Yeah, it doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out how to do all this. Other subway systems seem to be working just fine even ones built with cheap labor and I'm sure the one in Saudi Arabia will work despite being built with what is essentially slave labor. If it takes X amount of man hours and X amount of dollars to upgrade one component and you have 20,000 components then if you want them done faster you're going to need more men and more money. Some political will might help. You know, like having the balls to take on the unions that drove prices through the roof, get rid of the consultants who do nothing but enrich themselves and maybe even shut some lines down for a few weeks at a time for upgrades to streamline replacements instead of trying to work on lines while they're still operating 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

adding debt to mta:



MTA criticized for adding $1.6 billion in debt for Cuomo projects

By Vincent Barone vin.barone@amny.com May 24, 2017

A slew of MTA projects received funding on Wednesday after its board voted to approve a controversial capital plan amendment that saddles the agency with another $1.6 billion in debt.

The added debt will allow the agency to increase its current five-year capital plan from $29.5 billion to $32.5 billion in order to pay for big projects like work on the second phase of the Second Avenue subway, as well as new countdown clocks and subway cars.

It will also help fund several projects heralded by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, like open-road tolling and the MTA’s initiative to revamp 32 subway stations.


more:
http://www.amny.com/transit/mta-crit...cts-1.13662223

This is kind of a silly criticism. Cuomo added $1.6 billion in spending in MTA-related projects, which is a good thing if you value transit. It's either more transit funding and more debt, or less transit funding and less debt, pick one.

This means the $2 billion LIRR main line expansion project will be completed, it means nearly a billion in additional funding for the next phase of Second Avenue Subway, and it means 45 subway stations are now on the list for renovation. Cuomo, for all his faults, it at least spending big on transit and infrastructure (which is more than I can say for the insanely unpopular, soon to be departed gov. across the Hudson).

I don't even think we've had an SSP thread on the LIRR main line project. This is a huge deal for commuters coming from the east. It will be a massive expansion of potential capacity along the busiest LIRR corridor.

^ probably there is no thread because there is nothing to show for now but a hole in the ground at sunnyside yards. there is even a much bigger project, the water line project, that gets no ssp thread love either. if you think east side access is under the radar, that one is totally stealth. water needs transit development too!


we have them! they are called controllers. they have vests and line the tracks just like japan. they were out in force all this week at w14st/8thav station. i asked them that very question, were they going to push us in like in japan and they said no and just laughed. they yell at people to stand aside as the doors open and try to be an active presence and thats about it. i didnt mind it, it was kind of comforting to have eyes in the station, but i can't imagine mta can keep it up or that its widespread across the system (but it isnt in tokyo either).

Imagine the lawsuits if someone is injured being pushed/shoved beyond their limit and sustain injury leading to collapse or possible death. :uhh:

The enormous crowds are what you should expect from a major city like NY.

If you ride mass transit and you hate crowds, you are living in the wrong city. :rolleyes:

awesome news -- hey it's a start -- they can call it rail to the wheel lol!





MTA Plans to Study New Jersey Rail Service to Staten Island

The MTA has amended its four-year budget to allot $4 million to study potentially extending a light rail service from New Jersey to stops in New York's Staten Island.



NEW YORK (AP) — The MTA has amended its four-year budget to allot $4 million to study potentially extending a light rail service from New Jersey to stops in New York's Staten Island.

According to the MTA, the system would carry commuters over the Bayonne Bridge and connect them with New Jersey Transit's Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

According to the Jersey Journal, the MTA has not reached out to Bayonne city officials yet.

Staten Island officials and the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation had previously called for a light rail on the 13-mile-long West Shore area of the island.

Two preliminary studies were conducted previously — one in 2004 and one in 2009.

Both were initial analyses, looking at whether the corridor would support it and creating potential ridership numbers.


more:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...-staten-island

Could light rail connect neighborhoods between Long Island City and Jamaica, Queens?

http://pix11.com/2017/05/17/could-li...amaica-queens/

Source: http://www.nyctransitforums.com/foru...amaica-queens/

^ both the staten island-bayonne train and that are very creative ideas, but will they go anywhere beyond these initial studies? time will tell i guess.


***



the issues facing a weak response to congestion:



De Blasio’s plans to fight congestion don’t go far enough, some say

By Vincent Barone vin.barone@amny.com June 5, 2017



...The same 6,000 miles of city streets are tasked with managing a population that has increased by 360,000 between 2010 and 2016, to 8.5 million; an economy that has added 500,000 jobs since the Great Recession; and a tourism industry that serves 61 million city visitors, up by 68% since 2000.

At the same time, trips from ride-hail apps increased from about 100,000 daily in June 2015 to 400,000 per day in March 2017, as companies like Uber and Lyft stormed into the city. But even that surge hasn’t meaningfully impacted traffic as much as the city’s rapid growth, according to Trottenberg, who appeared pessimistic that the city’s transit needs would be met.

“The city and region are unlikely to see the level and pace of transit investment necessary to meet growing travel demand and make a meaningful dent in congestion,” said Trottenberg, also an MTA board member. “Were the MTA positioned to truly meet that need, the agency would be completing major projects like the Second Avenue subway every few years.”...


more:
http://www.amny.com/transit/de-blasi...say-1.13710518

^just wow

Clark St Tunnel Reconstruction
Weekend Service Changes
Beginning 11:45 PM Friday, June 16 until Spring 2018

Time to reactivate the Bowling Green Shuttle. :cheers:

yeah its aggravating to bring that back up and for the developer to have to say it out loud, but that was all pretty much known. i think christie used half the arc money for nj roadwork and who knows what and was finally forced to give back the other half. as if bridgegate wasnt enough, he should never be allowed anywhere near anything transportation related ever again. :hell:


***


speaking of nj:




NJ Transit details Penn Station service changes for Amtrak’s summer track work

By Lauren Cook lauren.cook@amny.com June 9, 2017

New Jersey Transit released more schedule and ticketing information on Friday for its Penn Station customers as Amtrak prepares for major track work that will disrupt service for thousands of daily commuters this summer.

While weekend riders will not be impacted by the track work, many weekday commuters will be getting to and from the city using a brand new schedule between July 10 and Sept. 1, 2017.


more:
http://www.amny.com/transit/nj-trans...ork-1.13724777

Today is the last day for the Goethals Bridge. Saturday and Sunday openings for NY/NJ Bound traffic.

Infrastructure investment needed! Still waiting for:

the full Second Avenue subway,
the Access to the Region's Core Project (ARC),
the Northeast Corridor (NEC) Gateway Program,
the new Hudson Tunnel Project,
the Portal Bridge Replacement Project, ...

http://nec.amtrak.com/facts-and-data

http://i.imgur.com/HSDfecR.png
http://i.imgur.com/aNmFjxt.png

Mayor's streetcar project will further gentrify Brooklyn: Working-class Brooklynites want affordable rents, not the BQX

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pb...creen&maxw=770

========================
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...rther-gentrify

MTA Unveils Major Service Changes For LIRR

• Video Link

NYC Ferry, More Popular Than Expected, Scrambles to Meet Demand

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017...-master768.jpg

===============================
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/n...mand.html?_r=2

I can't wait for the ferry stop in Astoria to open in August. I ran through Gantry Plaza State Park today and the ferry coming into Hunters Point from Manhattan was packed, even on a Sunday.

rep candidate for mayor wants path train to staten island:

http://www.silive.com/news/2017/06/n...en_island.html

big enlightened finding here :rolleyes:



TRANSIT

MTA subway system could improve with monthslong shutdowns, experts say

By Vincent Barone vin.barone@amny.com June 21, 2017

Short-term train pain could lead to long-term gain, experts say, if the MTA would consider increasing the volume of weeks- or monthslong service outages along subway lines.

Consider it like a smaller-scale version of the impending 15-month long L train shutdown beginning in 2019. Several stations along a line could be taken completely out of service, full-time, for weeks or months as the agency makes infrastructure improvements.

It’s an idea gaining popularity as riders fume through an ever-increasing number of service interruptions, including on Tuesday when signal problems hobbled the morning rush hour along at least seven trains. With such a high frequency of delays, the logic holds that maybe it’s worth shutting down service and updating aging equipment all at once.



more:
http://www.amny.com/transit/mta-subw...say-1.13751587