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City Wants Dollar Vans To Replace Cut Bus Lines

Posted by
on July 28th, 2010 at 8:57 pm

In what is sure to raise the ire of many, New York City officials are looking towards dollar vans to replace bus lines recently eliminated by the MTA due to its financial crisis. Gary Buiso of The Brooklyn Paper has more in this report:

The city wants dollar vans to fill a huge gap in Brownstone Brooklyn bus service that was created by MTA service cuts last month.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission quietly approved the privatization initiative that will allow livery vans to operate along bus routes eliminated by the cash-strapped state agency — including the B71 route that once journeyed from Columbia Street through tony Carroll Gardens and Park Slope on its way to Crown Heights.
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Williamsburg’s former B39 line, which was popular with seniors and the handicapped because it went over the Williamsburg Bridge, is also included in the initiative.

Under the plan, the vans will only be allowed to pick up passengers at specified locations — but drop-offs can be at locations negotiated by the driver and commuter.

Where the rubber hits the road, not everyone is getting on board. The proposal is likely to be lambasted in neighborhoods such as Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, where the so-called “dollar vans” have not traditionally operated.

As such, civic leaders in those neighborhoods expressed fear and loathing.
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“Oh my god, it’s insane!” said Maria Pagano, president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association. “You’ll have guys dive-bombing in and out on Union Street between school buses.”

Even Michael Cairl, the president of the Park Slope Civic Council who was initially open to the idea, saw stepped-up van shuttles as the beginning of the end of public transportation.

“This is the beginning of a pared-down transit system, and that’s unfortunate,” he said.

The city insisted that it is not looking to privatize mass transit.

“The best outcome is a robust, healthy MTA that can provide bus service everywhere it is needed,” said David Yassky, commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission. “Since we don’t have that at the moment, all we can try to do is give commuters the best set of options we can — we are not replacing the MTA.”

And van operators may not be interested in replacing the transit agency either.

“They are trying to use us, but there is nothing in it for us,” said Winston Williams, owner of Blackstreet Van Lines. “I think they’re full of it.”

Williams said the program will have too many restrictions to make it profitable, particularly the inability to pick up passengers where the driver sees fit.

Click here for the complete report.

I feel this is a horrible idea. Let me be honest here, some of these “dollar van” operators & drivers are shady. They have zero business being expected to carry passengers to their destinations due to MTA’s budget woes.

While not all drivers/operators are shady, it is pretty well known how a lot of them lack insurance, have numerous violations, license issues, etc… Should the city really be encouraging such services? This screams of a band-aid solution to cover up for their lack of helping create sustainable funding solutions for the much maligned transit agency.

I am curious to see where this proposal goes especially considering the concern of some operators. Personally if I was a legitimate operation, I would be completely suspect of the city as they probably are using me to help out their cause while leaving me out to dry in terms of making a legitimate profit.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Puts Nearly 1000 Security Cameras Online

Posted by
on July 28th, 2010 at 8:37 pm

About two months ago, a story came out about how the MTA wasted $21.3 million on non-recordable security cameras in a number of stations. As expected, some elected officials took the chance to jump on the MTA about this fiasco & use the time tested card of “security” to hide their real intention, to score constituent brownie points.

Fast forward to the present where due to a $22 million rush job, the agency has put nearly 1000 of the cameras online. Yepoka Yeebo of DNAInfo has more in this brief report:

Nearly 1,000 broken subway security cameras are now working thanks to a $22 million rush repair job, but one-fourth of the 4,313 cameras on the whole subway system still remain offline, the MTA said on Wednesday.

The broken cameras had politicians fuming after a report revealed that the MTA had spent $21.3 million on a network of security cameras, most of which didn’t work.

MTA repairmen worked steadily to repair the cameras after Gov. David Paterson called every broken camera “a grim invitation to crime in the subway,” AM New York reported.

Now, more than 900 fare control cameras are watching over turnstiles at 31 stations around the city, according to an MTA spokesman. The only cameras of this kind still not working are at the 7th Avenue stop on the E line.

Plans to fix the remaining cameras are still being made, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz told DNAinfo.com.

I will save myself the time of repeating myself as my views were clearly expressed in the entry referenced in the first paragraph.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA To Use Technicality To Screw Over A Man?

Posted by
on July 28th, 2010 at 6:41 pm

Did the MTA use a technicality to screw over a man who had his vehicle damaged in accident caused by a MTA bus? This might be the case according to an exclusive report by NY1. Avraham Cohen’s car was damaged by a MTA Bus in Times Square to the tune of $3800. Ever since the accident, he has been getting the run around from the MTA. Susan Jhun has more:

Brooklyn resident Avraham Cohen says his car did not have a chance when it was hit by an Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus in Times Square, resulting in $3,800 worth of damage.

“It was apparent to everybody that it was the bus’s fault, and the police report reflected that as well,” says Cohen. “The police report said the bus was coming out of his lane and sideswiped my car.”

Cohen claims an MTA supervisor came to the scene, acknowledged the accident was caused by the bus and gave him a number to call to start the claims process.

After calling the MTA, Cohen says he got a voicemail asking him to leave his information and wait 10 days for paperwork to be sent to him. Cohen says 10 days turned into a month, as the clock was ticking down on his 90-day deadline to file his paperwork.

“I had basically a month left to put all this paperwork together, get an estimate, get it notarized, send it to them and whatever,” says Cohen. “And at my office I have FedEx, so I sent it overnight, I got it to them within two days of the deadline. And I got a letter back from them in a couple of days saying, ‘Sorry, you didn’t send it to us via registered or certified mail, therefore we’re disallowing your claim.'”

Cohen resent the information through registered and certified mail, but got another letter stating the claim was now disallowed because it was past the due date.

Click here for the complete report.

I understand that policies are in place for various reasons & I am all for them being followed. However at the same time, a case by case evaluation is necessary due to unforeseen circumstances. Why is Avraham being punished for the MTA’s ineptitude of getting him the necessary paperwork? Clearly he should not be & hopefully the agency does right by him as anything less would be completely unacceptable.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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LIRR To Launch Jury Duty Special

Posted by
on July 28th, 2010 at 4:55 pm

In what comes as a bit of news to me, it seems that there is a niche rider market that needed some service to match their needs. The market in question is the unknown amount of people needing to get to Riverhead for jury duty.

After having discussions with Suffolk County officials & analyzing the possibilities, the LIRR has announced it will launch the “Jury Duty Special” on September 13th. Here are the complete details courtesy of a press release they sent me on Monday:

Suffolk County residents will soon be doing their civic duty with the help of MTA Long Island Rail Road.

LIRR President Helena Williams announced today that beginning September 13 the nation’s largest commuter railroad would be revising its schedule to get Suffolk jurors to Riverhead before 9 AM every day that courts are in session.

“For some time, Suffolk County officials have been telling us there is an untapped demand for train service to Riverhead from the hundreds of people who are summoned daily for jury service,” Williams said. “After studying the possibilities, we will adjust our schedule to provide a train specially timed to get jurors to Riverhead courts by 9 AM every weekday and back home again in the afternoon. I am grateful to Suffolk County Commissioner of Jurors Michael D. O’Donohoe, Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter and MTA Board Member Mitchell Pally for their assistance in developing this plan.”

The LIRR is making the adjustment at no additional cost.

Commissioner O’Donohoe said: “The new Long Island Railroad schedule will be very helpful in getting the jurors out of their cars and onto the train, saving the jurors both time looking for a place to park and wear and tear on their vehicles. I want to thank LIRR President Helena Williams and her staff for the hard work they put into this effort in helping make jury service more convenient for the riding public.”

The “Jury Duty Special” will run along the LIRR’s centrally located Main Line, departing from Deer Park at 7:54 AM. The train will then proceed east, picking up customers at Brentwood (7:59 AM), Central Islip (8:03 AM), Ronkonkoma (8:10 AM), Medford (8:21 AM), Yaphank (8:29 AM) and arriving in Riverhead at 8:55 AM where a free shuttle bus will be waiting to take them to nearby courthouses.

Jurors dismissed after morning service will be able to take the shuttle back to Riverhead Station in time to catch the 1:21 PM westbound train, which will make the same stops arriving in Deer Park at 2:28 PM. A later train will depart Riverhead at 3:58 PM.

More than 30,000 Suffolk County residents are summoned to serve on juries in State Supreme Court and Suffolk County Court in Riverhead every year and, on any given day, hundreds may be reporting for duty.

I will be curious as to the cost of tickets for this service if any as well as official rider statistics. Honestly, I never knew there was a demand for service to Riverhead for jury duty. Hopefully it is a win-win for everyone in the end.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA & Transit Wireless To Try Again

Posted by
on July 28th, 2010 at 6:55 am

Almost 3 years ago, one of the biggest news involving the NYC Subway was the MTA’s intention to try & bring cell & wi-fi service to hundreds of subway stations. The agency had announced a deal with consortium Transit Wireless to wire 6 stations in 2 years. If the initial agreement worked out, they would have outfitted the remaining 271 underground stations within 4 years.

A few weeks later, Transit Wireless even talked about setting up the service initially with the opportunity to wire subway tunnels down the line if the MTA desired to do so. Unfortunately the skeptics were right in thinking that the deal which clearly benefited the MTA was a pipe dream, as the company was full of hot air & no financial backing.

Fast forward to now & it seems the MTA is once again engaging in a courtship with Transit Wireless. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:

Subway riders, can you hear me now?

A stalled plan to provide cellular and Wi-Fi service in all 277 underground subway stations is back on track, sources said.

Transit Wireless will soon start work on wiring stations so riders can make calls and send texts during everyday travels – and during emergencies.

Under the original agreement, Transit Wireless was to rig the first batch of Manhattan stations within two years of getting the construction go-ahead. The company would then have four years to wire all other stations.

The MTA board approved the project in September 2007. It didn’t give the “notice to proceed” until last week because the MTA doubted Transit Wireless had solid financing, sources said.

MTA brass finally gave the outfit an ultimatum to lock in funding or lose the contract, one source said. Transit Wireless has since brought another company on board, Broadcast Australia, the source said.

Click here for the complete report.

I will believe stations being cell & wi-fi capable when it actually happens. We have gone through this song & dance before so I am not holding my breath on this project being completed or even started. Quite honestly in 2007, I was more excited about the prospects of this happening.

At this point, I find there are bigger & better things to worry about. I guess I could look at it as a positive sign that they are catching up with the times, but honestly I have my doubts this will ever get done.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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