Results tagged “nyctransit”

This morning the NYC Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives held their big awards show for the worst exemplars of poor bus service. The "top" prize is called the Pokey award; it's a golden snail on a pedestal, and it went to the poor sad crosstown M42, which had the slowest bus speed at 3.7 miles per hour, as clocked at 12 noon on a weekday. According to the award presenters, the M42 would lose a race with a five-year-old riding a motorized tricycle with a speed of 5 mph (as advertised by X-Treme Scooters). But the M42 wasn't the only bus to crawl away with a prize!

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."

Howard Roberts Jr., president of NYC Transit for the past 2 1/2 years, resigned today, leading many to suspect more resignations will come, as new MTA head Jay Walder wants to leave his own stamp on the agency.

NYC Transit is investigating an incident where a passenger photographed an X5 bus driver texting while on the FDR Drive and Gowanus Expressway. The passenger told Staten Island Advance, "He must have texted three or four times. I remember there was one instance on the FDR where he rolled into the right lane but quickly corrected himself. It was pretty frightening. We had a full bus...and even he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. I really don't get it."

NYC Transit's Nostalgia Train is back for tonight's game. According to its Twitter feed, "World Series: 4-car vintage 1917 IRT Nostalgia Special departs Grand Central 7:15pm to 161st St. Come join the fun. Go Bombers!!"

Subway managers on the No. 4 line have enlisted college interns to pose as subway riders and grade token booth clerks on their courtesy levels. It's unclear why the study, which was called "Operation Courtesy," was restricted to the 4 line, but NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton says, "It's like a mystery shopper program," in which storeowners' send fake shoppers to review staff. It's also unclear why the MTA needs to conduct an undercover sting to verify that workers can be gruff. But to be fair, we've found many of booth clerks to be exceptionally pleasant, considering they spend their days underground in a tiny box.

NYC Transit has been running the Nostalgia Train to Yankees post-season games lately—maybe the throwback fever has been spreading! A reader spotted that the old skip-stop 9 line, last in service back in 2005, appears on the MTA's website when you click on the subway map's Times Square stop.

Folks using the 1, 2 or 3 trains, start praying that NYC Transit is able to fix issues at Park Place by the evening rush. A reader had mentioned that a train derailed at Park Place earlier today and now the MTA's NYCT Service Alert page says:

"Due to a train with ongoing mechanical problems at the Park Place Station, 2 train service is running on the 5 line between the 149th Street-Grand Concourse Station and the Nevins Street Station in both directions.

Continue reading "Subway Delays Expected After "Minor" 2 Train Derailment"

First reports of a pregnant woman being removed from an L train and taken to the hospital yesterday morning—now news that a man had a heart attack on an A train at Columbus Circle last night! And he was saved—thanks to the efforts of cops, other passengers, and a heart defibrillator.

It might not be last weekend's subway hell, where almost all 20 subway lines were diverted due to much-needed service work, but there are still many diversions planned for this weekend. For instance, NYC Transit says for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and L lines, "Due to necessary maintenance work customers may experience 5 to 7 minute delays from the times listed in the published timetable" (hee, published timetable!) and "D Trains run local in both directions between 34 St-Herald Sq and West 4 St" (which is admittedly better than not running at all). Here are service advisories for today and tomorrow.

     

After offering the special four-car train during the ALDS, NYC Transit has brought back the Nostalgia Train (circa 1917 Lo-V cars) for the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Angels. You board the Nostalgia Train at Grand Central at 7:15 p.m.—NYC Transit says it will arrive "at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium about 30 minutes later."

Would you look at that—NYC Transit will be rolling out (in a pilot program) luggage racks on buses that go to JFK and LaGuardia Airports. According to the Daily News, "The racks, which replace several seats toward the back of the bus, debut Monday on the M60 route between Broadway and 125th St. and LaGuardia Airport. NYC Transit will have racks on 10 buses on seven routes in all that include stops at LaGuardia or Kennedy airports." The other routes are B15, Q3, Q10, Q33, Q48 and Q72, and one bus driver is already happy, noting that many customers complain about the luggage blocking the entrances, exits and aisles.

     

Subway hell weekend is behind us, and now the transit system has been restored to its hyper-efficient, fast-paced glory. But were this weekend's irritating disruptions worth all the agita? The MTA, obviously, says yes, and NYC Transit's Twitter page is filled photographic documentation that workers were so totally busy repairing the infrastructure.

Yesterday, 18 people suffered minor injuries when a B15 bus swerved to avoid a suddenly-stopped car on Troy Avenue in Crown Heights. The bus crashed into parked cars and then hit some more at the Atlantic Avenue intersection. One car burst into flames and a driver told the Post, "There were no horns and no brakes. I was trembling. The car door jammed and I couldn’t get out. I thought, ‘Lord, I got to lose some weight, I don’t want to die in this car.’"

With 18 of 20 subway lines experiencing (suffering) diversions, due to the NYC Transit's necessary track work, subway riders have had to be patient. And it's a rude awakening for some people: One told WCBS 2, "That seems like a lot at one time - 18 out of 20 - so very inconvenient for a lot of people. I'm new to New York, I don't know if this is a regular thing." Welcome to New York, buddy!

As we mentioned earlier, 18 of the 20 subway lines are undergoing weekend service changes. Why? Because NYC Transit is performing work on the lines that can't be done during harsher weather. We've got the laundry of service changes after the jump, but the topline is:Riders on the 5, A, F, G, L and E get the shuttle-bus transfer at various points along their routes; the 1, 2, 7, B, N, J and R will skip a section of stops; the 4, 6 and Q lines will run express at times, bypassing more stops; and the D will run on the N during midday hours tomorrow, skipping 12 Brooklyn stops. The lines that aren't getting the service treatment? The M, the Times Square shuttle and the Franklin Avenue shuttle.

A reminder to anyone going to tonight's Yankees-Twins game—you might want to take NYC Transit's Nostalgia Train, which leaves Grand Central at 3:45 p.m. The four-car train, which headed to the Bronx on Wednesday, makes "all express stops on the Lexington Avenue Line and arriving at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium about 35 minutes later."

Forget about the subway this weekend, just forget it; it's a perfect storm of aggravation: Of the 20 lines that operate on the weekends, 18 will suffer some type of "serious" delays between tomorrow and Sunday. Riders on the 5, A, F, G, L and E have to do the dreaded shuttle-bus transfer at various points along their routes; the 1, 2, 7, B, N, J and R will skip a section of stops; and the 4, 6 and Q lines will run express at times, bypassing more stops. Oh, and the D will run on the N during midday hours tomorrow, skipping 12 Brooklyn stops. Only the M line will be spared. Yeah, the M.

NYC Transit offered some folks heading to the Bronx for tonight's Yankees' ALDS playoff game a ride on a four-car Nostalgia Train, which originally began service in 1917 (they were retired in the 1960s). If you missed it today and are heading to Friday's game, keep this in mind, another "Nostalgia Special" will depart 42nd Street-Grand Central at 3:45 p.m. (it makes "all express stops on the Lexington Avenue Line and arriving at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium about 35 minutes later").

During his first day on the job, new MTA CEO Jay Walder announced a plan to install cameras on the front of city buses to take photos of any vehicles obstructing bus lanes. Like the city's red-light cameras, tickets will be issued automatically. Walder insists the innovation drastically improved the on-time performance of buses in London, where Walder worked before taking over the MTA. In February, the DOT began video surveillance of the "high-visibility" terra cotta-colored express-bus lanes on 34th Streets, but this would be the first time buses were used for enforcement.

Here's something you should take the over on: The MTA says it wants to implement new smart card fare payment technology for its family of services by 2014! Then again, it's not like it's building a Second Avenue Subway. In a Q&A (PDF) about its 2010-2014 Capital Plan, the MTA says that $220 million is dedicated to the program, which will "accept contactless credit, debit, and prepaid cards at the fare array (e.g., subway turnstiles, bus fareboxes, rail platforms). This system will speed payment, improve access to the system and provide opportunities for more seamless fare policy throughout the MTA region."

Is another transit strike looming on the horizon? Yesterday over 350 furious transit workers took to the streets outside MTA headquarters in protest, some carrying signs like the one seen here. The employees are outraged over an ongoing contract dispute with the MTA board, whose decisions are heavily influenced by the Mayor. The MTA is refusing to accept a plan to raise the hourly pay rate by more than 11 percent over three years; the deal was reached through arbitration in August, but now the MTA is asking a judge to toss it out, claiming that the panel "made legal and factual mistakes." The raises would cost the MTA 350 million dollars.

NYC Transit buses are crawling with roaches! It says so in amNY! Bus operators, mechanics and union leaders have told the city's easy-reading tabloid that the infestation has gotten out of control, because NYC Transit has cut back on cleaning. One Bronx NYC Transit driver says his bus was "chronically infected with hundreds of roaches during overnight runs, when they would crawl up the dashboard."

       

After part of its ceiling collapsed over two weeks ago, resulting in its closure for the past two weeks, NYC Transit has announced that the West 181st Street station is open at 5 a.m. today for morning rush hour service: "Work over the past weekend was performed by an outside contractor and MTA New York City Transit maintenance personnel to stabilize some additional areas of loose brick and reposition scaffolding to maximize space along the platforms at both 168th Street and 181st Street stations."

With the ceiling collapse at the West 181st Street subway station causing diversions and delays on the 1 line north of 168th Street at least through the weekend, concerns and complaints about the MTA's slowness to fix anything have increased. Mayor Bloomberg said, "It just goes to show the MTA has for decades underfunded what they needed to do to not just expand, but to maintain our stations," while a student said, "[The MTA] needs to improve. I don't want to waste the money getting up to school, especially considering the danger."

Perhaps you took the 1 train last night and got the rude awakening that 1 service was suspended due to a ceiling collapse onto the tracks at the West 181st Street station. Or maybe you got the NotifyNYC alert this morning, "Until further notice, the number 1 train will not be passing through the 181st street station. For the morning rush hour, all passengers are being shuttled 2 blocks east to the A line. The south bound 1 line's last stop will be the 215th street station. Northbound, the last stop will be the 168th street station." (More details on the transit alert here.) Either way, 1 train riders on the nine stops north of 168th Street are screwed for the time being. In terms of the collapse, luckily no one was hurt, according to the Daily News, which says "a 20- to 30-foot section of the ceiling, including an old stone arch, caved in about 11 p.m. Bricks covered both uptown and downtown tracks and platforms." Workers have been trying to clear the tracks since the collapse; you can see more pre-collapse photographs of the station at NYC Subway.

Some morning subway commute madness: A downed power line has caused problems with the 4 and 5 subway lines. According to initial reports, a subway entering the Wall Street station hit a low hanging power line. The wires sparked and fell next to the train car. The train's passengers need to be evacuated, but power needs to be cut off first. Additionally, when the wire fell, smoke filled the station, which was also evacuated. Here's the MTA's alert: "Due to hanging cables at the Wall Street Station, there is no 4 and 5 train service between the Nevins Street Station and the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Station in both directions. Please expect delays in 4 and 5 train service at this time."

Like most agencies out there, the MTA is making cuts, and NYC Transit is eliminating around 360 jobs. According to the Post, the jobs span cleaning, maintenance, painting and management: "63 of 1,201 subway-car cleaners and 25 of 1,515 station cleaners will be gone next year, Howard Roberts, the MTA's subway and bus chief said yesterday. Between 2009 and 2010, 308 of 2,420 managerial positions at NYC Transit will be cut."

Attention B61 riders and IKEA shoppers, Curbed reports that the bus line may be splitting up in the future. They say the line "will be split into two routes in an effort to improve service. One line run from Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn, and the other from Downtown Brooklyn to LIC (dubbed the B62). The change would reportedly go into effect in January 2010 if it gets approved by the MTA." We spoke to Paul Fleuranges at NYC Transit and he confirmed the news, saying, "We have in fact had discussions with the community on rationalizing this route in the hopes of providing more consistent and efficient service for our customers while maintaining a high degree of operational reliability." Just like what parents say before you suddenly get two Christmases.

The war on graffiti continues, and The Man is winning. According to the Daily News, police and Transit surveillance teams have cut in half the number of subway graffiti "attacks." Just last year graffiti was on the rise, and that's when the NYC Transit folks launched The Eagle Team (really), who have allegedly seen a 46% drop so far this year, with just 53 graffiti raids. Reportedly the team focuses on the railyards while NYPD squads keep their eyes peeled on tracks between stations. NYC Transit VP Vincent DeMarino declared, "The word is getting out. It's not so easy in New York anymore. You have a good chance of getting caught." Especially now that they've increased manpower; clearly the best way to utilize money and the NYPD labor pool. An interesting addendum: that subway window ad idea used to deter scratchiti was actually deemed unsafe, since officers couldn't see into cars from the platform.