Results tagged “delays”

During the first nine months of the year, LaGuardia, Newark, and JFK have maintained the worst record for on-time arrivals among the 31 major U.S. air hubs, according to the FAA. And because so many flights pass through these hubs, nearly three-quarters of all delays in the U.S. could be traced to a problem in New York. The line of planes waiting to land at LaGuardia Airport can sometimes stretch unbroken in the sky for 40 miles, according to one air traffic controller, who tells the AP, "All we can do is take them and space them out as close as FAA rules allow. It's not like you can put more aircraft in there. That's it. We're just maxed out."

It's like white noise at this point — the NY Post's headline reads: "Expect subway service disaster this weekend." Shocking, shocking news. The good news, however, is that the Transit Riders Council, an MTA watchdog group, is finishing up their underground study (results of which will be available in early 2010). For weeks they've "monitored trouble spots and found stations without adequate signs as well as seriously delayed trains."

Having to cram into a crowded subway car has been one thing these past few weekends as the MTA got to work on station and track renovations decreasing service on 18 of its 20 subway lines. But this weekend should be interesting, what with Halloween and the NYC Marathon in the mix.

Questionable behavior is no stranger to disgraced former top cop Bernard Kerik, who is sitting in jail in Westchester County waiting for his trial on corruption charges. But now the judge who revoked his bail is concerned with his behavior.

Move over geese, according to the NYC Aviation website, JFK airport was overcome with turtles today, 78 diamondback terrapin turtles, each weighing 2-3 pounds, to be exact.

The long, long-awaited Fulton Transit Center will be completed in 2014. Well, that's what the MTA thinks—though MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger claims MTA construction chief Michael Horodniceanu "has, at least to me, signed it in blood." Why in blood? Because the project is seven years late.

NJ Transit commuters have been dealing with the brunt of delays after some wires "came down near Metropark in Iselin Monday night," the AP reports. First, NJ Transit trains were delayed by an hour in both directions on the popular Northeast Corridor route (some trains were even canceled), but now the delays are about 15-30 minutes because three of four tracks are now open. Amtrak customers were facing delays of about 20 minutes. It's unclear what caused the wires to be damaged, but we're betting some of those trains were getting a little tense with St. Patrick's Day revelers.

A new report from the business-oriented group Partnership For NYC says that local air traffic congestion cost our economy $2.6 billion last year. Delays that stem from the one-third of nationwide flights that go through New York end up having an impact in causing a delay in three-quarters of the nation's flights. Kathryn Wylde, the head of Partnership, thinks that it's time to modernize air-traffic control and routes that planes use nationwide—a move that would cost an estimated $22 billion. Doing so would allow planes to take full advantage of satellite-based air navigation and no longer only use long and straight arrival paths. She thinks that now is the perfect time with the downturn in the economy giving a breather to the heavy stress on air traffic "for all the wrong reasons," much like the lightening of congestion after 9/11. Wylde feels that the billions costing New York represent a much bigger cause for alarm saying, "Not having the air traffic control system is costing us $1.6, $1.7 billion a year. Put those numbers together (with other cities' costs) and $22 billion is going to look like chump change."

Newark airport had the worst on-time arrival rate in all the land in 2008, according to the federal DOT, which just released its year-end report [PDF] on flight delays. Go EWR! This is the the fourth time in the past six years Newark won the top prize for tardiness, coming in second place in 2007 and 2004. Last year flights to Newark arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled time only 62.32% of the time; by comparison, the airline industry's overall on-time rate is 76%. (A 2.6% improvement over '07!) For the record, La Guardia was second-worst and JFK ranked fourth. Airlines blame the delays on congested air traffic in the New York region, which is only exacerbated by inclement winter weather and high winds. The study also found that one of the worst flights you could possibly take in '08 was the consistently delayed ExpressJet Airlines Flight 2019 from Hartford to Newark, which was late 93.3% of the time. Of course, when Newark's the destination, why rush? [Via Star-Ledger.]

Yesterday, Long Island Rail Road train derailed west of the Jamaica Station, which Newsday reports "caus[ed] major damage to rails and switches"; luckily no one was hurt. Even though repair crews have been working on it through the night, the MTA has cancelled 12 westbound Monday morning trains into Penn Station and Flatbush Avenue and modified other services, telling customers they "should anticipate significant schedule changes and possible delays"--check the MTA's service alert. LIRR Riders Council chairman Gerry Bringmann said, "Thank God this happened on a weekend. The fact that we have two [accidents] within four or five days - that's scary stuff," referring to the Wednesday incident where two LIRR trains bumped at Jamaica Station. The MTA says yesterday's derailment is being investigated but it's "not related to the train sideswipe that occurred in Jamaica on November 19."

After three incidents where bottles have been placed outside the outbound Lincoln Tunnel--ensnaring commuters in hours of delays as the Port Authority police investigated--the authorities have finally made an arrest. The Jersey Journal reports that 39-year-old Lawrence Fellilppello of Vernon, NJ was charged with making a terroristic threat and the police are also looking for a second person. As for how the case was cracked: "Port Authority police had put out information concerning the type of device recovered and another police agency realized they had made a motor vehicle stop some time ago where they had seen similar items in a vehicle."

Last Friday afternoon-into-evening, commuters leaving NYC through the Lincoln Tunnel were treated to hours of delays, because a suspicious package was left on I-495 West. It turned out to be two bottles filled with an ultimately harmless liquid, but the damage was done: Traffic was diverted to local roads in NJ, commuter bus passengers were hating their devotion to mass transit, and there were still hours of residual delays.

The MTA is sick and tired of your careless newspaper disposal, so they made a mock newspaper to school you in changing your ways! WNBC reports on the Subway Gazette, which outlines the hot topics underground, including how your trash can lead to subway delays.

Once on the tracks, trash can help spark track fires or clog drains along the roadbed and that can lead to flooding. Smoke conditions and flooding lead to delays in train service and, in the case of fires, they can be extremely dangerous.

Continue reading "The MTA's Subway Gazette"

In one of life's crueler ironies, it's usually either extreme heat or extreme rain that forces people to stand sweltering on a subway platform or out into the drenching elements. Today it's the former: subway service is still a disaster on several of the city's lines.

Senator Charles Schumer, longtime critic of area airports, seized upon a study that shows delayed flights mean $4.9 billion is lost in the local economy.

      

What's another delay of 12 to 18 months for the Fulton Street Transit Center? The proposed hub, which would link 11 different subway lines and has been in the works for years, was originally supposed to open this year, but costs for the hub have escalated, from the initially planned $750 million to well over a $1 billion.

If you actually believed the recent fare hike would go toward service improvements on city subways and buses, the MTA has a bridge to sell you. Due to a slowdown in real estate tax revenues, the agency said yesterday that it would have to postpone any planned service improvements promised to come with the fare hike. Despite already projecting a decrease in tax revenue, the MTA fell $21 million short of its projections for the year, with the MTA's CFO Gary J. Dellaverson saying, "We took these tax projections down quite dramatically from last year, and they are quite dramatically underperforming."

Oh, MTA - you and your outlandish idea of putting a glorious glass dome at the renovated Fulton Street Transit Center! The proposed design, unveiled in 2004, seemed an inspiring idea for the agency. But, after years of attempts to start construction, costs have risen to $1.15 billion, from the initially estimated $750 million, causing MTA executive director Eliot Sander to say, "I am sad to say that we cannot build the transit center as currently envisioned in this market." In other words, good-bye dome-oculus thing!

We don't know whether to laugh or cry. Last year, the MTA said that Fulton Street Transit Center would be completed by the end of 2008, leading Gothamist to write "that really means the end of 2009." Now the MTA goes beyond our forecasting and says that the project probably won't be done until 2010. Sucks to continue to be you, downtown commuters.

A report compiled by New York City Transit indicates that delays in on-time performance by subway trains have increased every since 2004. According to The New York Times, the delays are worst during the subway rush hour, when 8% of trains fail to perform according to schedule. The NYC Transit report cited track work as by far the largest cause of delays, as transit employees attempt to modernize or even repair the subway. But...

Newsday reports that emergency track work at West 4th Street will be causing delays on the A, E, D and F lines. Apparently Brooklyn-bound F train will be running on the E between 36th Street Station in Queens and 42nd Street Times Square, and then the F will run on the A between Times Square and Jay Street-Borough Hall. And some other Brooklyn-bound F trains will "run on the D line from 47th-50th Street-Rockefeller Center...