MTA

The MTA and the Partnership for New York City have announced the second round of the Transit Tech Lab accelerator program that launched earlier this year. The inaugural run selected six finalists to participate in an eight-week program dedicated to developing innovative, private sector solutions for the challenges facing our subway, bus, and rail services. Of those six, four companies have already started piloting their products with the MTA. The new round of submissions is specifically seeking entrepreneurs with products that improve accessibility (a major component of the MTA’s recently unveiled capital plan), enhance traffic coordination, or create new sources of revenue. Submissions are open through November 30.
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MTA report says subway speeds should be increased by 50 percent

Photo by Ed Schipul / Flickr cc

October 9, 2019

MTA report says subway speeds should be increased by 50 percent

By Dana Schulz

In June, Governor Cuomo advocated for an MTA task force that would specifically address issues related to subway speeds. After an initial analysis, the Speed and Safety Task Force found that subways in 2019 were running slower than they did 20 years ago due in large part to a flawed signal system and deficient posting of speed limits. Using that information, the Task Force released this week its preliminary findings, which note that "train speeds could be increased by as much as 50 percent" if these issues are fixed.
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NYC bus stops that are too close together slow down service, report says

Photo courtesy of the MTA on Flickr

October 8, 2019

NYC bus stops that are too close together slow down service, report says

A group of transportation experts released a new report yesterday identifying a simple way to improve bus service: space bus stops farther apart. While frequent bus riders have likely already identified this as a frustrating problem, the advocates found that 32 pairs of bus stops throughout the five boroughs are within 260 feet of one another—even though the MTA’s own guidelines stipulate stops should be at least 750 feet apart and international standards suggest 1,000 feet or more. As part of their new report, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign decided to bestow the worst culprits with a cheeky “Cozy Award,” as Gothamist first reported.
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Transit

NYPD will now monitor homeless New Yorkers 24/7 at some subway stations: report

Photo by arvind grover on Flickr

October 3, 2019

NYPD will now monitor homeless New Yorkers 24/7 at some subway stations: report

The city's police department has launched a new surveillance system to keep an eye on homeless New Yorkers at more than 10 subway stations, THE CITY reported on Thursday. NYPD officers will watch feeds from more than 100 live cameras that show views from stations and platforms in order to respond to "quality-of-life and public safety concerns," the city announced in August. The monitoring program comes as part of a city and state effort to address homelessness in the subways.
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Policy

DOT plans to roll out 14th Street ‘busway’ this week after judges give the stalled project a green light

Image via Oran Viriyincy / Flickr

September 30, 2019

DOT plans to roll out 14th Street ‘busway’ this week after judges give the stalled project a green light

It looks like the 14th Street busway will finally roll out this week following a court ruling on Friday. As Streetsblog reported, a panel of judges from New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division voted 3-2 to overturn an August 9th ruling that blocked the city from starting the pilot program. Not long after Friday's order was handed down, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of Transportation confirmed plans to begin implementing the busway on Thursday, October 3.
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Report suggests looking to zoning to speed up subway accessibility; map shows which lines lag

Photo via Carl Mikoy / Flickr cc

September 30, 2019

Report suggests looking to zoning to speed up subway accessibility; map shows which lines lag

Despite recent progress–and a federal lawsuit–only 23 percent of New York City's 493 subway and Staten Island Railway (SIR) stations are fully ADA-accessible, a statistic which puts the city dead last among the country’s 10 largest metro systems for accessibility of its transit stations. The MTA has made a commitment to funding accessibility in its much-discussed Capital Plan, but hundreds of stations are still without without plans for ADA access. On Friday Speaker Corey Johnson and the City Council released a report showing that the use of zoning tools to incentivize or require private development projects to address subway station access could speed up progress toward the goal of system-wide ADA access–and simultaneously cut public expense. The report, and an interactive map, show the current system, future plans and what the use of zoning tools could accomplish.
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MTA board approves $51.5B capital plan, largest in the agency’s history

Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr cc

September 26, 2019

MTA board approves $51.5B capital plan, largest in the agency’s history

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday approved its largest capital plan ever, with a $51.5 billion investment in the city's transit system. The 2020-2024 capital plan will invest a whopping $40 billion in subway and buses alone, which includes fully funding the long-awaited second phase of the Second Avenue Subway. In phase two, three new subway stations will be built with the Q train extending to East Harlem.
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Image via Wikimedia cc.

September 16, 2019

Express service on the F train beings today

As of today, the MTA has added four express trains to the F line during morning and evening rush hours. Two F trains will run express between the Church Avenue and Jay Street-MetroTech stations, stopping only at Seventh Avenue, during the morning and evening rush hours. Additionally, two Manhattan-bound trains will run express from Church Avenue between 7 and 7:30 a.m. and two Coney Island-bound trains will run the express route between 5 and 5:40 p.m. Previously, as the Daily News reports, the F train's route was the longest in the whole subway system without an express option.
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Transit

NYC’s subway is finally starting to improve, MTA says

Photo by Dan Phiffer on Flickr

September 13, 2019

NYC’s subway is finally starting to improve, MTA says

After an abysmal couple of summers, New York City's subway system finally saw significant improvement in service this year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday. According to data from the agency set to release in full next week, the on-time performance rate reached 84 percent on weekdays last month, up from just over 68 percent last August. That is the highest on-time performance, which measures the percentage of trains that reach their terminal location within five minutes of their planned arrival, recorded in roughly six years.
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Transit

MTA capital plan under scrutiny as Cuomo, transit watchdogs weigh in on top priorities

The MTA's five-year capital spending plan for major system-wide repairs from 2020 to 2024 has been under increasing scrutiny from public transportation watchdog groups, who have asked the MTA to provide more detailed priorities and policy goals for the project. The organizations–including the newly-formed Build Trust Campaign made up of TransitCenter, the Riders Alliance, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and Reinvent Albany, released a report Monday asking that the MTA and Gov. Andrew Cuomo significantly improve transparency in planning the project and provide a fiscal roadmap to outline the plans for major repairs to the subway, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and the bridges and tunnels that fall under MTA management, Curbed reports. Cuomo also issued a letter to the MTA board Monday outlining his own list of priorities for the Capital Plan.
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Expect more cuts to L train service this fall

Photo by Stephen Rees on Flickr

September 5, 2019

Expect more cuts to L train service this fall

While the L train slowdown has gone largely unnoticed so far by commuters, the MTA is throwing an unexpected wrench in next weekend's travel plans. The L train will not run between Manhattan and Brooklyn from Friday, Sept. 13 to early Monday, Sept. 16 to make space for new accessibility projects, the agency announced on Wednesday. The shutdown allows the MTA to install an escalator at the Union Square station and make the L and F, M platform at 14th Street-6th Avenue more accessible.
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Transit

Your guide to Labor Day weekend travel in and around NYC

Image via Flickr

August 29, 2019

Your guide to Labor Day weekend travel in and around NYC

The unofficial end of summer is here and many New Yorkers will celebrate the long Labor Day weekend by getting out of town for a quick getaway. To make things a little easier, the MTA will provide extra service on the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and to Staten Island on Friday, August 30 in addition to suspending all lane closures at its bridges and tunnels throughout the entire weekend. If you're planning an escape, note the following service changes before you go.
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Transit

Trump inexplicably offers help with Second Avenue Subway extension, with no plan in place

Photo via jseliger2 on Flickr

August 26, 2019

Trump inexplicably offers help with Second Avenue Subway extension, with no plan in place

President Donald Trump offered to help complete the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway in a tweet on Saturday, surprising New York officials who said no agreement had been reached. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is still seeking federal funding for phase two, which extends the Q line from its terminus at 96th Street north to 125th Street in East Harlem and is estimated to cost $6 billion.
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Transit

Large stretches of 1, 2, and 3 service will be suspended over the next two weekends

Image via Flickr

August 15, 2019

Large stretches of 1, 2, and 3 service will be suspended over the next two weekends

Service changes will get a little more painful this weekend as the MTA continues to upgrade the 1, 2, and 3 track switches north of the 96 Street station. The ongoing work is entering its final phase this weekend and will bring serious service outages. All 1, 2, and 3 service between Harlem and downtown Brooklyn will be suspended this week and next, beginning late each Friday evening.
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Transit

Council member wants free subway and bus rides for New Yorkers on major holidays

Via Flickr

August 9, 2019

Council member wants free subway and bus rides for New Yorkers on major holidays

A Brooklyn council member wants straphangers to ride the city's transit system for free on a handful of major holidays. Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents the 43rd District, will introduce next week a non-binding resolution that requests the Metropolitan Transportation Authority offer free subway and bus rides during six holidays, as the New York Post first reported.
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14th Street busway pilot program will begin next week after judge gives project green light

Image via Flickr

August 7, 2019

14th Street busway pilot program will begin next week after judge gives project green light

The city is set to begin a 14th Street busway pilot on August 12 after a judge lifted a temporary injunction on the project, Streetsblog reported. The busway had most recently been delayed after several block associations along the street filed a lawsuit against the project, claiming that the city failed to conduct an environmental review for the work. State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Rakower reviewed a traffic analysis submitted by Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Eric Beaton and found that the traffic, health, and safety impacts of the project fall within the city’s routine traffic management work, thereby allowing the project to move forward.
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MTA plans major upgrades for 100-year-old 42nd Street Shuttle

Image via Flickr

August 5, 2019

MTA plans major upgrades for 100-year-old 42nd Street Shuttle

The 42nd Street Shuttle is set to undergo a “historic transformation” as the MTA has announced plans to modernize the 100-year-old train that connects riders between Grand Central Terminal and Times Square, two of the busiest stations in the city. Work will include replacing the Times Square Shuttle terminal with a larger, fully accessible station, reconfiguring platforms at Grand Central, and modernizing the signaling system.
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Transit

MTA plans more elevators for 14th Street subway complex, making it fully accessible

Image via Flickr

August 1, 2019

MTA plans more elevators for 14th Street subway complex, making it fully accessible

After committing to install four elevators at the 14th Street and Sixth Avenue F, M, and L stop as part of a lawsuit settlement, the MTA has now announced it will also be adding elevators to access the 1, 2, and 3 platforms at Seventh Avenue. As The City reported, the 14th Street subway complex between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is one of the busiest stops in the city, servicing more than 48,000 riders a day. The expanded project will make the entire complex fully accessible, though it won't happen overnight.
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Transit

MTA board members are wealthier and whiter than straphangers

Via Flickr

August 1, 2019

MTA board members are wealthier and whiter than straphangers

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has the power to increase fares and approve service changes, looks nothing like the straphangers who use the transit system it oversees. A report released this week by the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany found MTA board members are richer, whiter, and more likely to live outside of New York City than riders.
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MTA board approves first transit reorganization plan in 50+ years

Image via Flickr cc

July 25, 2019

MTA board approves first transit reorganization plan in 50+ years

On Wednesday the 17-member MTA board approved a transformational reorganization plan–the agency's first in its 51 years in existence–that follows a report by Alix Partners, a consulting firm hired to financially streamline and outline what MTA chairman Pat Foye called "likely to be the biggest capital plan in MTA history.” The report recommends means and methods for improving service, ending cost overruns and project delays and reducing waste and duplication, building on the Subway Action Plan, which, according to the MTA, has been successful so far.
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MTA moves to create homelessness task force as outreach efforts come under scrutiny

Image via Flickr

July 24, 2019

MTA moves to create homelessness task force as outreach efforts come under scrutiny

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will launch a task force focused on addressing the New York City subway system's rising homeless population, which has risen by 23 percent so far this year. The task force is expected to assemble soon and will have 30 days to design a plan that will “measurably reduce homelessness and panhandlers on the subway” by the end of the year. The announcement comes on the heels of a newly published audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli which found that a contractor hired by the MTA to handle homeless outreach was inflating its work and actually turning away the needy, as AM New York reported.
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Deluge of dirty water from construction site next door floods Queens subway station

Image courtesy of @subwaycreatures via Youtube.

July 19, 2019

Deluge of dirty water from construction site next door floods Queens subway station

A rush of brown water flooded into the Court Square-23rd Street station in Long Island City Wednesday night, making for a soggy commute–and a dangerous one for one passenger who was nearly swept onto the tracks. The MTA said the unfortunate overflow was caused by a plywood construction wall in a nearby building site, where the skyscraper known as Skyline Tower is rising, giving way in the recent downpour, the Daily News reports.
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Nostalgia trains to roll into Coney Island this weekend

Photos via the New York Transit Museum

July 18, 2019

Nostalgia trains to roll into Coney Island this weekend

By Nicole Mondrus

This weekend, both history buffs and New Yorkers looking to hit the beach can ride on one of the NY Transit Museum’s vintage subway cars. Part of the museum’s “Nostalgia Rides,” on Saturday, passengers can board 1910s BMT B-Type Standards and 1930s IND R1-9 cars and ride them from the 96th Street/2nd Avenue station in Manhattan all the way to Coney Island.
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1, 2, and 3 lines will get hit with major disruptions over the next six weekends

Image via Flickr

July 18, 2019

1, 2, and 3 lines will get hit with major disruptions over the next six weekends