Looking Into The Next MTA Fare Hike
There are two words that scare just about any rider regardless of what service branch of the MTA they use, fare hike. Unfortunately those two words will be tossed around a lot for the remainder of the year & into the next as the MTA dishes one out across the board in an attempt to raise revenue while attacking a huge budget deficit.
The talk really heated up of late when the New York Post first broke the potential specifics of the fare hike which included a “MetroCard Tax” of $1 & the elimination of off-peak fares on commuter railroads. Then we had talk about their being a cap put on the amount of rides provided by an “Unlimited” Weekly or Monthly MetroCard. Lastly, we all read about how single ride paper MetroCard tickets would rise to $2.50.
Tomorrow’s New York Times takes the latest look into the fare hike which includes a change in plans with off-peak fares on the Long Island Rail Road. Michael M. Grynbaum has more:
Riders of New York’s transportation system are about to learn a tough lesson of recessionary politics: In times of crisis, nothing is sacred. Some of the more hallowed, burned-into-your-brain assumptions of traveling around the region are now on the chopping block as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority seeks to curtail yet another budget deficit — this one projected at $400 million.
The off-peak discount on the Long Island Rail Road, for instance, would become smaller than it is now, meaning that riders would have to pay more to travel into the city on weekends, afternoons and late nights. Riders would also pay peak fares for morning trains that head east from Pennsylvania Station or Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, under a proposal being considered by transit officials.
And the authority intends to strain the English language, along with riders’ pocketbooks: limits could be placed on the so-called unlimited MetroCards, which offer monthly and weekly passes for the bus and subway system. The monthly pass, in turn, could cost about $100 a month, up from $89 today.
Analysts at the transportation agency had initially considered eliminating all off-peak railroad fares — as New Jersey Transit did this year — but that option was eventually discarded. Situations that involved fare increases of more than 10 percent were also considered, according to several individuals familiar with the plans who asked for anonymity because the discussions were intended to be confidential.
The “limited unlimited” plan, first reported by The New York Post, would cap the number of rides that can be taken on a monthly pass to about three a day, requiring heavier users of the system to pay more if they exceed the limit.
Other surcharges, like a $1 fee for obtaining a new MetroCard rather than refilling an old one, are expected to be levied as well.
Click here for the complete report.
Until the MTA releases official documentation on the fare hike, expect the details to keep changing. So at this point, the best I or anyone else can do in opining about it is to base it on potential. Either way you slice it, unless the MTA’s financial house gets corrected, we as riders will continue to pay more for less which is never good.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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3 Metro North Workers Caught w/ Whiskey & Pot
In a story that will sure be used an example of why MTA workers are overpaid & undeserving of their jobs, 3 Metro-North Railroad workers were caught in an office underneath Grand Central Terminal with whiskey & pot. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:
Grand Central was Party Central for a trio of on-duty Metro-North Railroad workers busted for having whiskey and pot in an underground office, the Daily News has learned.
Investigators with the MTA inspector general’s office interrupted the three men – a maintenance supervisor, a crew foreman and a mason – just 20 minutes into their overnight shift inside the historic terminal Thursday night, authorities said.
Acting on a tip, investigators and MTA police detectives discovered the men sitting around a table with a small amount of marijuana in plastic bags and a half-empty bottle of the hard stuff, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said.
A Breathalyzer test indicated one of the men drank the alcohol, according to the MTA.
Supervisor Stephen Hussey, 43, of Massapequa, L.I.; foreman Eugene Sokolowski, 45, of upstate Highland, and mason Thomas Palazzola, 47, of St. James, L.I., each received a summons for alleged marijuana possession, Donovan said.
They are to appear next month in Midtown Community Court. They couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
Metro-North took action against the employees while launching an internal investigation.
Click here for the complete story.
I am absolutely appalled at the alleged actions of these workers. Ignoring the fact that I am 100% against any sort of drugs & consider weed to be one, workers who are on the clock have zero business horsing around with such substances. One has to wonder if a co-worker turned them in as to know where to find these guys tells me it could not have been a rider.
Regardless of how the MTA Inspector General’s office was tipped off, I feel these workers should be fired if these events turn out to be true. It is one thing to fall asleep while in a token booth for instance, but it is a whole other ball game when alcohol & drugs are involved.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Service Diversions 07-17-10
I just updated the “Service Diversions” page by removing all of the scheduled work that wrapped up by 11:59 PM last night. The weekend diversions which I posted earlier have now moved to the top followed by the subsequent work during the week.
I suggest printing out a copy of the diversions to carry with you or use your mobile device to access the mobile version of Transit Blogger. The next update will be sometime after 5:01 AM Monday when all of the weekend diversions will officially be wrapped up. As always, stay safe & cool during your travels.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA White Collar Jobs Continue To Be Saved
Over the last few months, the biggest story on this blog & in the world of local mass transit has been the MTA’s financial crisis. The crisis has been the biggest sticking point in the latest round of the never ending war between the much maligned transit agency & Transport Workers Union Local 100 (TWU Local 100) in which the union is fighting to save jobs in which the agency is desperate to eliminate.
Throughout this process, one of my major sticking points was how the MTA needed to not only focus on fiscal savings through job cuts to its blue-collar workforce but in the severely bloated white-collar management workforce as well. It seemed report after report focused on how they wanted to cut blue-collar jobs but little to nothing was coming out in terms of fiscal savings on the management side.
So it comes as no surprise that a report in today’s New York Daily News reveals how many white-collar jobs continued to be saved from the chopping block while blue-collar ones are not. Pete Donohue has more:
Only a handful of six-figure executives at MTA headquarters were shown the door in a recent payroll purge that put dozens of mid- and low-level employees out of work, the Daily News has learned.
Even though more than 200 headquarters staffers were making between $100,000 and $350,000 a year before the budget ax fell this month, just five of the 49 laid off administration workers earned that much, according to data provided by the MTA.
At the other end of the pay ladder, 22 employees making $55,000 or less – including seven secretaries – were pink-slipped, according to the MTA data.
“It’s really amazing,” a veteran staffer said of the purge. “It’s a lot of secretaries and assistants and very few big shots.”
One MTA official speaking on condition of anonymity said it should come as no surprise that few upper-level managers were released in the agency’s attempt to close its budget gap.
They were, after all, the ones following a directive by MTA Chairman Jay Walder to reduce administrative payroll in their areas by 20%, so they couldn’t be expected to lay off themselves, the official said.
Click here for the complete report.
This report comes as absolutely no surprise to me as I have seen it play out like this the entire time. I have lost count on home many times I have opined on how if the MTA is serious about proper fiscal management, they need to eliminate positions all across the board & not just to the meat & potatoes of the operation. Yet it seemed that at every turn, they displayed a narrow minded focus on such jobs.
Enough is enough, stop attacking the people who make this system run while ignoring the excessive waste in terms of spending & job positions in the white-collar section of the agency. Stop portraying an image of seriously looking to cut back if all you are doing is attacking the little guy & saving the asses of those who don’t need it!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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1 Line Service Affected By Rehab Work Until 2012
Riders who depend on the 1 in Upper Manhattan & the Bronx will have to brace for some major interruptions due to rehabilitation work that will last until 2012. The main focus of the work will be at the Dyckman Street station. However work will also be done at the 207th, 215th, 225th, 238th and 242nd St stations. Mike Jaccarino of the New York Daily News has more:
The IRT No. 1 line is going to be straphangers’ No. 1 pain.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning a host of station closures and service interruptions along the line over the next two years as it undertakes a large rehabilitation project.
Work will center on Inwood’s Dyckman St. station, where the MTA will restore the station wall, replace stairs, repair the ceiling and rebuild the platform.
The tracks through the entire station will also be replaced.
The station will be closed for 10 months on the northbound side from September through June 2011.
Then the southbound platform will close from next July through August 2012.
Riders will either have to walk to the next station or ride back to Dyckman St. on the opposite platform, the MTA said.
“The work that we will be doing at Dyckman … is essential to make needed repairs and enhance the station environment,” said Deirdre Parker, an MTA spokeswoman.
At the same time, the MTA will be working in the Bronx on the canopies and platforms of the stations at 207th, 215th, 225th, 238th and 242nd Sts. It also plans to repair the stairs at the 207th and 225th St. stations.
These renovations will require sporadic weekend closures, yet to be determined, between September and August 2012, transit officials said.
Click here for the complete report.
I am glad that they are finally getting around to doing work at these stations. The Dyckman Street station in particular has been in dire need of repair for sometime now. While many in the area will complain about the inconvenience, it will benefit everyone greatly when all is said & done.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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