2

Teenage Rider Helps Save The QM22

Posted by
on June 29th, 2010 at 5:27 am

In a story that shows that anything is possible if you believe & try your best, a teenage rider is being celebrated for the role he played in helping save the QM22 which was one of many express bus routes that was either discontinued or saw a reduction in service.

16-year-old Ali Fadil contacted multiple city & state officials to no avail. In a last ditch effort, he contacted a private bus company & helped get the ball rolling on the improbable saving of a bus route. Sarah Armaghan & Barry Paddock of the New York Daily News has more in this report:

The long-running QM22 bus route to Manhattan has been saved by a private bus company – thanks to the efforts of one teenage rider.

Many straphangers have been taking the express bus from Jackson Heights, Queens, for more than 20 years. But it was 16-year-old Ali Fadil of Little Neck, Queens, who found a way to save the line, one of dozens discontinued by the MTA on Sunday.

“I’ve been taking this route off and on for the last 10 years, since I was very little,” said Ali, who just completed his junior year at the Academy of American Studies in Long Island City, Queens. “This whole situation really got me going. I felt like it would be a good opportunity for me to serve the community.”

After writing to local and state legislators with no success, he turned to Joel Azumah, the owner of a private bus company featured in the Daily News yesterday.

His company, TransportAzumah, took over four city bus lines axed over the weekend.

Click here for the complete report.

I would like to offer a huge congratulations to Ali Fadil for believing in something & doing all that he could to help make it happen. His efforts should serve as a lesson to many young people & adults especially to step up & act if you believe in something.

He could have done like many others & just complain to anyone & everyone who would listen about the MTA inconveniencing him & other riders. Instead, he took matters into his own hands & tried to save the route & ended up doing just that.

I would love a list of the elected officials he contacted to be revealed so they could be called out on the carpet for their typical actions of doing nothing for their riding constituents. It would not surprise me one bit if some of the people in question are the same ones blasting the MTA for free “CBP” aka “Constituent Brownie Points” & when the doors are closed, doing nothing to help come up with logical solutions. Pathetic!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

MTA IG Report On Subway Station Conditions

Posted by
on June 29th, 2010 at 5:14 am

181st Street Station
The scene at the 181st Street station after the brick ceiling fell to the platform & tracks in August 2009. Photo courtesy of MTA NYC Transit.

The state of the NYC Subway system is in disarray. One does not need an Ivy League education to figure that out. It will take decades before the system is up to basic acceptable standards across the board. A report released by the MTA Inspector General focuses on how subway station conditions are a threat to riders. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:

Subway riders were at risk of injury and death because of NYC Transit’s failure to adequately detect and fix some dangerous conditions at subway stations, a report released Monday claims.

At the 181st St. station on the No. 1 line, a large section of the arched brick ceiling came apart and fell to the platform and tracks last August – nearly a decade after NYC Transit first learned there was the risk of such a collapse, according to the report by MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger’s office.

Click here for the complete report.

I immediately went to the website for the MTA Inspector General but was unable to find the report in question. I hope that it will be posted in its entirety later today. If not, I will call the office & request a copy as I am interested in reading it.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Service Diversions 06-29-10

Posted by
on June 29th, 2010 at 4:38 am

I just updated the “Service Diversions” page with all of the scheduled work as of this moment. All of the diversions scheduled to end by 5 AM yesterday have been removed. I apologize for not updating the page sooner as I honestly forgot to do so.

I suggest you print out a copy of the diversions to carry with you or use your mobile device to access the phone friendly version of Transit Blogger. The next update should occur on Thursday when the MTA sends me the planned diversions for the weekend. Have a safe & wonderful week!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Massive Bus Cuts Hit Bronx Bus Riders Hard

Posted by
on June 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

Continuing with the theme of bus cuts, Patrick Rocchio of the Bronx Times looks into how these massive cuts are hitting Bronx riders hard:

The community is bracing for cuts to bus lines that will add minutes to the commutes of thousands of straphangers after Sunday, June 27.

One of the few bright spots in the service reductions is that free and reduced fare student MetroCards have been saved.

The cuts will affect bus lines in Wakefield, Woodlawn, Norwood, Morris Heights, University Heights, Co-op City, Melrose and Hunts Point.

Some bus lines like the Bx18, serving Morris Heights, will be eliminated all together. Others like the Bx34 serving Woodlawn and Norwood will see curtailment of weekend and evening service.

The student MetroCards are a victory in what otherwise is a heavy round of cuts to borough bus service. In Co-op City, the rerouting of the Bx26, Bx28, and Bx30 busses will make it all but impossible to reach the subway without making a transfer.

In Wakefield, Bx 41 service on White Plains Road north of East Gun Hill Road will be replaced by an extension of the Bx 39.

In Woodlawn, the discontinuing of weekend and evening service on the Bx34 will pose a real hardship to many who work in industries that operate around the clock.

Click here for the complete report.

I do feel for Bronx bus riders as some of the areas mentioned are losing a good chunk of service that people depend on. The same sentiment could be echoed across the city & it is just a sign of the reality of the MTA’s financial woes. What people need to do is rally against the continued inadequate support from elected officials by voting them out of office & replacing them with people who understand the vital need of a properly funded mass transit system.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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3

Bx14 Changes Eliminated

Posted by
on June 28th, 2010 at 3:24 pm

The Bx14 was a bus route I knew fairly well for the 2.5 years I lived in Parkchester. When I first heard about it being on the chopping block, I was not surprised. Honestly the bus did not have much service during the day compared to other routes & night service was over fairly quickly. This was also the case for the weekend albeit with even less service. To be honest, it seemed warranted as the ridership was never that high.

Earlier this afternoon, Patrick Rocchio for the Bronx Times took a look at the changes stemming from the elimination of the Bx14 & the subsequent reroute of the Bx8 to compensate:

When the Bx8 replaces Bx14 bus service in Country Club and Spencer Estate on Sunday, June 27, many long-time stops will be gone and some new ones will be added. Some residents are concerned about the ramifications of the changes.

Perhaps most disheartening is that MTA has yet to offically release the extact locations of all the bus stops on the rerouted Bx8, which will now enter Country Club via Country Club Road, head north on Kennelworth Avenue, to Ampere Avenue and down Research Avenue to Stadium Avenue and on into Throggs Neck.

Despite the lack of a final plan as of press time, residents have seen notices posted on current bus stops along the Bx14 stating that beginning on June 27, buseswill no longer stop at the locations. At the same time, new stops on the re-routed Bx8 are appearing on Kennelworth Avenue, and on Ampere Avenue between Ohm and Stadium avenues, and near Ampere and Research avenues.

Click here for the complete report.

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