you said the subway does not serve 14st residents. in fact it did and equally to the buses. that's how bad the buses were.

now of course the busway bus is clearly much faster for 14st and les travel.


yes and that wasn't a response to you. i was talking about harlem because the others asked about it.

any future crosstown 125st subway service and service north of 125st for sas take a backseat to bringing the train downtown in the next phases. and rightly so. in the meantime, a 125st busway could be very helpful to get more cars off the streets and speed things up for people to make all of the subway and mnrr connections along it.

^ yep totally agree --- and the busway is getting conversations going about that very topic.

i see they are putting in bike paths and temporary boarding pads along the route, with a goal to make the boarding platforms permanent. maybe when they do they could even * gasp* widen the sidewalks? imagine that?

we will see where this leads!

Rockaway Branch to JFK or bust. Stick a park alongside it, put some sound barriers up so people will shut up, everybody wins. Get it done. JFK express needs to happen or else you will endure decades more of being laughed at by befuddled Euros and Asians when they arrive!

right on time -- the sheds make the post cover:


OPINION
Devine: How the scourge of scaffolding is ruining New York City
By Miranda DevineDecember 1, 2019 | 10:36pm | Updated


***

The problem began in 1980, as a well-meaning response to a tragedy on the Upper West Side. Grace Gold, 17, a Barnard College student, was killed by a falling piece of masonry that came loose from a building at Broadway and West 115th Street.

The goal of Local Law 11, enacted the following year, was to prevent another such incident, but as usual, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

***

The worst offenders are rental buildings where landlords leave scaffolding in place indefinitely because the $1,200 a month it costs to rent the structure is cheaper than doing a $200,000 repair on the building.


more:
https://nypost.com/2019/12/01/devine...new-york-city/

Nail meet head


As a sort of related note, I want the City of New York to develop a program through the DOB to help building owners citywide obtain extreme low interest loans and maybe even split direct grant assistance to not only repair deteriorating brick and façade work but to also preserve existing and RESTORE missing cornices on all types of buildings citywide. The technology now exists to create historical cornices out of inexpensive impervious lightweight foam and this would go so far in improving the architecture of so many mutilated buildings.

Figured it was cheaper to put up sheds than to actually do any work. Also those sheds aren't even good protection really if left up for years. Big chunks of brick or stone can certainly go through.

Yet another shed story, this time Curbed.

mta ceo pat foye's end of the year review:


Op-ed: MTA on a roll as 2019 winds down


The holiday season is a time for reflection and thanks, and I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight what the MTA’s 74,000 employees have delivered this year for millions of New Yorkers.

Topping the list, we’re seeing a sustained upswing in subway on-time performance. November was the sixth straight month that it surpassed 80%, reaching 81.7%. That’s nearly a 17% increase from the year before. And the results are paying dividends as more and more riders are coming back to the system. Average weekday subway ridership climbed to 5.77 million people in September, up from 5.43 million in 2018. These gains are critical as we work to rebuild public trust.


more:
https://www.amny.com/opinion/op-ed-m...19-winds-down/

Did the improvement in OTP come from reducing schedules to meet the reality of the service being provided or actual improvements?

My suspicion is both, to different degrees.

Are you out of your mind? NYC just passed more rent regulations, capping the rent increases due to building improvements... what you are proposing is completely the opposite of the current city hall and administration agenda.

NJ Transit set to borrow $500M to replace old trains and buses

===============
https://www.nj.com/traffic/2019/12/n...and-buses.html

This is a very specific incentive akin to storefront/façade improvement programs that exist countrywide. No, I'm not out of my mind and I had no idea such a low threshold existed.

whur muh new subway cars?

the old bum manufacturer, bombardier, holds mta hostage with delay after delay:


MTA ‘ignored’ production issues of long-delayed new subway cars: audit

Vincent Barone


The MTA overlooked warning signs and failed to hold the contractor accountable for delivering now long-delayed new subway cars, according to an audit from City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

The transit authority is still waiting on a handful of new cars in a 300-train order it took out with manufacturer Bombardier back in 2012 — cars the MTA expected to have received nearly three years ago. The exorbitant delays have cost the MTA millions in increased maintenance fees for the ancient fleet the new trains were meant to replace.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transportation/...ay-cars-audit/

God can some billionaire please resurrect St. Louis Car Co.?

Amen. Brooklyn would look like a billion bucks with its cornices restored. It never ceases to amaze me what some of these landlords will do. I used to live in a beautifully renovated apartment in Park Slope, brand new kitchen, bathroom, the works. But to achieve this the landlord moved the entrance and stairway, bricked up redundant windows and the former door with cmu, and then never painted any of it on the outside. The place looks f'ing abandoned, no idea how the guy gets away with it. I had to put up a street number bc he never bothered. This building is, it goes without saying, missing its cornice. If it wasn't going to profit him, he wasn't going to do it. Have some pride, people!

I am now a new homeowner on a rare block where every cornice is intact, it is heaven and one of the reasons we finally decided to buy. Who wants to plunk down that kind of money when the neighbors make your block look like the South Bronx in the 80's?

Fearing ‘Spy Trains,’ Congress May Ban a Chinese Maker of Subway Cars

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/b...-security.html

I get the concern, but there are ways to have enough control during fabrication to eliminate most of the worry.

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:

https://i.postimg.cc/zBq196cv/20191211-155213.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/cHg0726b/20191211-155113.jpg

MTA, Transit Innovation Partnership, Empire State Development announce signaling challenge and demo day at Signaling Innovation Summit
MTA will begin to solicit bids in the second half of 2020 for the $7.1-billion signaling modernization program as part of the Capital Plan.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/...ovation-summit

NY: New tech looks to speed up bus trips through Lincoln Tunnel

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved an 18-month, $4.8 million demonstration program to test connected, autonomous vehicle technology in the Lincoln Tunnel’s Exclusive Bus Lane (XBL).

https://www.masstransitmag.com/techn...lincoln-tunnel

Penn Station Now Has the MTA's New Fare Payment System

The MTA's new contactless fare payment system is now live at Penn Station.

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...n-omny-rollout