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Service Diversions 03-20

Posted by
on March 20th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest scheduled diversions for the weekend & upcoming week (and beyond in some cases). Don’t forget to check in for any changes to the page. I also suggest printing out a copy of the page to use while riding the system.

Also a friendly reminder to any of my readers who plan on using the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) this weekend. The Valley Stream track work program (which is affecting 5 branches) will continue this weekend. So click here for complete details on how this may affect you.

P.S. Sometimes I forget to change the “last updated on” portion of the page. So when viewing the page, always go by the actual information listed as that will let you know if the page is updated with the latest information. I apologize if that ever caused any confusion.

Have a safe & wonderful weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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LIRR Adds Extra Train For St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Posted by
on March 20th, 2009 at 11:26 am

I apologize for not getting to this sooner. However on St. Patrick’s Day, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) issued a press release. The press release was to announce the adding of an extra train on the Montauk Line. The additional eastbound train is for those going out to Montauk for their St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Here are the complete details:

The MTA Long Island Rail Road has added an extra, eastbound morning train to Montauk this Sunday, March 22, for customers planning to attend the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade at Montauk. The added train, which provides another opportunity for customers to arrive in time for the 12:30 PM parade start time, departs Jamaica at 8:56 AM and makes stops at Babylon (9:33 AM), Bay Shore (9:39 AM), Sayville (9:49 AM), Patchogue (9:57 AM), Speonk (10:23 AM), Westhampton (10:29 AM), Hampton Bays (10:39 AM), Southampton (10:49 AM), Bridgehampton (10:57 AM), East Hampton (11:07 AM), Amagansett (11:12 AM) and arrives Montauk at 11:32 AM. This train supplements the LIRR’s regular Sunday schedule for the day.

Customers attending the parade are advised to purchase round-trip tickets in advance.

Additionally, the LIRR is advising customers planning to attend the parade that alcoholic beverages will not be permitted on trains and platforms and at stations on the Montauk Branch east of Babylon in an effort to maintain orderly travel. MTA Police will be gating the flow of customers at key Montauk Branch stations and any alcoholic beverages observed or found will have to be disposed of by customers. Alcohol is also prohibited on the LIRR for events on other days of the year including: New Year’s Eve, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Central American Day Parade and Festival, St. Patrick’s Day Parade (NYC) and Belmont Stakes Day.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Malcolm Smith: State Budget Is The Top Priority

Posted by
on March 20th, 2009 at 11:17 am

The countdown to the MTA possibly approving to enact their “doomsday scenario” is only 5 days away. The lives of millions would be affected by this scenario becoming a reality. However besides repeated warnings about this, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith has let it be known where this transit emergency ranks in the to-do list. According to him, having a new state budget in place is his top priority. Glenn Blain of the New York Daily News has more in this report:

A rescue plan to save straphangers from huge fare hikes and drastic service cuts may have to take a backseat to a new state budget.

With just days to go before the MTA adopts its doomsday budget, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said his top priority was a new state budget – not a transit bailout.

“If we can get everything done, I am sure we will, but there’s 19 million people that are concerned about that budget,” Smith told reporters after meeting Thursday with Gov. Paterson and other legislative leaders.

The Queens Democrat said he wouldn’t speculate on whether the Senate would act before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board meets Wednesday to adopt its grim budget.

The state budget is due April 1.

Click here for the complete report.

His sentiment does not come as a surprise to me. It has been clear from the get go that Malcolm either did not care about the importance of this issue or give a damn about it. This is the same man who questioned the MTA’s deadline even though they are required to pass a balanced budget as well. As each hour goes by, the prospects of the riding public being saved from doomsday is becoming less likely. When this becomes a reality, remember to direct your anger towards Albany & not the MTA.

I think you should start planning your budget for more transportation expenses. While you are it, allot a portion for aspirin purchases. The personal use of them will skyrocket when you start dealing with the new service levels that will be in place. When you get angry about this

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Senate’s MTA Bailout Plan Features Faulty Math

Posted by
on March 19th, 2009 at 11:26 pm

Before the MTA bailout plan proposal led by Malcolm Smith was off the presses, it was getting slammed by many. The major issue concerning many including Gov. Patterson & the MTA was the faulty math used in their funding calculations. Both parties claim that Malcolm’s plan would result in an approximate $1.1 billion dollar shortfall over 2 years. MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger even went as far to say:

We believe their math is wrong, and they just didn’t take the time to do their homework.

In a report that will appear in tomorrow’s print edition, William Neuman of the New York Times takes a look into the faulty math in Malcolm Smith’s plan:

For weeks, Democrats in the State Senate have raised questions about a financial rescue plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by repeatedly sounding a central theme: The authority’s numbers cannot be trusted.

But when the Senate majority leader, Malcolm A. Smith, proposed a scaled back, short-term bailout plan this week, he was met with a similar complaint from the transportation authority and its supporters: Mr. Smith’s plan, they said, would not work because he had the math wrong.

A review of the charges and countercharges shows that on several major points, Mr. Smith’s critics are right.

As an alternative, they propose imposing a smaller payroll tax than the one in Mr. Ravitch’s plan and increasing fare revenues by 4 percent. Mr. Smith says that his plan would provide the authority enough money to operate through next year and buy time for a longer-term solution.

But aides to the governor say that the Senate plan contains at least two basic errors — and a review of the data backs up their critique: the Senate plan overstates the amount of money it would raise over the next two years by more than $700 million. The governor’s office said that to make up for the shortfall, the Senate would have to increase fare revenues by a total of 13 percent.

Marc Shaw, a senior adviser to the governor, said the Senate plan miscalculated the amount of payroll tax that could be collected this year, overstating the amount by about $300 million.

The reason is based in the way the state collects taxes and the way the authority does its bookkeeping.

The Senate plan assumes that a full year’s worth of tax receipts would pour into the authority’s coffers this year.

But Mr. Shaw said that because the tax, like other similar taxes, is collected quarterly (in part this is meant to make it easier for employers), money from the final three months of this year would not reach the authority until January 2010. That means that the authority, which uses what is known as a cash method of accounting, cannot show the final quarter’s tax revenues on this year’s books.

The Senate plan gets that wrong, projecting four quarters of tax receipts this year.

The second error in the Senate’s plan is one of simple math: the Senate mistakenly turned a series of expenses into income.

Under the Ravitch plan, the authority would use hundreds of millions of dollars from the payroll tax to finance bus costs that had previously been paid for by New York City and the surrounding counties.

The Senate plan eliminates that provision. But in its proposal, it makes a mistake in accounting for those bus costs. Instead of simply removing them from the transportation authority’s balance sheet, it turned them into income.

The mistake adds up to $409 million over the two years of the Senate plan.

Initially, Senate officials denied that they had made any mistakes in their calculations. But subsequently they blamed the authority for the errors.

Click here for the complete report.

This report is another bullet in the arsenal of those who feel Malcolm Smith is clueless about how things work regarding the MTA. If you had your doubts about it, this should have clinched it for you. This is the same man who feels that the MTA Board is bluffing at having to have a balanced budget but a certain date because it is the law.

Yes, ladies & gentlemen, the Senator you elected is completely clueless about the actual laws in his own state. Are we really supposed to hope that someone so clueless could help spearhead a desperately needed MTA bailout plan?

I know that I have no confidence in this man as he clearly is out of his league on this issue. In all honesty, he looks completely out of his league for his role in government. As a registered Democrat, I am ashamed to know that he is a representative of my party. However that is not the important issue here.

In just a short time, the countdown to the potential & at this point likely passing of the “doomsday scenario” will reach 5 days. We are seriously running out of time for a plan to be created that will help millions of mass transit riders. Who is going to be the hero to save us? If I had to place a wager on who it would be, I would put my money on “Mr. Absolutely No One”!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Gov. Patterson Calls Out State Senate

Posted by
on March 19th, 2009 at 11:00 pm

This past Tuesday, Senate Democrats led by their majority leader Malcolm Smith released their MTA bailout plan. The plan was slammed by many including Gov. Patterson, who continued his onslaught against it on talk radio. The governor made 3 radio appearances today & at each stop, he took the time to call out the Senate for their lack of action. Glenn Blain of the New York Daily News has more in this report:

Gov. Paterson launched a radio offensive against fellow Democrats Thursday, accusing lawmakers of “hijacking” the effort to bail out the MTA and save straphangers.

In a three-station blitz, Paterson said Senate Democrats have been unable or unwilling to make the tough decisions needed to save riders from the crushing fare hikes and service cuts.

“This is just a classic example of Albany thinking it can make up its own rules,” Paterson said on WOR’s “John Gambling Show.”

Austin Shaffran, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, said the Democratic plan would protect straphangers from “devastating fare hikes and losses of services and jobs.”

He also said the plan would hold the MTA much more accountable for how it spends money.

“Our proposal requires the transparency and honest accounting of MTA finances that New Yorkers deserve whenever their money is being spent.”

Paterson ripped the Democratic plan Thursday as incomplete and said it was done largely just to win public favor.

“Either you’re going to have to put tolls on the bridges or you’re going to have to increase the fare dramatically,” Paterson said. “You can’t go in a third direction.”

Click here for the complete report.

As I said two days ago, I support Gov. Patterson for seeing right through the ridiculousness of Malcolm Smith’s plan. The plan was poorly thought out if it was at all when you think about it. The figures used were so out of touch with reality, it was laughable. I will have more on that in the next entry. However for as much as I support Gov. Patterson’s position on the plan, he needs to help lead the way for a real bailout plan. Time is running out & saying the right things is not enough as the lives of millions are on the line here.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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