MTA

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday unveiled its proposed $17 billion 2020 budget and its four-year financial plan as the agency grapples with massive impending debt. With a projected operating deficit of $426 million by 2023, the MTA wants to lay off 2,700 workers and raise fares twice by four percent over the next four years. Despite the impending financial crisis, the agency plans to spend nearly $250 million over the next four years to hire 500 police officers to patrol subway stations.
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48 more subway stations, including Penn Station, will get the MTA’s tap-to-pay system next month

Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit / Flickr

November 13, 2019

48 more subway stations, including Penn Station, will get the MTA’s tap-to-pay system next month

By Dana Schulz

At the end of May, the MTA rolled out its new tap-to-pay fare system, called OMNY (One Metro New York), at 16 subway stations on the 4, 5, and 6 lines between Grand Central-42nd Street and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center, in addition to all Staten Island buses. After a successful pilot--OMNY surpassed three million taps last week--the agency has now announced that it will add the contactless payment system at 48 more subway stations next month, including Penn Station, Whitehall Street, and all stops on the 1 train between Rector Street and 59th Street-Columbus Circle.
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Image by Martineric via flickr via Wikimedia cc.

October 31, 2019

Check this customized subway map to find your way around the city on Marathon Sunday

The TCS New York City Marathon hits the streets Sunday, November 3rd, so it won't be business as usual if you're trying to get from point A to Point B. The MTA has released a subway map–complete with pre-race highlights, runner-specific activities and events and prime viewing locations to make your Marathon Sunday travels easier. Whether you're running, watching or just trying to get around town, check the map and visit the MTA website for all the weekend changes.
Marathon subway map, transit changes and street closures this way

400 bus stops in the Bronx to be cut as part of major network redesign

Photo by Adam Moreira on Wikimedia

October 23, 2019

400 bus stops in the Bronx to be cut as part of major network redesign

Four hundred local bus stops in the Bronx will be cut as part of a major system redesign, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Tuesday. The large reduction is an attempt to speed up travel times by moving bus stops further apart, from an average of 882 feet to 1,092 feet between them. The new plan also brings two new local routes and an express route to the borough, providing commuters better peak-hour service between north Bronx and Midtown.
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Second round of Transit Tech Lab accelerator launches with emphasis on accessibility

Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr cc

October 16, 2019

Second round of Transit Tech Lab accelerator launches with emphasis on accessibility

The MTA and the Partnership for New York City have announced the second round of the Transit Tech Lab accelerator program that launched earlier this year. The inaugural run selected six finalists to participate in an eight-week program dedicated to developing innovative, private sector solutions for the challenges facing our subway, bus, and rail services. Of those six, four companies have already started piloting their products with the MTA. The new round of submissions is specifically seeking entrepreneurs with products that improve accessibility (a major component of the MTA’s recently unveiled capital plan), enhance traffic coordination, or create new sources of revenue. Submissions are open through November 30.
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MTA report says subway speeds should be increased by 50 percent

Photo by Ed Schipul / Flickr cc

October 9, 2019

MTA report says subway speeds should be increased by 50 percent

By Dana Schulz

In June, Governor Cuomo advocated for an MTA task force that would specifically address issues related to subway speeds. After an initial analysis, the Speed and Safety Task Force found that subways in 2019 were running slower than they did 20 years ago due in large part to a flawed signal system and deficient posting of speed limits. Using that information, the Task Force released this week its preliminary findings, which note that "train speeds could be increased by as much as 50 percent" if these issues are fixed.
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NYC bus stops that are too close together slow down service, report says

Photo courtesy of the MTA on Flickr

October 8, 2019

NYC bus stops that are too close together slow down service, report says

A group of transportation experts released a new report yesterday identifying a simple way to improve bus service: space bus stops farther apart. While frequent bus riders have likely already identified this as a frustrating problem, the advocates found that 32 pairs of bus stops throughout the five boroughs are within 260 feet of one another—even though the MTA’s own guidelines stipulate stops should be at least 750 feet apart and international standards suggest 1,000 feet or more. As part of their new report, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign decided to bestow the worst culprits with a cheeky “Cozy Award,” as Gothamist first reported.
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Transit

NYPD will now monitor homeless New Yorkers 24/7 at some subway stations: report

Photo by arvind grover on Flickr

October 3, 2019

NYPD will now monitor homeless New Yorkers 24/7 at some subway stations: report

The city's police department has launched a new surveillance system to keep an eye on homeless New Yorkers at more than 10 subway stations, THE CITY reported on Thursday. NYPD officers will watch feeds from more than 100 live cameras that show views from stations and platforms in order to respond to "quality-of-life and public safety concerns," the city announced in August. The monitoring program comes as part of a city and state effort to address homelessness in the subways.
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Policy

DOT plans to roll out 14th Street ‘busway’ this week after judges give the stalled project a green light

Image via Oran Viriyincy / Flickr

September 30, 2019

DOT plans to roll out 14th Street ‘busway’ this week after judges give the stalled project a green light

It looks like the 14th Street busway will finally roll out this week following a court ruling on Friday. As Streetsblog reported, a panel of judges from New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division voted 3-2 to overturn an August 9th ruling that blocked the city from starting the pilot program. Not long after Friday's order was handed down, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of Transportation confirmed plans to begin implementing the busway on Thursday, October 3.
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Report suggests looking to zoning to speed up subway accessibility; map shows which lines lag

Despite recent progress–and a federal lawsuit–only 23 percent of New York City's 493 subway and Staten Island Railway (SIR) stations are fully ADA-accessible, a statistic which puts the city dead last among the country’s 10 largest metro systems for accessibility of its transit stations. The MTA has made a commitment to funding accessibility in its much-discussed Capital Plan, but hundreds of stations are still without without plans for ADA access. On Friday Speaker Corey Johnson and the City Council released a report showing that the use of zoning tools to incentivize or require private development projects to address subway station access could speed up progress toward the goal of system-wide ADA access–and simultaneously cut public expense. The report, and an interactive map, show the current system, future plans and what the use of zoning tools could accomplish.
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MTA board approves $51.5B capital plan, largest in the agency’s history

Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr cc

September 26, 2019

MTA board approves $51.5B capital plan, largest in the agency’s history

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday approved its largest capital plan ever, with a $51.5 billion investment in the city's transit system. The 2020-2024 capital plan will invest a whopping $40 billion in subway and buses alone, which includes fully funding the long-awaited second phase of the Second Avenue Subway. In phase two, three new subway stations will be built with the Q train extending to East Harlem.
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Image via Wikimedia cc.

September 16, 2019

Express service on the F train beings today

As of today, the MTA has added four express trains to the F line during morning and evening rush hours. Two F trains will run express between the Church Avenue and Jay Street-MetroTech stations, stopping only at Seventh Avenue, during the morning and evening rush hours. Additionally, two Manhattan-bound trains will run express from Church Avenue between 7 and 7:30 a.m. and two Coney Island-bound trains will run the express route between 5 and 5:40 p.m. Previously, as the Daily News reports, the F train's route was the longest in the whole subway system without an express option.
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Transit

NYC’s subway is finally starting to improve, MTA says

Photo by Dan Phiffer on Flickr

September 13, 2019

NYC’s subway is finally starting to improve, MTA says

After an abysmal couple of summers, New York City's subway system finally saw significant improvement in service this year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday. According to data from the agency set to release in full next week, the on-time performance rate reached 84 percent on weekdays last month, up from just over 68 percent last August. That is the highest on-time performance, which measures the percentage of trains that reach their terminal location within five minutes of their planned arrival, recorded in roughly six years.
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Transit

MTA capital plan under scrutiny as Cuomo, transit watchdogs weigh in on top priorities

Image © 6sqft

September 10, 2019

MTA capital plan under scrutiny as Cuomo, transit watchdogs weigh in on top priorities

The MTA's five-year capital spending plan for major system-wide repairs from 2020 to 2024 has been under increasing scrutiny from public transportation watchdog groups, who have asked the MTA to provide more detailed priorities and policy goals for the project. The organizations–including the newly-formed Build Trust Campaign made up of TransitCenter, the Riders Alliance, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and Reinvent Albany, released a report Monday asking that the MTA and Gov. Andrew Cuomo significantly improve transparency in planning the project and provide a fiscal roadmap to outline the plans for major repairs to the subway, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and the bridges and tunnels that fall under MTA management, Curbed reports. Cuomo also issued a letter to the MTA board Monday outlining his own list of priorities for the Capital Plan.
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Expect more cuts to L train service this fall

Photo by Stephen Rees on Flickr

September 5, 2019

Expect more cuts to L train service this fall

While the L train slowdown has gone largely unnoticed so far by commuters, the MTA is throwing an unexpected wrench in next weekend's travel plans. The L train will not run between Manhattan and Brooklyn from Friday, Sept. 13 to early Monday, Sept. 16 to make space for new accessibility projects, the agency announced on Wednesday. The shutdown allows the MTA to install an escalator at the Union Square station and make the L and F, M platform at 14th Street-6th Avenue more accessible.
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Transit

Your guide to Labor Day weekend travel in and around NYC

Image via Flickr

August 29, 2019

Your guide to Labor Day weekend travel in and around NYC

The unofficial end of summer is here and many New Yorkers will celebrate the long Labor Day weekend by getting out of town for a quick getaway. To make things a little easier, the MTA will provide extra service on the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and to Staten Island on Friday, August 30 in addition to suspending all lane closures at its bridges and tunnels throughout the entire weekend. If you're planning an escape, note the following service changes before you go.
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Transit

Trump inexplicably offers help with Second Avenue Subway extension, with no plan in place

Photo via jseliger2 on Flickr

August 26, 2019

Trump inexplicably offers help with Second Avenue Subway extension, with no plan in place

President Donald Trump offered to help complete the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway in a tweet on Saturday, surprising New York officials who said no agreement had been reached. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is still seeking federal funding for phase two, which extends the Q line from its terminus at 96th Street north to 125th Street in East Harlem and is estimated to cost $6 billion.
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Transit

Large stretches of 1, 2, and 3 service will be suspended over the next two weekends

Image via Flickr

August 15, 2019

Large stretches of 1, 2, and 3 service will be suspended over the next two weekends

Service changes will get a little more painful this weekend as the MTA continues to upgrade the 1, 2, and 3 track switches north of the 96 Street station. The ongoing work is entering its final phase this weekend and will bring serious service outages. All 1, 2, and 3 service between Harlem and downtown Brooklyn will be suspended this week and next, beginning late each Friday evening.
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Transit

Council member wants free subway and bus rides for New Yorkers on major holidays

Via Flickr

August 9, 2019

Council member wants free subway and bus rides for New Yorkers on major holidays

A Brooklyn council member wants straphangers to ride the city's transit system for free on a handful of major holidays. Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents the 43rd District, will introduce next week a non-binding resolution that requests the Metropolitan Transportation Authority offer free subway and bus rides during six holidays, as the New York Post first reported.
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14th Street busway pilot program will begin next week after judge gives project green light

Image via Flickr

August 7, 2019

14th Street busway pilot program will begin next week after judge gives project green light

The city is set to begin a 14th Street busway pilot on August 12 after a judge lifted a temporary injunction on the project, Streetsblog reported. The busway had most recently been delayed after several block associations along the street filed a lawsuit against the project, claiming that the city failed to conduct an environmental review for the work. State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Rakower reviewed a traffic analysis submitted by Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Eric Beaton and found that the traffic, health, and safety impacts of the project fall within the city’s routine traffic management work, thereby allowing the project to move forward.
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MTA plans major upgrades for 100-year-old 42nd Street Shuttle

Image via Flickr

August 5, 2019

MTA plans major upgrades for 100-year-old 42nd Street Shuttle

The 42nd Street Shuttle is set to undergo a “historic transformation” as the MTA has announced plans to modernize the 100-year-old train that connects riders between Grand Central Terminal and Times Square, two of the busiest stations in the city. Work will include replacing the Times Square Shuttle terminal with a larger, fully accessible station, reconfiguring platforms at Grand Central, and modernizing the signaling system.
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Transit

MTA plans more elevators for 14th Street subway complex, making it fully accessible

Image via Flickr

August 1, 2019

MTA plans more elevators for 14th Street subway complex, making it fully accessible

After committing to install four elevators at the 14th Street and Sixth Avenue F, M, and L stop as part of a lawsuit settlement, the MTA has now announced it will also be adding elevators to access the 1, 2, and 3 platforms at Seventh Avenue. As The City reported, the 14th Street subway complex between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is one of the busiest stops in the city, servicing more than 48,000 riders a day. The expanded project will make the entire complex fully accessible, though it won't happen overnight.
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Transit

MTA board members are wealthier and whiter than straphangers

Via Flickr

August 1, 2019

MTA board members are wealthier and whiter than straphangers

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has the power to increase fares and approve service changes, looks nothing like the straphangers who use the transit system it oversees. A report released this week by the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany found MTA board members are richer, whiter, and more likely to live outside of New York City than riders.
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MTA board approves first transit reorganization plan in 50+ years

Image via Flickr cc

July 25, 2019

MTA board approves first transit reorganization plan in 50+ years