FASTRACK Returns To The A & C
MTA NYC Transit’s FASTRACK will be returning to the 
& 
in Brooklyn next week. Here are the details:
On Monday, May 5, MTA New York City Transit’s FASTRACK program returns to the A C lines in Brooklyn. AC service will be suspended between Jay St-MetroTech and Broadway Junction from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for four consecutive weeknights, from Monday, May 5 to early Friday morning, May 9. C service ends early each night. Free shuttle buses and JL trains provide alternate service.
Joseph Leader, Senior Vice President for the Department of Subways, said, “Our FASTRACK efforts have been highly successful in repairing and maintaining a subway system that provides a better work environment for employees and improves train service reliability for our customers.”
During our previous FASTRACK on the AC lines in February 2014, New York City Transit repair and maintenance crews took full advantage of the uninterrupted seven-hour work window, and completed many tasks in the areas of track, signals, infrastructure, and station environment. They scraped and cleaned 5,360 linear feet of track, and installed 612 track tie plates. Signal workers tested and serviced 2 switches and 19 signals. At stations, workers replaced 8 platform signs, 348 light bulbs, primed 500 square feet of wall, and repaired 360 feet of rubbing board. Infrastructure worker’s repaired/replaced 190 feet of handrail, repaired 48 leaks and 53 feet of bench wall, cleaned 650 feet of drain line, and performed pump plant maintenance. This represents only a portion of what Transit workers are able to accomplish under the FASTRACK program.
During this FASTRACK A train service will operate in two sections:
1. Between Inwood-207 St and Jay St-MetroTech.
2. Between Broadway Junction and Lefferts Blvd or Far Rockaway/Mott Av.
Travel alternatives:
J & L service is available between Manhattan and the Broadway Junction AJL station.
1. Transfer between A and J trains at Fulton St.
2. Transfer between A and L trains at 14 St/8 Av.
Free shuttle buses operate on two routes.
Transfer between A trains and free shuttle buses at Jay St-MetroTech and Broadway Junction.
1. Local via Fulton Street between Jay St-MetroTech and Broadway Junction making station stops at Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts, Lafayette Av, Clinton-Washington Avs, Franklin Av, Nostrand Av, Kingston-Throop Avs, Utica Av, Ralph Av, and Rockaway Av.
2. Express via Atlantic Avenue between Jay St-MetroTech and Broadway Junction making stops near Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts, Nostrand Av, and Utica Av stations.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Service Diversions 04-25-14
Get a head start on your weekend plans as I have just updated the Service Diversions through all of next week.
Make sure to follow @TransitBlogger on Twitter by clicking the button in the sidebar as I am using it more often. Also if you are into indie music make sure to follow @IndMusicReview & @SurgeFM!
Have a safe & wonderful weekend.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA Adds 2 Stops To B44 Select Bus Service
Earlier today, MTA NYC Transit announced that it has added 2 stops to the B44 Select Bus Service. Here are the official details:
MTA New York City Transit has added two stops on the B44 Select Bus Service (SBS) route serving customers traveling between Williamsburg Bridge Plaza and Knapp Street/Emmons Avenue. The locations were added based on customer requests, potential ridership, ease of transfers, and distances between stops.
The new southbound stops for B44 SBS are on Nostrand Avenue south of Gates Avenue, and Nostrand Avenue south of Avenue L. The new northbound for B44 SBS are on Nostrand Avenue on the south side of Avenue L, and Bedford Avenue on the south side of Gates Avenue.
The new stops provide connections for the B9 route at Avenue L and for the B52 at Gates Avenue, and service to two growing neighborhoods in Brooklyn. About 38,000 customers use the B44, with about half that number taking the SBS route.
“We are confident that adding these two stops will improve and enhance SBS along this vital Brooklyn corridor. We look forward to continued ridership growth at these two locations, and along the entire route,” said Darryl Irick, senior vice president for buses for MTA New York City Transit and president of the MTA Bus Company.
Service at those stops began on Monday, April 21. Ticket Vending Machines that accept MetroCards and coins are available at each stop. Customers pay their fare at the machines, then board the bus through any of the three doors and retain their tickets as proof of payment.
Supported jointly by MTA New York City Transit, the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Police Department, SBS is New York City’s version of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) — an increased-speed, high-performance bus system incorporating off-board fare collection, fewer stops, low-floor hybrid-electric buses, and a branded, easily identifiable service.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Overnight Q Service To Become Local
Broadway line local station riders have good news coming to them as of this December. MTA NYC Transit has announced that 
trains will now run local in Manhattan during the overnight hours. Here is more:
MTA New York City Transit today announced that beginning in December 2014, Q trains will make all local stops in Manhattan late nights between midnight and 6:30 a.m. Q train service currently operates with express service in Manhattan during the late night time period, bypassing customers at Prince St, 8 St-NYU, 23 St, 28 St, and 49 St. During this time period, these stations are currently served only by the N train, but with Q trains running local, customers at these stations will see wait times decrease from an average 10- minute wait to a 5-minute wait.
In examining MetroCard data from October 2012, New York City Transit’s Operations Planning Division determined that by shifting service on the Q to local tracks overnight, customers at the local stations would see reduced travel times of over six minutes on average. Customers at other (express stop) stations would see average increased travel times of about one minute. In the aggregate, running the Q local would save about 6,000 customer travel minutes each night.
On a typical night, operating the Q local would lengthen the trips of approximately 1,700 customers, but this would be off-set by the reduced wait times for about 1,300 customers at local stations, especially intra-Manhattan riders going to or from local stations, who would experience twice the frequency, from an average 10- minute wait to a 5-minute wait, as they could ride either an N or a Q.
“We are constantly analyzing service and ridership trends in order to provide the best service possible to all of our customers at all hours,” said New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco. “As we saw increased ridership at local stations along the Broadway Line, it simply made sense to provide these customers with more service.”
In recent years, the areas served by local stations have seen higher than average increases in late night activity. This has been reflected in MetroCard data from 2008 to 2012 that showed overnight MetroCard entries at local stations grew by 28 percent while entries at express stations grew by 12 percent. If this trend continues the benefits of an overnight Q local will only grow in the near future.
Another benefit of a Q local: Currently, some Q line customers headed to Brooklyn walk to express stations to avoid making a transfer even if their origin is closer to local stations. In those cases, running local service might lengthen their train time, but would shorten their walking time. In addition, Brooklyn customers going to or from local stations would no longer need to transfer between N and Q trains.
In the past, overnight 2 and 4 service in Manhattan was converted from express service to local service. These changes resulted in a total net travel time savings for customers on the Lexington and 7 Av lines.
This service change does not require MTA Board approval and when implemented, will cost $73,000 annually.
I feel this is long overdue as the local stations see decent ridership during the late night hours. From what I have noticed, most Q trains are ghost towns during the overnight hours in Manhattan due to running express. This should change all of that pretty instantly.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Senator Blumenthal Safety Blunder
The Metro-North has been taking a beating from all angles for quite sometime. Whether it is the agency’s failed maintenance or the deadliest accident in the agency’s history.
Unfortunately the beating continued this past week when Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal demanded accountability after learning the agency racked up $552,000 stemming from 139 violations in the last 10 years.
The senator’s biggest message was on how the agency needed to improve its safety accountability which is what makes this past Friday’s incident hilarious.
Mr. Blumenthal was holding a press conference at the Milford Metro-North station when he almost got blown off the platform along with his easel & chart. Check out the video by clicking here.
While his message is right in terms of the agency needed to make major safety accountability changes, I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he comes off in the video in what was almost a historic pot calling the kettle black moment.
Do not preach safety & proceed to stand in the clearly marked caution area not only with your body but an easel as well! Who sets up these photo ops & does not use common sense when doing so? The answer: Senator Blumenthal’s people.
In my best Cris Carter or Keyshawn Johnson voice, C’MON MAN!
xoxo Transit Blogger
xoxo Transit Blogger
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