New York City - Transit News

[Busy Bee]

21st century has arrrriiiivvveeedddd.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

Of all the NYC subway stations I've used, I don't remember a single one (or a single PATH station for that matter) having escalators going up from the platform level. A few had escalators going from the mezzanine to street level, but from the platform to the mezzanine it was just stairs, and occasionally an elevator.

The Newer WTC PATH stations have Esculators in the Middle , along with West 4th Street , Lexington Ave - 53rd Street and a few others...

[chris08876]

M.T.A. Chairman Asks New York City for More Money

The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority called on Monday for New York City to substantially increase its funding for the agency’s $32 billion capital plan.

The chairman, Thomas F. Prendergast, sent a letter to the first deputy mayor, Anthony Shorris, asking the city to contribute $1 billion for the construction of the Second Avenue subway line and $300 million annually to the capital plan. In recent years, the city has paid the authority about $100 million each year to support the plan.

Subway ridership has grown to six million riders on some days and is expected to increase in the coming years, which will add pressure on the system, Mr. Prendergast said. “Now, at this critical juncture, is the right time for the city to acknowledge the need for significantly increased investment in the M.T.A., and the city’s future,” he wrote.

[...]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/ny...ding.html?_r=0

[BrownTown]

It sure seems crazy that New York City only spends 100 Million a year on the MTA Capital Budget. That's like 6 cents a ride. It doesn't make sense to me how a city so dependent on transportation could spend so little on improving it.

[Nexis4Jersey]

IRT Flushing Line

61st Street - Woodside


IRT Flushing Line at 61st Street - Woodside by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at 61st Street - Woodside by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at 61st Street - Woodside by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at 61st Street - Woodside by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

40th Street - Lowery Street

IRT Flushing Line at 40th Street - Lowery Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at 40th Street - Lowery Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at 40th Street - Lowery Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at 40th Street - Lowery Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

[Nexis4Jersey]

IRT Flushing Line

Vernon Boulevard - Jackson Avenue


IRT Flushing Line at Vernon Boulevard - Jackson Avenue by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at Vernon Boulevard - Jackson Avenue by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at Vernon Boulevard - Jackson Avenue by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

Hunterspoint Avenue


257 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IRT Flushing Line at Hunters Point Avenue by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

[THE BIG APPLE]

The New York City mayor accidentally emailed subway complaints to The New York Times

Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) of New York City apparently needs to be a little more careful with his emails.
Indeed, de Blasio sent a sternly worded missive to his staff on Monday and accidentally included a New York Times reporter among its recipients.

"2 problems today," his subject line declared.

De Blasio tried to take a subway but was confounded when the express train didn't arrive. After he apparently gave up and went back to the surface, his driver was no longer waiting for him. The mayor said his team should have been prepared for the change of plans.

"The detail drove away when we went into the subway rather than waiting to confirm we got on a train," de Blasio wrote in the email, also addressed to the head of his NYPD detail. "We need a better system."

De Blasio also asked his staff keep track of potential delays whenever he takes public transportation. He suggested his advance team reach out to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority "or at least with nypd transit" when he rides the subway.

"We waited 20 mins for an express only to hear there were major delays," de Blasio wrote. "This was knowable info. Had we had it, we would have avoided a lot of hassles. ... This is a fixable prob."

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by BrownTown

It sure seems crazy that New York City only spends 100 Million a year on the MTA Capital Budget. That's like 6 cents a ride. It doesn't make sense to me how a city so dependent on transportation could spend so little on improving it.

Thats the whole dilemma here. I think we all want transit improvements, but without raising fairs significantly. In terms of the transit system compared globally, nyc is actually cheap compared to London for example. But I think most would be against raise fairs given the current service. The money is there, but its just not allocated properly. The dysfunction is becoming very apparent. IDK, but it sounds to me like its not planning for future. We can manage for now, but the issues will be enormous in the years to come once the population increase, especially in the outer boroughs, starts to really strain the system.

Anybody who rides a Manhattan bound train from Queens will notice this during rush hour. But know that the crowding will only get worse.

[Nexis4Jersey]

IND 8th Avenue Line

West 4th Street


IND 8th Avenue Line at West 4th Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at West 4th Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at West 4th Street by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

34th Street - Penn Station

IRT West Side Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


IND 8th Avenue Line at 34th Street - Penn Station by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

[Nexis4Jersey]

PATH Harrison Update

• Video Link

[mrnyc]

curbed asks - just close laguardia?



THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS

Let's Just Close LaGuardia Airport & Replace It With Housing

Friday, May 8, 2015, by Jessica Dailey

What if sad LaGuardia Airport was replaced with high-density housing?

It is a well-established fact that LaGuardia Airport is horrendous, and the long-awaited but continuously delayed renovation is starting to seem more and more like it will never happen. So maybe we should just give it up entirely. That is essentially what George Haikalis, a civil engineer and transportation planner, argues in an op-ed published today in the New York Times. Haikalis makes the case for closing LaGuardia Airport and putting the money that would be spent rehabbing it to expanding service at the much larger JFK and Newark Airports. As for what could replace LaGuardia? Why housing, of course.

First, Haikalis's reasons for shuttering LaGuardia:

1) With just two runways, it's incredibly small, and since it is surrounded on three sides by water, there is no way to expand it.

2) The location also makes "landing difficult and hazardous."

3) More than half of LaGuardia's flights are small regional jets with less than 100 seats each. Haikalis says, "Average loads per flight at La Guardia are only two-thirds those at Kennedy," and that most of these are duplicate flights.

4) 50,000 people living near the airport are "subjected to a level of noise higher than the standard deemed acceptable by the Federal Aviation Administration" (though this is also true of people living near JFK and Newark).

So what does Haikalis propose instead?

1) Expand service at JFK and Newark. "Kennedy, with its two sets of parallel runways, could handle many more flights, particularly as new air-traffic control technology is introduced in the next few years."

2) Eliminate the small jets that make up most of LaGuardia's traffic to improve airline efficiency. Many of these regional flights could be rerouted to smaller airports outside the city.

3) Create a fast, easy transit link between Manhattan and JFK. Haikalis says that the popularity of LaGuardis is thanks to its proximity to Manhattan. A cab ride during off peak hours takes just 20 minutes, and "a world-class, direct rail trip to Kennedy could match" that. Haikalis says the $4B budgeted for LaGuardia would be better spent on "a long-proposed one-ride express-rail link between Manhattan and J.F.K., by reviving a long-disused, 3.5-mile stretch of track in central Queens and completing the modernization of the terminals at Kennedy."

All of these ideas seem reasonable, but it's Haikalis's proposal for what could replace LaGuardia that will likely stir up the most debate:

Finally, think of what the 680 acres of city-owned land on which La Guardia sits could be used for. If built at the density of Co-Op City in the Bronx — which has around 15,000 housing units on 338 acres — it could accommodate over 30,000 homes. Even more could be built in nearby areas, where growth is currently restricted because of La Guardia's flight paths. This would contribute significantly toward Mr. de Blasio's plan to develop 200,000 units of affordable housing.

It's good to have dreams, isn't it?

· Don't Rehab La Guardia Airport. Close It. [NYT]
· What If LaGuardia Airport Expanded Into the Bronx? [Curbed]
· All LaGuardia Airport coverage [Curbed]

[Nexis4Jersey]

Harrison PATH Station Update from Brandon Nagle

The ugly metal panels are history!

[THE BIG APPLE]

NYPD Still Keeping NYC Subway Seats Safe From Dangerously Tired Feet

AnimalNY

For some reason, it’s often in the dead of night — when most subway trains are virtually empty — that the NYPD enforces the MTA’s one-seat-per-passenger rule.

A 24-year old waitress from Sunset Park learned this the hard way, when a late-night commute from her East Village restaurant resulted in a $50 fine and a disheartening encounter with New York’s Finest. On Monday at around 2:45AM, the woman who prefers to remain nameless was one of five passengers on an N train in Brooklyn. Two of them were taking up multiple seats, and after spending eight hours on her feet, she thought nothing of resting her legs on the seat next to hers.

She was shocked when a policeman standing on the platform at Pacific Street singled her out and ordered her to get off the train. She says that three other officers joined him and “surrounded” her on the platform while they took down information from her ID.

“At first I assumed there was something wrong with the subway, or maybe there was something going on,” she said to ANIMAL. “I asked, ‘Is everything okay? Have I done something wrong?’ I was nervous since the train was leaving and I knew I’d have to wait at least 40 minutes for another.”

It took several minutes before they finally explained what was happening: her feet were on the seat, and she was being fined for “obstruction of quality of life.” Having never heard of this rule, she asked if any relevant information was available. An officer curtly replied that there are “Rules & Regulations” pamphlets at every MTA booth. But when she asked an MTA employee upstairs, she says “he looked at me like I was crazy,” and informed her there were no such materials.

“I take that train all the time, maybe four nights a week, and I’ve never seen cops do anything like that. I’ve seen some really weird stuff at three in the morning, and they’re never there when people are peeing on the platform, or harassing you. If they had just given me a warning, I would have stopped and never done it again, knowing it was a violation. It just doesn’t seem right.”

Section 10 of the “Rules of Conduct” listed on the MTA’s website states that passengers may not “place his or her foot on a seat on a station, platform or conveyance.” But what upset her most was being fined for her first violation of a rule that’s not posted anywhere, and the way the cops dealt with the situation.

This is by no means the first instance of cops cracking down on late-night commuters to meet their quotas, but it always comes as a shock when these types of tickets are issued so arbitrarily.

“It made me feel like the NYPD aren’t there to keep me safe. I was taken off the train in the middle of the night and I had to either wait alone for 40 minutes, get out of the train and walk home, or try to find a cab. I think they had some other motive for giving this ticket, whether they needed to fill quotas, or this guy just sort of felt like it. I think I was picked out to achieve something that had nothing to do with keeping the trains safe.”

She plans to fight the charges.

[chris08876]

Stringer Calls MTA Request for $1.3 Billion From City ‘Insulting’

Comptroller Scott Stringer labeled MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast’s request that the city chip in an additional $1.3 billion into the transportation authority’s capital budget “insulting,” arguing that the subways are in appalling condition and that the the MTA should seek the money from the state.

Releasing an report excoriating the cleanliness of the train system, Mr. Stringer lambasted the MTA today for asking the city for $1 billion toward the construction of the Second Avenue subway and $300 million a year for the general construction fund—a massive increase from the city’s current annual input of $100 million. The comptroller, charged with overseeing the city’s finances, blamed Albany and Washington for not providing adequate funding to the train system and attacked Mr. Prendergast’s request as “last minute.”

“I found it insulting that the head of MTA would turn around and ask for a billion dollars when the state has basically abdicated its responsibility for funding the transit system,” he told reporters. “So if you want a billion from the city, what did you ask the state for? Don’t play games with our subway system.”

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http://observer.com/2015/05/stringer...#ixzz3aJ4asf1N
Follow us: @newyorkobserver on Twitter | newyorkobserver on Facebook

[Nexis4Jersey]

New Platforms at Harrison Station

PATH Trains in Harrison,NJ by Corey Best, on Flickr


PATH Harrison Station Construction by Corey Best, on Flickr


PATH Trains in Harrison,NJ by Corey Best, on Flickr

PATH on the Dock Bridge over the Passaic River


PATH Trains in Harrison,NJ by Corey Best, on Flickr


PATH Trains in Harrison,NJ by Corey Best, on Flickr

[chris08876]

Design Student Aims to Improve Subway Stations by Installing New Exit Signs

Straphangers might've noticed that new directional signs have recently popped up in the 86th Street 4/5/6 station — but it's not the work of the MTA.

Ryan Murphy, a 21-year-old Rhode Island School of Design student, installed the unauthorized signs in hopes of better guiding riders toward their destinations — and maybe acing his college thesis. He said he believes the signs he's hung on the steps of subway stairwells are an improvement on the exit directions the MTA currently provides.

"The north, west, south and east signs, they’re not really an indication of where you’re going," said Murphy, a senior at RISD.

"I think there are ways to make them more helpful."

The MTA — which considers the signs vandalism and plans to remove them — does not agree.

Murphy installed eight signs, featuring white lettering on black plywood, on various stairwells in the station Thursday, indicating the streets that the exits lead to and the direction in which the person is heading.

For instance, on the southeast exit stairwell, the sign reads "West onto Lex Av." A sign on the opposite stairs reads "East towards 3rd Ave."

Murphy said he chose the 86th Street station because it's one of the busiest in the city, yet is still small enough to conduct his experiment.

The signs, which were also installed in two other Manhattan stations, are part of his college thesis called "Signage for NYC Subway Disorientation," which he will hand in at the end of the month, he said.

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http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2015...new-exit-signs

[Nexis4Jersey]

A Subway Delay Story

• Video Link

[Busy Bee]

They're just now thinking of this? Love the 8bit video though.

[chris08876]

Transit Visualization Interactive Map: http://tracker.geops.ch/?z=14&s=1&x=...88&l=transport

[Nexis4Jersey]

Hoboken mayor slams Port Authority for upping PATH train wait times

Passengers wait for the PATH train at Hoboken Terminal on May 19, 2015. (Kathryn Brenzel | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

By Kathryn Brenzel | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on May 19, 2015 at 2:39 PM, updated May 19, 2015 at 8:36 PM

HOBOKEN—Some passengers at Hoboken Terminal will have to wait a little longer to catch a PATH train to New York, and they can blame overcrowding in Jersey City for it, Port Authority officials told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday.

Passengers headed to 33rd Street from Hoboken now must wait seven minutes between trains instead of six, since Port Authority extended wait times in late April, said spokesman Steve Coleman. The changes only apply from 7:35 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and were implemented in order to decrease wait times at Jersey City stations, which have been experiencing "significant platform crowding issues" due to "high growth and ridership," he said.

Read More Here : http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2...oboken_to.html