It's not that simple of a question. What trains will stop at Sunnyside? LIRR, Metro-North, NJT? Depending on which agencies stop there, it affects where the platforms are constructed.

There's also the question of intermodal connections, none of the subway stops are really accessible to any part of Sunnyside Yard but will they build pedestrian bridges/tunnels/etc? Should they consider an infill stop on the 7 over the bridge?

Does the new Sunnyside stop replace the old Hunterspoint Ave stop? Etc etc.

I don't know who did the graphic, but it's also showing the Queens Blvd super-express...

It is unfortunate that the MTA did not have many many years of ESA planning and construction to contemplate this so that it didn't have to be done sequentially.

Right, it's not like ESA has been under review for 20 years.

Does it really take that long to determine that the busiest rail line in the Western world should probably have a second stop in NYC?

The fact they didn't do it before doesn't mean they can skip it now.

The decision whether to build it or not is purely political; all the questions after that are technical, and they need a technical study performed.

I'm not saying that it should not be studied. I'm saying that the MTA uses inefficient planning process to sandbag stuff they don't want to do eventually resulting in sticker shock when the inflated estimates come in.

3.7M daily ridership cracked for the first time since covid:




New Yorkers took a record 3.7 million subway trips Wednesday, Sept. 14, the highest number since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak began in March 2020, transit officials announced Thursday.

The rate of ridership was up 30% compared to last year, but remained 37% down from 2019 numbers, according to counts by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Buses logged around 1.5 million straphangers in recent days, coming close to high watermarks from last fall, while the agency’s two commuter railroads have repeatedly broken COVID-era records since Labor Day.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/on-the-...e-since-covid/

outerbridge tunnel wat?
with no accommodation for rail transit?
and using lga rail funds?
:haha:



Outerbridge Tunnel? Port Authority urged to evaluate underwater connection from Staten Island to New Jersey.

Updated: Sep. 16, 2022


By Erik Bascome | tbascome@siadvance.com


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For nearly 100 years, Staten Islanders have driven over the Outerbridge Crossing, but if the borough’s elected officials get their way, residents could be driving under it in the years to come.


more:
https://www.silive.com/news/2022/09/...ew-jersey.html

Im not reading that shit...my blood pressure can't handle it...somebody else tell me what it says.

How bout no. They can wait for a Goethals like replacement.

If grater clearance into the kill is desired for potential maritime development they can build a taller bridge. Shouldn't run afoul of the FAA here.

foolishness & corruption:



MTA’s sloppy planning triggered $3 million add-on to signal upgrades: OIG


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-oig...oppy-planning/


***


Former Metro-North manager sentenced to prison for kickback scheme with vendor


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/former-...e-with-vendor/

Insane. These kinds of contracts should never be truly lump sum - if the contract is basically "replace 25,000 feet of cable trays" it should always come with a unit price per foot for additional cable trays. You can never be sure of what scope you need ahead of time, especially on a 110-year-old transit system.

I try to stay sanguine but it's honestly so hard.

some nice transit news for a change —

the last of the three new modern ‘ollis class’ staten island ferrys arrived after its 2wk journey from st joe florida, joining the ssg michael h. ollis and sandy ground ferries.

it will be put through conditioning paces for a few months, but should be in service by the end of the year:



NY: S.I. Ferry Dorothy Day now in NYC: What you need to know about the fleet's 3 new boats

Sept. 19, 2022

The Dorothy Day is the final boat in the new Ollis-class, the first new boats added to the Staten Island Ferry fleet since 2005.

By Erik Bascome
Source Staten Isl


more:
https://www.masstransitmag.com/alt-m...ts-3-new-boats

good idea to focus on weekend service which has been closer to normal than weekday service:



MTA appoints czar for better weekend subway service

more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-cza...ubway-service/

So what's the consensus with the cameras? My take is they will make it easier to id and aprehend offenders but I'm not sure they will actually be a deterrent against crazy behavior, especially considering most understand there's no one monitoring in real time and like any closed circuit security camera, footage is only viewed AFTER something has occurred.

I recently went on a tour of the Staten Island Ferry facilities, which was hosted by the ferry deputy commissioner (John Garvey). I got to see lots of stuff behind the scenes, including:
- bridge deck simulators for pilot training
- facilities for maintaining the boats and their operations. They have lots of machine shops and oil storage facilities.
- going on the actual bridge of a ferry boat while it's going to Staten Island (on the Manhattan side - there are two bridge decks on every boat because the boat doesn't turn around to dock)

One of the main differences between the newest Ollis class boats vs the older classes is the main bridge (there are two on each boat, one for each direction). The new Ollis class boats have really big bridges with lots of floor-to-ceiling all around the bridge deck. At the ferry operation's Whitehall office in Lower Manhattan, there's a specially made simulation room for the Ollis class boats to help train their pilots because the controls are quite different compared with the older boats' controls. It was pretty cool to see the simulation in action, and there are plenty of scenarios that can be programmed in, including different weather, bottoming out in shallow water, low planes flying by, nearby ships catching on fire, people in the water, etc.

whoa kewl — now that is living the dream for a lot of staten islanders and boat nerds.

how did you come by that kind of tour?

I meant to write the new Ollis class bridges have floor-to-ceiling windows, which helps enormously with pilot and crew visibility of the water below. Sorry for the confusion.

It was a really great tour, part of the DOT mentorship program that I'm part of. Besides learning from our mentors (I'm a mentee, since I only started at DOT last year) and how to improve communications, we also have a tour of various DOT facilities and operations every now and then. So far, I've been on the following tours:
- Asphalt Plant at Hamilton Av in BK
- Traffic management center and joint-jurisdiction management center
- Ferry training, boat, and maintenance facilities

There was also a bridge signage facility tour (located under the Manhattan Bridge) and Brooklyn Bridge walking tour, but I wasn't available to join.

We are also looking to visit the Newtown Creek Wastewater treatment plant (the one with the big silver eggs), which is being run by NYC DEP.

Penn Station rebuild to be overseen by architectural firm behind London’s King’s Cross station, MTA says

New York Daily News
By Clayton Guse
Sept. 21, 2022

"A British architect who redesigned one of London’s busiest train stations will oversee the redevelopment of Penn Station, transit officials announced Wednesday.

The MTA board signed off on a $58 million contract for a pair of companies to design the reconstruction of the busy Midtown train hub. The companies — FXCollaborative Architects and WSP — will tap John McAslan as the architect for the project..."

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...4ei-story.html

aww darn. i had my fingers crossed it was some kind of public tour i missed or something, but i was doubtful because i keep pretty aware of these things. as i suspected, you saw it because you are either a contractor or an employee, in this case an employee -- well anyway big congrats on being a dot mentee -- and definitely keep us up to date here with any inside news when you can! :tup: