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Halloween pranks against buses turn deadly
In a Halloween prank turned tragic, an MTA bus driver struck and killed a Bronx man who had just thrown a heavy object at the vehicle, shattering part of the front window,police said.
The incident raised the alarm of transit employees who were already on watch against increasingly violent pranksters on Halloween. Earlier in the day, a windshield on another Bronx bus was shattered after it was allegedly struck with a bullet from a BB gun.
In the fatal encounter, police said Luis Rivera, 22, was lying unconscious on Boston Road and Third Avenue after the Bx21 bus struck him at 10:30 p.m. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital and pronounced dead.
The incident was ruled as an accident and the driver, who was not identified, was not charged, police said. Passengers and the driver were not hurt.
It’s a time-honored tradition for kids in many neighborhoods to bomb buses with eggs on Halloween. amNewYork reported last week that NYC Transit deploys cleaning patrols on Halloween to remove eggs, which are a safety hazard.
The violence this weekend came as MTA workers tried to help each other out through Operation Pumpkin Patch, designed to raise awareness among drivers of their rights in case they are attacked. Concern was heightened this year because Halloween fell on a Saturday.
“We have no protection and no respect,” said Israel Rivera, a Bronx driver who was out assisting bus drivers on Halloween.(Photo by Israel Rivera Jr.)
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MTA rolls out fix to "jerky" hybrid buses
MTA buses have been doing the jerk.
Acceleration on the new hybrid buses have made for a rocky ride and caused some passengers to fall in the last year, NYC Transit officials said Monday.
“You get scared of getting flung to the front,” said Beverly Dawkins, 63, a frequent hybrid bus rider in Manhattan. “You felt stable on the old buses. Now you have to hold on with both hands.”
The rate of customers claiming injuries on buses rose by 13 percent from July 2008 to July 2009, which officials partially attributed to the jerking hybrids. The hybrids, which have been in service for more than a year, account for about a fourth of the MTA’s total fleet of 6,250 and are scattered throughout the agency’s bus lines.
“If someone was unsteady on their feet, it could become an issue,” said Joe Smith, Senior Vice President for buses.
The hybrids work like an electric golf cart, where stepping on the gas after a complete stop can cause them to lurch into action.
“The acceleration is very fast. I’ve seen people almost trip,” said Vaughn Brooks, a Bronx bus driver.
This month, transit finished outfitting all of its hybrids with a fix for the defect that will smooth the acceleration and make the ride similar to older bus models, Smith said. MTA officials said they expect the patch will bring down the rate of customer injuries.
Phoebe Kingsak contributed to this story.
hhaddon@am-ny.com
An M16 Clean Air Hybrid Electric Bus bus makes it way east on 34th Street in Manhattan. (Photo by RJ Mickelson/amNY)The MTA doesn’t expect it will hike fares to cope with a potential $115 million state budget cut, agency officials said Monday. The MTA is likely to postpone employee pension contribution to absorb the cuts that may come down later this year.
(Heather Haddon)Tags: mta, nyc transit, buses
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Bus shelters now displaying arrival times
It’s a common question on the streets of New York, sometimes peppered with some choice adjectives: Where’s the bus?
Starting today, riders on 34th Street got a large part of the answer, as the MTA installed digital displays at eight shelters along the M34 and M16 routes showing estimated arrival times for the next four buses.
“It already exists in London, Chicago and other cities and it’s what we need here,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a news conference in front of one of the shelters, on Park Avenue.
The displays, similar to those on the L subway line, were done free of charge by the contractor that built the shelters and, if the pilot program is successful, the MTA will purchase them throughout the city over the next few years, officials said.
Similar programs have been tried more than once and never worked, NYC Transit President Howard Roberts acknowledged.
“The difference here is . . . this has basically worked since they turned it on,” said Roberts.
The displays, which also give the time and temperature, are not perfect. A few times yesterday, a bus was listed as “due” several minutes before it showed up. Officials said that GPS devices in the buses communicate with the shelters and through an algorithm it is determined how far away they are.
Tags: buses, MTA, transportation
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Study: Police lax on preventing drivers from parking in bus lanes
Poor policing lets drivers score free parking in city bus lanes, according to a study released yesterday by the Manhattan borough president.
Researchers observing six busy midtown intersections found motorists blocked buses for up to 15 minutes in more than 350 different instances. Not one vehicle was ticketed during the 40 hours of spot checks.
“What’s the point of having these regulations if they are never enforced,” asked Borough President Scott Stringer.
At the worst intersection, East 42nd Street and Madison Avenue, motorists blocked a bus about every 90 seconds.
Taxi, livery cabs and limousines were the most frequent culprits, followed by private cars and delivery trucks.Tickets for blocking bus lanes are $115.
The NYPD issued nearly 1,800 summonses in the first six months of this year to drivers blocking the bus lanes, and the agency continues to ticket motorists “as resources are available,” a police spokesman said.
In February, the city installed video cameras to ticket drivers blocking the bus lanes on 34th Street, which shuttles 31,000 passengers a day on 30 routes.
City officials have lobbied Albany to allow them to expand the program, but state officials haven’t given it the green light.
City buses carry 2.4 million commuters during weekdays, according to the most recent MTA statistics.Tags: buses, MTA, new york city
