at long last we have taken a big step closer to a return to normalcy — 24/7 service is now back:

https://nypost.com/2021/05/16/nycs-2...-19-shutdowns/

the underground transit music program is coming back :tup:


While any active commuter in the past year will tell you that the buskers have never really stopped performing in subways, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants to kick it up a notch by un-pausing their Music Under New York program on June 4.


more:
https://www.amny.com/news/137540976/

Civil construction work on the East Side Access Project is complete.

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger...or-22-opening/

hudson gateway tunnels pass environmental milestone, move on to engineering phase:



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

midtown station gets an elevator:


https://www.amny.com/news/ready-to-r...or-in-midtown/

citibike boom - 2.7M+ rides in may. blaz commits to adding 30 miles of protected bike lanes this year. let’s hope its not like his commitment to early retirement was for city workers. :hell:


https://www.amny.com/city-living/de-...led-this-year/

I just got hired by the NYC DOT and am supposed to be assisting with the bike lane expansion. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how things work in my office. My office is only at 20% capacity, so I'm only there once a week and haven't actually met my direct supervisor in person yet after 2 weeks.

o geez — well you aren’t alone with that situation. my spouse works in business and its the same in her office. its being reno’d floor by floor and no one is there, but we live nearby so she can go in easily at times. im going back in next month.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! It's pretty unique to me now. I was previously working at a private company (window manufacturer), and they were pretty much 100% back in the office in terms of occupancy (but not in days worked - most people were only allowed 4 days, likely as a cost measure and not a health/safety measure).

I'm sure you heard this in the news - all NYC government agency employees only started coming into the office last month. So they were 100% remote before that. Hopefully, we may move to 2 days in the office starting in July.

Speaking of office renos, my office will also be undergoing a reno. We will be moving our office a few blocks away temporarily until they finish. It's a slight bummer because my office is literally next to Queensboro Plaza station and was super convenient by subway.

Also, speaking of subways, I finally took one last month (after over a year of zero mass transit) because I needed to hand in my documents and copy of IDs to HR in lower Manhattan. It's getting a bit crowded nowadays when I take it to and from my office, but nowhere as bad as it was pre-pandemic. Other than getting stuck between stations due to someone pulling the emergency brake in the train ahead, it's been a relatively pleasant experience.

good news -- the busy brooklyn bridge walkway is a dangerous hellhole for pedestrians due to the terrorist bikers.

work starts this week and should be done by the fall:


De Blasio announces construction timeline for Brooklyn Bridge roadbed bike lane


more:
https://www.amny.com/new-york/brookl...bed-bike-lane/

and sound off they do -- everyone in the bx is very excited!



New Yorkers sound off about $1.6B Metro-North expansion to East Bronx


Residents, transit advocates, and politicians gave their two cents about the proposal to expand Metro-North Railroad service into the transit-starved parts of the Bronx at a Tuesday virtual hearing.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s so-called Penn Station Access project would add four new stations along a repurposed Amtrak line, allowing eastern Bronxites a direct ride to the west side of Manhattan, according to one state legislator.

“I believe that will be transformative, particularly in for the eastern half of the Bronx. It will make an enormous difference in people’s ability to get to work much more quickly,” said Bronx Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz at an MTA public hearing on June 15.

The $1.58 billion scheme would repurpose Amtrak’s Hell Gate Line and add four new wheelchair-accessible stations to Metro-North’s New Haven Line at Co-Op City, Morris Park, Parkchester/Van Nest, and Hunts Point.

The project would add four new Metro-North stations in the East Bronx.

The line would continue non-stop through western Queens and into Penn Station and could shave around 50 minutes off commute times for East Bronx passengers, which would be “life-changing” for riders, according Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

“Commuter rail will finally be in the reach of East Bronx riders, many of whom don’t live anywhere near a subway,” Daglian said.

The transit advocate called on MTA to also consider adding a stop in Queens and implement a so-called Freedom Ticket to give riders a reduced fare and free transfer onto subways and buses. MTA has implemented a similar pilot program known as the Atlantic Ticket for Long Island Rail Road passengers from Jamaica to Atlantic Terminal.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/penn-st...ess-mta-bronx/

As they should be. This is much needed and a long time coming. I just hope the MTA does it right, with quality stations that look like they're from this century and other features of a competent alpha city project.

This is more tricky. For the best subway connections, a station at Northern Blvd makes the most sense BUT you could argue that for better catchment it should be further northwest into Astoria, BUT a station on the Hell Gate viaduct really should be avoided unless you're willing to spend 200+ million for a wildly engineered and altered viaduct station. Better, cheaper alternatives might be along the earth embankment at 25th, 30th or 31st Ave's. If along a two track embankment, track shifting and/or turnouts may be required as Amtrak through-running the station would not be ideal and should be avoided at all costs. If they do consider a Queens stop, it is imperative it could also be potentially used in a future TriboroRX scheme if such a scheme uses MN/LIRR type rolling stock versus subway rolling stock.

yeah i think its the embankment sites or forget it. and if they do a queens stop yes for sure it has to be with triboro rx in mind. that is imperative. you can't plan ahead enough! :tup:

If this is extended east, is there any possibility of extending MBTA to connect with this?

Service to Rhode Island? Broad expansion of CT shoreline rails sees renewed interest

https://www.ncadvertiser.com/shoreli...p?t=0b1f8bd3a7

Anything is possible. Is this a little off topic? Does MBTA provide passenger rail services to Boston or New York City?

The Shore Line goes to Stamford, so it is entirely relevant for NY metro transit issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shore_Line_East

MBTA does not.