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They need to fix the GWB issue. Much of the delays (most) are due to the damn tolls. Its really time that the GWB goes cashless. EZ-Pass only and with no booths, similar to what they did with the Verrazzanos in Staten Island.

Would also help with the GWB if they put lane dividers, like actual barriers so that zipper merges can occur properly. People do not know how to execute zipper merges, and it causes tons of delays.

The city could also really use some updated traffic light timings. Some of the timings are abysmally short. Light turns green, and than very quickly yellow/red. Causes major bottlenecks and an increase in time. At least during peak hours (short ass lights once you get off of the Lincoln Tunnel).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boerumer (Post 8773132)

Wtf is up with the R lately? I mean, yes it's notoriously unreliable, but I've encountered 30+ minute waits on some occasions, that's commuter rail. Also, just rode this on the R, don't think I've ever seen one of these cars on the line:

They've been doing work on the tunnels, so those lines, the R/D will see delays. As its the MTA, its going to take forever to finish, so expect delays.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris08876 (Post 8783039)

They've been doing work on the tunnels, so those lines, the R/D will see delays. As its the MTA, its going to take forever to finish, so expect delays.

These are not normal delays though, it's pretty shocking to have to wait 20 plus minutes during rush hour on a line which is the only option for several neighborhoods. Thankfully I have many options, but I really feel for people who don't. It's also odd because the MTA app is usually straightforward with its time table (when you click in on a specific station), but with the R it seems to change constantly. For example you click in and it says next R at 4:45, refresh and it disappears, only W's or N's shown, refresh again and the next R is 5:02. Sometimes I've noticed the R wasn't even showing on the station signs at all. There is something strange going on. I know a couple years ago service was so bad on the R that the State started a task force to get to the bottom of it, well it's even worse now. I used to live at Union St but have now moved and have better options, but still occasionally find myself waiting on an R. I think I'm just going to avoid it altogether from now on.

SPLIT DECISION: MTA MUST AGAIN SEPARATE R-TRAIN SERVICE BETWEEN BKLYN AND MANHATTAN, LOCAL POLS DEMAND

Quote:

The Metropolitan Transit Authority must again consider separating R-train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan, in order to immediately reduce commute times for Southern Brooklynites who ride the beleaguered line, a quartet of pols demanded in a letter they fired off to the chairman of the state-run agency.

“For years, the R train has suffered from inexcusable delays, poor service, and sudden schedule shifts,” the pols wrote in their Feb. 15 missive. “We believe we have a solution that is relatively cheap, quick to implement, and has successfully reduced delays in the past.”

Rep. Max Rose (D–Bay Ridge), state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D–Bay Ridge), Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus (D–Coney Island), and Councilman Justin Brannan (D–Bay Ridge) all signed the letter sent to Transportation Authority bigwig Andy Byford, who runs the agency’s local arm, the New York City Transit Authority.

Last May, Byford announced his so-called Fast Forward Plan to modernize the city’s beleaguered transit system, a $40-billion scheme that calls for upgrading the R train’s nearly century-old signal infrastructure, one of the main causes of delays, along with expanding accessibility to subway stations, and adding hundreds of new subway cars and city buses within the next decade.

But the plan — which is not fully funded — notes that signal upgrades will not be made along the R line for at least five years, and even then will not extend south of Downtown’s DeKalb Avenue station. And those provisions are neither quick nor comprehensive enough, according to the pols.

“Putting Southern Brooklyn through another 10 years of a commuting nightmare is simply not an option,” they wrote. “It is time for us to think outside the box.”

A more viable solution, the foursome proposed, would be to again split R-train service between the two boroughs at the Downtown Court Street station, which the agency did between August 2013 and September 2014 while workers repaired the line’s East River–spanning Montague Street tunnel in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.

https://www.brooklynpaper.com/split-...l-pols-demand/

Just for folks that don't have a cam link for the GWB: https://www.webcamtaxi.com/en/usa/ne...on-bridge.html

(Live cam via Fort Lee PD)

As a visual exercise for those not from the area, check the same cam at 8:00 am to see madness. Even right now, at 8 PM, its terrible but 8 am is a special kind of madness.

All those toll booths converge too. :runaway:

Addition of new ADA elevators at various stations.

https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/...XMURED4FJM.jpg
Credit: NYDailyNews

ᴴᴰ R142 - 3 Train to New Lots Avenue Announcements - 2019 Update

Quote:

Here is the updated 3 train announcements to New Lots avenue, featuring the M14 Select Bus Service announcement at 14 street and the new Franklin avenue - Medgar Evers College station announcement.

From Harlem 148 street in Upper Manhattan to New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn via 7 Avenue Express / Eastern Parkway Local.

• Video Link

ᴴᴰ R160 B train to Bedford Park Boulevard - Bronx Bound Automated Announcements

• Video Link

NY: Cell service and WiFi coming to L Train tunnel under East River

The busy Canarsie Tunnel wouldn't be the first under-river tunnel in the U.S. to have cell service, but the first in the city's subway system to get full connectivity.

ANNA SANDERSDECEMBER 30, 2019NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Quote:

Dec. 28--L train riders may soon get cell service during the four-minute ride between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking for a contractor to ready the L train tunnel under the East River for cellular connections, issuing a request for proposals on Friday for a real estate license to build and operate broadband wireless between the 1st Ave. station and Bedford Ave.

The busy Canarsie Tunnel is already under construction after damage caused by flooding from Hurricane Sandy. The tube wouldn't be the first under-river tunnel in the U.S. to have cell service, but the first in the city's subway system to get full connectivity.

"Providing full connectivity to our millions of customers is a part of our continued push to modernize the MTA system," agency chairman and CEO Pat Foye said. "We're working to deliver full connectivity across our system and allow our customers to use their commuting time to meet their needs, whether it's texting with friends and family or communicating with coworkers."

Proposals from companies that would license the space in the Canarsie tunnel to construct the cellular infrastructure are due on Jan. 13.

All 279 underground subway stations have Wifi service already.

The MTA also rolled out broadband connections for Metro-North Train riders in Grand Central and its train shed, as well as the Park Ave. tunnel that runs to E. 97th St. Long Island Rail Road tunnels under Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn are also getting mobile connections, and so will the tunnels used to access Grand Central when East Side Access opens in 2022. The Queens-Midtown Tunnel and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel also both already have broadband.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/techn...der-east-river

This is either cool or depressing, depending on your route....

How Unpredictable Is Your Subway Commute? We’ll Show You

By JOSH KATZ and KEVIN QUEALY JULY 8, 2019

Most statistics about the subway overlook an important part of commuting in the city: variability.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...alculator.html

I used an old commute as an example - seems about right:

https://i.postimg.cc/3xY4XpgT/Screenshot-37.png

Have fun!

An insightful editorial from a NY City/State independent journalism site written by Alon Levy, a public transport advocate and expert.

Don’t block subway automation

A misguided bill would prevent subways from using automation to save money and improve service.

Quote:

The state Senate is reviewing a bill by state Sen. Kevin Parker that would prohibit the practice of one-person train operations on the New York City subway. A similar bill passed the Senate in 2017 but died in the Assembly. Right now, practically all subway trains have two-person crews, consisting of a driver and a conductor, who operates the doors and makes announcements. Management has long sought to reduce crew size to one, at least on some lines, by using partial automation to combine the operator and conductor jobs. So far the Transport Workers Union has scuttled all attempts to introduce partial automation to New York City’s subway main lines. Parker’s bill would enshrine this wasteful practice of overstaffing in law.

The bill’s supposed justification, which is safety, is based on falsehoods. Since many other cities around the world use only one staffer per train, Parker contends New York is different because of its size, with a reference to “the New York city subway system, the largest public transit system in the world.” This is incorrect: By ridership on subway lines or subway-like commuter rail lines, New York doesn’t even crack the global top 10. The two biggest European urban rail networks, those of Moscow and Paris, exclusively use one-person crews. The largest system in the world, Tokyo, uses a combination of one- and two-person teams.

Anyway, the size of a system isn’t even the most relevant variable: It’s the size of the train, and some other cities have fewer conductors and larger trains. Parisian commuter trains pack 2,000 passengers with just one crew member every day at rush hour.

New York exceptionalism relies on views of how important and developed the city is that are generations out of date, limiting the MTA’s ability to learn from global best practices, which include automation across rich and middle-income countries. Many of those systems are even transitioning toward full automation, with driverless lines in operation or in testing in Paris, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo.

New York City Transit may not be unique in its size or complexity, but it is unique in its high costs. This goes beyond construction costs, covered in the media by myself and others. The operating costs on the subway are the highest per car-mile among the major metro rail systems of the world. Among the big American systems, the only one that’s as expensive to operate as New York City Transit is Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which went to one-person train operation recently and still employs former conductors in miscellaneous positions, letting them go by attrition, according to several sources at the Boston-based advocacy group TransitMatters.

London has had similar fights for a generation – the Underground began using partial automation at the end of last century, but some suburban commuter lines have waited longer. In 2013, there was a fight about one-person operation on the London Overground, which consists of suburban lines operated by Transport for London, which also runs the London Underground. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, which represents train crew members, claimed conductors are needed for safety, but Transport for London noted that on the Overground, the already partially automated East London Line was actually safer than the rest. In accidents involving improper door opening, the East London Line averaged one incident per 7 million trips, compared with one per 4 million on the rest.

If anything, the computer control with one-person operation would improve safety in New York. The New York Times reports that in 2017, there were 900 incidents of people falling onto tracks, getting side-swiped by trains or otherwise accidentally intruding on the system. In 2012, these incidents led to 55 fatalities.

Continued: https://www.cityandstateny.com/artic...utomation.html

As much as I am a 100% pro-union progressive I hate when common sense gets tossed aside for politics. If the NYC subway wants to grow its capacity and deliver a better service it needs to move towards automation. It's the only way to add capacity without building new lines. Full stop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boerumer (Post 8787642)

oh great, everyone's worst nightmare is on the way. people blabbing on the phone underground. as if its not bad enough when they try to. :rolleyes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 8788636)

oh great, everyone's worst nightmare is on the way. people blabbing on the phone underground. as if its not bad enough when they try to. :rolleyes:

In Montréal people don't talk on their phones, it's just for the Internet. I've yet to see one person actually talk on their phone so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 8788636)

oh great, everyone's worst nightmare is on the way. people blabbing on the phone underground. as if its not bad enough when they try to. :rolleyes:

Chicago has had service in the subways for 15 years and this doesn't happen.

well if you can somehow use internet and not be able to yak on a phone then fine.

otherwise, bupkis.

ᴴᴰ R142 5 Train via 7th Avenue Line Announcements [2005 version - with 9 and V trains]

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A Special look back to 2005, here are the rerouted 5 train announcements from Brooklyn College - Flatbush Av to Eastchester Dyre Avenue in the Bronx via the 2 line ( 7th Avenue Express ) .

In 2004 the original 5 train announcements with Melissa Kleiner were redone by Jessica Ettinger and here we see original transfer announcements featuring the 9 and V trains. These have long been replaced.

Recorded at various times between 2004 and 2013. Compiled and edited to a full program in 2020.

• Video Link

Quote:

Originally Posted by canucklehead2 (Post 8787767)

I'm completely disgusted about how transport unions are blocking and f*cking up improvements, innovation, progress in transport systems around the world.

The same thing happened in London, their union blocked fully driverless automatisation of the crowdest lines.

cuomo announces a move to expand penn station:

Cuomo's Second Penn Station Expansion Plan Will Actually Focus On Train Capacity
BY ELIZABETH KIM AND STEPHEN NESSEN, WNYC
JAN. 7, 2020 1:20 P.M.

Adding yet another costly wrinkle to the decades-in-the-making plan to remake Penn Station, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday laid out a rough blueprint to expand the overburdened station's capacity by acquiring an entire Manhattan block to build eight new tracks and accommodate an additional 175,000 daily riders.

more:
https://gothamist.com/news/cuomos-se...ocus-commuters

AOC is tearing into the LGA AirTrain project.

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/01/...-lga-airtrain/

Quote:

The FAA is conducting the environmental review on behalf on the PANYNJ project. Ocasio-Cortez believes that review to be faulty because of the alternatives it discarded. As such, she is demanding that the agency consider:

Ferry Service. AOC asked why this option was disqualified, given that the New York City’s Department of Transportation website calls the Staten Island Ferry “the most reliable form of mass transit, with a consistent annual on-time performance record of over 92 percent during the last several years.”

Dedicated Bus Lanes to Q70 Bus Route. AOC wrote, “With dedicated bus lanes, travel time to and from the airport would significantly decrease for travelers utilizing the Woodside and Jackson Heights transportation hubs.”

Subway extension from Astoria Subway elevated above Astoria Boulevard. AOC asked that the FAA “clarify how existing infrastructure or transportation facilities would be impacted with this option” and “explain how the service would be disrupted during peak time, particularly as it compares to other subway extension/fixed guideway alternatives.

Fixed Guideway to Woodside LIRR/Woodside Subway and Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights Station elevated above Roosevelt, Broadway, BQE, and GCP. She argued that “given the connectivity of these stations to the Long Island Rail Road, numerous buses and multiple train lines, this seems like a natural route for a fixed guideway to connect to in order to reduce trips and incentivize public transport to LaGuardia Airport.”

Some points were made.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 8789525)

well if you can somehow use internet and not be able to yak on a phone then fine.

otherwise, bupkis.

buy headphones

MTA to bring modern signal system — and faster, more reliable commutes — to entirety of E line by 2025

Quote:

The MTA on Monday moved forward with plans to add modern signaling technology to a key segment of the subway — and announced that the entirety of the E line will receive the upgrades by January 2025.

The news came as the agency awarded a $246 million, five-year contract to install the tech, called communications-based train control, or CBTC, to the A, C and E lines from the 59th St.-Columbus Circle station to the High St. stop in Brooklyn.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials also plan to complete a separate project to modernize the signal system on the E, F, M and R lines in Queens and Manhattan by March 2021.

By the time both segments get the upgrades, the E will become the subway’s third line to be equipped with CBTC from end to end.

MTA officials have hailed CBTC as the saving grace for New York City’s unreliable subways, as the tech allows for trains to run closer together and is more reliable than the arcane system the agency currently uses to direct train traffic.

Continued: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...yki-story.html

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