LIRR Sets On Time Performance Record Again
For the 3rd consecutive year, the MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has set a record for on-time performance. The agency just sent me a press release about it a short time ago with more information:
For the third year in a row, MTA Long Island Rail Road set a new On-Time Performance (OTP) record, achieving a best ever 95.21% in 2009.
The 95.21% overall OTP is the best since modern record keeping began in 1979 and included 81 rush hour periods when on time performance reached 100 percent. The LIRR achieved this milestone last year while operating 244,937 trains.
LIRR President Helena E. Williams attributed the improvement in the Railroad’s on time performance to investments in the LIRR’s fleet, better maintenance practices, a robust track work program, better vegetation management along the LIRR Right of Way and, most importantly, the effort of some 6,800 employees across the LIRR who keep customer service and safety as their top priorities all year long.
“We couldn’t achieve these new records each year without the dedication of our workforce,” Williams said. “They make it all happen, in all kinds of weather, day in and day out.”
In customer surveys, On Time Performance repeatedly has been identified as the No. 1 priority of LIRR customers. “Trends indicating improvement are always welcome,” said Maureen Michaels, chair of the Long Island Rail Road Commuters Council.
The previous OTP record of 95.14% was set in 2008. In 2007, OTP reached 94.07%. Last year also saw a record AM peak on-time performance of 95.72%, compared to 95.43% in 2008. The number of off-peak trains operating on-time in 2009 also set a new record of 95.40%, edging out the previous record of 95.32%, set in 2008. Helping to account for a record OTP year were seven months that set individual best ever on-time records. They were achieved in April, May, June, August, September, October and November.
The LIRR also tied a record last year that was set in 1993 for the highest number of 100 percent rush hour periods (81). The previous record was set when the LIRR was operating six percent fewer trains than in 2009.
LIRR On Time Performance in diesel territory, meanwhile, continued to lag behind overall performance with a 93.32% total. Diesel service OTP did improve in 2009 over the previous year, going to 93.32% in 2009 from 92.84% in 2008. The LIRR is continuing to work to address reliability issues that have hampered the performance of its diesel fleet since it was first acquired by the LIRR in 1998.
The LIRR last year celebrated its 175th Anniversary of service to Long Island and to the New York metropolitan region, providing in excess of 80 million customer trips as the busiest commuter railroad in the country.
Last year, the LIRR also provided extra service to the U.S. Open during the weeklong event that drew visitors and media from across the nation to Long Island’s Bethpage Black course. The LIRR provided transportation to nearly a third of all visitors to the U.S. Open, despite often challenging weather conditions. In addition, last year the LIRR continued its modernization efforts, completing a major signal and switch upgrade in the Valley Stream area.
Note: A train is considered on time if it reaches its final destination within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival time. The standard measure, used throughout the commuter rail industry, was adopted by the LIRR in 1979. That year the LIRR posted an OTP of 83.42% and began an upward climb of improved performance through the decades.
I have railed on the LIRR a lot & rightfully so at times. However I will not ignore positive accomplishments such as on-time performance. When push comes to shove, if you ask a commuter who does not follow this industry like I do, what is important to them, on-time performance will be near or at the top of their priority list.
While the chances of the agency continuing to improve on the numbers is low (can’t get much higher realistically), continuing in & around the range is a goal within reach. So for the sake of riders (including myself since I try to not always drive), lets hope that they keep it up.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA Board Loses 6 Advocate Board Members
Stop & tell me where you have heard this one before, state politicians in Albany showcase their lack of regard and/or knowledge for the needs of the MTA & the riders it serves. Whether these actions are done purposely or not, the end result is the same. The ineptitude of our elected officials find a way to screw over the riders. The latest sign of this is when the State Legislature failed to renew the authorization of 6 non-voting posts on the MTA Board. These 6 posts belonged to rider & union advocates & included:
Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this brief report:
Straphangers and commuter train riders may have to scream a little louder to be heard as the MTA makes tough decisions about service cuts.
Rider and union advocates lost their combined six seats on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board Friday when state legislation authorizing the nonvoting posts expired.
“This is a real shame,” said Andrew Albert, one of the affected board members. “I guess it just wasn’t on the radar.”
Click here for the complete report.
Actions such as this are why I & other transit advocates/bloggers have little to no faith in our elected officials doing what is right by the transit agency & its riders. The agency is arguably under the most pressure in its history to not only keep up the system, provide quality service to its ridership base, but find a way to stay financially afloat, & Albany lets this happen! Should we really be surprised that the positions lost are of those who benefit riders the most? I doubt that this is a coincidence.
We as riders need brand new leadership in Albany & need to vote out the status quo of ineptitude that at this pace will bankrupt the agency & screw us all in the process.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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New LIRR Atlantic Terminal Pavilion Opens
Exterior view of the new MTA Long Island Rail Road Atlantic Terminal Pavilion. Photo courtesy of the MTA Long Island Rail Road.
Anyone who has used the Flatbush Avenue/Atlantic Terminal for the Long Island Rail Road, has noticed it being under construction for the last few years. The majority of the work focused on the creation of a new pavilion. A few days before the end of 2009, “The Brooklyn Paper” had a story which took a sneak peak at the soon to be unveiled work. Here is a little more from Stephen Brown:
After nearly six years of construction, the new entrance to the Long Island Rail Road’s critical Atlantic Terminal at Flatbush Avenue is finally open to straphangers.
Though the ground-floor entrance is blocked off until next week’s grand opening, The Brooklyn Paper got a sneak peak of the concourse, which can be accessed via LIRR platforms.
Commuters looking for the ticket office will find that it has moved to a new location on the concourse below the ground floor entrance, where natural light shines through glass that spans from the road to the ceiling, offering views of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower across the street.
Bringing in natural light to the concourse below street-level was one of the top priorities of John di Domenico, the head architect with the Queens-based firm, di Domenico and Partners, which designed the facility.
“As a commuter, light serves as a timepiece, as well as being pleasant — and free,” he said, adding that the previous entranceway had been cramped and poorly lit.
One of the distinctive features of the new space is a rough-hewn granite sculpture featuring craggy geometric shapes that loom over commuters emerging from train platforms.
Click here for the complete story.
Now lets fast forward to today where the MTA Long Island Island Rail Road officially opened the new pavilion with a ceremony this morning. Unfortunately I could not attend the event due to business matters I needed to address. However the agency sent out a press release to me a few minutes ago talking about the pavilion:
Brooklyn’s historic transit hub at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues – where MTA Long Island Rail Road customers can transfer for connections with 10 subway lines – has a new, $108 million home starting today with the opening of the Atlantic Terminal Pavilion.
The three-story limestone, granite and glass structure features a soaring atrium that allows natural light to reach the below ground LIRR concourse and subway station. Two sweeping staircases provide direct access from the street to the concourse below. The Terminal building is linked internally to an office building and retail complex.
While the interior of the new entry pavilion provides customers with open spaces and an impressive overlook of the terminal, the arced vessel shaped exterior restores a “civic presence” to the Flatbush Avenue site, according to Brooklyn native John di Domenico, the architect of di Domenico & Partners, LLP who led the design of the Entry Pavilion.
“This new terminal means improved interconnectivity between the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Transit’s subways and buses – with better information and a more spacious, comfortable and accessible facility,” said Jay H. Walder, Chairman and CEO of the MTA. “The glory of the original 1907 Flatbush Avenue Terminal has been restored in modern form.”
“This grand new entry pavilion will benefit our customers for generations to come as well as become a landmark for Brooklyn,” said LIRR President Helena Williams. “The sunlit atrium and three-story exterior evoke the transit terminals of past eras that properly greeted travelers at such a busy hub.”
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said: “The spectacular Atlantic Terminal Pavilion will not only serve as a 21st century transportation hub for tens of thousands of daily LIRR, subway and bus riders, but this magnificent facility will let visitors to our borough know—in dramatic fashion—that they have arrived in Brooklyn, USA and our vibrant Downtown. And what a pleasure it will be for our neighbors in Nassau County (aka Brooklyn Near East) and Suffolk (aka Brooklyn Far East) to enjoy visiting us more often. Bravo to the MTA Long Island Rail Road and the Federal Transit Administration for making this project a reality and helping to keep Brooklyn moving—and growing.”
The renewed facility serves approximately 25,500 LIRR customers each day as well as approximately 31,650 NYC Transit subway customers. LIRR customers can transfer to the 2,3,4,5, B, D, M, N, Q & R lines as well as five bus routes.
Work on the project, begun in 2002, was done in two phases in order to coordinate improvements with MTA New York City Transit work on their subway facilities and a private developer, Forest City Ratner.
The new Pavilion includes a new ticket office, public rest rooms, grand stairs, customer waiting area, police and employee facilities, granite floor tiles, Arts for Transit installation, information signage, lighting and a new HVAC system. The hours of operation for the Entry Pavilion are 5 AM to 10 PM and the Atlantic Terminal Ticket Office is open from 6 AM to 10 PM. Train service to the terminal, ticket machines and elevator are available 24/7.
Earlier work completed during the first and early second phases of the work included a temporary ticket office and entrance, new platform lighting, platform seating, signage and public address system, granite floor tiles for platforms, finished ceiling and stainless steel platform column cladding.
The pavilion is an architecturally distinct work. Architect John di Domenico, of di Domenico + Partners, LLP, Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineers, and artists Allan and Ellen Wexler, commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit, collaborated to incorporate the artwork called “Overlook” into the Pavilion’s design. From street entry level, customers can observe the busy Terminal platform below. The Pavilion also has “green” environmental pluses. The large high performance glazed curtain wall and skylight allow abundant natural light to reach the LIRR concourse and the 2, 3, 4 and 5 subway station. Also, shading “fins” on the exterior glass wall and skylights prevent excess heat gain during the warmer months.
John di Domenico, the architect, was raised in Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Technical High School before going on to the City College of New York and Harvard University. He also was a Fulbright Scholar in Rome, Italy. His firm is based in Long Island City.
The budget for the Atlantic Terminal improvements was $108.1 million with funding provided by the Federal Transit Administration and the MTA Long Island Rail Road Capital Program.
LIRR service between Jamaica and Brooklyn dates back to the earliest days of the railroad in the 1830’s. The earlier LIRR Brooklyn terminal building, located at approximately the location of the present structure, opened in 1907 as part of the Atlantic Avenue Improvement Project. That project also included construction of two tunnels and two elevated sections with electrified tracks for the LIRR between Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn and Jamaica.
The new Atlantic Terminal building marks an early milestone in the overall effort to transform this area of Brooklyn. A recent court decision cleared the way for a new sports center that is to be the new home of the Nets basketball team. Additional residential and commercial buildings also are planned nearby.
The sample photos shown in the press release look quite impressive. I will eventually get to the terminal so I can photograph it for Eye On Transit. If anyone reads this & happens to check out the terminal, please contact me with your opinions on the project from different perspectives such as looks & functionality. In the meantime, checkout these 2 extra shots of the new terminal courtesy of the MTA Long Island Rail Road.
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New Bus Driver Safety Partition Debuts
Newly installed bus driver safety partition in action on the B46. Photo courtesy of Ward for the New York Daily News.
Almost 13 months after the tragic murder of MTA New York City Transit bus driver Edwin Thomas, a new safety partition, that might have prevented his murder, debuts. Lets first take a look at the report talking about its debut by Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News:
The bus guard has arrived.
An NYC Transit bus outfitted with an L-shaped partition shielding the driver from potential harm is operating on the B46 line in Brooklyn – the same route where a driver was fatally stabbed by a farebeater a year ago.
The agency has ordered 100 of the see-through barriers – created with input from drivers and Transport Workers Union Local 100 – for an expanded pilot test.
“It gives us peace of mind, I guess,” NYC Transit driver Wayne Roberts, 40, said while driving behind the bus guard Thursday afternoon.
Roberts, though, lacked total confidence in the partition because it doesn’t completely seal off the driver.
There’s an open space extending from the farebox to the windshield, which allows the driver to access the fare-collecting unit. An irate passenger hell-bent on harming a driver may not be deterred.
Still, drivers agreed, it’s a significant upgrade. There were 313 physical assaults on drivers through mid-November this year, according to union officials, and drivers say it’s not uncommon for riders to spit on them.
Click here for the complete report.
Now lets take a look at a few details about the partition courtesy of MTA NYC Transit’s V.P. of Corporate Communications Paul J. Fleuranges by starting with an alternate photo:
The partition is made of plexiglass with non glare coating. Doesn’t fully enclose the driver; open at very top and forward of driver compartment.
The glass is one half inch thick.We are ordering a total of 100 for RTS buses and working on other bus models.
It’s difficult to come up with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to this simply because our Bus Operators aren’t one size. Each has to position the wheel, seat, mirrors to their preference, same is true for something like a partition. They all have to be comfortable with the environment the partition creates as they drive. Our overriding goal here is to provide both a safe and comfortable environment for.
I am glad to see these partitions are starting to see the light of day. It is unfortunate that it took a death of a dedicated employee to implement such a common sense safety measure. However this is how it always seems to work in life which is a shame. Hopefully such devices as this will deter people from any attempts at hurting a bus driver.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Access A Ride Giving Rides To Empire City
Now every time I see a TV commercial for Empire City Casino @ Yonkers Raceway, my initial thought would be how much money is being wasted via Access-A-Ride trips to this gambling hot spot. I was absolutely floored & disgusted to read two reports about how Access-A-Ride vans were taking some passengers to the casino. Lets first start with the initial report which appeared on Dec 30th by Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News:
Next stop for the cash-strapped NYC Transit: the casino.
The agency’s budget-busting Access-A-Ride van and car service doesn’t just take disabled passengers to the doctor’s office, pharmacy or local supermarket.
Access-A-Ride regularly takes passengers from their door to the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway to play the ponies or the 5,300 slot machines, the Daily News has learned.
“We’re here all the time,” an Access-A-Ride driver said one recent afternoon after a woman got into the back seat of his sedan for a trip home after some holiday season gambling.
“Every day, we pick up and drop off passengers at the raceway,” another Access-A-Ride driver said before driving a wheelchair user home to Flushing, Queens, in an otherwise empty van.
The casino and raceway is a popular location. It ranks 17th among the 30 most-requested destinations for Access-A-Ride users. The vast majority are medical facilities, but the list also includes the Staten Island Mall and Kennedy Airport.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires mass transit operators provide alternate transportation to those unable to use subways or buses.
The law requires NYC Transit to provide service in the city and a short distance into Westchester and Nassau counties, where other Metropolitan Transportation Authority divisions also run some buses, transit officials said.
Access-A-Ride ridership and costs have been skyrocketing for years, and transit officials are looking to streamline operations to help close an MTA-wide budget gap of nearly $400 million dollars.
Still, NYC Transit can’t simply refuse to provide trips requested by registered users, spokesman Deirdre Parker said.
“The law is clear; we can’t prioritize trips and we do not ask what your purpose is,” Parker said. “It’s just like the bus and subway. We don’t ask where you’re going on the bus or subway. It’s public transportation.”
Click here for the complete report.
Now let’s take a look at a report from New Year’s Eve from Pete in which the feds confirmed the trips to Empire City:
NYC Transit began taking the disabled to Yonkers’ racino last year after the federal government said it had to cross into Westchester County, officials say.
For years, NYC Transit only provided trips to the disabled within the five boroughs.
The federal Transit Administration two years ago said the Americans with Disabilities Act required that Access-A-Ride take passengers just over the Bronx border into a swath of Westchester, MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.
The feds also said Access-A-Ride had to extend a short distance into Nassau County from Queens, NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said.
The Daily News reported yesterday that some gamblers were using Access-A-Ride to go to Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway.
The racino is the 17th most-popular destination for Access-A-Ride passengers.
Transit officials said the agency can’t reject trips based on the type of destination or purpose of travel.
Many of the most-popular destinations are medical offices or destinations, but the top 30 list also includes malls and Kennedy Airport.
Federal regulations don’t require services like Access-A-Ride to meet all travel needs of disabled residents, but to provide “the same level of service” provided by the bus and subway system, the FTA said.
Click here for the complete report.
I honestly don’t know if I should be more shocked or pissed off that money is being wasted on this nonsense. While I understand the need for the disabled to get around & why such laws as the “Americans With Disabilities Act” was created with their interests in mind, it does not change the fact that this nonsense needs to stop! I am 100% positive that when the laws of providing alternate transportation to those unable to use subways or buses were put in place, they did not mean for that to include leisure trips to the casino.
The Access-A-Ride program has been a sour spot for the beleaguered transit agency’s budget for years with it getting worse by the year. So when people call for them to not make cuts to this service, it will be a much harder fight when such fraud like this is running rampant.
While some might feel it is wrong to call these trips fraud, that is exactly what they are. Such programs like “Access-A-Ride” are not here to provide door-to-door service for every place the disabled want to go. For trips involving getting to doctors, shopping for essentials, etc…
I fully support the service. However for trips to casinos, I will never support it. The cost per ride to the transit agency is big enough as it is & that is for legitimate trips so imagine the blow when adding in such fraudulent trips like those to Empire City. I mean really, this ts the 17th most popular destination on their log! Anyone with a sense for what is right understands that this destination should not be anywhere in their trip logs!
I read many of the responses left to the articles & noticed some shared similar sentiment. However I also noticed some quick to defend these trips including one particular poster calling themselves “Leo Queen” who feels such trips are a good thing for stress relief from their painful lives. Here is what they had to say:
This article is so biased. I go to the hospital all the time for appointments and I see the lobby full of people waiting assess a ride. Many of them wait for hours, and what’s worse is that the drivers don’t come in to look for them. I have seen people in walkers and braces struggle to walk to the van, only to be told that the van is not for them. For all of you who think that this service should only be meant for going to the doctors and therapy. Have you given a second thought to those people’s lives? If the only time they go out was to a doctor’s appt or therapy – they’d be miserable. I know from experience. For the past 2 years – I’ve been going to doctors and therapy following car accidents and a stroke and it is stressful. Mental Health is a big part of recovery, so going to a casino once in a while can be a way to relieve stress. I don’t go myself, but with my elderly parents sometimes and have seen many people in wheelchairs that sit at one machine and play for pennies.
I understand the angle they are going with as it has some general validity behind it. However even with that in mind, this does not change the fact that these trips should not be made via “Access-A-Ride” services. There are millions of us in some sort of pain whether it be emotionally, physically, or spiritually, does that entitle us for door-to-door service to destinations that could help with relief? Obviously the answer is no.
For anyone who supports these trips, answer these questions for me & others who share my sentiment. If they are healthy enough to walk around in a casino all day, why are they not healthy enough to ride public transportation like everyone else? If they can afford to spend money gambling, why can’t they pay for cabs?
Seriously think about this for a second, you are too weak to ride public transportation but are strong enough to have fun gambling in a casino all day. If that is not a complete sham, then I don’t know what a sham really is.
Before I get the hate mail, understand that I am not saying all the A.A.R. trips are fraudulent or that the service should be scrapped. I am just saying that all unnecessary trips should be banned as that would be the right thing to do & I honestly know a case for anything less can’t be made. Let A.A.R. provide trips for the truly needy & to the places that are truly needed.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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