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SI Railway President’s Day 2018 Service Plan

Posted by
on February 14th, 2018 at 2:14 pm

Here is the MTA Staten Island Railway’s service plan information for the upcoming President’s Holiday:

On Friday, Feb. 16, the Staten Island Railway will operate on an early evening rush hour schedule to help folks get a jump start on the long weekend.  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 Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb. 19, the Staten Island Railway will operate on a Sunday schedule.

For customized travel directions, customers are advised to use the MTA’s TripPlanner+ which provides travel information, and takes bus reroutes as well as weekend subway service diversions into account. Customers using bus routes in the five boroughs should use MTA Bus Time for real-time bus positions and arrival estimates.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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It Is Always Trump’s Fault I Guess

Posted by
on February 12th, 2018 at 6:43 pm

I have attended over a thousand shows in my lifetime. The most common theme regardless of who was playing was the crowd always seemed to have that one idiot in the crowd who would request “Freebird”. I started to think, is this person following me from show to show?

Now we have another form of “Freebird” in that anytime something goes wrong or people are annoyed at someone, they must be a Trump supporter. I once again saw this on display Saturday night on a Penn Station bound LIRR train.  I had just boarded the train at Jamaica after getting my haircut & was anxious to get into Manhattan as I was on my way to see an old friend perform.

I am minding my own business when I see a guy standing in the vestibule on his cell phone. He would best be described as a high level corporate America type with a nice salary. He was not speaking any louder than anyone else in the car at the time. However this did not matter to a Woody Allen looking older guy on his computer in that first two seat section with the outlet to plug things into.

He started to complain that the guy should move somewhere else to talk like the next car or something. He even whipped out a bullshit lie about it being against the law to be on the phone in the vestibule. On a side note what is hilariously about his lie is that the LIRR itself suggests cell phone users move to the vestibule to hold conversations. However back to Woody, he even got in the guy’s face to complain & said he would find a LIRR conductor.

Woody waves down a conductor to complain all while the guy calmly sits there on the phone laughing at the stupidity of this guy’s whining. A female passenger even chimed in to say if it is such an issue, why don’t you move to another car, he is not even being loud on his phone at all. The conductor properly informed Woody that the guy was in the right which just made him all flustered. This is where I heard someone chime in that Woody must have been a Trump supporter. I just sighed at that as for starters the comment makes no sense and it is getting old blaming him for every little thing that goes wrong. (Yes, I voted for Trump!)

I thought when the guy came back to sit down this would be the end of things but it was just beginning. So he is sitting there with a smirk on his face. I am sure he caught me smiling at how annoyed Woody was. He proceeds to walk back to the vestibule with his phone which elicited a “oh here we go again” from another passenger.

The guy pretends to start to use his phone but instead decides to start whistling which a few of us started laughing at. He then proceeds to go to the other vestibule and look over what Woody was doing on his computer while whistling. I was dying of laughter inside.

We get to Penn Station and when the doors opened, instead of walking out the door, he waits for Woody to get up and snaps a picture of him while having the biggest smirk on his face before walking off. I am real curious if that photo ended up on the internet and if so what was their version of the story.

All of this in a span of an under 20 minute ride between Jamaica & Penn Station, oh my……

P.S. On a related LIRR note, I must say I almost fainted Saturday night when my train to Jamaica arrived nearly 10 minutes early…. yeah I know it sounds impossible considering their track record!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Manhattan DA Stops Prosecuting Farebeaters

Posted by
on February 7th, 2018 at 4:56 pm

Farebeaters aka turnstile jumpers in the NYC Subway are as old as the system itself. For years, when one was caught doing this illegal act, they were served a ticket to appear in court or pay a fine. However Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance wants to stop prosecuting farebeaters as it is a waste of time & resources for what is a heavily taxed court system. Shayna Jacobs & James Fanelli of the New York Daily News has more:

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance fired off a letter to MTA chairman Joseph Lhota on Monday, defending his decision to stop going after subway farebeaters and calling their prosecution a waste of time and resources.

Vance’s dispatch came in response to a high-voltage missive Lhota sent him the same day, in which he ripped the DA for changing policy without talking with the MTA.

“I am writing to strenuously protest your unilateral decision to end the criminal prosecution of most persons who ride the MTA’s New York City transit system without paying the require fare,” Lhota wrote.

Vance stayed cool and collected in his response, citing his office’s research showing that prosecuting people for skipping the $2.75 fare didn’t make economic sense considering the city’s already taxed courts. Moreover, the courts don’t make farebeaters reimburse the $2.75 to the MTA.

“The criminal justice system should be reserved for people who endanger public safety,” Vance wrote. “It should not be perceived as a collection agency for the MTA or other government entities.”

Vance’s office officially stopped prosecuting most farebeaters on Feb. 1. However, he clarified in his letter to Lhota that he encourages cops to still stop those who jump the turnstile.

If the farebeaters have a weapon or an outstanding warrant, cops should make an arrest and the suspects will be prosecuted, Vance wrote. But if farebeaters have no weapon or warrant, then officers should just write them a civil or criminal summons, Vance wrote.

His office analyzed data on farebeating and found two-thirds of offenders had no prior convictions and judges imposed virtually no criminal sanctions on those who pleaded guilty.

Click here for the complete report.

I am not condoning those who skip out on paying the fare but Mr. Vance brings up an excellent point. I have come across many people who for whatever reason had to skip the fare (usually due to faulty MetroCard machines or turnstiles stealing their fare) & when they appeared in court, it was always dismissed without them having to pay a penny. Why waste the time & resources of an overburdened court system for what is the smallest of crimes?

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Amtrak Train Breaks Apart At 125 mph

Posted by
on February 6th, 2018 at 2:29 pm

Amtrak just can’t catch a break as the agency is once again making the news for all the wrong reasons. This time it comes from a train that was headed to New York’s Penn Station from Washington D.C. when it broke apart as it was going 125 mph. Danielle Furfaro of the New York Post has more:

A high-speed Amtrak train bound for Penn Station broke apart as it was cruising through Maryland on Tuesday, sources told The Post.

The 2150 Acela was traveling from Washington D.C. to the Big Apple when the incident happened at about 6:30 a.m. The train was traveling at about 125 mph, according to the source.

“Someone could have been walking through the train when that happened and fell to their death,” said the source.

Amtrak officials confirmed the incident and said there were 52 passengers aboard at the time.

A photo shows the connector between two coupled trains broken and separated. Only the air hoses remained connected between the two cars, which both had passengers in them, said the source.

Click here for the complete report.

Wow, I am at a loss for words when it comes to the string of incidents that are plaguing Amtrak right now. We need answers as soon as possible as to how this could have happened. Could it be an example of how our crumbling infrastructure caused this incident to happen? We already know how far behind this country is in terms of high speed rail compared to other places in the world because of it.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MetroCard Machines To Undergo Software Upgrade

Posted by
on February 5th, 2018 at 6:07 pm

Earlier today, the MTA announced that its MetroCard Vending Machines will be undergoing a software upgrade this upcoming Saturday. During this time, riders will not be able to make any purchases using credit or debit cards. Here are more details courtesy of the release I received:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is performing a major upgrade to software responsible for credit and debit card transactions on MetroCard Vending Machines during the very early morning hours Saturday, Feb. 10, between 12:01 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The overnight timing of the upgrade was chosen for when ridership is at its lowest and minimizes impact on the vast majority of New York City Transit customers. All machines will be accepting credit and debit cards again beginning at 6.am. on Saturday, Feb. 10. This upgrade impacts all MetroCard Vending Machines, in subway stations, PATH stations, the JFK AirTrain system and at LaGuardia Airport.

New York City Transit is also launching an aggressive public outreach campaign that includes station signs, notices on the machines’ screens, systemwide announcements, social media messages and direct e-mail and text alerts to customers.  Customers may sign up for alerts at www.MyMTAalerts.com.

New York City Transit Subway staff in stations will help any customers with information during the system update. Customers without cash will be accommodated by station personnel during the upgrade if necessary as well. Staff will also be available with information for people who call 511 or use the “information” button on any Help Point kiosk.  As always, social media staff will respond 24/7 to any customer concerns on Twitter at @NYCTSubway.

“After hearing clearly from our customers that they needed more information regarding this upgrade, we reassessed the entire process,” said MTA Managing Director Veronique Hakim.  “We are aggressively communicating with customers about this upgrade to ensure that we avoid confusion, and limiting the disruption to only the very early morning hours Saturday.”

The upgrade is being performed centrally on mainframe computers, and is being done to further improve the reliability and security of credit and debit card transactions on all MetroCard Vending Machines, which collectively process approximately 800,000 transactions per day.  Cash transactions are unaffected during the upgrade.

The MTA is currently working with the Cubic Corporation to develop a modern, world-class replacement for the MetroCard system.  Over the next several years, a new system will be phased in which will allow customers to pay for rides using their own smartphones and state of the art cards linked directly to payment accounts.  Fare payment cards purchased with cash will always remain available.  For more information about the next-generation replacement to the MetroCard, see here.

Customers currently seeking to use credit, debit or bank accounts to automatically pay for rides without needing MetroCard Vending Machines may sign up for an EasyPayXPress card, at http://web.mta.info/metrocard/EasyPayXpress.htm.

Make sure to let everyone you know about this as I know many riders use cards at the machines, especially after a night out on the town in & around NYC before heading back home.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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