MTA board members called "doody-heads" for slashing station agents

Wednesday October 28, 2009 6:38 PM By Heather Haddon

A union rep angry that the MTA is cutting red-vested subway station agents called agency officials “doody-heads” Wednesday.

“Month after month we beseech you to safeguard your riders. But you people are so removed from reality,” union representative Andreeva Pinder told the board Wednesday. “You guys are just a bunch of doody-heads.”

The MTA is eliminating through attrition the agents that roam subways and assist customers. The cut will save $52 million a year, with the agency closing 100 station booths and eliminating 282 agent positions last month.

“The MTA took a decision … in light of the financial situation in regard to this program,” MTA chief Walder said in an interview with reporters after his first board meeting yesterday.

All 468 subway stations will continue to have one agent on duty at all times, Walder said.

In other MTA news:

- Walder will continue to fight a contract giving 35,000 transit workers raises of more than 11 percent over three years, and the majority of the MTA board backs the agency’s attempts to overturn the award, he said.

Several hundred transit workers took their frustrations to the streets yesterday during a protest at City Hall, chanting "Take a hike, Mike" and carrying "No contract, No peace" signs. Employees did not abandon their posts for the second “Day of Outrage,” union leaders said.

- A mini-revolution is underway with the MTA’s board documents with Walder pledging to post the wieldy information on the agency’s Web site before next month’s meeting. Walder said he was “shocked” to find that the material was still only publicly available in hard copy.

- In other news, on Monday the MTA will begin blasting through rock as part of construction on the Second Avenue subway between 91st and 93rd streest. Blasting can take place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., but the MTA said it will try to limit the noise to daylight hours.
hhaddon@am-ny.com

Routine egging makes Halloween a dreaded holiday for bus drivers

Wednesday October 28, 2009 6:13 PM By Heather Haddon

Kids are smearing the MTA — literally.

On Halloween, bus drivers are spooked by egg-wielding pranksters preying on buses, workers and even passengers in many neighborhoods. The yokes may be childish jokes, but the results aren’t so funny, with drivers getting hurt or having to put buses out of service.

“Once you open that door, that’s it. You’re in trouble,” said Al Vazquez, a Bronx bus driver who has gotten pummeled in the shoulder and head with eggs.

Worrying that the ritual will be worse this year with Halloween falling on Saturday, some union leaders have come up with “Operation Pumpkin Patch.” During the coyly named initiative, a band of workers will be out informing drivers about their rights if they are attacked with eggs.

On Halloween night, kids lob eggs at each other, but they also go after trucks and buses, said Manny Velazquez, chair of Community Board 12 in Washington Heights. The NYPD has stepped up its patrols of the neighborhood on the holiday given the bedlam, Velazquez said.

“It’s been a tradition,” he said. “Every year when you walk around the neighborhood, you see the eggs and the egg shells.”

When a bus is hit, passengers usually have to schlep off and wait for another one. Even worse, some kids launch extra painful hard-boiled eggs, and drivers said they have gotten egg shards embedded in their skin when hit.

Typically, miscreants lurk in the bushes or in bus shelters, and flee after waging their attack, drivers said. Some streets are littered with egg crates after the escapade.

“It’s almost like it’s a sport,” said Harry Wills, a Brooklyn bus driver.

Driving with a dirty windshield is a safety hazard, and the bus department deploys roving cleaning patrols on Halloween to quickly wash off the egg mess, NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said.

“The plan includes procedures to counter any vandalism, in particular egg throwing,” Seaton said.

Halloween duty typically falls to rookies, who don’t always know they can take a two-hour break if attacked with eggs. Vazquez drove with a soiled shirt after his first Halloween attack, which union leaders hope to prevent with their pumpkin patch mission.

“We will provide support for the junior members who have no other choice but to be out there on Saturday, as that’s when eggs grow wings and fly,” said Israel Rivera, a Bronx bus driver running for union leadership.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA rolls out fix to "jerky" hybrid buses

Monday October 26, 2009 7:22 PM By Heather Haddon

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)

MTA yanks paid sick time ads

Sunday October 25, 2009 8:02 PM By Heather Haddon

A blitz of ads advocating for paid sick time are to hit the subways Monday, with the spots highlighting the risks of ailing New Yorkers schlepping to work and school.

One version of the ad, however, will not make it onto the trains because it was rejected by the MTA. The ad warns about the dangers of spreading sickness underground with the pitch: “You might catch more than the subway this morning.”

“Who is holding the pole with you in the subway?” said Nancy Rankin, of A Better Balance, an workplace advocacy group. “It matters when other folks don’t get paid sick days.”

An MTA spokesman could not say Sunday why the ad was turned away.

A coalition supporting paid sick time forked over $30,000 to run 1,000 ads across the subways for four weeks.

Nearly half of New Yorkers don’t have paid sick time, many of them working in restaurants and other sectors with frequent public contact, according to A Better Balance.

A bill being considered by the City Council next month would require businesses to provide at least five sick days. A majority of the council members have signed onto the legislation, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg indicated he would sign it.

But businesses are in uproar about the bill, saying it would seriously impact their bottom line.

“It would be a huge expense in the worse possible economic time,” said Robert Bookman, counsel to the New York State Restaurant Association.

San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Milwaukee have mandated paid sick time.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

New MTA chief to tap British expertise in transforming transit technology

Thursday October 22, 2009 7:03 PM By Heather Haddon

The British are coming … to the rescue?

New MTA chief Jay Walder is dead set on bringing the city’s transit system into the 21st century, and he's looking to experts from across the pond to push forward long-stalled upgrades to subways and buses.

In one of his first proposals since assuming the MTA mantle three weeks ago, Walder expects to bring experts from the Transport for London, where he was a managing director, to help get countdown clocks running on city buses and trains as soon as possible.

“(The MTA) has had an incredibly difficult time with technology projects,” Walder said during an interview with amNewYork Thursday. “We are taking off the technological shackles.”

Since leaving the Transport of London for the MTA, the Rockaway native has met with officials across the city and MTA, and spent hours underground. One of his greatest delights is the subway art that has gone up since he worked for the MTA a decade ago.

“I jump off trains because I see artwork,” he said. “I just get a smile to my face.”

Walder hopes to get the ball rolling on the following in his first year at the MTA:

Technology
Digital signs telling riders when the next train’s coming first graced London’s subways in the 1980s. Shelters serving all 8,000 of London’s buses now list arrival times. In contrast, the MTA has just one subway and one bus line with arrival information.

“The reality is … this organization has had an incredibly difficult time with technology projects,” Walder said.

If the MTA board approves the agreement, British experts will begin offering their expertise almost immediately and at about half the cost for traditional consultants, Walder said. Spending on salaries and travel won’t exceed $500,000 during the two-year agreement, according to MTA documents.

Walder is also pushing for automated fare devices like the Oyster Card in London that allow riders to pass their card over a scanner, and envisions it will eventually allow commuters to pay for services across NYC Transit and regional rail lines. He’s also open to discount fares during the evenings and weekends if it would increase ridership.

Buses
Big on buses, Walder’s pushing for more dedicated bus lanes and ticketing of offenders. All British buses have cameras that transmit tickets to owners of cars stopped in bus lane.

Albany has resisted the cameras, but Walder thinks the increasing need for tax revenue will inspire lawmakers to think twice. He has generated interest in them with commissioners for the NYPD and Department of Transportation, he said.

Transparency
Walder wants to shake up how the MTA publicizes its financial and customer information.

The agency’s Web site is getting a major makeover and will be focused more on travel information and service alerts, he said. The MTA will also be more cooperative with developers making mobile applications with its information, he added.

“If people want to do applications on the iPhone, great, all power to them,” Walder said.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Jay Walder at a glance
Age: 50
Family: Married, three children
One of his favorite neighborhoods: Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
Favorite train: A train to the Rockaway
Favorite sports teams: Mets, Jets, Knicks, Rangers
Hobbies: Loves baseball and the theater
Favorite bagel: Sesame

Report: Big MTA projects suffer from delays, overruns

Tuesday October 20, 2009 6:44 PM By Heather Haddon

A good government group Tuesday denounced the MTA’s handling of big transit projects, criticizing the agency for rampant delays and cost overruns.

The study by the Citizens Budget Commission also pinpointed widespread lapses in reporting for MTA projects like the Second Avenue Subway. Researchers were struck by the “persistence and magnitude” of the discrepancies, said Charles Brecher, a report author.

Study authors reviewing the MTA’s $19 billion, 800-project capital plan between 2005 and 2007 found:

- Of the five big subway construction projects, only the South Ferry Terminal has gone according to schedule.

- Reports about station renovations failed to track about a third of the stops the agency committed to overhauling.

- The delivery of 1,280 new subway cars was eight months late, and a contract to improve subway communication cables is five years behind schedule.

New MTA chief Jay Walder acknowledged many of the report findings during a presentation Tuesday, and promised to include a database on the status of system upgrades on the MTA Web site by year’s end.

Transit advocates praised Walder’s idea, saying it will add more detail to what is available in monthly MTA board reports, which don’t reflect when projects are scaled back.

“You can’t see what’s happened with the scope of a project,” said William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. “You start out with a Rolls-Royce and end up with a Honda.”

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Disbelief at atheism ads

Tuesday October 20, 2009 2:14 PM By Jason Fink

A planned atheist ad campaign touting New Yorkers who are "good without God" is provoking the wrath of many who said it’s trampling on their religion.

"I teach my children to believe in God and lead a life faithful to Him," said Aime Roberts, 37, of the Bronx, when told of the campaign. "If my children see these ads that say there is no God, they’ll think their mother is lying."

The ads, which will begin appearing on posters in 12 subway stations Monday, pose the provocative question "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?"

The $25,000 campaign, financed by an anonymous donor, is meant to get the message out to non-believers that they are not alone, said Michael De Dora, a spokesman for the Center for Inquiry, a member of the coalition.

"We want to show New Yorkers there is a community out there where you can find like-minded people," he said. "There seems to be a groundswell of people who, at the very least, are curious about secularism."

The 1 million figure came from the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, in which 15 percent of people listed no religious affiliation; 15 percent of New York’s population is about 1 million.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, Joseph Zwilling, disputed the figure.

"I’m not really sure what their message is, to be honest," he said.

Many New Yorkers interviewed yesterday were offended by the content of the ads, which will run for a month.

"These aren’t good, you need to believe in God," said Rafael Rodriguez, 20, of the Bronx.

Charlene McNair-Lawery, 19, of Brooklyn, said she was dismayed by a trend toward taking religion out of the public sphere, mentioning efforts to remove the word God from the Pledge of Allegiance. "The MTA can just do whatever it wants and get away with it," she said.

A spokesman for the MTA, Aaron Donovan, said the agency prohibits nudity and vulgar language in advertising, but its guidelines protect freedom of speech and religion.

The campaign follows a similar one this summer by the New York City Atheists, who put posters on buses saying that one need not believe in God to be moral.

Jane Everhart, a spokeswoman for that group, which is not involved in next week’s campaign, said the time is ripe for such a message. She mentioned President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, in which he said America is a nation of non-believers as well as believers.

"We were recognized," she said. "That will go down in the history of atheism."

Phoebe Kingsak contributed to this story.

Station agents still working in closed booths

Thursday October 8, 2009 5:29 PM By Heather Haddon

The MTA closed 100 station agent booths last month — or did they?

Some agents are still staffing the booths because of a glut of workers on the MTA’s payroll. Other agents, meanwhile, are idling away at stations waiting for NYC Transit to give them work, union leaders said.

“They have a lot of people sitting around to do nothing,” said Andreeva Pinder, a union representative for the stations division.

In total, the MTA plans to cut 772 of the red-vested agents who roam stations helping customers, and close 158 booths in the next few years. The cuts will save the cash-strapped agency $52 million a year.

The MTA eliminated 282 station agent positions in September, but attrition takes time, and about 75 extra workers a day aren’t getting full-time station duties, Pinder said. The agents, who are paid $25 an hour, wait at stations until they are sent to fill in for an absent worker, or reopen one of the closed booths. Some pass the time by wiping down the MetroCard machines or helping customers, Pinder said.

Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said the extra workers allow the MTA to avoid paying overtime when a station agent calls out.

“This was done to maximize savings from the program,” Seaton said. “Extras with nothing else to do will be assigned to help out in stations.”

The MTA estimates that 10 station agents retire or quit a month, but Pinder says the numbers have dropped with the poor economy.

Meanwhile, the empty booths have made for lost tourists and inconvenienced passengers, according to station workers.

“The customer service situation is the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Marvin Holland, a cleaner running for union office. “I’m getting yelled at a lot.”

Agency officials said that at least one booth operator will be on duty in each subway station at all times, and straphangers stuck on the opposite platform can call the worker through an intercom.

Transit started the station agent program in 2005 at 158 locations, more than half of them in Manhattan. An internal study found that the activity level of most of the agents was “low.”

Next year, the MTA plans on spending $5 million to install 83 tall turnstiles typically used at exits not manned fulltime, according to agency documents. 

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Big diesel spills likely to remain underneath bus depots for decades, experts say

Tuesday October 6, 2009 7:23 PM By Heather Haddon

The East New York Bus Depot is one many depots which have oil tanks which have leaked, contaminating the soil and groundwater.   (Jefferson Siegel)

These fuel slicks are likely here to stay.

Almost two decades after the MTA discovered them, thousands of gallons of pollutants still lie in soil and groundwater beneath bus depots across the city from years of diesel spills.

It could take a century to mop up the largest spills, and the pumps can’t suck up all of the contaminants because they have mixed with the groundwater, according to environmental consultants.

And no matter how much diesel is removed, the health risks and damage to nearby waterways will remain for generations, said Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting, an environmental research company specializing in contaminants.

“It’s not trivial,” Hang said. “You are being exposed every single day if you live or work above a huge spill.”

MTA’s dirty discovery
During the early 1990s, NYC Transit discovered leaks among fuel storage tanks underneath many of its bus depots. The total amount spilled is not known but the leaks were sizable, state officials said, with a total of 215,000 gallons of contaminants seeping under just the Mill Basin and Jamaica bus depots alone. Over the years, the spills from the two depots have spread onto nearby residential property.

The leaks haven’t been contained to land, however. In 1997, officials discovered that petroleum from one Bronx depot leaked into the freshwater Hutchinson River, which feeds a bay heavily used by boaters.

In 2001, NYC Transit agreed to clean up contamination at 32 facilities across the city. So far, workers have removed a total of 300,000 gallons of contaminants across those sites, and the MTA has spent at least $120 million to replace the leaking fuel storage tanks and clean the sites. The MTA is requesting $19 million for additional work in the next five years.

Health dangers
Benzene and other chemicals in diesel are carcinogens that can cause leukemia and immune deficiency with prolonged exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The fumes can also cause dizziness and headaches.

“We used to smell the oil,” said Pauline O’Conner, 60, who still relies on seven medications to combat migraines she developed living next to the contaminated Flatbush Depot in Mill Basin. O’Connor has since moved to Staten Island.

However, MTA officials argue that the air around the depots presents no health risks to transit workers or nearby residents. City drinking water is from upstate, and a handful of wells tainted by the pollutants have been closed, officials said.

Surprise for new neighbors
Residents who in recent years moved near the Jamaica depot were upset to find out recently from a reporter about the contamination. They say they said have eaten vegetables grown in the potentially polluted soil, though it has not made them sick.

Eventually, the bigger spills could flow to city waterways and threaten sea life, according to Hang.

“These spills are unbelievably huge,” he said.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

New MTA chief starts work with plans for innovation

Monday October 5, 2009 6:34 PM By Heather Haddon

Give him 100 days, and the MTA’s new chief said he will start showing what he can do to shake up the world’s largest transit system.

“The system we have today is so much better than we what had just a little while ago. But we shouldn’t be satisfied with it,” said Walder, 50, while greeting No. 7 straphangers in Queens yesterday during his first day on the job.

A former executive for the London transit system, Walder returned to his New York roots for a six-year term as the agency’s new CEO and chairman. Walder previously worked as an MTA executive for 12 years. During that time, he was instrumental in introducing the unlimited MetroCard and securing funding for infrastructure improvements, transit advocates said.

Three months from now, Walder said he will have a plan to improve service for straphangers. His proposals will likely include:

— Replacing the MetroCard with a tap-and-go payment system that automatically deducts from a commuter’s bank account.

— Creating and enforcing dedicated bus lanes to speed up rides, rather than trying to resurrect congestion pricing.

— Making the MTA’s Web site more user friendly, and give developers more access to agency data to build mobile phone applications.

— Expanding the number of digital signs telling commuters when the next bus or train will arrive.

— Looking to speed up buses through a quicker payment method rather than free fares, which Bloomberg proposed for some crosstown buses.

Still jetlagged after arriving from London Sunday, Walder said he has not found a permanent home for his family, but intends to commute daily by public transit.

“I love New York. It’s my home city,” said Walder, a Jets fan and bagel devotee. “This is an absolutely tremendous system that’s bigger and bolder than anything else in the in the world in terms of transit.”

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Risky conditions plague some MTA stations, local officials say

Sunday October 4, 2009 7:14 PM By Heather Haddon

Busted support columns, long cracks along already weakened retaining walls and crumbling elevated structures.

These are the potentially dangerous conditions that straphangers have lived with for years at some subway stations, despite the complaints of local officials.

New Yorkers got a wake-up call to the the sorry state of some MTA stations when in August a huge swatch of the ceiling in the 181st Street station on the No. 1 collapsed. Community board leaders said they had been voicing their concerns about safety at the station to transit officials for three years prior.

But it turned out that the 181 Street station was not alone in needing fixes.

A 2008 systemwide survey of 100,000 stairways, platforms and other parts of stations found that about a third of them were in disrepair, according to agency documents.

“That is an unacceptable situation,” said Robert Cumella, deputy chief for the MTA’s capital planning division.

For years, the MTA would only rehab a subway stop 35 years after its last spruce up. But recently, the agency decided that parts of stations which received a failing grade would be repaired without having to wait the 35 years. The agency intends to make fixes at 50 subway stations by 2014 and eliminate failing grades from the system within the next 15 years, Cumella said.

In the meantime, amNewYork profiles some stations local advocates have flagged as being in dire need of repair:

J/Z stations in Queens
Pedestrians walking along busy Jamaica Avenue should be ready to duck, as concrete chunks and large bolts have rained down from the elevated J/Z line in Richmond Hill and Woodhaven, according to local officials.

“Our complaints have fallen on deaf ears,” said Maria Thomson, director of the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation, who said she has reported the hazardous conditions to the MTA for two decades.

The agency painted the elevated line serving about 15,000 weekday straphangers in Queens. But few repairs have been made on the crumbling support structure, Thomson said, and local officials worry that someone will get hurt by a failing chunk of concrete.

The MTA agreed that the line needs work. In the 2008 survey, engineers gave 85 percent of the 104th Street station in Woodhaven a failing grade.

Smith-9th Street in Brooklyn
The concrete posts bolstering the system’s highest elevated station aren’t aging gracefully.

Built in 1933, several of the columns have cracks running up the cement, and one post is missing a four-inch thick wedge of concrete the height of a person.

“It’s very dangerous. You never know what’s going to happen,” said Salah Hassen, owner of a deli that is in front of the crumbling column.

The MTA has begun a $179 million rehab of the station, which serves 4,500 commuters daily. Workers wrapped the columns in supportive gauze, but the material does not cover the lower portions of the posts with the cracking.

Members of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA said they complained in recent months about the frightening disrepairs, but have yet to get a response.

The N line in southern Brooklyn
Homeowners along the N train have placed a lot of faith in the line’s structural soundness.

Houses along the train between Bay Ridge and Gravesend are built up to the stations, with a pitted retaining wall acting as the only barrier preventing backyards from spilling onto the tracks. Over the years, cracks over 20 feet long have formed along the retaining wall. Trees and vegetation growing out of the wall have contributed to weakening it, transit advocates said.

“You just don’t know when a slide could start,” said Andrew Albert, a MTA board member.

The stations, serving about 47,000 weekday riders, haven’t been overhauled in recent memory, Albert said. The MTA intended to begin rehabbing the stops in 2007, but postponed the improvements until 2012.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA investigating sign that apparently slights riders without English skills

Tuesday September 29, 2009 6:48 PM By Heather Haddon

This was no welcome sign.

A transit worker along the No. 7 line apparently made a public dig against straphangers without English skills recently, and the bizarre incident has left MTA officials livid, saying it falls contrary to efforts to increase public transit’s accessibility.

“It’s very upsetting to me,” John Hoban, general line manager of the No. 7 train, said yesterday. “It is the antithesis of what the No. 7 line is about.”

Last week, a transit employee at the Hunters Point Avenue station scrawled “English spoken here” on the token booth’s dry erase board. The sign shocked some riders in the multi-ethnic enclave.

“That’s very rude,” said Wesley Fruge, 26, a Long Island City straphanger who snapped a photo of the sign on Friday. “It’s something that shouldn’t have been there.”

As an agency rule, token booth boards can only display service updates or MetroCard information. Officials yesterday were still investigating who was responsible for the writing and are expected to question two station agents today.

Riders on the No. 7 line are some of the most diverse in the city, with the train often called the “international express.” But public transit can bewilder those without solid English skills, said Andrew Friedman of Make the Road New York, a nonprofit that runs ESL classes.

“There’s tons of immigrants who are afraid to get on the subway because they feel confused,” Friedman said.

Station agents receive instruction in customer service and how to accommodate riders with disabilities, but transit does not provide language classes or cultural-sensitivity training. The MTA also does not assign station agents based on language skills, as clerks chose their jobs based on seniority.

Still, those who speak a particular language often select stations serving their community, union leaders said. Others learn a few key phrases to help them on the job.

“You see a big smile on their faces when they hear some common words,” said John Mooney, a station agent who learned Russian phrases while working in Brighton Beach.

The MTA translates all service advisory signs into Spanish, along with Chinese, Korean and Russian in particular neighborhoods. It has also recently:

- Allowed straphangers to fill out surveys in different languages.

- Deployed translators to stations with many immigrants during service interruptions or public events, with interpreters speaking seven languages stationed at the U.S. Open last month.

- Started designing cards listing key phrases in different languages for station personnel confronting emergencies.

“We’re not there yet,” said Hoban, who is learning Spanish to speak with his riders. “But it’s essential I know what they are thinking and how I can serve them better.”

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Languages in NYC by the numbers
 
170: Estimated number of languages spoken in the city
48: Percent of New Yorkers who speak another language at home
23: Percent who don't feel they speak English well
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

MetroCard replacement system to expand later this year

Monday September 21, 2009 6:32 PM By Heather Haddon

The MTA has been slowly digging the MetroCard’s grave, and now it’s  getting a lot deeper.

The agency is finally pushing forward with the next phase of its “Smartcard” program, a quicker payment method that automatically draws money from a user’s bank account.

Riders tap their credit card or key-chain tag on the turnstile to pay -- no MetroCard required.
New transit chief Jay Walder launched a similar payment system, the Oyster card, while running London’s transit system. He has advocated the introduction of a similar payment system in New York.

London’s is among several other transit systems that have already started using such payment methods, and the MTA has been criticized for the pilot’s slow expansion.

“They've been pretty leisurely about doing this,” said William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

Later this year, NYC Transit will install Smartcard readers on eight city bus lines: the M14, M23, M79, M86, M101, M102, M103 and BxM7, officials said yesterday. More than 175,000 riders use these lines on average weekdays.

Smartcards can speed up bus travel by eliminating the cumbersome process of dipping MetroCards into fare boxes, Henderson said.

“The reward is huge. You gain so much by speeding up the boarding,” Henderson said.

New York has some of the nation's slowest buses, with a number of routes barely traveling faster than a pedestrian, according to the MTA.

In 2006, NYC Transit started the Smartcard pilot on the Lexington Avenue lines. The first phase, which was discontinued in May, was limited to riders with Citibank MasterCards.

Later this year, commuters with any credit or pre-paid card equipped with a payment device can participate. PATH riders and those using the JFK Airtrain will also be able to use Smartcards, as the Port Authority is implementing the technology, officials said.

In other fare news, the MTA is struggling to keep up with the mountains of quarters rolling into the system since fares rose to $2.25. The agency hopes to purchase two coin sorters for $19,000 to handle a 20 percent increase in change, according to documents. 

Bronx straphangers suffering through signal work

Wednesday September 9, 2009 5:58 PM By Heather Haddon

Bronx riders on three lines will encounter diversions until December (Courtesy Fordham University Archives)

The MTA is getting the Bronx cheer as it sidelines straphangers across 17 stations in the borough so that signal work can be done on the 2, 4 and 5 lines.

Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, No. 4 uptown trains are only stopping at 149th Street, Burnside Avenue and Woodlawn. The trains bypass 10 stops that include Yankee Stadium.

On the downtown 2 and 5 lines, trains are skipping seven stations between East 180th Street and 3rd Avenue from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays.

Riders on all three lines must ride back on the train running the opposite direction to reach their local station.

“That’s a long ride,” said Andrew Albert, a nonvoting MTA board member. “The Bronx is getting hit.”

The work began last week and will continue through the rest of the year.
More than 130,000 straphangers use the skipped stations on an average weekday, according to MTA figures.

The diversions are necessary to rehab old signals on the lines, a NYC Transit spokesman said.
hhaddon@am-ny.com

Likely MTA chief looks to bring British innovation to NYC Transit

Tuesday September 8, 2009 6:51 PM By Heather Haddon

Jay Walder, seen with Gov. David Paterson, has big plans for the MTA that reflect his background in London. (AP)

The British are coming! The British are coming! To your commute?

Jay Walder, the favorite son to become the next MTA chief, is looking to import innovations he honed at London's transportation system, including a pumped-up bus system and the quick-swiping “Oyster Card.”

During a public hearing on his candidacy Tuesday, Walder said public transportation in London and New York City were “sister systems,” but NYC Transit has suffered from a decline in technological improvements.

“If you go around the world, you see we are no longer at the top of the standings as a transit system. We are not even in the wild card position,” said Walder, a Queens native and former MTA executive. “We have a lot of work to do.”

If the state Senate approves his nomination, Walder said he would tap his London experience to:

- Scrap the MetroCard in favor of a contact-less payment method like the Oyster Card, which has a 98 percent customer approval rating, Walder said. The cards speed up service and save money by making the buses more efficient, he said.

- Install digital signs informing straphangers about the next train’s arrival time, like the ones currenty on the L line. Waiting for the train without them is “not the way to operate a 21st century transit system,” he said.

- Greatly expand the MTA's bus system through dedicated street lanes and ticketing of drivers who violate them.

London moves more than 6 million commuters a day by bus, more than New York’s subways carry. Most of its 8,000 buses are double-decker models.

Last year, NYC Transit experimented with double-decker buses, which last plied city streets in 1953. Transit tested the 81-seat buses on several routes, but found that the 13-foot-tall models ran into trees hanging over the street, MTA officials said. Transit currently doesn’t have the budget for double-deckers, and they are “on the backburner,” a spokeswoman said.

MTA and city officials, however, are keen on Walder's idea for dedicated bus lanes. The city has identified 31 corridors where it hopes place rapid bus lines traveling in painted lanes, like theone already in the Bronx and the bus lane on 34th Street.

Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), one of the hearing's chairs, said ticketing drivers in bus lanes would further the city's unbearable traffic. But transit advocates approved of Walder's early push for innovation and better buses.

“He's smart, a transportation professional, accessible and rider-oriented,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

Kruger, a harsh MTA critic, said he expected to support Walder during the Senate's confirmation hearing Thursday. Lawmakers are expected to confirm him quickly, and Walder said he could leave his London flat for the city within weeks.

“I am very excited,” said Walder, 50. “I go in with my eyes open to the tremendous challenges that lie ahead.”

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA projects start to dislocate residents, businesses

Thursday September 3, 2009 7:22 PM By Heather Haddon

After 50 years of serving veal cutlets to archbishops and local literati, Giambelli's 50th Ristorante was put out of business -- by an MTA ventilation plant.

The classic restaurant is the first in a row of Manhattan businesses being displaced through eminent domain by the new Long Island Rail Road connection to Grand Central Terminal. A similar drama is being played out farther uptown, where the Second Avenue Subway is sending 47 residential tenants packing.  

Giambelli’s neighbor, The Mid-Town Wine & Liquor Shop, is preparing to close in a few months, after a 54-year run.

“We thought we'd be here forever. But nothing is forever,” said Allan Kalish, 59.

The East Side Access project promises to slash commuting times for 76,000 LIRR passengers once it opens 2016, as the MTA currently predicts after several delays.

But progress has its price.    

The MTA is tearing down four buildings to make way for the Second Avenue Subway.

Some of the tenants have packed up, with the MTA providing assistance to those displaced, said Councilwoman Jessica Lappin (D-Manhattan).

“No one wants to be kicked out of their homes,” Lappin said. “But I have to give the MTA credit for making a real effort to come up with fair deals.”

In 2006, the MTA was criticized after it displaced 150 businesses in lower Manhattan to construct the Fulton Street Transit Center, then nearly ran out of funds for the above-ground development.

For the LIRR connection, the MTA will knock down five properties on East 49th and 50th streets, including two dating to 1910.

The agency held a public hearing about the construction in 2005, and cut the facility's height and width down by half in response to local concerns, according to MTA documents. The development will include landscaped public space.

Still, some New Yorkers view the shuttering of Giambelli's as the tragic death of a New York fixture, which was first reported on the Lost City blog.

Business owners at the five operating stores are at a loss for where to go.

“My power is very small. The legal people don't care,” said Susan Park, 50, owner of a 9-year-old nail salon that will be displaced.

The MTA meets face-to-face with those being displaced and helps them receive compensation such as moving expenses, as mandated by federal law, an agency spokesman said.

Businesses and building owners will receive fair market value for their properties and assistance to reopen.

Kalisih would not say how much he is receiving for his five-story building, as the deal is being negotiated. He has lost business and residential tenants during the drown-out process, he said.

“They are ruining this street,” Kalisih said.
hhaddon@am-ny.com

Comptroller: MTA report didn't justify axing station agents

Wednesday September 2, 2009 7:12 PM By Heather Haddon

An internal MTA study used to justify the closure of station agent booths across the subway system is “faulty” and “defective,” according to city Comptroller William Thompson.

In a letter sent to the MTA board Wednesday, Thompson blasted the agency’s reasoning in closing 105 booths manned by red-vested station agents later this month, countering many of the MTA’s arguments and the way the survey was conducted.

“The report appears to have been written ... with the goal of demonstrating that the (station agent) program is a failure,” he wrote.

MTA board chair Dale Hemmerdinger and an agency spokesman declined to comment.

Last year, NYC Transit surveyed 110 station agent locations for half-an-hour. Monitors found that the activity level of most of the agents was “low,” and that commuters had few interactions with them, according to the MTA report.

In contrast, Thompson’s office said it found that the station agents were busy, helping passengers a total of 820 times during the observation period. Workers assisted riders every three minutes at more than a third of the stations.

The transit survey also said that agents did not deter crime, with felonies in the system down drastically since 2002. But Thompson argued that the report did not address misdemeanor crimes like theft or harassment, which are more common than felonies.

Transit officials started the station agents program in 2005 at 158 locations in order to provide information, open gates and assist passengers. However, in May, the MTA voted to eliminate the workers through attrition to save $16 million by 2010.

The agents will begin to be phased out on Sept. 20. All of the jobs will eventually be eliminated.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

As boating traffic rises, experts call for stricter laws

Wednesday September 2, 2009 5:36 PM By Heather Haddon

Pleasure boats, kayaks and canoes will take to city waterways this Labor Day weekend to soak up summer’s last hurrah. But one boater’s paradise is another’s peril.

As boating has caught on, inexperienced mariners have taken to New York waters, resulting in accidents and near misses with commercial vessels, maritime experts say.

Last year, 24 recreational boaters died in New York State waters, up 60 percent from three years before, according to U.S. Coast Guard statistics. Nearly 100 people were injured, with the accidents causing $1.8 million worth of damage. The Coast Guard could not provide a breakdown for the city alone.

In July, a fisherman drowned when his boat got caught in an underwater depression in the Jamaica Bay. The following week, the Coast Guard rescued eight boaters off the coast of Liberty Island when their vessel ran aground.

Frequent boaters say the dangers of pleasure boating are exaggerated.

“The track record of recreational sailors is very, very good,” said Michael Fortenbaugh, founder of the 750-member Manhattan Sailing Club.

But maritime experts contend that New York City needs to get tougher with its recreational boating requirements. Minors must take boating classes in New York, but adults need no previous training before piloting a vessel.

In addition, recreational boats are not required to report their location to authorities, a growing concern as their numbers grow, said Petty Officer Seth Johnson of the New York Coast Guard, which is tasked with helping commercial boats navigate through the city’s waterways.

“Unfortunately, you can just buy a boat and go out in it,” said Eric Johansson, a professor at SUNY-Maritime College. “It’s like people being able to play on an air strip.”

Nearly 23,000 New Yorkers own boats, according to the most recent state figures. The numbers have fluctuated over the years, but boat ownership peaked in 2002 at 39,000. Recreational boating traffic is up in the city’s waterways, according to a 2008 Coast Guard assessment, and the harbor has become a destination for sailors across the world.

Popular boating locations include the East and Hudson rivers, Jamaica Bay and around the Battery and Liberty Island. The waters near Roosevelt Island and the Battery have strong currents that pose risks for boaters, even experienced ones.

Connecticut and New Jersey require that all adults take boating classes before they can sail. A pending bill in New York would mandate adults the same, with current boaters grandfathered into the rules.

“A boat is not a play toy at all,” said Assemb. Sandy Galef (D-Westchester), the bill’s sponsor.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA to ramp up station inspections after ceiling collapse

Tuesday September 1, 2009 6:25 PM By Heather Haddon

The MTA will conduct tougher station inspections in the wake of last month’s ceiling collapse at the 181st Street stop on the No. 1 train, transit officials said Tuesday.

Engineers are beefing up NYC Transit’s protocol for station inspections to include new technology that can “spot potentially serious latent defects,” transit spokesman Charles Seaton said. Officials yesterday did not further elaborate.

Currently, inspectors primarily eyeball a station to determine its soundness. After the ceiling collapse on Aug. 16, relying on visual inspections is “obviously inadequate,” NYC Transit President Howard Roberts stated in internal communication Friday.

The collapsed had shuttered the 181st Street station until Monday, and transit officials also had closed the 168th Street station for two consecutive weekends to deal with structural problems in the ceiling. Crews will continue working to replace the bricks at both stations in the coming weeks, and scaffolding will limit the space on platforms. Weekend service is not expected to be disrupted again, a transit spokeswoman said.

Transit advocates are hoping the MTA will start using devices that can detect water damage through sound waves. Water seepage is believed to have played some role in the ceiling collapse, which knocked out service for two weeks.

A 2008 survey of 50 stations by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA found that more than half had water leaks.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA Bus Company lines lack schedules, fueling rider complaints

Tuesday September 1, 2009 5:51 PM By Heather Haddon

City buses are notoriously late, but many New Yorkers can’t even find out when they’re supposed to arrive.

None of the MTA Bus Company local lines have timetables posted on polls at stops and the Guide-A-Ride listings won't be coming soon. The MTA just doesn’t have the money to put up schedules along the 46 routes serving the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said.

“You never known when they're coming, and you just end up standing here forever,” said Eleanor Dezam, a rider waiting for the Q65 to College Point recently.

Moreover, the new glass shelters added along some of the MTA Bus Company routes haven’t solved the problem as none of them have paper timetables.

The MTA has two separate bus lines: NYC Transit and MTA Bus Company. The buses on the latter were privately run before the MTA took them over in 2005.

Most of the shelters are located next to polls serving NYC Transit lines, which usually have paper schedules (and some have digital ones), city Department of Transportation spokesman Montgomery Dean said. A DOT contractor maintains the shelters while the MTA is in charge of the timetables.

Riders who use express buses, though, have it easier. Transit put up timetables for the MTA Bus Company express routes running from Brooklyn and the Bronx in the last two years, Seaton said. Timetables will go up along the 17 Queens routes in the next few weeks, he said.

But most of the MTA Bus Company's 376,000 riders use the local buses, not the express lines. Local community board members say they repeatedly receive complaints about the missing information.

“It's ludicrous,” said Andrea Crawford, chair of Community Board 9 in Richmond Hill. “You know the bus schedules aren't always that correct, but it gives you some knowledge of when the bus may come.”
 

MTA unveils quiet, cleaner bus on crosstown route

Thursday August 27, 2009 5:26 PM By Heather Haddon

 It's smooth, sleek and simply “revolutionary,” according to transit officials.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Senate to consider MTA chief appointment shortly

Tuesday August 25, 2009 5:47 PM By Heather Haddon

The state Senate will discuss Gov. David Paterson’s nominee for the new MTA chief on its first day back in session, said Austin Shafran, spokesman for Democratic Senate President Malcolm Smith.

Last month, Paterson nominated Walder, a former MTA executive and manager of London's transit system, as the agency's CEO and chair, a new merged position.
Prior to the confirmation, the Senate will hold joint public hearings on Walder in Long Island and Harlem, Shafran said.

Senate sources believe Walder is a shoe-in for the job because of his extensive work experience.

Transit advocates have gunned for a quick confirmation of Walder, arguing that important decisions have floundered without a permanent director.

“(MTA riders) simply cannot afford to have the installation of new leadership stalled,” transit advocates wrote to the Senate.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA looks for a cut from mobile phone applications

Monday August 24, 2009 7:06 PM By Heather Haddon

The MTA wants in on the iPhone application action.

The agency is cracking down on computer programmers who use the agency's travel data for mobile phone applications. The programs, such as StationStops and theNextTrain, allow users to download train schedules to view while they’re underground.

Chris Schoenfeld, for example, said he was told to stop selling his Metro North application after he balked at the MTA’s demands for a $5,000 licensing fee plus royalties earlier this month. Apple hasn’t responded yet to the MTA’s request to remove the program, which has sold 3,000 copies, Schoenfeld said.

“It just infuriates me. They've tried to crush a small business,” said Schoenfeld, 42, a former Yahoo engineer.

MTA officials contend the agency deserves a cut if developers rake in money from the apps, which cost about $3 each. The agency provides the data for free to developers of applications that don’t cost anything, said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.

The MTA offers schedules on phones with Internet access through its Trip Planner page on mta.info, and optimized its entire Web site last year for mobile devices. The MTA now receives 1.5 million hits a month from handheld devices , Donovan said.

“The site has a lot of the same benefits as these other applications,” he said.

In a news release last year, the MTA stated that it would make scheduling data available to programmers to develop new “customer-focused services in the future.” Software writers had a rude awakening when they realized it would not be free.

“This is fact-based information, just like what's in a phone book,” said Jehiah Czebotar, 28, of Manhattan, who is fighting to keep selling a LIRR application.

Nearly 40 transit agencies in the U.S.- including the systems in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Boston - have released the information for developers to freely use through a Google transit feed. Many of the agencies argue that it drives ridership and relieves them of the burden of creating on-line applications.

A City Council bill under consideration would require all local agencies to make their data available in a format useable to programmers, and the mayor's office is sponsoring a competition for developers to make the best application for city data.

“Why isn't that train data available? The public needs this,” said Samuel Wong, a technology aide for City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan).

Transit info on the go:
CityTransit, iTrans: Both provide service advisories, walking directions and schedules for the subways
Exit Strategy NYC: Guides users to the subway car that lines up with the closest exit in their station

hhaddon@am-ny.com

The secrets of Grand Central Terminal

Thursday August 20, 2009 1:23 PM By Rolando Pujol

Grand Central Terminal is Gotham’s Beaux Arts jewel, a monument to transportation that avoided demolition in the 1970s (unlike poor Penn Station a decade earlier) and ennobles the lives of the 700,000 people who use it daily. It’s so vast, with nearly a century of history under its tracks, that it holds many secrets, as Metro-North Railroad spokesman Dan Brucker said. Here’s a selection:

1. The dark patch
Look up at the ceiling: In the northwest corner, you’ll see a little square black patch. Now imagine extending that color across the entire constellation that’s painted on the ceiling. That’s what was there before Grand Central Terminal was dramatically restored in the 1990s. That little black patch was left as a reminder of the bad old days. And what exactly does that black patch consist of? Decades of dirt? Try again. It was the result of decades of smoking in the terminal. That’s old nicotine and tobacco residue that was preserved, and it’s a testament to how dramatic this restoration was.   
                                                      
2. The rocket hole
Toward the center of the ceiling, above the constellation Pisces, you’ll notice a little hole. You’d never see it if you didn’t know to look for it. But the hole is a curious legacy of the space race. In 1957, the Russians put Sputnik into orbit and the U.S. was keen on selling the public on the importance of staying ahead. In a curious bit of showmanship, a Redstone rocket was brought in for display at Grand Central Terminal that same year. But some genius didn’t think to measure whether it would fit in the concourse. Well, surprise, it could not, and it was rammed in, leaving a hole in the ceiling that’s still there.

3. The clock
The clock atop the information booth in Grand Central Terminal is not only a beautiful work of art, it may be worth more than $10 million, according to auction house estimates. That’s because of the four opal faces on the clock.
 

4. Wrong departure times
Every single time shown on the departure boards is wrong. If that train to, say Croton-Harmon, is set to leave at 11:20, it’s flat-out lying to you. It’s leaving at 11:21. All trains leave a minute later than indicated on the departure boards. The reason is the safety and comfort of commuters who are making a mad dash to catch the trains.  

5. The new twin staircase
The grand marble staircase on the eastern side of the terminal was built in the 1990s to resemble the one that dates to 1913. Original plans did in fact call for the construction of eastern stairs. But there is one crucial difference between both stairs. The new set is an inch smaller than its original twin across the concourse, and the reason was to make it clear to future generations that the staircases were not built at the same time.
 

6. The whispering gallery
Just outside of the Oyster Bar restaurant is a vault covered in Guastavino tile. If you stand in one corner of the vault and say something, your voice is telegraphed perfectly to someone standing clear across the other side, dozens of feet away.  
 

7. The acorns
All around Grand Central, you see what appears to be a “squashed pineapple,” as Brucker put it. They are actually acorns, a Vanderbilt family symbol.
 

8. The backward universe
The universe as depicted on the ceiling is beautiful, but it’s also backward, a fact discovered by a commuter almost as soon as Grand Central opened.  The problem caused no small amount of consternation to the Vanderbilt family, but then they came up with a brilliant idea. They’d claim the error was indeed intentional, and say it was meant to depict God’s view of the universe from somewhere up above.                                              
 

9. Recycling bins
For years, one of the best secrets of Grand Central — and, really, it was an open secret — was that you could wander onto the platforms, plunge your arms into the recycling bins, and walk away with free copies of all the day’s newspapers. One newspaper in particular, The New York Times, was not happy about this at all, and so, in 2001, had the recycling bins redesigned so that commuters could not get their grubby mitts on the free newsprint, which they were doing to the tune of about a ton every morning.
 

10. Wonders below
Grand Central is full of secret spots that the public may well never see: Well below the main concourse is a room with ancient machinery that was targeted by German saboteurs during World World II. In this room, there’s even a red button that could halt train traffic above. The area is so deep that it cuts into bedrock.  Farther north, under the Waldorf-Astoria, you can find a platform, an elevator and an old rail car that Brucker said were used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who tried to keep his paralysis from the public.   
 

Ceiling collapse hinders service on buses, other subway lines

Wednesday August 19, 2009 6:28 PM By Heather Haddon

The ceiling collapse at the 181st Street subway station has caused havoc for commuters far and wide.

The MTA had to hustle up additional shuttle buses to accommodate the thousands of riders needing to bypass three No. 1 stations closed since Sunday, when large portions of the ceiling fell onto the subway track bed. But to staff the fleet, NYC Transit removed some drivers from their normal runs in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Nearly 20 scheduled bus trips never ran Wednesday and Tuesday, causing longer waits and crowded buses, said officials from the bus drivers’ union.

“It’s an emergency,” said Frank Austin, a union representative.

NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said seven bus lines each had one less run yesterday, but normal service resumed by 10 a.m.

Meanwhile, riders on the nearby A line are feeling a bit more cramped with the influx of No. 1 passengers.

“Riders in our area are now flooding the A train,” said Marie-Danielle Samuel, a Washington Heights straphanger. “They need do something.”

The A train is typically less congested than many other Manhattan lines, Seaton said. Transit cannot add trains on the A because it shares service with other subway lines, he said.

The MTA hopes to resume No. 1 service Monday and is working around the clock to stabilize the ceiling in the landmarked 181st Street station. Workers were still erecting scaffolding yesterday to reach the tiles, elected officials said.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Bus shelters now displaying arrival times

Tuesday August 11, 2009 6:25 PM By Jason Fink

 
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.

After years of improvements, riders still think transit needs work

Tuesday August 11, 2009 6:14 PM By Heather Haddon

City straphangers aren’t easy to please.

Public perception of the buses and subways has barely budged in the last decade despite billions of dollars in system investments, according to MTA polling data obtained by amNewYork.

Riders who were surveyed rated subway service at 6.4 out of 10 last year, up by only a tenth of point from 1998.

“Give me a break man. It’s a rip-off,” Shawn Kelloway, 31, a rider for seven years from Brooklyn, told amNewYork

The MTA hires pollsters to survey riders annually, using the figures internally to assess customer perception. Last year’s survey cost $140,000.

Of the 1,300 riders surveyed, the MTA made the biggest strides in ratings for station environment, subway speed and safety over 1998 numbers. But the agency barely improved in 40 percent of the indicators, including marks for crowding, buses and cost of the fare.

Rider ratings for station cleanliness and smell plunged during the decade.

“I see some new trains, which is good. But I don’t see service going up with the fares,” said Rafi Aanwer, 41, an E train rider.

Ridership, which hit historic highs earlier this year, has fueled crowding. Straphangers had a 43 percent chance of snagging a seat on the subways during rush hour, according to a recent Straphangers Campaign report. 

A MTA spokesman said that improved management and infrastructure investment has helped keep the ratings stable as ridership climbed.

About three-fourths of those surveyed said they were satisfied overall with subway service. That’s a big improvement from 1989, when less than half of straphangers approved of the broken-down system.

Riders ratings
Straphangers surveyed in 1998 and 2008 gave the MTA the following marks, with 10 being the highest:

Overall rating of subway service: 6.3    , 6.4

Overall rating of station environment: 5.7, 6.1

Overall bus satisfaction: 6.2, 6.2

Station smell: 5.6, 4.8

Subway speed: 6.7, 7.4

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Union contract could cause MTA new financial woes

Monday August 10, 2009 5:59 PM By Heather Haddon

The MTA is poised to deliver handsome raises to transit workers, and straphangers might pay the price if the deal blows a hole in transit’s budget.

Union arbitrators are expected to settle Wednesday on annual raises of at least 3 percent across three years for subway and bus workers as part of a new contract, sources said.

But the MTA’s new budget only includes reserves for a 1.5 percent raise this year and about 2 percent in 2010, officials said last month. 

“This is a delicately balanced budget,” interim MTA chief Helena Williams said. “To the extent that any award comes in with numbers greater than that is a financial risk.”

The MTA will raise fares by 7.5 percent in 2011 and 2013, but officials said additional fare hikes or service cuts wouldn’t come to pass — unless certain doomsday scenarios occurred, including a larger-than-expected contract settlement.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Monday called the contract “worrisome.”

“The straphangers of today are going to pay for this increase,” Bloomberg said. “I don’t know how the MTA is going to make up the difference here.”

City Hall itself came under fire recently when the city provided annual raises of at least 4 percent for municipal employees and corrections officers.

Spokesmen for the MTA and Transportation Workers Union Local 100 declined comment.

The contract covering about 36,000 workers expired in January. It will include some union givebacks, which are still being negotiated, sources said.

The payout is similar to what MTA Bus Company workers won in June.

Jason Fink contributed to this report.

hhaddon@am-ny.com
 

MTA's transit wish list

Monday August 3, 2009 7:58 PM By Heather Haddon

It may be short on cash, but the MTA is long on dreams.

With a hopeful eye on a brighter financial future, the agency is harboring several ideas for improved service.

The 1, C, E and F lines in Manhattan

If former MTA chief Elliot “Lee” Sander had gotten his way, transit would have expanded service on 11 subway lines, including four in Manhattan.

Sander was gunning for more frequent trains along the No. 1, C, E and F lines. He also proposed extending the C to a full 10-cars, ending the mad dash for straphangers on the platform ends.

Sadner’s plans also included a second AirTrain service to LaGuardia Airport and converting an old Brooklyn rail line into a subway running in an arc from the Bronx to Brooklyn. The failure of congestion pricing put much of the $29.5 billion plan on hold.

The F/V lines in Brooklyn

The MTA’s $250 million overhaul of a decrepit bridge carrying the F and G lines in Brooklyn has opened new opportunities for service. Transit will study reviving the long-defunct F express line after construction ends in 2012, officials said.

“It’s something we’ve been promising to the community,” said Andrew Inglesby, transit’s Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations.
 
Riders of the F train have long complained about slow service. The line is scheduled to arrive every four minutes during rush hour, but it ranks second poorest for service reliability, according to a Straphanger’s Campaign report released this month.

“(Express service) is a great idea,” said Junay Adams, 20, an F train rider from Brooklyn. “It would be nice to go straight to my destination.”

Transit has not determined what stops would be bypassed, but they could include popular ones in Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens.

Additionally, transit will consider running V service into Brooklyn when the bridge repairs wrap up, officials said. The line, which now ends at the 2nd Avenue station, could provide local service in Brooklyn along the F line.

The R line in Brooklyn

For nearly two decades, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge riders traveling between 36 and 95 streets on the R line have had to slog home late night on shuttle buses. Transit was studying full-time R service to Bay Ridge prior to the agency’s financial decline, according to a letter written by transit chief Howard Roberts.
 
“That's a great idea, long overdue,” said Ester Orehek, 65, an R train rider. “It would be easier on commuters.”

The skipped stations serve more than 57,000 riders on weekdays, according to transit statistics. The MTA currently has no immediate plans to increase service on the R or other lines because of its budget crunch, transit spokesman Charles Seaton said.

Other options

Additionally, the MTA extended the G train five stops to Church Avenue in Brooklyn this month and will continue the service until 2012, when work on a bridge carrying the train will end. If finances allow, transit will make the switch permanent, Seaton said.

Transit has made no decisions on whether to offer No. 4 express service in the Bronx, which it tried in a pilot program last month.

Anastasia Economides contributed to this story.

 

Bloomberg pledges free buses, MTA shakeup if reelected

Monday August 3, 2009 6:42 PM By Heather Haddon

In his campaign’s first major policy announcement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg Monday unveiled a 33-point MTA plan that includes making crosstown bus rides free in Manhattan.
 
“The MTA needs to do more to plan for our future, much more,” said Bloomberg at a press conference. “You realize just how far our mass transit system has fallen behind.”

If reelected to a third term in November, the mayor pledged to begin implementing his “Moving NYC” plan by July 2010. Highlights include:
- F express service and V local trains running into Brooklyn.
- Digital bus arrival notices in real time on half the city’s routes by 2013.
- More frequent evening bus service using smaller vehicles.
- New trolley service in Brooklyn and Queens.

The mayor also promised to streamline the MTA, much as he did with the city schools.
“We do have the bull pulpit and four votes (on the MTA board) and we plan to use those,” he said.

A MTA spokesman said the agency welcomed the opportunity to work with Bloomberg in making it “more efficient and transparent.”

Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign, said: “There’s a mixture of hope and skepticism. It’s a standard to hold (a mayor) against.”

Last week, Bloomberg's lead over Democratic challenger Bill Thompson narrowed to 10 percentage points in a Quinnipiac poll. Thompson said the transit plan was ridden with “empty promises and stolen ideas.”

Transit experts generally supported the plan, but noted that some of the ideas had kicked around for years, come from independent planners or would be impossible to implement quickly.

Bloomberg pledged to execute one of the proposals -- rapid bus service along First and Second avenues in Manhattan -- when he first ran for mayor in 2001.

Then, there’s the matter of paying for it.

“It is not all going to happen because it all takes money we don’t have,” said Andrew Albert, a non-voting MTA board member.

A Bloomberg campaign advisor said the proposal would result in minimal costs and save the MTA $247 million by shedding unnecessary real estate and consolidating the railroads and bus operations.
As for waiving fares on crosstown buses, Bloomberg said that would be a ‘trivial” expense because most riders now transfer from subways or other buses.
 
Experts from the Regional Planning Association, which conceived of the crosstown bus plan, said the plan would need to be carefully monitored to prevent it from expanding too broadly.


hhaddon@am-ny.com

Study: Police lax on preventing drivers from parking in bus lanes

Sunday August 2, 2009 6:26 PM By Heather Haddon

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.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

As more women speak out about subway harassment, officials call on police to track crimes

Thursday July 30, 2009 6:21 PM By Heather Haddon

Groping, grinding, grabbing.

That’s often the scene on city subways where vulnerable women are routinely targeted by perverts, victims and advocates say.

A recent survey found that sexual harassment is rampant in subways, and victims are increasingly taking back control by speaking out online or snapping photos of underground predators.

But advocates say the NYPD isn’t on top of the problem because it doesn’t publicize statistics on subway harassment or unwanted sexual contact.

“It seems obvious that there is a major problem underground that is going unreported,” said Assemb. James Brennan, (D-Brooklyn,) who will sponsor a bill this fall requiring police to publish data on subway harassment and sexual assault.

The NYPD didn’t return calls for comment.

In an on-line survey of 1,800 New Yorkers, nearly two-thirds of women said they were sexually harassed in the subways, according to a 2007 report by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Harassment included sexual advances, come-ons, fondling and public masturbation.

Some 10 percent said they had been sexually assaulted in the subways. Most of the offenses occurred during rush hour, when packed trains can provide a smokescreen for perpetrators.

“It’s a major issue,” said Caitlin Pratt, 23, who saw a man masturbate in front of her on the No. 1 train Monday. “I was shaking. I didn’t know what to do.”

Rubbing up against women in crowded places, disturbingly, is a fetish. On one online forum, perverts flaunt their latest conquests of groping women.

Few victims report the crimes, according to the Stringer survey. Often, they don’t know whom to turn to, or can’t find an officer or MTA attendant. That problem could grow worse, as the MTA is eliminating its station agents through attrition starting in September.

Elizabeth Claire Taylor, 29, a Manhattan straphanger, said she was pulled by a man as she left the West 4th Street station recently. “In that moment, I felt so alone,” she said.

Last year, the MTA launched an ad campaign encouraging victims to report unwanted touching to police or a MTA employee. Transit officials said they also covers about a third of its subway stations with cameras.

Some victims have started fighting back by catching offenders in the act with their camera phones, and last September the city began accepting digital photos of perpetrators through its 911 line.

Lauren Miro, 21, shot a photo of a man masturbating in front of her on the N train in Brooklyn earlier this month then flashed the image at him. He promptly fled the train, she said.

“I felt embarrassed, but taking the picture was an empowering thing,” Miro said.

Fighting back
Ways to compact harassment on the subways:
-   Draw attention to the behavior out loud while on the train
-   Snap a photo and call 911 to submit it to police
-   Exit the train and find a police officer or MTA attendant
-   Write about the experience at Holla Back NYC (www.hollabacknyc.blogspot.com), an on-line forum and support group
(Heather Haddon)

hhaddon@am-ny.com

New Yorkers largely approve of transit, Broadway revamp

Wednesday July 29, 2009 7:09 PM By Heather Haddon

New Yorkers love to bash the MTA, but they have to admit the glass isn’t always half empty.

Half of straphangers surveyed in a citywide poll released Wednesday rated subway service as good or excellent and 56 percent gave favorable marks to the MTA’s bus service.

“That sounds about right,” said Jon Openshaw, 27, of Greenpoint. “I live near the G train, which is notorious for just disappearing. But the E train is awesome -- always on time.”

In the survey of 1,300 city residents by Quinnipiac University last week, commuters from Manhattan and Queens generally gave the MTA higher marks for its subways and buses than those from the other boroughs. Most respondents said service had remained even during the last five years.

Still, 70 percent of those surveyed slammed the MTA’s recent fare hike.

“It’s a great system but people have issues with it, whether it’s the cost or it’s too crowded,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

An MTA spokesman declined comment.

In other findings in the wide-ranging survey:

- About 75 percent of those surveyed thought the Second Avenue Subway and No. 7 extension to the West Side wouldn’t be built on time.

- Most thought the MTA needed to improve its announcements about service disruptions.

-    About 60 percent supported the ban on vehicles on Broadway at Herald and Times squares. Respondents were split, however, about whether the city should create more pedestrian malls and few wanted a car-free space in their own neighborhood.

“The results so far have been very promising,” said mayoral spokesman Marc LaVorgna about the Broadway changes. “People seem to be enjoying the space.”

Sonia Casiano, 41, of Woodside, said she’s gotten used to the Times Square revamp.
“It gives you more space to walk,” she said.

Straphangers in midtown yesterday generally called their weekday commutes manageable, but want improved weekend service, cleaner trains and clearer announcements.

“Sometimes you can’t hear anything,” said Hadj Ba, 25, a frequent rider on the J, M and Z lines. “(They) will say the stop sometimes, and the next stop, they don’t say anything. Every tourist for themselves.”

Jason Fink and Marlene Naanes contributed to this story.
 
hhaddon@am-ny.com

MTA budget won't hike fares until 2011

Wednesday July 29, 2009 6:20 PM By Heather Haddon

The MTA released a $12 billion preliminary 2010 budget yesterday that is devoid of a fare hike or major service reductions for next year, but officials cautioned that many factors could change the plans.

“We’re balanced on a head of a pin, and lots of things could throw this off,” said Dale Hemmerdinger, the outgoing MTA board chair.

A nearly $2.3 billion state rescue plan spared straphangers from massive service cuts and a 23 percent fare hike this year. However, the MTA is still projecting a deficit of $350 million beginning in 2012, and unforeseen labor costs, fuel price spikes or an ongoing financial downturn could throw its finances into a tailspin, officials said.

Also, fare increases of 7.5 percent for both 2011 and 2013 will go forward as previously planned.

In order to balance the 2010 budget, the agency provided more details yesterday on some items it is cutting for next year, including:

- Elimination of a program to provide faster medical attention to sick customers at four stations in Manhattan and two in Queens

- Increasing the amount time before workers overhaul worn buses or inspect old subway cars

- Forgoing extra painting for stations

hhaddon@am-ny.com

MetroCard could be singing its swan song

Tuesday July 14, 2009 6:22 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The mighty MetroCard - loved by harried New Yorkers, hated by perplexed tourists — could be headed for its last swipe.

Incoming MTA chief Jay Walder supports newer, easier payment methods for the subways and buses, such as the “Oyster card” he introduced to the London system.

The payment method allows riders to pass a plastic card across the turnstiles to deduct the fare. Like E-ZPass, the funds are replenished online or from a user's credit card - meaning no more annoying waits at the MetroCard machine.

“The people of London like Oyster,” Walder said Tuesday. “Everyone likes it.”

Walder stopped short of promising Oyster would soon surface in the Big Apple, saying he would leave “the details for the future.”Regardless, officials will need to address the fate of the MetroCard shortly. The 2005-2009 capital plan stated that MetroCard machines “were reaching the end of their useful lives” after first debuting in 1999. The cards themselves were introduced in 1994, but didn't catch on for several years.

NYC Transit launched a pilot payment method similar to Oyster in 2006. The Smartcard placed a chip on a rider’s key or credit card that the turnstile registered.

Expanding the Smartcard service has been on hold since, but Transit found that rider response was “favorable,” according to an April report.

New MTA CEO will emphasize funding, transparency

Tuesday July 14, 2009 6:07 PM By Heather Haddon

Jay Walder, the incoming MTA chief, stands next to Gov. David Paterson during the announcement of his appointment Tuesday.

By Heather Haddon

Incoming MTA CEO Jay Walder and transit advocates agree that his first priority should be to provide secure funding for the agency’s capital investment.

“The challenge for the MTA is pretty clear. We must have a longterm financial solution,” said Walder, 50, who joined Gov. David Paterson Tuesday in announcing his appointment as head of the world’s largest transportation provider.

Walder, who served a stint with the MTA 14 years ago and then went on to take a top role in the London transportation system, is poised to replace Elliot “Lee” Sander, who was pressured to leave the agency in May. Walder will serve a six-year term in a newly-created position merging the chairman and chief executive officer roles.

Walder, a Queens native, also emphasized Tuesday his goal of restoring public trust and financial transparency at the MTA but declined to discuss specifics.

Advocates, meanwhile, also had a ready list of tasks they would like Walder to focus his smarts on. They include:- Devising new budget oversight for the agency

- Reducing rush hour crowding

- Providing rapid bus service, especially in the boroughs

- Installing new technology, such as cell phone service in the subways

Those who know Walder described him as capable and articulate.

“He’s just incredibly smart on the details and very straightforward,” said Ellyn Shannon of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

Paterson is gunning for Walder to be confirmed Wednesday, when the Senate reconvenes, according to a transit source. But Senate leaders said they want to hold a series of joint hearings on the candidate before the confirmation process.

Subway escalators are on an upswing

Monday July 6, 2009 5:19 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Things are looking up for the subway’s escalators.

NYC Transit is pushing the owner of two long-busted escalators at the Union Square station to fix them, the result a new program to force developers to pony up for repairs. And some long-broken escalators owned by the MTA are finally moving again.

Escalators are one of the most difficult things for the agency to fix, and the MTA hasn't historically gone after private developers with defective elevators or escalators. But in the past year, agency officials have started pressuring owners to maintain their

charges, Transit President Howard Roberts said.

“It's a philosophical change,” said Ellyn Shannon of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. “Access to the system is now important to them whether they own the escalator or not.”Zeckendorf Towers, a condo owner, built the escalators at the southeast corner of Union Square station. The stairways have been out for years, a source of constant frustration for less able-bodied riders.

“This is criminal,” said Aladin Haidalgo, 59, a Brooklyn rider struggling to walk up the subway stairs with a cane Monday. “It's a major impediment.”

Zeckendorf tried to sock NYC Transit with the bill for the escalators, but the company recently agreed to pony up for the millions of dollar in repairs, transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said.

Fleuranges could not say when the escalators will be fixed, as it's up to the owner. A spokesman for Zeckendorf declined comment.

Meanwhile, the MTA has made strides in taking care of its own equipment.

After months of outages, all 12 escalators now run at Herald Square, the system's third busiest station. The MTA recently spent $36 million to overhaul the escalators, but the contractor did not install them properly. The escalators broke a total of 150 times during the first part of this year, with three of the stairways not running at all, according to MTA figures.

The repairs wrapped up in the last month or so. The contractor paid for the work, Fleuranges said.

In Queens, a chronically broken escalator at the Flushing-Main St stop on the No. 7 was repaired in May, Fleuranges said. Transit is moving on to the two other busted escalators traveling into the deep station he said.

Anastasia Economides contributed to this story.

It's official: Fares rise to $2.25

Sunday June 28, 2009 6:11 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

After a six-year run, the $2 fare has faded into MTA history.

Bus and subway prices ramped up just after midnight Sunday, with MetroCard machines, turnstiles and bus fare boxes recalibrated to register $2.25 fares.

“I felt it,” said Jose Garcia, 58, as he waited for the D train in Harlem Sunday. “It's 25 cents that we could have used to buy food.”

NYC Transit dispensed additional workers to inform commuters about the shift Monday, spokesman Paul Fleuranges said. Decals with the prices went up in all buses and token booths, he said.

Still, some riders were caught off guard by the hike, including a string of angry straphangers who complained loudly to a clerk at the Cathedral Parkway B and C train stop shortly after midnight Sunday. Long lines also formed at some token booths.To avoid waiting, Fleuranges said commuters should enroll in EasyPayXpress, a service that automatically fills a rider's MetroCard and deducts the cost from their credit card.

Fares will likely increase by an average of 7.5 percent in 2011 and 2013.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn riders got a bonus Monday, with No. 5 trains starting to run into Brooklyn beyond the rush hour, when they had terminated at Bowling Green. The MTA voted in April to extend No. 5 service to the Flatbush Avenue stop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.

Anastasia Economides and Marlene Naanes contributed to this story.

The worse the station, the more the fare hike moaning

Thursday June 25, 2009 6:36 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Dripping ceilings, peeling walls and a distinct smell of urine: This subway station doesn’t makes riders happy about a fare hike.

“It's just pretty terrible,” said Vram Melek, 32, as he waited in the shabby Court Street station on the R line Thursday.

Grumbling about the coming fare hike is near universal, but its the riders in renovated stations and better-served lines who seem to be taking the medicine better.

“We should pay double,” said Sam Simon, who frequently uses the gleaming South Ferry station on the No. 1 line. “Our lives are completely dependent on their infrastructure. You get what you pay for.”MetroCard machines, turnstiles and bus fare boxes will all change over to the new fares at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, NYC Transit said. Those who purchased a MetroCard prior must swipe it by July 6 to keep it active.

At the 46th Street station in Astoria, riders wished the fare increase came with better service. Weekend travel on the G has been intermittent in Queens for months.

“Might as well get a car,” said Marcia Roberts, 28, a G rider.

Others straphangers were just thankful that the doomsday service cuts didn't transpire.

“It doesn't have to be pretty. It doesn't have to be clean. It just has to be efficient,” said Charles Fiore, 53, a Bay Ridge rider who uses the Court Street station.

The MTA declined comment for this story.

Anastasia Economides contributed to this story.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

1. Straphangers slow to catch on to coming $2.25 fares

2. MTA budget woes make for dirtier stations

3. Fare hike silver linings

4. City straphangers pay a hefty portion of subway fares

4. Transit workers gear up for fare hike fallout

No. 7 winner, R train looser in cleanliness survey

Thursday June 25, 2009 6:06 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Subway cars are looking less grimy these days, but don’t tell that to R train riders.

Only 25 percent of cars on the R, which serves straphangers from Bay Ridge to Forest Hills, are free of litter, dingy floors and sticky spots, according to an annual report released by the Straphangers Campaign Thursday, making it the dirtiest line in the system.

The survey of 2,200 cars last year also found:

- The No. 1, G, L, N and R trains looked dingier, with the L and N tanking compared to the year before- The No. 4, No. 5, A, B, D, E, J, M and V lines improved from the year before, with the D and J making big strides

- The No. 7 train received the system’s gold star due to an influx of cleaners on the Queens line

It would take 400 additional cleaners throughout the system to mimic staffing levels on the No. 7, an infusion that is “extremely unlikely” given the MTA’s budget woes, transit officials said. The MTA is slashing 43 of its 1,181 car cleaners next year to save money.

“It’s a question of priorities,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign. “I strongly think (cleaners) are something the riders want.”

Next year, NYC Transit will begin taking cleanliness surveys through hand-held computers to deploy staff to dirty trains faster, the agency said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

1. Straphangers slow to catch on to coming $2.25 fares

2. MTA budget woes make for dirtier stations

3. Fare hike silver linings

4. City straphangers pay a hefty portion of subway fares

4. Transit workers gear up for fare hike fallout

MTA canine unit on the hunt for a headquarters

Wednesday June 24, 2009 6:46 PM By Heather Haddon

MTA Canine Unit Police Sgt. Edward O'Flaherty and his German Shepard Duke, 7, patrol the Harlem - 125th Street Metro North Train Station. (Photo by RJ Mickelson/amNY)

By Heather Haddon

Since the nightmarish months after 9/11, these dogs have used their powerful noses and instincts to protect countless commuters, and have become a reassuring presence in transit hubs such as Grand Central Terminal.

But the MTA’s 43 well-trained K-9 unit dogs has a problem: The pooches and their handlers need a home — of sorts. And that home could make them even better at their jobs.

“It's a sore subject with us,” said Sgt. Ed O'Flaherty, while out with his dog Duke during a recent patrol of the Harlem Metro-North station. “We definitely need a facility” for training and other work.The dog-cop teams have been without a headquarters since the unit’s inception in 2002.

The unit, which has a $10 million annual budget, detects explosives across Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road and Staten Island Railway facilities, and assists with the city's subway patrols.

“These dogs just want to go,” said Officer Brian McCormack, as he held on to Burris in Penn Station. “The more training you give them, the more they accomplish.”

The canines sniff out an average of 10 unattended packages a day, O'Flaherty said, noting that without the dogs, the bomb squad would have to suspend service while they deploy search robots.

The dogs also help nab bad guys. MTA police dog Hero and his handler, Lt. John Kerwick, chased down a home-invasion suspect this month in White Plains and recovering his loaded .40 caliber gun.

But getting the dogs to this level of proficiency takes a lot of work — and that’s where a training facility would come in handy.

It takes at least three months to train a dog and its handler in explosives detection. Officers have access to small work stations at the various transit terminals, but without a central facility, teams must travel 75 miles north from the city to train at borrowed space in Orange County.

“It's not efficient. We're always bouncing around,” O'Flaherty said.

The MTA's capital plan sets aside $2.5 million to acquire property for a K-9 Unit facility. The agency hoped to buy the land by last December, but postponed its deadline until August while it searches for a parcel of at least five acres, said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.

The MTA has no specific leads on a property, Donovan said. Officials are hunting for a space within the K-9 Unit's 5,000-square-mile territory, but they won't rule out a space well outside the city “if it was appropriate,” he said.

Meanwhile, O'Flaherty his officers and their dogs stay focused. “[Criminals] only have to be right once. We have to be right every time,” he said.

Transit workers gear up for fare hike fallout

Wednesday June 24, 2009 6:06 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Call it blaming the messenger.

NYC Transit workers aren't the ones who usher in higher bus and subway fares, but they often pay the price for the bad news.

“There are arguments, near fights,” said Harry Wills, a Brooklyn bus operator running for union office. “We get the flak for it.”

Signs about the fare hike have gone up throughout the subway system, and new price charts will surface in buses and token booths this weekend, transit officials said.

Still, passengers often don't read the signs, and then direct their angst at bus operators and station agents. They’re gearing up for more unwarranted tongue lashings starting on Sunday, when the fare hikes kick in.“They feel bitter,” said Brenda Davis, 50, a station agent at the 34th Street-Penn Station stop on the Broadway line. “It's easy for them to be mad at me.”

A Cornell University study conducted soon after the 2005 fare hike found that 81 percent of station agents and 71 percent of bus drivers had been verbally or physical threatened by a passenger in the past year.

This time around, station agents will also have to fumble with more quarters. Base fares rise by a quarter to $2.25.

Transit provided additional quarters to token clerks, workers said yesterday. Bulletins detailing the fare increase and potential customer questions went out to station agents in the past two weeks, a NYC Transit spokeswoman said.

Union officials said they could still use more help in dealing with irate passengers.

“You're strictly on your own,” said Andreeva Pinder, the union vice president for stations. “I tell [the clerks\ to keep their behinds in the booths.”

Anastasia Economides contributed to this story.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

1. Straphangers slow to catch on to coming $2.25 fares

2. MTA budget woes make for dirtier stations

3. Fare hike silver linings

4. City straphangers pay a hefty portion of subway fares

City straphangers pay a hefty portion of subway fares

Tuesday June 23, 2009 6:07 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

More than anywhere else, it seems, New Yorkers pay for the subway service they get.

Subway and bus fares cover 56 percent of NYC Transit’s operating expenses, one of the highest percentages among public transit systems in North America.

“You never see where your money goes,” said Cynthia Key, 56, a Bronx rider. “It’s always dirty, crowded.”

Transit experts saw both side of the MetroCard debate.

“We have features here that no other transit system in the country has,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign. “But we also have (subway) crowding ... that would embarrass a cattle shipper.”

It takes a hodgepodge of fares, taxes and government subsidies to keep transit systems running. Throughout the United States, fares cover 34 percent of operating expenses on average, according to Federal Transit Administration figures.Unlike other systems, however, New York transit riders have to cough up money for the MTA’s $27 billion in debt. The agency is the fifth largest public debt holder in the nation.

City straphangers also shoulder the burden of 44 years with the nickel fare, said Robert Paaswell, director of the University Transportation Research Center at CUNY.

Additionally, city and state subsidies to the MTA have remained basically flat since 1990, according to a city Independent Budget Office report released last year. The calculations did not factor in the $1.8 billion in new taxes and fees approved by Albany last month.

Paaswell said the 25-cent fare hike coming Sunday is negligible. City transit riders pay less than they did 30 years ago when accounting for inflation, he said.

“It’s worth it,” said T. Walker, 55, of Canarsie. “It gets me where I need to go.”

The MTA declined comment.

Shayndi Raice contributed to this story.

The cost of a ride

Percent of day-to-day expenses at MTA agencies covered by fares:

56: New York City Transit

51: Metro-North

40: LIRR

15: Staten Island Railway

Percent of other transit systems’ day-to-day expenses covered by fares:

43: Chicago

40: Washington, D.C.

37: Philadelphia

26: Paris

Sources: MTA, University Transportation Research Center at CUNY

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

1. Straphangers slow to catch on to coming $2.25 fares

2. MTA budget woes make for dirtier stations

3. Fare hike silver linings

Fare hike silver linings

Monday June 22, 2009 7:26 PM By Marlene Naanes

By Marlene Naanes

Stop the whining.

Straphangers yesterday said that even though subway and bus fares are set to go up from $2 to $2.25 this Sunday, the city’s transit system is still the best bargain around.

“It’s an amazing, cheap and convenient way to get around,” Maria Fitz, 44, of Greenpoint. “It’s worth an extra quarter a ride.”

With that rosy outlook in mind, amNewYork compiled five reasons why the fare hike really isn’t that bad:1. Day or night, you can get from northern Bronx to southern Queens for $2.25 or less.

In other cities, such as Washington D.C., you pay more the longer the trip. A peak hour fare in D.C. could cost more than $4.

Also, transit systems in other major cities like London and Tokyo, don’t provide 24-hour service.

2. Riders can find a way to save a buck — or several — with MetroCard bonuses and unlimited-ride passes.

“I find the monthly pass, depending on how much traveling I do, to be a really good deal,” said Ellen Lewis, 55, Upper West Side. “Today, I’m going to use it at least four times.”

3. It’s a safe ride.

So far this year, overall crime underground is down almost 10 percent compared to last year, according to transit data. Rapes and murders are down 100 percent.

4. Riders were spared service cuts.

The MTA originally proposed deep service cuts along with the hikes, but state officials found outside funds to soften the blow and keep service as is.

By comparison, St. Louis’ MetroLink riders were not only forced to cough up an extra 25 cents per ride this year, but they also lost service to 2,300 bus stops and a para-transit system for the disabled and elderly.

5. It could have been worse.

Riders were facing a 23-percent increase in fares under the original plan, but now they will only pay 10 percent more. So a monthly MetroCard that would have cost $103 will now only be $89, up from $81.

“I don’t want to pay more money, but if I do, $8 is not too much,” said straphanger Imara Lopez, 29, of East Harlem.

The MTA refused to comment on the story.

Heather Haddon contributed to this story.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

1. Straphangers slow to catch on to coming $2.25 fares

MTA budget woes make for dirtier stations

Sunday June 21, 2009 7:07 PM By Heather Haddon

(Photo by RJ Mickelson/amNY)

By Heather Haddon

Straphangers, start bringing a broom on your commute.

Because of budget constraints, the MTA has curtailed station cleaning, with Transit officials acknowledging they are down by about 100 workers.

The agency has also slashed overtime for cleaners, and workers say they simply can't keep up with the mounting trash.

“Maintenance took a hit,” said Mark Jones, a commuter from Harlem, who said a rat recently boarded the No. 6 train he was riding. “I feel like it is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Station cleaners sweep platforms and stairs, remove graffiti and clean token booths and MetroCard machines. Busy stations receive 24-hour cleaning, with workers floating among most of the other stations throughout the day.

In recent years, the cleaning department has struggled to keep up with the surge in ridership. In 1993, the MTA employed 1.5 station cleaners per million riders. By 2007, the ratio had slipped to 1 cleaner for every million, according to Transit figures.“Stations aren't a priority,” said Marvin Holland, a subway cleaner running to lead the union's stations department. “You are dealing with more trash, which leads to more rodents.”

The MTA started a pilot program in 2007 to provide 24-hour cleaning to stations and subway cars across the L and No. 7 lines. Workers were assigned just to those lines and Transit conducted cleaning “blitzes” to improve conditions.

In a survey last year, the Straphangers Campaign found that the L and No. 7 made big improvements and were the system's cleanest. A 2008 Transit report found that track fires also declined on the lines.

But running the pilot sapped precious manpower, which has fallen in the last several years as cleaner jobs went unfilled to save money, Holland said. A hiring freeze implemented earlier this year has compounded the problem.

Cleaners are now often scurrying to hit as many as five locations in one shift, whereas in the past they would usually just do two. And now stations only have cleaners on-site for an average of four hours a day, according to the Transit report.

“Given these personnel constraints, it is not difficult to understand why station cleanliness is a source of chronic customer complaints,” the report said.

As manpower has slipped, stations at times go an entire weekend without cleaning, Holland said.

Straphangers said they have noticed the fallout.

“We need the cleaners, especially on the weekend,” said Elizabeth James, 59, of Brooklyn. “It is dirty. It's just a lot of paper.”

During a forum last week, NYC Transit President Howard Roberts acknowledged that that cleaner shortage has become a problem, but said the MTA's poor finances have tied his hands. Roberts hoped to pay for more cleaners through cost-reductions, but the MTA's budget has ailed more than expected.

The MTA didn’t responds to requests for comment.

Anastasia Economides and Marlene Naanes contributed to this story

Straphangers slow to catch on to coming $2.25 fares

Sunday June 21, 2009 5:58 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Ready or not, here it comes.

With the $2 subway fare just days away from expiring, straphangers are having a hard time adjusting - if they know about the fare hike at all.

Only a handful of riders surveyed Sunday could say when the new fares were coming or what they will be. They were news to Richard Tillman, 61, of the South Bronx.

“Get out of here. Nobody's going to pay that,” said Tillman of the increase, which will take the base fare to $2.25 and monthly Metrocards from $81 to $89. “It just went up.”

Indeed, it’s the second hike in two years, and it has some straphangers considering commuting alternatives.

“Now I know what I'm going to do next week. I'm going to pull out the car,” said Angela Pacheco, 57, of Brooklyn.

Workers are making their final checks to MetroCard computers to gear up for the switch, NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said.The MTA voted to increase fares to $2.50 in March, but softened the blow after state lawmakers came through with $2.3 billion in additional funding last month. The tug-of-war over the bailout played out for weeks in Albany, leaving many riders confused about the end result.

“I think they definitely should have communicated [the new fares] a lot earlier,” said Edlin Cruz, 24, of Harlem.

The agency defended its outreach. White signs detailing the fares in several languages started going up in subway stations last week. Transit will finish posting the notices in subways and buses shortly, Fleuranges said.

Few riders stopped to look at the signs posted in station entrances and passageways Sunday. The signs typically were not located on platforms.

“They should post it on the pillars. It should be on the news - Channel 1, 5, 9, everything,” said Jaynea Braggs, 22, of Harlem.

A screen saver reminding riders about the change is being added to all MetroCard machines, Fleuranges said. Next weekend, fare decals on buses and subways will include the new prices, he said.

Anastasia Economides and Marlene Naanes contributed to this story

Fare bonuses

Straphangers who purchase Pay-Per-Ride cards will get a 15 percent bonus when they buy at least $8

- Single bonus fare comes with a $15 purchase

- Put $45 on a card to get 23 fares to avoid leftover balances

MTA missing 8 forklifts and 17 big batteries

Tuesday June 16, 2009 5:55 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

A band of subcontractors seemed to have made a serious run on the MTA’s supply closet.

A Brooklyn man and two Long Island residents were arrested Tuesday for pilfering eight MTA forklifts and 17 steel-cased batteries weighing a ton each.

The loot, worth tens of thousands of dollars, was trucked out of NYC Transit’s Maspeth mega-warehouse, whereupon the thieves allegedly hawked it at a nearby scrap yard for a fraction of its original cost.

“Now that the arrests were made, (we) intend to pursue any systemic weakness that would allow for this to happen,” said MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger, whose office worked on the five-month investigation in conjunction with the Queens District Attorney’s office and NYC Transit.

Those arrested worked for a private trucking company hired to repair and inspect NYC Transit equipment at its Maspeth storage facility. On three separate occasions last year, the team allegedly loaded up the equipment for off-sight repair on trucks, hauled it away and sold it for a total of $7,812.Transit inspectors noticed the missing goods during an audit last year and reported it to investigators, Kluger said.

The defendants — Bruce Lesniewski, 30; Darrin Pfaff, 42; and Kimberely Edwards, 57 — had not been arraigned by press time. They face six years of jail time if convicted on grand larceny and conspiracy charges.

Lawyers for Edwards and Pfaff said their clients would plead not guilty. An attorney for Lesniewski declined comment.

Smells, ads, employees fuel straphanger headaches

Sunday June 14, 2009 6:52 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Yes, straphangers loathe fare hikes and scrambled weekend service. But it's the little, daily headaches in city subways and buses that really drive New Yorkers batty.

“The musician who plays … at the Astor place uptown stop is horrendous,” wrote one straphanger. “Please tell me how I can spearhead his removal. He has to go.”

An amNewYork review of two years of complaints e-mailed to MTA headquarters found that kvetching about lewd advertising, smelly stations and other irritants trumped more serious concerns.

But even minor offenses were cause for exclamation points, caps and curse words.

“WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED? This is unacceptable,” wrote a train rider who didn't promptly receive a Web ticket.

In 2003, the MTA started accepting letters electronically through an online form at www.mta.info/faqs.htm. The MTA averages 800 messages a week from riders on a variety of topics, said spokesman Aaron Donovan. Few of the e-mails are happy ones.E-mails are forwarded to the appropriate division and answered within an average of two days, a MTA spokesman said.

The hurricane-strength rainstorm that crippled the system in August 2007 generated the largest number of e-mails, with the agency receiving nearly 120 messages in two days.

“God forbid we have another terrorist attack,” one rider wrote. “You are so NOT ready!!!!”

“The impression left is that the commuter is treated like livestock,” another straphanger declared.

The most frequent complaints included:

- Ads: Parents inflamed by a car-wide Hennessy Cognac campaign, racy School of Visual Arts images and visuals of zombies that “tormented” one Jamaica women's children. The “Why Islam” campaign sponsored by a Muslim advocacy group last year resulted in a barrage of letters about religious dogma.

- The MTA Web site: It's clunky, outdated and doesn't operate in real time, riders declared. “All service is NOT running normally,” wrote a passenger. “Your Web site should not lie. I'm stuck on a D train at this very moment.”

- Agency employees: Riders were ticked off by unhelpful token clerks and rude bus drivers, including one who told a diabetic elderly woman not to eat even though “she had the pizza IN THE BAG.” MTA officials were ruthlessly called “scumbags” and “morons.”

- Unpleasantries: Urine smells, vomit, icy air conditioning, passengers not giving seats to pregnant women and subway bars positioned too high up for “we short people,” all set passengers off.

Angry outtakes

Some New Yorkers get irritated by the strangest things, and decide to blame the MTA for them:

- A car from Pennsylvania parked in the same Bronx spot for four years

- Weekend disruptions on the F line interfered with a Park Slope woman's surprise party

- Workers leaving an MTA facility in the early morning “laugh and act as if they are all stumbling out of a bar”

- Translations used on MetroCard machines “insult the multicultural public's intelligence”

(HEATHER HADDON)

Commuting on the subway gives New Yorkers a lot of time to get cranky — with their fellow commuters.

“People are stepping on your shoes, they pass gas, they stare at you for a long time,” said Antonio Jackson, 27, a Q train rider. “It's rudeness.”

A survey of a dozen straphangers resulted in a laundry list of irritants with their commutes, many centered on the lousy code of conduct of other New Yorkers. The target of gripes included:

- People who smear their unsanitary hands all over the poles. “They're not sanitized enough so I have to hold on to my boyfriend, who then holds on to the pole,” said Ana Barbu, 21, a student and No. 1 rider

- Tone-deaf musicians and pushy panhandlers. “I give money just to get them away,” said Martha Adamas, 30, a Manhattan lawyer.

- IPods turned up so loud that the entire car has to suffer through the latest dance jam. “\[The headphones\] are small for a reason,” said Dion Millington, 25, a clerical associate from Brooklyn. “If I want that kind of music, I'll go to a club and dance, but not at 6 o'clock in the morning.”

As for the MTA, riders were sick of the random bag searches, criticized the agency's Web site and asked for more personnel on the trains.

(ANASTASIA ECONOMIDES AND HEATHER HADDON)

Autopilot causes L trains to bypass platforms

Tuesday June 9, 2009 6:56 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Running the L line on autopilot at night is causing trains to shoot past platforms, forcing straphangers to miss their stops, motormen and union officials said.

Because of the software fluke, drivers have to travel to the next station to let passengers off, according to the officials.

One Brooklyn mailroom worker, who didn’t want to be identified, said he was late for work repeatedly for several weeks after the L train missed his stop in Bushwick.

“It’s not perfected yet. It’s not working. And it’s definitely not cost-effective,” Keith Harrington, union vice chairman for train operators, said of the $326 million system.

Charles Seaton, a NYC Transit spokesman, said the glitch causing the trains to bypass stations by only a few feet is being addressed and does not impair passenger safety. It was unclear when the snafu would be fixed.

The system “maintains speeds within safe limits and ensures that train doors are opened safely,” Seaton said.In February, NYC Transit started running L trains on autopilot from 12:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. The hours were recently extended to 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., union officials said, and the MTA hopes to begin expanding it to some Queens lines over the next five years.

When trains are running on autopilot, computers cue the acceleration and breaking while transit officials monitor the traffic flow offsite. Drivers, who are always manning the train from the front, can switch into manual when problems arise.

MTA officials say the system allows them to run trains faster by monitoring cars in real time and bypassing the subway’s antiquated signal system.

But motormen say the computers tend to underestimate how sharply to apply the brakes, causing the trains to shoot past the stations by as much as two cars. Because they can’t go in reverse, the trains have to advance to the next station.

“I don’t like it at all,” said straphanger Andrew DeJesus, 30, an ironworker from Brooklyn. “If someone gets hurt, what’s going to happen?”

Last month, the MTA’s independent engineers found that shortfalls in the autopilot software caused an “uncomfortable jerk” at station stops on the L train. The system also threw on the emergency brakes by error when the trains drove too fast, according to a report by the engineer firms.

A NYC Transit spokesman said those problems would also be fixed.

Antastasia Ecomindes contributed this story.

Pre-fare hike MetroCards won't expire until August

Sunday May 31, 2009 1:34 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Straphangers will get some breathing room when the MTA fare increase kicks in.

Riders who buy an unlimited MetroCard before the June 28 fare hike and swipe it by July 6 can continue to use it, NYC Transit officials said.

Grace periods for unlimited MetroCards are as follows:

• Monthly MetroCards will last until Aug. 4

• 14-Day cards will be valid through July 19

• Weekly cards will last until July 12

• Single-day unlimited cards will be valid through July 6

Riders who activate their unlimited MetroCards by July 6 but don’t use them can mail them to the MTA for a refund after Aug. 4, officials said.With the fare hike, base subway and bus fares will rise by a quarter, to $2.25. The cost of monthly MetroCards will increase from $81 to $89. A 14-day card will rise to $51.50, a weekly card will cost $27 and a one-day pass will increase to $8.25.

The MTA is raising fares by an average of 10 percent to help plug a $1.8 billion budget deficit.

Report: Improve inspections of subway platform saftey

Tuesday May 26, 2009 7:28 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The MTA needs a sharper ruler in determining what constitutes a safe platform edge, an analysis found.

A report released yesterday found that NYC Transit overlooked safety defects in subway rubbing boards at 16 of the 23 stations surveyed by MTA inspector general’s office.

“We found that this (repair) plan was simply not effective,” said Inspector General Barry Kluger.

The MTA has pledged to fix all of the system’s 1,120 wood and plastic rubbing boards by December. But Kluger questioned whether the agency was detecting all the weak platform edges, which can cause injuries to passengers. Last year, a Q train nearly hit a 14-year-old Brooklyn boy who fell onto the tracks when a wooden board gave way.

Among stations surveyed last year, investigators found:- A transit supervisor decided that a rubbing board hanging off the platform at 116th Street on the C train didn’t need emergency repair

- An edge at the Newkirk Avenue station on the No. 2 line was evaluated as “OK,” “loose” and “in need of repair” by different inspectors, but no one fixed it during the 19-day period.

MTA officials agreed that their approach suffered from “weaknesses,” including a safety requirement that inspectors stand more than two feet away from the platform when assessing the edges.

Going forward, maintenance personnel will examine the rubbing boards up close and from the track level before issuing a report, Transit President Howard Roberts wrote in his response.

“We are developing a process to ensure Stations staff has knowledge of the proper definitions, reporting and notification procedures for platform edge defects,” the MTA said in a statement Tuesday.

MTA approves fare hike of about 10 percent

Sunday May 10, 2009 5:18 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Get ready for the end of the $2 subway fare.

The MTA board voted Monday on transportation hikes for both straphangers and drivers, with officials approving the following:

- Base subway and local bus fares increasing from $2 to $2.25. Rides on Access-a-Ride will go up by the same rate.

- Unlimited weekly MetroCards growing from $25 to $27, 14-day passes from $47 to $51.50, monthly cards from $81 to $89 and one-day passes from $7.50 to $8.25

- Pay-per-ride cards maintaining the bonus of 15 percent with a purchase of $8 instead of $7. Riders would get a bonus fare with a $15 purchase

- Tolls and express bus service rising from $5 to $5.50

Subway and bus fares will change on June 28, with the tolls increasing July 12.

"It will - at least for the short term - prevent the Armageddon that loomed large," said MTA board chair Dale Hemmerdinger.

A state bailout of the MTA enacted last week spared commuters larger fare increases and dozens of service cuts.

MTA chief steps down as state seeks agency shakeup

Thursday May 7, 2009 6:57 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Hours after Gov. David Paterson called for a shakeup at the MTA, agency chief Elliot “Lee” Sander resigned from the top post Thursday to explore “opportunities in the private sector,” a spokesman said.

Paterson’s office declined to comment on when a new agency head will be appointed.

A leading candidate to replace Sander is Marc Shaw, a Paterson advisor who previously led the MTA from 1995 to 2001. But transit advocates doubted that Shaw would want to take the post given the state of the agency’s budget woes.

The MTA bailout enacted yesterday consolidated the part-time, unpaid MTA chairman job with that of the full-time salaried CEO.

Sander, who earned about $340,000 in compensation, is credited with warming relations between the agency and the transit workers union, and keeping an open ear to advocates and academics.

MTA board chair Dale Hemmerdinger said he will be leading the agency on an interim basis.

MTA bailout, finally, a reality

Thursday May 7, 2009 6:36 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

With the stroke of a pen, the MTA bailout finally became a reality Thursday afternoon.

Gov. David Paterson signed a 40-page bill Thursday that spares straphangers from doomsday subway and bus fare hikes and dozens of transit cuts by raising about $2.26 billion annually through the following:

- A payroll tax of .34 percent for all employers in the MTA service area. The tax is retroactive to March for most businesses.

- A fare and tolls increase of about 10 percent that will likely begin mid-June.

Commuter rail prices probably won’t rise until July 1. The base fare will increase from $2 to $2.25. Monthly MetroCards will probably jump from $81 to $89. Other hikes will be unveiled Monday, when the MTA board meets to approve new fares.

- An additional $25 slapped onto motor vehicle registration costs starting Sept. 1.

- A 5 percent increase in car rental taxes starting Sept. 1.

- A $2 supplemental fee on driver’s licenses starting Sept. 1.

- A 50-cent surcharge that taxi owners will collect from passengers beginning in November.

The new funding streams do not sunset.

“Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief,” said MTA board member, Andrew Albert.Under the legislation, there also will be fare increases of 7.5 percent in both 2011 and 2013.

About 1,000 workers slated for layoffs will be spared their jobs, but the MTA may still shrink the number of red-vested station agents through attrition, said a source close to agency officials.

Straphangers spared second fare hike

Wednesday May 6, 2009 6:54 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Rest assured straphangers, subway and bus fares will only go up once this year.

Albany’s $2.26 billion MTA rescue plan is enough to spare riders a second fare hike later this year, said transit officials who had begun considering another increase later this year to fill the agency’s growing budget deficit.

Under the bailout deal, straphangers face one fare hike of roughly 10 percent this year, along with 7.5 percent increases in both 2011 and 2013. The plan proposes to raise funds for the MTA through a payroll tax, a 50-cent taxi surcharge and increased motor vehicle fees.

“At least we’re not going to suffer those egregious fare hikes and service cuts,” said MTA board member Andrew Albert.The bailout bill had not been passed by either the state Senate or Assembly as of presstime last night, though it looked likely to become law.

As a result, straphangers would see base fares increase from $2 to $2.25 starting probably in July. Meanwhile, monthly MetroCards are reported to increase from $81 to $89, and the MTA will likely boost the bonus on pay-per-ride cards from 15 percent to 20 percent.

The MTA is looking to hold a special board meeting Monday to approve the new fares and scrap dozens of proposed service cuts.

“It’s something you have to adapt to,” said Larry Taylor, 53, a Bronx commuter. “An apple doesn’t cost a nickel anymore.”

Transit advocates yesterday were miffed that the bailout includes just two years of funding for major system improvements, since, they said, the political war that erupted over the funding will make it difficult to get additional cash for the five-year plan.

“I’m not sure it’s the case that flowers of cash will bloom again,” said William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

The bailout will fund $6.5 billion in system improvements. Likely, officials will have to focus on immediate maintenance work, rather than new projects like easing subway crowding in Queens, southeast Brooklyn and the Upper West Side, transit observers said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Straphangers rejoice: Massive MTA fare hike averted!

Tuesday May 5, 2009 7:54 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Straphangers will be spared a transit doomsday fare hike after all.

State lawmakers announced last night that they had come to an agreement on a bailout for the MTA that would increase subway and bus fares by 10 percent, raising it from $2 to $2.25 a ride. Tolls would also rise by 10 percent.

The deal would prevent dozens of service cuts and a fare increase of up to 30 percent, the “doomsday” scenario that transit officials have painted over the last few months.

A bill had yet to surface at presstime, but the bailout also appeared to provide two years of funds for system improvements, something the MTA and the Assembly had been advocating.

“It’s good news for riders,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

The MTA said it welcome news of the deal.

The total bailout was estimated at $1.9 billion, with revenue coming from a payroll tax, a taxi surcharge, and higher motor vehicle fees.It was unclear if the rescue plan would prevent a second fair hike this year, a proposal the MTA floated last week because of its rapidly ballooning budget deficit. The deal, however, does call for 7.5 percent fare increases in both 2011 and 2013.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill Wednesday.

Paterson backs off from system improvements in MTA bailout

Sunday May 3, 2009 6:31 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Every week, the MTA rescue plan doesn't seem to stretch quite as far.

Gov. David Paterson is no longer demanding that the agency's bailout, which he wants to see ironed out by Wednesday, include funding for both day-to-day operations and system improvements.

During the weekend, Paterson reversed course and said that money for system improvements, defined as capital funding, will come at “a later date.”

Transit advocates shot back at Paterson Sunday, saying the decision jeopardizes millions of dollars in work the aged system needs.

“We now stand at the precipice of disaster,” said Denise Richardson, managing director of the General Contractors Association of New York.Lawmakers are struggling to pass a $1.7 billion rescue for the MTA that includes a payroll tax, 8 percent fare hike and surcharge on taxi rides. The state Senate is poised to vote on the bill this week and leaders say that the 32 votes needed to pass the plan are within reach.

But even with a rescue, straphangers could face two fare hikes and dozens of service cuts this year as the agency's budget deficit has ballooned to nearly $3 billion over the next two years.

On Wednesday, MTA head Elliot Sander warned the next round of cuts would be “beyond doomsday.”

Paterson postponed the capital funding to get bickering lawmakers to pass some kind of bailout by Wednesday, his spokeswoman Erin Duggan said.

“The deadline for action to avoid the significant fare increases and service cuts is upon us,” Duggan said.

The MTA's current capital plan expires at the end of this year. Approving capital funding will be an uphill battle in 2010, an election year, advocates said.

The MTA didn’t return calls for comment by press time.

Strange but true: Archbishop to bless 100-ton subway drill

Thursday April 30, 2009 6:39 PM By Heather Haddon

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, below, will bless the massive drill digging the No. 7 extension Friday. (Photo courtesy MTA; Dolan photo, Archdiocese of New York)

By Heather Haddon

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan hasn’t wasted time getting his hands dirty.

In his first two weeks on the job, the city's Roman Catholic leader has toured the World Trade Center site. He threw out a pitch for the Mets and noshed on city hot dogs. Now, he’s getting close to a 100-ton boring machine.

Dolan will bless the drill used to dig the $2.1 billion extension of the No. 7 line Friday, MTA officials announced. Sandhogs now cutting the 7,100-foot twin tunnels flowing west from Times Square requested Dolan’s grace.

Priests have blessed the subway drills over the years, but not someone of Dolan’s stature, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said.“Building tunnels through bedrock deep under Manhattan is a dangerous enterprise,” Donovan said.

Dolan will not venture into the tunnel but give his blessing from the street at West 25th Street and 11th Avenue.

The MTA lowered the head of the boring machine into the earth in February. Its 44 cutters are mounted on a massive disk measuring 22-feet in circumference.

Part two of MTA fare hike could surface next month

Tuesday April 28, 2009 6:29 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The MTA could unveil another fare hike or additional service cuts as soon as May without a bailout from Albany, sources said.

The agency announced Monday that it faces a $621 million hole, even after a fare hike of up to 30 percent and dozens of service cuts beginning next month.

The MTA must slap straphangers with more pain this year, as the agency forecasts an additional $1 billion deficit in 2010, a spokesman said.

“The budget has to be reconciled,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.

MTA staff started sketching out additional doomsday scenarios last month, when it became apparent that the agency’s deficit had grown beyond the original $1.2 billion estimate, according to a source close to the agency. Those traveling during off-peak hours or outside the core of Manhattan are especially vulnerable to service cuts.The MTA board will discuss a time frame for filling the new deficit during its board meeting Wednesday, but won’t put forth specific plans, officials said.

Up in Albany Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee passed its $1.76 billion MTA rescue plan, which would raise fares by 8 percent, impose a payroll tax and instate a $1 taxi surcharge. The Senate amended the bill to exclude livery cars from the fee.

The clock on the May 31 fare hike is quickly ticking. Even if the Senate’s plan passes, the MTA would have to raise fares more than 8 percent because of the lost time, Ortiz said.

MTA shaves cost, features from 96th Street station rehab

Tuesday April 28, 2009 2:49 PM By Heather Haddon

(Illustration courtesy NYC Transit)

By Heather Haddon

The much-anticipated rehab of the 96th Street station will be cheaper, faster and a little less accessible for handicap riders.

Engineers have shaved $26 million from the renovation to the station serving the No. 1, 2 and 3 line by reducing the depth and width of the underground platform, according to MTA renderings presented Monday.

Officials expect the $93 million project to wrap up 20 months earlier that previously scheduled, as workers won’t have to drill into the bedrock or relocate many utilities.

Still, the redesign does not include a new escalator included in the original plan. Engineers also removed one of the three elevators originally proposed.The MTA expects the project to complete by 2010. Street-level work first began in 2007.

Straphangers face more pain as MTA drowns in debt

Monday April 27, 2009 6:32 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The fast-approaching fare hike and service cuts won't come close to keeping the MTA in the black, meaning straphangers could get hammered again.

Plummeting ridership and tax revenues have led to another $621 million in losses this year. That's on top of the $1.2 billion deficit that MTA will begin filling next month with a fare increase of up to 30 percent and dozens of service cuts.

Next year, meanwhile, brings a new problem for the MTA and straphangers as the agency predicts it will have a $1 billion deficit, triple what it originally thought.

It's unclear whether that will mean a new round of fare hikes and service cuts, but the board is expected to discuss the new deficit at the meeting Wednesday.

After years of record increases, MTA officials expect ridership to decline by more than 7 percent this year because of the fare increase and the number of people of out work.

“The state of our finances is dire,” said MTA chief Elliot Sander, during the agency's board meeting. “We need Albany to come to the rescue.”But funding plans under consideration by the state won't fully cover the MTA's $1.8 billion deficit for this year. Both versions of the plan in the Assembly and Senate leave a hole of about $200 million, according to the latest projections. The agency could absorb a deficit of that size in the short term, but the Senate's proposal — relying payroll taxes, an 8 percent fare increase and $1 surcharge on taxi rides — would fall too short in coming years, said MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin.

Meanwhile, up in Albany:

• The Senate Transportation Committee advanced its $1.76 million rescue plan for the MTA along party lines. Democrats hope to pass the bill next Wednesday, but support for the proposal has crumbled.

• A growing chorus of leaders, including Gov. David Paterson, blasted the $1 surcharge on taxi rides included in the Senate's proposal, as half of it goes to funding transportation projects outside the city.

Even if Albany acts, it's fast becoming too late to reverse the fare increase. Local stations will begin to receive the new fare table next week in preparation for the May 31 hike, Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said.

“Million of New Yorkers are scratching their heads and getting very, very angry,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

The agency's board will begin to discuss options to plug this year's during its meeting Wednesday. MTA officials could not say yesterday if it would need to enact additional cost saving measures this year.

Fun facts about the MTA’s trash

Thursday April 23, 2009 9:36 AM By Heather Haddon

(Seth Wenig/Associated Press)

By Heather Haddon

In honor of the ongoing hoopla about Earth Day, New York City Transit issued an extensive list of what it recycles each year:

- Nearly 8,500 tons of refuse, or about half of the trash collected from the system’s 468 subway stations

- More than 69,000 tons of metal, glass, plastic and paper amassed at train yards and other NYC Transit facilities

- Nearly 1,790 old subway cars have been sunk off the coasts of six states along the Atlantic seaboard to form habitats for marine life

- The amount of recycled refuse was 71 percent last year, compared to 54 percent in 2003

MTA deficit flirts with $2B as prospect grows for even more fare hikes and service cuts

Wednesday April 22, 2009 3:45 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The MTA is in an even deeper hole than everyone feared.

The agency's deficit has ballooned by as much as $700 million this year,

possibly pushing the total to $1.9 billion, sources close to the MTA said.

So even if an Albany bailout comes through, straphangers could still be

dealt painful service cuts and even another fare hike beside the increased

already planned.

"Things are going to get worse, because the economy is worse," said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

Straphangers recoiled at the news.

"It sucks," said Courtney Gordinier, 27, of the Meatpacking District, when

asked about the upcoming hike and the prospects of another. "I'd rather

take the bus to work, but I'm going to bust out my bike."The agency is putting through a fare increase of up to 30 percent and dozens

of service cuts, assuming Albany doesn't come up with new cash. Those

measures, however, were sketched out to fill a smaller budget gap of $1.2

billion.

Aaron Donovan, an MTA spokesman, declined to confirm the amount on the

deficit, but said officials will discuss ways to fill the additional hole

during its full board meeting next Wednesday.

But an internal memo sent by agency chief Elliot Sander Tuesday alluded to

the MTA's grim financial outlook

"We expect to forecast our revenues and preliminary indications are

certainly not encouraging," Sander wrote to agency heads and board members.

The fare increase, that will push the cost of a monthly MetroCard to $103,

is slated to roll out May 31.

"Of course it's going to impact me," said Sasha Rodriguez, 21, of Washington

Heights. "We don't get paid enough to raise the buses or trains."

Workers are making "progress" toward reprogramming fare boxes, MetroCard

machines and turnstiles, New York City Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges

said.

Meanwhile, Albany's efforts to rescue the MTA continued to meander yesterday

as the Senate hunted for 32 votes for its proposal. The latest plan would

generate $1.76 billion through an 8 percent fare increase, $1 taxi surcharge

and three new motor vehicle fees.

"The transit system is on the precipice," said Neysa Pranger, spokeswoman for

the Regional Plan Association, an advocacy group. "If Albany can't act,

we're looking at a shrunken transit system [and] ever rising fares."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) gave the plan his blessing yesterday,

according to a published report. But even it clears the Senate, money earned

from the proposal wouldn¹t cover the new deficit.

"In the state with the most transit users, it's an abomination that that we

should be going through this," said Andrew Albert, a nonvoting MTA board

member.

The MTA will officially announce the deficit during the board's finance

committee meeting Monday. Officials had previously said that the MTA is $323

million behind in state and real estate taxes this year.

"The finance committee will not be pretty," Russianoff said.

In his memo, Sander directed agency chiefs to impose a "hard freeze" on

spending, including no new hiring or overtime. Purchases and contractors

must also be sharply curtailed, Sanders wrote.

Brooklyn No. 5 riders win, No. 4 travelers lose

Wednesday April 22, 2009 2:21 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Brooklyn No. 5 riders, prepare for smoother commute.

The MTA is looking to ferry No. 5 trains into Brooklyn beyond the rush hour, when they currently terminate at the Bowling Green station. The proposal, which will be considered by the MTA board next week, would extend No. 5 service to the Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College stop between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The change would begin in June if passed.

But the shift comes at the expense of No. 4 riders. The agency would run four fewer No. 4 trains along the line during the time period, causing some additional crowding on the line, according to MTA documents.“It’s a tradeoff,” said William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

The expanded service would not cost additional cash, according to the proposal. It would also better balance the schedules between the No. 4, 5, 2 and 3 trains, officials said.

Army of NYC commuters feeding new transit alert services

Monday April 20, 2009 2:33 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Looking to avoid a stalled train or a dangerous bike lane? Your fellow commuters want to help.

A small army of impassioned travelers is feeding Twitter and other digital services with updates about rail and road conditions. Thousands of travelers have subscribed to the real-time updates on their cell phones and BlackBerries. The alerts help followers to switch commuting plans when trouble strikes.

“It's very, very helpful,” said Irka Seng, 43, an Upper West Side filmmaker who follows Metro-North updates for her commute to White Plains.

A mob of BlackBerries powers Clever Commute, a free service that tracks 30 buses and regional rail lines operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and NJ Transit. The service shoots out alerts (and ads) to more than 5,000 subscribers divided by line.

The large pool of informants makes the service timely, with WCBS news radio subscribing to Clever Commute for its transit reporting.

“We are generally faster, more detailed and free of the [transit agency] bias,” said Josh Crandall, the company's founder, who is looking to expand the service to city subways.In a different spin, one upstart service parlays transit alerts with dating notices. Launched last week, subwayalerts.com also features gossip and city transportation blogs.

“If you see someone you like, or you're running late, it will be useful,” said Vincent Mota, 31, a Williamsburg designer who helped found the service.

As for bicyclists, commuters frustrated by the icy conditions on city bridges started the NYC Bridge Report on Twitter in January. Nearly 200 subscribers follow the feed about road conditions, ticketing and non sequiturs such as lost eyeglasses.

The MTA also sends e-mails and text messages about service delays to more than 85,000 straphangers. The agency has delivered more than 39 million messages since November, firing off a record 130 alerts during a blizzard last month.

But some commuters complain that the MTA messages don't provide enough detail or alternate routes. Clever Commute has also trumped the MTA's response times in several incidences.

“No Power. No power on all 4 tracks - sitting in Cos Cob with another NY-bound train,” wrote a Metro-North commuter about 30 minutes before the official alert was dispatched.

Aaron Donovan, a MTA spokesman, said they welcomed the additional services, but emphasized that transit authorities verify their updates before sending them.

“You can be confident that the information is accurate,” Donovan said.

Smoothing the commute

All of these digital commuting services are free:

Clever Commute: A peer-driven network dispatching emailing service alerts about 30 bus and regional rail lines operated by the MTA and NJ Transit. clevercommute.com

MTA: Sends out texts and e-mails about unplanned and scheduled service changes for individual lines. www.mymtaalerts.com

New York City Bridge Report: A Twitter feed for cyclists about the conditions on city bridges and bike lanes. twitter.com/nycbridgereport

Subwayalerts.com: An e-mail service packaging personals and gossip with city subways updates

MTA struggles to keep Herald Square escalators moving

Sunday April 19, 2009 2:42 PM By Heather Haddon

A straphanger makes his way down an out-of-service escalator at th 34th Street Herald Square subway stop. (Photo By RJ Mickelson)

By Heather Haddon

Straphangers are getting a lot of exercise lately at the Herald Square subway station.

Escalators in the system’s third-busiest station have ground to a halt, forcing commuters to find ones that work or simply to use the stairs.

The problem has gone on for months, despite many of the escalators being installed last year. Yesterday, five of the 12 escalators at the station were down.

“We come here specifically for the escalators,” said Hyman Muchnich, 84, of Brooklyn Heights. “They’re supposed to make it easier.”

The MTA spent $36 million last year to overhaul the Herald Square escalators. But the contractor, Fujitec America, didn’t install the equipment correctly and must make mechanical adjustments, New York City Transit officials said.

Throughout the subway system, the average number of failures on MTA-operated escalators jumped 46 percent in the last quarter of 2008 compared to 2006, according to the latest Transit reports.“We respond as quickly as possible in house,” said Transit President Howard Roberts during a recent MTA board meeting. “But we have little leverage with our current contracts to ... get warranty repairs made.”

Fujitec America could not be reached for comment Sunday.

An out-of-service escalator can severely curtail subway access for the elderly, the disabled or straphangers weighed down by a stroller or heavy bags. The longest escalator out at Herald Square yesterday has 46 steps. At least one sign at the station says some escalators won’t be back up until next month.

“You have a lot of mobile seniors in New York City,” said Evelyn Moss, 60, of Brooklyn. “We need some kind of way to get down to the subway.”

But the problems aren’t all Transit’s fault; some escalators are privately-owned, like the one at Union Square that’s been out for at least a year.

Up until recently, the MTA contracted with escalator companies that would install them for the cheapest price, creating a patchwork of models that require unique parts and service.

For example, the MTA has struggled to fix the escalators at the Flushing/Main Street No. 7 station as they are found nowhere else in the world, making it a scavenger hunt to find replacement parts. The escalators have gone down chronically since they were installed a decade ago.

“It has broken down so many times that no one can remember to count,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing).

MTA officials have acknowledged that the system’s escalators need more attention.

Last year, Transit officials began replacing machine parts on a regular basis and rigged an alert system for when a device goes down.

Melinda Hsia contributed to this story.

By the numbers

163: Number of MTA-operated escalators

10: Their average age in years

3,500: Number of escalator outages during the last quarter of 2008

310: Average number of hours between an escalator failure during that period

Source: MTA

Brooklyn, Bronx straphangers to benefit from stimlus funds

Thursday April 16, 2009 2:42 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The MTA’s list of 49 transit projects it hopes to fund with more than $1 billion in federal stimulus money includes nuggets for straphangers on the D train in Brooklyn and the No. 5 line in the Bronx.

The full list, released Thursday, still has big capital projects — such as for the Fulton Transit Center, the 2nd Avenue Subway and the East Side Access plan — receiving the largest share of the funds.

The projects selected were completely designed, as is required for stimulus funding, said Aaron Donovan, a MTA spokesman.

“We pitched projects that were the furthest along,” he said.

Included in the list is $365 million for more than a dozen station rehabs on the D train in Brooklyn and the 5 line in the Bronx.After a 13-day public comment period, which started Thursday, the MTA will decide which projects to select next month. Additional work could be funded if the agency receives more money later this year.

The list of projects and their allotted funding can be found at http://www.nymtc.org.

Goose roosts on Verrazano ... and lives!

Thursday April 16, 2009 10:04 AM By Heather Haddon

Officer Gus Sasso and Maintainer Jim Ferguson rescue a goose off the lower level the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Thursday morning. (Photo courtesy MTA Bridges and Tunnels)

By Heather Haddon

The wild Verrazano goose chase has come to a happy conclusion.

About 11 a.m. Thursday, MTA employees got wind that an injured goose had roosted on a south-bound ramp to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The bird appeared to have a broken wing from an unknown cause.

Workers closed the ramp for half an hour while two employees corralled the bird off the crossing.

“We didn’t want to hurt the bird or scare it any more than it already was,” said Officer Gus Sasso, of MTA Bridges and Tunnels.

Apparently, the precocious goose has waddled away from the Poly Prep High School in Bay Ridge. A groundskeeper confirmed the goose’s identity, stating it was missing from the school’s regular flock.

Details about the goose’s condition, or its name, were not immediately available Thursday afternoon.This was the MTA’s first goose rescue from a bridge. In the past, employees have saved dogs, cats and the occasional chicken, according to the agency.

MTA bailout proposal returns with new spin on tolls

Wednesday April 15, 2009 3:12 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

Gov. David Paterson and backers of an MTA bailout are trying to take some of the bite out of a controversial proposal to toll free city bridges.

Members of the Ravitch Commission retooled their plan yesterday to include an exemption for drivers using the East River spans for business or medical purposes.

The revised plan keeps an 8 percent fare hike and a .33 percent business tax. The MTA’s current proposal would raise fares by 23 percent.

“The governor is expecting that lawmakers will come back to the table and agree on a long-term solution for the MTA’s finances,” said Erin Duggan, a spokeswoman for Paterson, who sits on the 15-member commission.Albany would determine what situations qualify for an exemption. The tolls would be pegged to the cost of a subway ride, according to a source familiar with the discussions. New York State E-Z Pass drivers would get a 34 cent discount on the fees.

The tolls would generate $1 billion for the cash-strapped agency. To offset the exemptions, the plan calls for increasing the tax that noncity drivers pay for garaging their cars, which currently hovers about 18 percent. The city would also impose a 50-cent fee on taxi rides.

Together, the measures would raise about $150 million to provide relief for some drivers.

The revised plan keeps an 8 percent fare hike and a .33 percent business tax.

Lawmakers are scrambling to bail out the MTA before service cuts and a fare hike of up to 30 percent begin in June. Albany resumes session on Monday.

E train car replaces rusty Redbird at Brooklyn's transit high school

Tuesday April 14, 2009 3:13 PM By Heather Haddon

Transit workers unload an E car at the East New York Transit Technology High School Monday Night. (Photo courtesy NYC Transit)

By Heather Haddon

The transit workers of tomorrow will finally get to practice on the technology of today.

City officials are delivering two modern subway cars to the East New York Transit Technology High School for students to learn the maintenance trade.

“This project is a big winner for all,” said Michael Mulgrew, UFT vice president for career and technical high schools.

For more than 15 years, students attending the Brooklyn school have worked on a vintage “Redbird,” the 1960s-era cars that ran on the No. 7 line until retirement in 2003.

City and union officials raised funds to pluck two R42 subway cars off the E line for the vocational school. The effort took two years.The first car arrived on a flatbed truck Monday night and was lowered into the school’s workshop by crane. The other car is set to arrive Tuesday night.

“(The school) provides the skills that the people of New York depend upon daily,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Queens), who helped in the fundraising for the cars.

Transit Tech was begun in the 1940s to train students in building airplanes. The school’s 1,600 students now learn transit trades that lead to jobs with the MTA.

Months of delays will snarl commutes on E, F and V lines

Tuesday April 14, 2009 3:02 PM By Heather Haddon

By Heather Haddon

The daily grind has gotten even worse for more than a million Manhattan and Queens straphangers, and it may not get better for months to come.

Since last month, the E, F and V lines have been running with delays of five to 10 minutes throughout the week because of track work. Additionally, the MTA is sending two fewer trains down the lines during the morning and evening rush hours.

“It’s heartless,” said Elisheva Laurie, 54, a teacher from Woodhaven. “People need the trains to get to work and get home.”

The MTA is replacing an 800-feet stretch of track between Queens’ Roosevelt Avenue and Forest Hills-71st Avenue stations as part of ongoing subway maintenance, said NYC Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker.The work is being done on the weekends, but trains must constantly travel at slower speeds because they are running over temporary track, she explained.

Signs in stations tell straphangers to plan on delays through the end of the year. Parker, however, said the work should wrap up by the end of the summer.

The E and F express trains are two of the busiest subway lines in the system. The F, which runs from Queens into Manhattan and further on to Brooklyn, averages 550,000 riders during the week. The E, operating between Queens and Manhattan, averages 450,000 straphangers, transit officials estimated. Meanwhile, the V, which travels through Queens and Manhattan, has 125,000 riders.

Melinda Hsia contributed to this story

Advocates: make Mets subway station accessible

Sunday April 12, 2009 1:45 PM By Heather Haddon

(The Associated Press)

By Heather Haddon

Getting home from Citi Field is no day in the park for Mets fans with disabilities.

Advocates for the disabled will be out protesting the home opener at Citi Field Monday, charging that the $15 million of renovations to the Mets-Willets Point subway station didn’t leave the stop fully accessible.

“I'm frustrated,” said John Sheehan, 50, a life-long Mets fan who walks with difficulty because of multiple sclerosis. “This was an opportunity to try to make the station right.”

The Mets made the new Citi Field more accessible, with nearly four times the seating for fans using wheelchairs than Shea Stadium.To improve the station, the MTA built a $4 million ramp leading from the Queens-bound side of the No. 7 station to the street. But because there’s no ramp on the Manhattan-bound side, those using a wheelchair must take the Queens-bound train to the last stop in Flushing to get an accessible station. . In another wrinkle, the escalator in the Flushing station is out of service and awaiting an overhaul.

“If you sit in a game for two or three hours, you want to go home like everybody else,” Sheehan said.

Some advocates also criticized the fact that the ramp is only open on game days and descends sharply from the platform to Roosevelt Avenue.

Stations that get complete makeovers must be made accessible for passengers with disabilities, but the MTA only partially renovated Mets-Willets Point.

The Yankee Stadium station, on the other hand, is fully accessible for the disabled. To the dismay of advocates, the MTA didn’t select Mets-Willets Point on its list of 100 stations that must be made handicap-accessible by 2020. As of now there’s no plans to make it fully accessible, but an Access-A-Ride stop is being arranged for the stadium entrance.

“It should have been made a priority,” said Michael Harris, founder of the Disabled Riders Coalition, an advocacy group.

New York Transit officials agreed that the station is not ideal for disabled fans, but said the ramp is an improvement.

“We have been able to take the first step into making this station at least partly accessible,” said Transit President Howard Roberts in a statement.

Transit reverses policy of gating turnstiles

Tuesday April 7, 2009 3:24 PM By Heather Haddon

A Wall Street entrance to the No. 2/3 line was gated Monday after a station agent did not report to duty.

(Andrew Hinderaker)

By Heather Haddon

The MTA has decided to keep turnstiles open even if subway entrances are not staffed, a response to the anger that erupted at some stations when officials recently gated the entry points, a transit spokesman said yesterday.

To save money, the MTA last week stopped replacing station agents when they call out of work. Transit officials then began closing off turnstiles at some entrances that were not staffed.

amNewYork reported yesterday that for two days, entrances at the Wall Street No. 2/3 line were shut because of no-shows, resulting in a chaotic scene and a multitude of complaints to the agency.

“They were cursing and screaming and hollering,” said Francisco Dono, a Wall Street token clerk.

Yesterday, officials changed course and decided that all entrances scheduled to be open will remain that way even if an absence occurs, said NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges.

But fewer eyes watching the turnstiles doesn’t mean fare evaders can rejoice.Wall Street and 104 other stops have Passenger Identification Cameras to discourage fare invasion, Fleuranges said. The agency downloads footage of riders if a police investigation occurs.

Even if some entrances are not staffed, all subway stations will have at least one full-time attendant on-duty 24 hours a day, Fleuranges said. By July, entrances without a worker will have an intercom for riders to call the token clerk with any problems, he said.

The cash-strapped agency is eliminating 800 station agents by July to save $52 million.