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Service Diversions 11-24-10

Posted by
on November 24th, 2010 at 11:40 pm

I have just updated the Service Diversions page with the latest planned work for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, next week, & beyond in some cases.

Riders of the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, & the Staten Island Railway, click on the respective name links to get complete planned service schedule information for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The next update will be at 3:01 PM Friday when all the planned work for this week wraps up. Have a safe & wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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LIRR Thanksgiving Service Information

Posted by
on November 22nd, 2010 at 4:09 pm

As is the case every year, the MTA Long Island Rail Road will be running extra service for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Here are the complete details courtesy of a press release they sent me:

Thanksgiving weekend is the official start for many to the busy holiday season and the MTA Long Island Rail Road is ready with additional service to get travelers where they want to be. Avoid traffic gridlock and parking fees by taking the railroad. Additional trains will be operating on Wednesday, November 24 and on Thanksgiving Day, November 25 and off-peak fares will be in effect for the entire four-day holiday weekend.

On Black Friday, November 26, traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year, off-peak fares will be in effect all day, including the special Family Fare discount, while a full weekday train schedule will be in effect. Under the Family Fare program, up to four children ages 5-11 can ride trains that day for the advance purchase fare of 75- cents each (one-way) when accompanied by a fare-paying parent or guardian. Weekly and monthly ticket holders just pay for the kids. Children under five ride free.

Have a great train ride and follow these travel tips:

Purchase before your go. Round trip tickets, including MetroCards for connecting subway and bus service, can be purchased in advance in order to save time and avoid lines at LIRR ticket windows and New York City Transit MetroCard windows and ticket machines.

Use one of the LIRR’s extra trains. On Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, November 24, there will be 10 extra trains departing Penn Station between 2:10 PM and 4:06 PM for customers leaving work early for the holiday.

Be sober and responsible. Open alcoholic beverage containers will not be allowed on LIRR trains, stations and on platforms from 8:00 PM, Wednesday, November 24 through 5:00 AM, Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), November 25. MTA Police will enforce this restriction.

Wednesday, November 24:

On Wednesday, November 24, the extra afternoon service from Penn Station includes: three trains operating on the Babylon Branch, three on the Port Jefferson Branch (one to Hicksville, two to Huntington), two on the Port Washington Branch to Great Neck, one on the Far Rockaway Branch and one on the Montauk Branch.

Port Jefferson Branch to Hicksville/Huntington:

2:10 PM stopping at Jamaica, Carle Place, then all stops to Huntington

2:29 PM stopping at Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, New Hyde Park, then all stops to Huntington

3:24 PM stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Westbury and Hicksville

—-

Babylon Branch:

2:22 PM express to Lynbrook, then all stops to Babylon

3:00 PM stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon

3:31PM express to Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon

—-

Port Washington Branch to Great Neck:

3:18 PM stopping at Woodside, Flushing, then all stops to Great Neck

3:40 PM stopping at Woodside, Flushing, then all stops to Great Neck

—-

Far Rockaway Branch:

3:48 PM express to Locust Manor, then all stops to Far Rockaway

—-

Montauk Branch:

The eastbound Montauk train that normally operates Fridays-only will operate on Wednesday, November 24. The train is the 4:06 PM from Hunterspoint Avenue, stopping at Jamaica, then operating express to Westhampton, making all local stops to Montauk. The 4:01 PM train from Penn Station to Huntington connects with the Montauk train at Jamaica.

____________

Thanksgiving Day, November 25:

Throughout Thanksgiving Day, a holiday schedule will be in effect. Twenty-two extra trains are being added to the holiday schedule for those attending the Parade or visiting their families – including nine extra westbound and 13 extra eastbound trains. Cars will also be added to select trains to accommodate holiday travelers.

Westbound:

Babylon Branch from Wantagh:

7:13 AM and 7:45 AM trains from Wantagh, making all stops to Lynbrook, Jamaica and Penn Station

—-

Montauk Branch:

6:09 AM from Speonk, making all stops to Babylon, Jamaica and Penn Station

—-

Ronkonkoma Branch:

6:29 AM and 7:10 AM trains from Ronkonkoma, making all stops to Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica and Penn Station

—-

Port Jefferson Branch:

6:39 AM from Port Jefferson making all stops to Huntington, Jamaica and Penn Station

—-

Port Washington Branch:

7:10 AM, 8:10 AM and 9:10 AM trains from Port Washington making all stops to Flushing, Main Street, Woodside and Penn Station.

_____

Eastbound:

Between 11:33 AM and 2:03 PM, 13 extra trains will depart from Penn Station to accommodate customers returning from the parade. Three of the extra trains will operate on the Babylon Branch, four will operate on the Ronkonkoma Branch, three will operate on the Port Washington Branch, two will operate on the Port Jefferson Branch and one will operate on the Montauk Branch to Speonk. Branch timetables dated November 15-December 12 contain regular eastbound departures from Penn Station, as well as the times of the extra trains.

_____________

Friday, November 26:

Although LIRR trains will operate on a normal weekday schedule on Friday, November 26, off-peak fares will be in effect all day, making it more economical to travel to the city for holiday shopping and events.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

Metro North Thanksgiving Service Info

Posted by
on November 22nd, 2010 at 3:50 pm

As is the case every year, the Metro-North Railroad will be providing extra service for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are the complete details courtesy of the press release they sent out:

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is the busiest time of the year for MTA Metro-North Railroad and special preparations have been made to serve the extra and often first-time
customers with schedule changes each day, Wednesday through Sunday.

To encourage ridership, off-peak fares in are in effect for four days, from Thursday through Sunday. On Thanksgiving Eve Wednesday, November 24, Metro-North will operate 16 extra early getaway trains, beginning at 1 p.m., so customers can take flight to start holiday preparations.

Last year, from noon to 8 p.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, 92,000 people took Metro-North trains out of the city, a 25% increase over a normal weekday. Because of the early getaway, fewer people are taking trains during the traditional evening peak, so some trains will be combined or eliminated. All extra and canceled trains are shown in the October 17 timetable.

Metro-North will operate a holiday schedule on Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 25, with extra AM inbound service for those going to the Macy’s Parade. See a Holiday Timetable for details.

There will also be lots of late morning/early afternoon outbound service, so after the parade people can get home in time for the holiday repast. And there will be plenty of trains coming back to New York City in the evening.

On Thanksgiving Day, the exits at the north end of the platforms, called Grand Central North, will be closed all day, as they are on weekends. And to expedite the exodus after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, tickets will be collected as people enter the platforms rather than on board trains leaving between 10:02AM and 2:07PM. Parade-goers should purchase round-trip tickets in advance.

The day after Thanksgiving Friday, November 26 because so many people have the day off, Metro-North will operate on a Saturday schedule but with a lot of extra service during the AM
and PM peak time periods to accommodate shoppers taking advantage of those early holiday sales. See a Holiday Timetable for details.

And that’s not all. Metro-North’s weekend Shoppers’ Specials service will be in effect from November 20 through December 26 (except Christmas Day) with 10 additional inbound and 9 additional outbound trains on Saturdays and 11 extra inbound trains and 11 extra outbound trains on Sundays. See a regular timetable for details on additional New Haven and Harlem Line “specials.”

Take advantage of free parking at many Metro-North stations. (Check for signs, or call 212-532-4900 for more information.)

Ticket tip: If you are traveling with the family, try a ten-trip off-peak ticket and save an additional 15%. It can be used by everyone in your party. Ten-trips are available at a convenient
ticket vending machine.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Staten Island Railway Thanksgiving Service Info

Posted by
on November 22nd, 2010 at 3:21 pm

As is the case every year, the MTA Staten Island Railway will be running their “Get Away” service for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Here is the complete information courtesy of the press release they sent out:

Staten Island customers looking to get a head start on their Thanksgiving celebration will be able to catch earlier afternoon express train service on Wednesday, November 24 with Staten Island Railway’s Early Departure Get Away schedule.

This schedule means extra SIR trains will be added earlier in the afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m. from the St. George Ferry Terminal. There will be one express train and one local train awaiting every boat until 7:50 p.m.

On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 25, SIR trains will run on a weekend schedule, while on Friday, November 26, trains will run on a regular weekday schedule. The Get Away service plan on SIR is also available on the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend, the day before the 4th of July, the Friday before Labor Day, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Comptroller Says MTA Shortchanging LI Bus

Posted by
on November 22nd, 2010 at 6:48 am

The story is nothing new, Long Island Bus has always been the least funded branch of the MTA’s operations as Nassau County continuously shortchanges its riders. However this reality does not matter as county officials continue to pass the blame torch mainly to the transit agency.

The latest elected official to chime in was Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos who released a study claiming that both the MTA & Nassau County are underfunding Long Island Bus, however focusing on howthe MTA is especially shortchanging its riders. Here is a press release on the study with some key points courtesy of comptroller’s office:

Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, at a press conference in Mineola, released the results of a study his office conducted providing options to save the Long Island Bus System (LIBS) and called on the MTA to treat County commuters fairly.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has threatened to cease operating the LIBS in 2011 unless Nassau County quadruples its subsidy from the current $9.1 million to $36.1 million. In response, the Mangano Administration stated that it cannot pay more and is exploring privatizing the LIBS.

“Nassau County residents depend on LI Bus to get to work, to school, visit doctors, shop and enjoy everything Nassau has to offer,” Comptroller Maragos said. “Nassau’s economy depends on LI Bus. This is not the right time for the MTA to pull the plug on the Nassau County subsidy.”

The report recommended that the best option for the County is to negotiate with the MTA to continue with the current service, with a more equitable subsidy. The MTA should first decrease the LIBS operating expense by about 4%, so that no increase in subsidies is required for 2011 by either the MTA or the County. If an increase is necessary, then both the County and the MTA should proportionately increase their subsidies in order to keep the LIBS running.

However, if negotiations fail and the County is forced to contribute the full subsidy demanded by the MTA of over $36 million for 2011, then we recommend that privatization be pursued.

The study evaluated the following options for the County to keep the LIBS running:

Stay with MTA Operation:

The MTA currently subsidizes the LIBS by $21.2 million or $0.69 per commuter while it subsidizes the Commuter Rail Division by $257 million or $1.60 per commuter annually. In fairness, if the MTA matched the Commuter Rail contribution this would result in a total annual subsidy to LIBS of $49 million, well above the current $21 million.

Given the current economic situation of both the MTA and Nassau County the most equitable compromise would appear to be for both to proportionately increase their subsidies and for the MTA to continue operating the LIBS. The study also noted that if the MTA can better control costs by about 4%, then no increase in the current year subsidies would be required in 2011 by the MTA or the County.

Privatize Using Peer County Models:

The study compared LIBS to bus systems in Rochester, Niagara, Westchester and Suffolk Counties. The study found that the privatized systems in other counties can cost about the same or more than the MTA run LIBS and can require substantially more in local contributions. Our study shows that private operators require Suffolk and Westchester Counties to pay $27.3 million and $13.8 million respectively.

Using the Westchester model which approximates the LIBS in ridership, we estimate that Nassau County would have to increase its subsidy from $9.1 million to $17.2 million. Therefore this model only makes sense if the MTA option will cost the County more than $17.3 million annually.

Selecting one of the bidders to the RFP recently issued by the County:

The third option is privatization through the current RFP process undertaken by the Mangano Administration. We understand that the Administration has received three bids from large municipal bus operators. The Administration further requested and received bids without subsidies. Our due diligence on the bidders found that there are no instances where these operators have run a municipal system without local subsidies.

Additionally, these bidders may require a significant fare increase of up to 20%. Furthermore, without a County matching subsidy, New York State subsidies to the LIBS would be lost, putting further strain on a private operator and risk of an even higher subsidy or fares. For these reasons, we do not consider the current private bidders as viable long-term solutions.

Comptroller Maragos concluded by stressing that, “Most LI Bus system riders cannot afford to lose this trusted form of transportation. The MTA and the County must find a resolution to this debate without interrupting service to a very important part of Nassau’s economic engine. Our report recommends that the MTA and the County can save LI Bus by contributing proportionately towards its operation.”

Click here for the complete .pdf report.

I will preface this by saying I have not read the complete report. However from my years of following this situation, I feel strongly about certain issues. First & foremost, is the MTA 100% perfect in their funding & operation of Long Island Bus? Absolutely not, however it is pretty clear that the biggest culprit as to why this service is severely underfunded & under performing is Nassau County itself.

For years, the county has wanted to have its cake & eat it too. Repeatedly they failed to add any new money to their funding portion even though their residents benefited from the service from less LIRR riders, to less drivers on the road. However all of this is foreign to them as they expect a great service without wanting to rightfully foot a fair share of the bill.

I agree with the comptroller, that both sides should continue to negotiate & work this situation out as privatizing is not the answer. However if the county will continue to negotiate in bad faith, why even bother? It is clear that they want to reap the maximum benefits of the service while putting the costs on the MTA & in the long run, the same riders they claim to be fighting for. Sorry Nassau County, you can’t have your cake & eat it too!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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