New York City - Transit News

[jmecklenborg]

Construction of the subway junction beneath Queens Blvd, plus a short subway section to the abandoned ROW, appears to be the main expense. The MTA probably estimated the replacement of every single existing overpass and abutment as a way of inflating the cost.

[Busy Bee]

I've been hesitant to even talk about this Queenslink/Queensway issue since I think Adams' announcement a few weeks ago was mostly just pandering and I'd be amazed if anything resembling a linear park materializes anytime soon...

But needless to say I'm for utilizing the ROW for rail transit and against squandering it on a stupid novelty bike bath that will be extremely difficult to co-utilize with any other use like transit and next to impossible to convert back to transit once it's a park. I'm not saying it should necessarily be subway, as some sort of rapid regional in the same form and vain as IBX as part of a larger system that I enjoy ruminating over is just as appealing to me. We do know that the IND built in a provision for a branch down the Rockaway Branch right after the 63/Rego Park station so they thought about it then and a Queens Blvd link is just as tempting as an LIRR mainline one. I am a bit confused by the advocates graphic there though. I'm unsure were the capacity would come from the allow a Sixth Av service (currently the M, hopefully someday the H) to use QB to the branch off but also returning G local service to 71 Av. That would be five services west of Rego Park, and I'm not sure how that would be done as it breaks the two services per track max capacity standard, unless the Broadway service becomes rush hour only or something with the G extended to 71 Av at all other times.

[Crawford]

It would be pretty much insane to squander an intact transit ROW in a dense, congested, transit-starved, immigrant-rich corridor. Of course, never underestimate the stupidity of politicians.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Crawford

It would be pretty much insane to squander an intact transit ROW in a dense, congested, transit-starved, immigrant-rich corridor. Of course, never underestimate the stupidity of politicians.

It seems "shovel-ready", in the sense that its alignment is obvious and non-controversial. What ought to be controversial is how that inexplicably high construction cost estimate was arrived at.

[Qubert]

I live next to the proposed Queenslink, and frankly the IBX is the far far more important project. The area around Queensway is not a transit desert in the same way Eastern Queens or SI is as there is the QB Line, (J) train and (A) train all intersecting it. The QB Line is already oversaturated and more and more commuters need to go to places other than Manhattan. I think the IBX needs to get built pronto then and only then should the idea of reactivating the RRB branch even be considered. For the cost of running a subway down the branch we could:

Run light rail down Woodhaven Blvd from Queens Center Mall to the Rockaways.

Run Light Rail lines out along The LIE, Union Tpke, Merrick Blvd, Hillside Ave, Lefferts Blvd, etc connecting to the subway.

Build a LIRR station at 63rd Drive Rego Park.

[mrnyc]

^ yeah, there is no question the ibx is top priority, especially over this.

just maintain it a bit and otherwise leave the queensway alone, like the highline was for so many years, until the city gets a pot of gold to reuse it as transit again.

its built to last and its not hurting anything.

making it a park would be a huge investment and one that people would not want to go back on in the future to turn it into rail vs the current fallow row as it is.

i mean, come on, no one is going to say hey lets turn the current manhattan highline park investment back into rail transit.

once its a park thats it for it.

[mrnyc]

what's a few bil for 640 new R211s?



MTA considering $1.78 billion additional spending to buy hundreds of brand-new subway cars

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on October 23, 2022


The shiny new carriages could be expected for delivery to New York between February 2025 and December 2026, per MTA procurement documents, and would replace the 1970s-era R46 cars on the A and C lines.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-spe...w-subway-cars/


The MTA board will vote this week whether to expand its order for brand-new R211 subway cars by $1.78 billion. File Photo by Kevin Duggan

[mrnyc]

hopefully this will stop the fare evasion which is freakkn totally out of control — but they need to flood busses too:


Fare evasion summonses have nearly doubled as cops flood subway system

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on October 31, 2022

more:
https://www.amny.com/police-fire/far...-flood-subway/

[nito]

New York must be one of the few world cities building new rolling stock that lacks open gangways as standard.

[Busy Bee]

MTA suffers from Butitsthewaywevealwaysdoneitosis. This we know. Painfully. Though I do suspect the R211 contract will be amended to include a larger percentage of open gangway cars but yes it should have been 100% open gangway for the entire order. This agency removes seats at the ends of cars to increase capacity, it's nuts to me they would give away the extra capacity with open gangway by resisting their adoption.

[mrnyc]

the last of the new s.i. ferries, named for activist dorothy day, was commissioned today to enter service:


A woman of vision’: Dorothy Day commemorated at commissioning of new Staten Island Ferry

Updated: Nov. 04, 2022,


more:
https://www.silive.com/news/2022/11/...and-ferry.html

[mrnyc]

good idea --


NYC to buy 51 electric school buses for $18.5 million

Dozens of electric yellow school buses are scheduled to roll on city streets as early as next fall, officials announced Tuesday.

The city is using an $18.5 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to purchase 51 electric school buses. It’s part of an effort to meet the city’s and the state’s shared goal of converting all New York’s school buses to run on electricity by 2035.


more:
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-to-bu...or-185-million

[mrnyc]

so glad to hear this and thank goodness, i hated walking over this bridge because super narrow pedestrian paths — they should be wide and allow for bike lanes too because its really nice views otherwise:


City proposes dedicated bus and bike lanes on Washington Bridge over Harlem River

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on November 7, 2022


The Washington Bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx may not be as large or iconic a crossing as the nearby George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River, but it could soon be the hottest ticket in town for area cyclists and straphangers.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/city-pr...-harlem-river/

[mrnyc]

some sort of final plan is due this year, but all we hear is crickets ...?



Bronx Metro-North Station Area Study


What’s next?

-- Continued input to build the plan with you!
-- Release of a final plan in 2022
-- Ongoing implementation


more:
https://www.nyc.gov/site/planning/pl...orth-plan.page

[mrnyc]

the lincoln tunnel goes cashless as tolls get deactivated dec 11th saving 11.5k metric tons of dwell time carbon emissions per year:


https://www.amny.com/transit/lincoln...ss-next-month/

[Busy Bee]

This is kind of a foamer mention but I'll just throw it out there that the first open gangway cars (R-211T) arrived the other day and will start to be seen being tested in the system. There's already several videos you can see on YT.

[mrnyc]

^ when you say being tested does that mean in the field?

like maybe us riders might come across them in the wild?

that would be good to see.

[Busy Bee]

^ I would imagine they would run test trains around the system just like that have and are still with the R211. I'm particularly interested seeing how the gangway accordions handle on some of the tightest curves in the system like Church St or the D off of Fourth Ave regardless of whether or not the cars will be assigned to that line.

[mrnyc]

a statement from janno leiber:


Politics
Op-ed | MTA moving forward after Election Day

By Janno Lieber
Posted on November 13, 2022


more:
https://www.amny.com/politics/op-ed-...-election-day/

[mrnyc]

the corrupt, wasteful and clownish coney island ferry saga:



Nature Has Its Way: Sand and Money Halt the Coney Island Ferry

A ferry was planned for Coney Island Creek. After spending millions on a new landing there, the City just pulled the plug.

By Coco McPherson
November 12, 2022


After years of planning and millions of dollars in public spending, there won't be a NYC Ferry stop in Coney Island after all. The announcement was made last month at a Community Board 13 meeting by the City's nonprofit arm that runs the ferry, the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

It was a startling development, given that a gleaming, multi-million dollar ferry landing is currently floating in Coney Island Creek at Kaiser Park, freshly constructed by the EDC for the ferry route it was now saying was untenable. EDC contractors had also dredged the creek to make it navigable, but the relentless tidal inflow of sand made that a Sisyphean effort; test ferries ran aground.


more:
https://hellgatenyc.com/sand-and-mon...y-island-ferry



dredging coney