5, 2015

Port Authority Mulls Fee for Curbside Access to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Airports

By Diane Pham

If you're someone who takes advantage of curbside pick up/drop off at NYC's airports as a way to avoid parking fees, that prudent sidestep could soon be coming to an end. CBS reports that the Port Authority is considering access fees as a way to reduce congestion outside airport terminals. Traffic is said to have become a real problem as services like Lyft and Uber have begun using the front of the terminals as prime spots to pick up business. “The operations of For-Hire-Vehicles and taxis at our airports are evolving rapidly and we are in the early stages of review,” the Port Authority noted in a statement. They also added that NYC's airports are one of the very few in the U.S. that do not charge curbside access fees, and where tolls are implemented, car services usually just pass the buck onto riders—meaning services and taxi drivers shouldn't worry about lost fare, but you will be shelling out even more cash to make up the difference when you get in their cars.
more here

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25 Percent of Subway Station Entrances Are Closed, Worsening Congestion

Image via FEMA

November 2, 2015

25 Percent of Subway Station Entrances Are Closed, Worsening Congestion

By Dana Schulz

There's so much to kvetch about when it comes to the MTA and poor subway service: unprecedented debt, increased ridership that hasn't been matched with increased service and outdated technology to name a few. But here's another to add to the laundry list: closed station entrances. amNY reports today that one out of four subway entrances are closed at a total of 119 stations, which "create bottlenecks that make it difficult to get in and out of increasingly jam-packed stations, while stores miss out on the foot traffic." In total, a whopping 298 staircases are inaccessible, and some closures have been in effect for so many decades that the MTA doesn't even know why they're not in use.
Find out more

Transit

October 29, 2015

POLL: Would You Like to See the MTA Use This Modern Subway Map?

By Dana Schulz

Yesterday, 6sqft brought you this modern subway map redesign by Tommi Moilanen. His version keeps the current map’s basic structure, but infuses it with a bit of Massimo Vignelli‘s famous graphic style. Geographically and systemically accurate, Moilanen’s map also uses thick and thin lines to represent express and local service; tints skipped stops a lighter shade; more clearly […]

October 29, 2015

Animated Video Illustrates the Dire Need for New Hudson River Tunnels

By Dana Schulz

People are getting fed up with the century-old, crumbling Hudson River tunnels. One Jersey resident even went so far as to hire an architecture firm to design a sky bridge connecting Jersey City to Battery Park City. But grand visions aside, the state of the infrastructure is serious. To illustrate this point, but make it a bit more simple to digest, the Regional Plan Association has released a three-minute animated video called "Tunnel Trouble" that, as Crain's puts it, "shows a hellish commute for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak riders if new tunnels are not built." The narrator states, "they are the biggest bottleneck in the metro region's transit network, causing delays that ripple up and down the northeast corridor."
Learn more and watch the video

Transit

October 28, 2015

Tommi Moilanen’s New Subway Map Design Makes It Easier to Navigate the City

By Rebecca Paul

The subway is one of New York City's greatest assets, but this only holds true if you can actually navigate through the various tunnels and platforms. And despite the countless transportation apps out there today, the good 'ole subway map is still the best way to find your way around. There's certainly been no shortage of map redesigns, but 6sqft is particularly impressed with the stylings of this new map by Tommi Moilanen, a Finnish industrial and interactive designer. His version uses the system's existing design language, but incorporates a fresh, modern aesthetic.
More details and the full map

PHOTOS: Go Inside the NYC Subway Cars Dumped in the Atlantic Over a Decade Ago

Image via Gothamist

October 23, 2015

PHOTOS: Go Inside the NYC Subway Cars Dumped in the Atlantic Over a Decade Ago

By Diane Pham

By now, you've probably seen Stephen Mallon's insane photo series showing thousands of subway cars being tossed into the ocean. The unlikely MTA initiative was undertaken more than ten years ago with the goal of creating artificial reefs that would support sea life along the Eastern seabed. Now fast forward a decade plus, and the fruits of the agency's environmental efforts can finally be seen in these incredible underwater images from Express Water Sports.
See them all here

In 1872, Broadway Almost Became a Giant Moving Sidewalk

Image via All Ways NY

October 20, 2015

In 1872, Broadway Almost Became a Giant Moving Sidewalk

By Dana Schulz

6sqft readers may remember a 1951 proposal by Goodyear Tires for a giant conveyor belt to carry people between Times Square and Grand Central. And though this was certainly a wacky idea for the time, there was an even earlier proposal for a moving sidewalk that took the city by storm. Back in the late 1860s/early 1870s, inventor and businessman Alfred Speer was fed up with street congestion in front of his wine store on Broadway near City Hall. Though elevated trains were popping up around the time, they were mostly above 14th Street, so Speer designed an aerial, steam-powered sidewalk (much cleaner than the locomotive trains) that would make a loop up and down Broadway to alleviate traffic. It would be constantly in motion at 10 miles per hour, carrying passengers by foot or in its movable chairs for five cents a ride. Speer even went so far as to patent the idea, officially called the "Endless Traveling" or "Railway Sidewalk."
So what happened?

October 15, 2015

POLL: Taxi TVs Are Gone. Were You Part of the 29 Percent Who Turned Them Off?

By Dana Schulz

It’s official. Taxi TVs are no more. The Daily News reports that the Taxi and Limousine Commission voted unanimously to remove the screens in favor of a pilot payment system that will use tablets or smartphones. As 6sqft reported earlier this week, “officials have been ‘flooded’ for years with complaints about the TVs and they’ve also been […]

We May Soon Be Free of Those Horrid Taxi TV Screens

Image via

October 13, 2015

We May Soon Be Free of Those Horrid Taxi TV Screens

By Diane Pham

Those annoying taxi TV screens that can turn a great night into one of frustration and fury as you fumble to hit the mute button may finally be silenced once and for all. According to the Post, the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) will vote this Thursday night on whether or not the screens should be removed in favor of smartphone or tablet payment systems. As it stands, sources say that the the proposal will most likely pass. Apparently officials have been "flooded" for years with complaints about the TVs and they've also been a big reason that riders opting for Ubers as an alternative to the yellow cab, the agency admits.
Find out more here

October 13, 2015

Mayor de Blasio Supports Plan for $11B Underground Cross-Harbor Freight Tunnel

By Dana Schulz

Now that he's done battling the state for MTA funding, perhaps Mayor de Blasio can set his sights on the Port Authority and the long-proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel. Representative Jerrold Nadler has been pushing for the freight rail tunnel for three decades, but the Bloomberg administration was strongly against it. Now, Nadler has a supporter in de Blasio, and the Port Authority is even studying the plan, which calls for a tunnel running from Jersey City to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and another into Queens and Long Island. Why do politicians feel a multibillion-dollar tunnel is necessary? WNYC points out that NYC is the most truck-dependent city in the nation. Ninety percent of the 400 million tons of freight that come through the city each year travel by truck. The reason is that "New York City has no direct link to the national freight rail network, so goods coming into the ports and rail yards in New Jersey mostly cross the river by truck." Nadler has claimed that the new tunnel would take 2,500 trucks off the Hudson River crossings every day, thereby reducing pollution and the price of goods.
Find out more

Transit

October 12, 2015

State and City Finally Agree on Funding Plan for the Debt-Ridden MTA

By Dana Schulz

After months of squabbling over who's responsible for funding repairs and expansions of NYC's transit system, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio reached an agreement on Saturday to keep the MTA's $26.1 billion, five-year capital plan on track. The state will put in $8.3 billion and the city $2.5 billion (much more than de Blasio's original $657 million planned contribution). However, Cuomo was clear that their commitment won't come from increasing taxes and that he's confident the money can be found in the existing state budget. The city, too, said it would not raise taxes, but rather take $1.9 billion from city funds and the rest from sources that could include development rights or rezoning. The agreement still leaves the MTA $700 million short of its total, but the agency hopes to close the gap by finding "further efficiencies."
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Cities Would Take Up 37 Percent More Space if It Were Not for Public Transit

Image via Anorian

October 7, 2015

Cities Would Take Up 37 Percent More Space if It Were Not for Public Transit

By Diane Pham

The major benefits of public transportation are clear: riding the subway or bus is way cheaper than maintaing a car, and more often than not, it's a much faster means of getting from point A to point B. But as Streetsblog points out in this recent study by the Transportation Research Board, transit is a major of driver of density within a city, and it's something that incentivizes developers and city planners to put things closer together. While this may not be an earth-shattering revelation to you, if you quantify the effect, you just might be surprised. According to the report, U.S. cities on average would take up 37 percent more space to house current populations if it were not for public transit.
Find out more here

October 1, 2015

Here’s What the G Train Could Look Like if It Went Into Manhattan

By Dana Schulz

Considering it's taken the city nearly 100 years to get the Second Avenue Subway moving and that the MTA is over its head in debt, we're not holding our breath that any other major expansion work will take place in the system, but we can all dream, right? Take for instance these new maps created by cartographer Andrew Lynch as part of his Future NYC Subway series. He envisions the G train, which currently only connects Brooklyn and Queens, making two loops into Manhattan -- one Downtown and one in Midtown. As Curbed notes, "It's a slightly convoluted proposal," but Lynch clearly put a lot of thought into his scheme, even figuring out the tunnels and connection points the train would take.
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September 23, 2015

New York City Now Has Over 1,000 Miles of Bike Lanes!

By Diane Pham

1,010.2 miles to be exact. Yesterday morning, NYC reached the milestone figure with the painting of its latest lane in the Lower East Side along Clinton Street. In addition to this, the Department of Transportation announced that yet another 12 miles of protected lanes would be completed by the year's end between West 14th Street and West 33rd Street. The number is above the city's five-mile annual target, and the highest amount ever installed in any year. The news, a blessing to cyclists citywide, certainly supports the fact that New York is set on strengthening the cycling culture of the city—which has already been named by Bicycling Magazine as 2015's best American city for bikes.
More here

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