MTA

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

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September 10, 2019

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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Your guide to Labor Day weekend travel in and around NYC

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

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

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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

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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

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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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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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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

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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

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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

The MTA is preparing an extensive upgrade to track switches on the 1, 2, and 3 lines at and north of 96 Street, which will cause significant weekend service changes for the rest of the summer. The work will be done in three phases over the next six weekends, with reduced service expected throughout the Upper West Side. During the final two weekends of repair work in August, there will be a full suspension of service at all 1, 2, 3 stations between Harlem and Downtown Brooklyn. “We scheduled the work for these summer weekends when our ridership has been historically low,” the MTA said.
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New consulting firm report suggests the MTA cut costs by merging 40 groups into six departments

Image via Flickr.

July 15, 2019

New consulting firm report suggests the MTA cut costs by merging 40 groups into six departments

AlixPartners, a Manhattan-based consulting firm hired by the MTA this year has released a report with recommendations for ways the organization can save money, AM New York reports. Suggestions include a reorganization plan that would see the MTA, including the Long Island Rail Road, consolidating back-office operations and merging more than 40 groups into six departments. The firm was paid $3.75 million to come up with two reports; additional suggestions for the first reorganization in 50 years include the hiring of new high-level positions to oversee changes, and updating union contracts to attract top talent.
Also: new hires and no more cheating on overtime

10 Brooklyn stations won’t have overnight L train service for nine weekends

Via Flickr

July 8, 2019

10 Brooklyn stations won’t have overnight L train service for nine weekends

A large part of the L line in Brooklyn will not be available during overnight hours for nine weekends, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Saturday. Starting on July 16, there will be no L service from midnight to 5 a.m. between Broadway Junction and Lorimer Street spread out across nine different weekends until January. L train service has been reduced since April when the 15-month reconstruction and partial shutdown of the Canarsie Tunnel began.
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After a four-year renovation project, N train service in Brooklyn is fully restored

Photo via Wiki Commons

July 2, 2019

After a four-year renovation project, N train service in Brooklyn is fully restored

By Dana Schulz

The average New Yorker's biggest MTA gripe is delays at their station, but imagine having no station at all for two years? That's what residents in the Bensonhurst area of Brooklyn have endured. Beginning in July 2017, seven Coney Island-bound N train stations, starting at Fort Hamilton Parkway in Borough Park and stretching to 86th Street in Gravesend, were closed as part of the Sea Beach Line restoration project. After a sixth-month delay, the final phase is now complete, with four stations in Bensonhurst finally reopening, reports The City.
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Governor Cuomo wants to test self-driving subways in NYC

Image via Flickr

July 1, 2019

Governor Cuomo wants to test self-driving subways in NYC

During a three-day trip to Jerusalem last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo toured the offices of Mobileye–a supplier of autonomous driving software—with the possibility of applying those same technologies to the MTA. "We have seen tremendous growth in software development for navigational systems to make automobiles safer and more reliable, and if this software works well on the road then we owe it to commuters to test its application for train and rail," Cuomo said in a statement.
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Google Maps can predict how crowded your subway or bus will be

Photo © 6sqft

June 28, 2019

Google Maps can predict how crowded your subway or bus will be

Google Maps has just released a couple of upgrades that should make New Yorkers' commutes a little bit easier, or at least, slightly more predictable. From now on, the app will be able to tell you how crowded your subway, bus, or train might be, so you can decide if you prefer to squeeze in or wait for a vehicle where you're more likely to snag a seat. The upgrades also expand the app's live traffic delays for buses (which began rolling out in December 2017) to cities that didn't already provide those updates.
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MTA will bring food and retail options to three of the city’s most trafficked subway hubs

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June 17, 2019

MTA will bring food and retail options to three of the city’s most trafficked subway hubs

As subway newsstands continue to decline, the MTA is reconsidering its retail strategy at three of the cities busiest stations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Riders will soon have more underground dining and shopping options, as the agency seeks to replicate the success of Grand Central Terminal—which teems with a wide range of bars, restaurants, and shops—and the Turnstyle Underground Market leading to Manhattan's 59th St-Columbus Circle Station. The three stations set for a revamp are 42nd Street-Port Authority, 42nd Street-Times Square, and 47th-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center.
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MTA rolls out rainbow MetroCards and train decals for Pride month

Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit

June 13, 2019

MTA rolls out rainbow MetroCards and train decals for Pride month

By Dana Schulz

The Federal government may be banning Pride flags at U.S. embassies, but here in New York, our city agencies are prouder than ever to show off the rainbow. The latest initiative comes from the MTA, who has revealed a special set of Pride MetroCards, along with Pride-themed Transit merchandise and a new Pride logo on select subway cars. All of the festive additions mark not only World Pride being hosted in NYC this year but the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
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Judge rules accessibility lawsuit against the MTA can move forward

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June 6, 2019

Judge rules accessibility lawsuit against the MTA can move forward