New York City - Transit News

[mrnyc]

i heard something on the radio this morning about a value tax on nearby property owners to help fund second avenue subway phase II to harlem.

not sure what was new about that, if anything -- anyone know?


from january:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/n...state-nyc.html

[k1052]

There is a value capture scheme being batted around but as I understand it the money would go into the MTA's general funding instead of being dedicated to any particular project. There are a lot of understandable objections and questions about such a proposal. Healthy skepticism about how this would actually work is def warranted.

Chicago is doing something similar but it's specifically directed at one project in the area where property tax increases will be captured. The people who are affected know exactly what they're getting in return.

[mrsmartman]

Say goodbye to bar carts on LIRR platforms

Originally Posted by New York Post

It’s last call for alcohol on the Long Island Rail Road.

The eight bar carts that ply suburban commuters with rush-hour booze are going the way of the Harvey Wallbanger, The Post has learned.

Come March 27, the five carts on the platforms at Penn Station, along with one each at the Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal and Hunterspoint Avenue stops, will disappear...

Read more at: https://nypost.com/2018/03/17/say-by...irr-platforms/



Bartender Dave Telehany makes a drink at a bar cart on the Long Island Rail Road platform.

[Busy Bee]

Cue The Times They Are A Changin...

[chris08876]

City studying Governors Island gondola—again

The city is studying a gondola that would run from lower Manhattan to Governors Island, Crain’s has learned.

The Economic Development Corp. has hired engineering firm AECOM to look at the feasibility of running a line between the two islands, according to several sources aware of the selection. The idea has been proposed before, but reexamining an aerial transport system is likely in anticipation of big changes at the 172-acre outpost.

The Trust for Governors Island is working on a rezoning for two sections of the former military base. The plan is to allow 4.5 million square feet of ground-up commercial development, and the city is likely exploring different ways of getting future workers on and off the island.

The development corporation and AECOM declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the trust declined to comment on the gondola study, but said that preliminary rezoning work is predicated on the idea of ferries as the sole mode of transport.

The idea of running a gondola over New York Harbor has been kicking around for years. In 2006 the Bloomberg administration tapped architect Santiago Calatrava to design an aerial transport system running between Brooklyn, Manhattan and Governors Island. At the time, the price tag was pegged at $125 million, but the project was later abandoned. The cost and effort of obtaining permits to build over the water would have made ticket prices unacceptably high for many of the politicians whose support would have been necessary, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an interview.

==========================
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...-gondola-again

[Busy Bee]

They should be studying a 1 train stop on its way to Red Hook.

[yankeesfan1000]

By chance I know the attorney bringing this suit, typical NIMBY. Lives in a massive $10M+ townhouse, doubt he's taken the subway once in the past 20 years. This is why nothing gets done in this city.

L train shutdown mitigation plan prompts suit from lower Manhattan residents



"...On Tuesday morning, a coalition of more than two dozen Greenwich Village and Chelsea block associations, as well as two disability rights groups, announced the filing of an anticipated lawsuit to stop the repair of the L train tunnel under the East River. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Arthur Schwartz, alleges that the government failed to conduct an environmental impact statement, and that the plan doesn’t comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Villager reports...

...Schwartz argues that under NEPA and consequent of the project’s federal funding, it’s legally required that A.D.A.-accessible elevators be installed at L train stations. (There’s no doubt they’re sorely needed.)

In addition to pushing for an E.I.S. and the installation of A.D.A.-accessible elevators, the lawsuit also seeks to stay funding for and any work on the tunnel during the shutdown.

The lawsuit also motions to fears that displaced car traffic from 14th Street will overwhelm lower Manhattan’s narrow historic streets. Additionally, New York Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir tweeted that the lawsuit expresses fears that the increased flow of traffic will risk damaging the “delicate infrastructure of our historic low-rise area full of 180-200 year old” brownstones.

“I’m a big believer in planning, not just imposing,” Schwartz told Curbed in an earlier interview. “I’m not some conservative who wants things to stay the same, but I also believe that people’s communities should be respected.”

[yankeesfan1000]

But no, the MTA definitely needs more money.

MTA’s subway station upgrade program rolled back amid cost overruns



"A program to update and modernize 32 subway stations throughout New York has blown its $936 million budget amid rampant cost overruns. The MTA and Governor Cuomo’s Enhanced Station Initiative will wind down after work on just 19 of the 32 stations has been completed...

...“I don’t know when the MTA management realized that the program had run out of money but it would’ve been helpful to have informed the board when this matter was under discussion,” Weisbrod said.

MTA President Joe Lhota has the answer for that. Lhota says he became aware of the cost overruns last year, but decided not to mention it to the board. “I didn’t think it was relevant to the debate,” he told the Journal..."

[k1052]

The MTA does need more money. It should use it a lot more efficiently and if they find out that they vastly underestimated the decrepitude of the system while mid-project actually fess up to the board instead of lying by omission. I'd be inclined to fire Lhota for stuff like this.

[manchester united]

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/04/...xi-fees-right/

[chris08876]

City studying ways to get more New Yorkers on commuter rail lines

The city’s Department of Transportation is studying ways to get more New Yorkers to use commuter rail lines and take pressure off of the beleaguered subway system, public documents show.

The department has tapped engineering firm AECOM to look at potential changes that would boost ridership on Long Island Rail Road and Metro North lines running within the five boroughs.

Reducing fares within city limits, for example, would entice more residents to use commuter rails like the subway system and connect more neighborhoods to transit hubs like Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station in Manhattan, Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn and Jamaica and Woodside stations in Queens.

“AECOM is under contract to … investigate service and policy strategies for the city zone of the commuter rail network to connect residents to more frequent and affordable regional rail service, and potentially reduce crowding on nearby subway lines,” a spokesman for the department said in a statement.

In particular, the de Blasio administration has floated the idea of running trains more frequently between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica Station so Queens commuters could then transfer to a number of subway lines at the Brooklyn hub.

The agency and the Economic Development Corp. are jointly spending around $787,000 on the study, which began in January and will end in October. The initiative grew out of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2015 OneNYC plan, which also supports the state’s idea of building several new Metro North stations in the Bronx.

Any changes to commuter rail networks would need to be made by the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is facing an avalanche of criticism for its mismanagement of the city’s subway system. As this story was going to press, the Long Island Rail Road announced that a broken rail had temporarily knocked out all service between Jamaica Station and Atlantic Terminal.

====================
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ter-rail-lines

[mrnyc]

^ also, there are a slew of tod developments in play on long island near to rail stations. perhaps those will catch on with business and encourage reverse commuters.

[Busy Bee]

According to a NYDN article this morning the mayor may be considering pulling the plug on the BQX tram project if the consult study comes back showing the cost will not be covered by ROI's creating a funding problem. I hope they can get it sorted out because I beleive if done right could be a very beneficial project and unlock a ton of investment along the route. I know there's a ton of skepticism about the merits of the proposal but I think its is one of those classic things that when built people will ask why they didn't do it sooner.

[manchester united]

Fantastic news.
Andy Byford: I think it's great that our city has 24/7 service, and there are no plans to change that. That said, if we are to resignal the subway, which we must, we will need to suspend service on occasions to allow work to take place.

Byford has realized that NYC is 24/7.

[yankeesfan1000]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

According to a NYDN article this morning the mayor may be considering pulling the plug on the BQX tram project if the consult study comes back showing the cost will not be covered by ROI's creating a funding problem. I hope they can get it sorted out because I beleive if done right could be a very beneficial project and unlock a ton of investment along the route. I know there's a ton of skepticism about the merits of the proposal but I think its is one of those classic things that when built people will ask why they didn't do it sooner.

Merits of the project aside, how insane is it that after the better part of a decade the construction of a single streetcar along one of the cities fastest growing corridors, has gone absolutely nowhere, despite having the backing of the city and one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the city (real estate developers)?

Oh, and East Side Access is going to cost $1B more than estimated. First it was $6B, then $10B, now $11B.

I'd put the over/under at $13.5B. Anyone want to place bets?

[mrsmartman]

Many elements of the T-REX proposal are derived from earlier regional plans. Please refer to page 196 of Volume 1 of The First Regional Plan for the map of the proposed first step of suburban rapid transit system published in 1929.

[mrsmartman]

The T-REX proposal requires more new infrastructure. The Third Avenue corridor can increase through-running penetration in Manhattan but will be expensive. The Jersey Loop will serve the commuters to Manhattan better but require huge capital expenditure in Manhattan. They can consider connecting the Jersey Loop to the Third Avenue corridor to Brooklyn and the Bronx.

[mrnyc]

wtc subway station to finally reopen in oct:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.3947861

[chris08876]

One step closer to normalcy.

[mrnyc]

NYC Ferry buoys female captains


Worldwide, women aren't well represented in the maritime workforce, but at NYC Ferry, women get unique opportunities to be trained as ship captains.

By Kristin Toussaint

Published : April 19, 2018 | Updated : April 19, 2018







Constansa Torrejon-Reyes is pretty sure she has the best office view in New York City.


Her desk is the helm of a NYC Ferry. On the first truly warm day this spring, she looked out over the controls at the sun glinting off the East River; behind her, a deck full of passengers enjoyed the 70-degree weather, ready to get off at stops along the waterfront from Pier 11 to East 34th Street.


“Seeing the skyline never gets old,” she said, adding that her workday view is even better at sunset.


more:
https://www.metro.us/news/local-news...emale-captains