MTA

In a press release sent out yesterday, Governor Cuomo gave an update on his $500 million overhaul of NYC's bridges' and tunnels' tolling systems. When he first put forth the plan in October, he included flashy renderings of the new cashless collection systems, complete with LED light shows, but his latest announcement tells us that by the end of 2017, old-fashioned tollbooths will be a thing of the past at all MTA-operated bridges and tunnels in the New York metropolitan region.
Is this a good idea?

Transit

Ghost tunnel under Central Park will reopen along with Second Avenue Subway

Image Wiki Commons

December 22, 2016

Ghost tunnel under Central Park will reopen along with Second Avenue Subway

There are countless relics from the subway's past hidden beneath NYC, but one of the most intriguing will reveal itself again in just 9 days when the Second Avenue Subway (SAS) invites straphangers to swipe their Metro cards for the first time. As Quartz noticed this past summer, a peculiar loop cutting through Central Park appeared when the MTA released their new subway map touting the addition of the SAS. Reporter Mike Murphy immediately questioned the mysterious addition that would move the Q train further north without issue ("I felt like people would have noticed if the MTA had been ripping up Central Park to build a tunnel," he wrote). After a bit of digging, he found out the half-mile stretch was built over 40 years ago and, at least according to archival maps, it's only been used twice since then.
find out more

Transit

December 21, 2016

Great gifts for transportation buffs and NYC subway nerds

By Metro New York

It was a tough year for straphangers—an impending L train closure, subway slashings and bug pranks gone wrong. But there were also bright spots, including the promise of new trains and buses, the return of the W line and the announcement of an on-time opening for the Second Avenue subway. Whatever your feelings about the MTA, […]

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December 19, 2016

First look at the Second Avenue Subway’s $4.5M public art installation

If a sparkling new line isn't cause enough to celebrate, once the Second Avenue Subway opens on January 1st, 2017, millions of New Yorkers will also be treated to several stretches of world-class art while navigating the 96th, 86th, 72nd, and 63rd Street stations. As the Times first reports, the MTA has poured $4.5 million into beautifying the stations with contemporary tile artworks by famed names Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz, and Jean Shin.
see more here

December 19, 2016

Second Avenue Subway officially opens to the public January 1, 2017!

Recent weeks have brought conflicting reports of whether or not the Second Avenue Subway would meets its December 31st deadline, but Governor Cuomo has announced that the public will be able to swipe their cards on the new line as of January 1, 2017! The stations will be officially open for business on New Years Eve, at which time the Governor will host a group of dignitaries to celebrate the nearly 100 years-in-the-making project. As the Daily News reports, this also means that there will be no partial opening as previous accounts speculated, and all stations (96th, 86th, and 72nd Streets, along with the transfer point at 63rd Street), entrances, and elevators will be ready to go. "We believe in the team, and that’s why we’re saying we’re going to open Jan. 1. It’s a leap of faith, but I’m willing to take that leap of faith," said Cuomo.
More details ahead

Transit

December 16, 2016

Governor Cuomo announces ‘Subway Therapy’ Post-Its will be preserved

Among the more positive things to emerge from the 2016 election was the very visible outpour of love and solidarity by New Yorkers, who not only took to the streets together to stand up for what they believe in, but without inhibition expressed their anger, fears, hopes and words of comfort for one another on colorful Post-Its stretched along the 14th Street-6th/7th Avenue subway corridor. Recognizing the historic nature of this spontaneous art movement, Governor Cuomo announced this morning that the New-York Historical Society will partner with the MTA to preserve some of the thousands of "Subway Therapy" sticky notes that have materialized over the last weeks.
more details here

December 15, 2016

Second Avenue Subway won’t open until all stations are finished says MTA

On Monday, the Governor's office put out a statement that Cuomo was "cautiously optimistic" that the Second Avenue Subway would open on time by the end of the month. Yesterday, MTA chairman Tom Prendergast echoed this statement, but was quick to point out that the long-awaited line would only open on December 31st if all stations were up and running (previous reports talked of a partial opening), reports the Daily News. "Track’s done, signals are done, we’ve run trains, we’ve exercised the signal system," he said. "We’re talking about finish and escalators, elevators — things of that nature in the station."
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Transit

December 12, 2016

Governor Cuomo is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about Second Avenue subway opening deadline

Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s chief of staff, said Friday that Governor Andrew Cuomo was “cautiously optimistic” about a December opening for the long-awaited Second Avenue subway project, according to AM New York. After several weekly visits to the under-construction 72nd Street site, the governor appeared confident that the MTA would be able to meet the project's December 31 deadline. U.S. representative Carolyn Maloney had also expressed confidence in the Second Avenue subway meeting its year-end deadline.
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Transit

December 7, 2016

NYC will have free Wi-Fi in all underground subway stations by year’s end

NYC Subway riders will soon be less able to blame their subway commute for not being able to immediately answer that all-important email or text. Last January 6sqft highlighted Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to get all MTA subway stations connected with free Wi-Fi by the end of this year as part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade subway infrastructure. According to AMNewYork, plans to implement free Wi-Fi in all 279 of the city’s subway stations are on track for the end of this year; as of Tuesday, 250 of them are already up and running.
It's all part of an ambitious plan

In light of fare hikes, need for low-income Metro Cards becomes urgent

By Metro New York

Fighters for the Fair Fare initiative to secure half-priced MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers strengthened their resolve Wednesday as the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced plans to increase fares by 25 cents early next year. The group argues that the brunt of bus and subway fare increases fall on the city’s low-income residents who might forego food, […]

Transit

November 16, 2016

MTA mulls increasing subway fare to $3.00 in 2017

By Metro New York

Swiping a MetroCard at a subway turnstile could cost an extra 25 cents in March, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Wednesday. The MTA finance chairman has suggested to raise on fares on subways, buses and commuter rails, and tolls on bridges and tunnels, to help curb increasing debt. The proposed change would go into effect in March 2017.
more info here

Transit

November 15, 2016

Down to the wire, 2nd Avenue Subway requires ‘unprecedented’ work to meet December deadline

There are just seven weeks left for the MTA to wrap works on the 2nd Avenue Subway if they want to meet their December 31st deadline. According to the Times, at yesterday’s MTA board meeting, officials relayed that an “unprecedented” effort would be required in order to wrap Phase 1 of the project on time.
read more here

Transit

November 8, 2016

MTA to increase L train service as M train undergoes repairs in 2017

An unlikely hero has emerged to save straphangers from the brunt of yet another MTA closure: the L train. In a statement released this morning by the transit agency, beginning June 2017, another 50 roundtrips will be added to the L line while repairs are undertaken on the M line at the Myrtle Avenue stop in Bushwick.
find out more here

Transit

November 7, 2016

The W train returns today, see the MTA’s new service map

When it came to reviving the W train, the MTA surprisingly stuck to their timeline, with restored service from Astoria to lower Manhattan beginning at this morning. The train will now run from 6:30am to 11:30pm no weekdays, but this means changes on the N, R, and Q lines, which account for the Q train getting rerouted once the Second Avenue Subway opens next month. To make things a little simpler, the agency has created a handy map detailing the new service and changes, along with an infographic of station-specific information (h/t Gothamist).
See the full map here

Transit

November 2, 2016

14th Street and Williamsburg no-car zones proposed for L train shutdown

Transit advocacy groups and politicians who have been promoting the idea of ridding Manhattan’s 14th Street of private car traffic during planned L subway tunnel repairs, and only allowing bus, bike and pedestrian traffic, have also suggested that the no-auto plan would be good for Grand Street in Williamsburg, the New York Post reports. Grand Street is a major neighborhood thoroughfare similar to 14th Street, and advocates say giving the streets to bikes, pedestrians and shuttle buses would be one way to lessen the impact of the shutdown.
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Transit

October 27, 2016

Independent engineer says two Second Avenue Subway stations are still far from ready

Despite MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast's seemingly unwavering optimism that the Second Avenue Subway will open on time, it's still not clear if the line's stations will be ready for their December ribbon cutting. According to the Times, following a Wednesday MTA board presentation outlining some of the outstanding issues (and the agency's commitment to smoothing them out over the next eight weeks), Kent Haggas, an independent engineer for the project, offered up a very somber outlook. As he told the paper, two of the three stations set to open December 31st have fallen behind, and that the system's "rigorous testing schedule was not being met." More alarmingly, he added that progress to date would need to be almost tripled on a weekly basis if the MTA is to meet its deadline.
Yikes

Transit

October 24, 2016

MTA puts up flyers touting the W train’s November 7th return

6sqft revealed last month that the W train would be making its triumphant return on Monday, November 7th, restoring service from Astoria to Lower Manhattan. Now that the date is only a couple weeks away, the MTA is putting up flyers touting the new re-instated line, reports Pix 11. Designed to look like a flashy Broadway marquee, the poster was spotted by a Reddit user over the weekend at the 34th Street-Penn Station platform of the A,C,E train.
Learn what this means for subway service

Transit

October 24, 2016

Second Avenue Subway will open in December without delay, officials say

MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast is hoping to squash rumors that the Second Avenue Subway (SAS) will miss its December opening date. As Prendergast told the Times on Friday, “[we want to show riders] we live up to our promises” and that they are "now within striking distance of having it done.” The chairman's remarks incidentally coincide with some newly unearthed information from the Daily News, who also reported Friday that the agency spent a week shaving down parts of the new subway tunnel wall because 75-foot train cars couldn't fully clear curves.
more info from the MTA here

Transit

October 10, 2016

VIDEO: MTA runs first test trains on Second Avenue Subway line!

While it's still unclear whether or not the Second Avenue Subway will meet its December opening date, it does look like the rails themselves are just about ready to take on riders. Over the weekend, Youtube user Dj Hammers spotted the agency running trains past the line's Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station (where a public area has already opened), testing out the third rail, signals and track.
more details and a video here

Transit

October 7, 2016

New interactive website gives grades to the city’s failing bus routes

The NYC Bus Turnaround Coalition--a recently formed partnership of transit advocacy groups who believe the city's bus system is broken--released a report over the summer that called on the city to make improvements to the system, which is one of the slowest in the nation. Their latest tactic to get the message across comes in the form of an interactive website that gives grades to all 307 bus routes based on speed, ridership, and bunching (when several buses arrive all at once), as Streetsblog explains. There's also animated visualizations that illustrate the annoyances bus riders deal with compared to a hypothetical look at life riding a system not plagued by delays, outdated routes, and unreliable service.
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Transit

October 6, 2016

NYC bridges and tunnels getting $500M overhaul including LED light shows and electronic tollbooths

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the tolling system on the city’s bridges and tunnels owned by the MTA–that would be Robert F. Kennedy, Throgs Neck, Verrazano-Narrows, Bronx-Whitestone, Henry Hudson, Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial, and Cross Bay Veterans Memorial bridges and the Queens-Midtown and Hugh Carey (formerly Battery) tunnels–will be getting a $500 million overhaul. Cuomo also announced that the $500 million the MTA will asked to contribute to pay for the new collection system will also cover new LED lights on some of the city’s bridges.
Cashless tollbooths and disco bridges, this way

Transit

September 29, 2016

MTA board member asks who will pay for Penn Station overhaul

As 6sqft previously reported, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans early this week for a $1.6 billion overhaul of Penn Station, and further details revealed that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be responsible for $150 of the project's costs. Since those plans were released, questions have been raised about where that organization's share of the tab would be coming from in an already stretched budget.
So where is this money coming from?

September 28, 2016

REVEALED: Governor Cuomo unveils plans for new Penn Station-Moynihan Train Hall complex

In a presentation (pdf) Tuesday at the Association for a Better New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that plans for transforming a revamped Penn Station-Moynihan Train Hall complex into a "world-class 21st century transportation hub" were back on track and ready to roll, complete with a slew of new renderings and the selection of a developer-builder team including the Related Companies, Vornado, and Skanska AB, to redevelop the Farley Building.
Find out all the details

September 26, 2016

Second Avenue Subway may miss December opening date