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LIRR Service Reminder

Posted by
on December 24th, 2008 at 9:40 am

Just in case you forgot, here is a link to details of the Long Island Rail Road’s extra Christmas holiday service which I posted for everyone 2 weeks ago:

LIRR Extra Christmas Holiday Service Details

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Staten Island Railway Christmas Eve Service

Posted by
on December 24th, 2008 at 9:35 am

A few days ago the MTA e-mailed a press advisory announcing the Christmas Eve service for the Staten Island Railway. Here are the complete details (Sorry for being late):

MTA Staten Island Railway (SIR) officials today announced their “Get-A-Way” service plan for the upcoming Christmas Eve.

On Wednesday, December 24, SIR customers can take advantage of the early departure service to begin their four-day Christmas weekend. Express train service will begin at 2:31 p.m. out of St. George Terminal, and there will be one express train and one local train awaiting every boat until 7:50 p.m. This amounts to twice as much regular service, two hours ahead of schedule. Customers using the express trains will have a faster ride home, while local train riders should have a more comfortable ride on less crowded trains.

On Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25th, SIR trains will run on a weekend schedule, while on Friday, November 28th, trains will run on a regular weekday schedule.

“This early departure service plan is quite a hit among our customers; they are happy to get home a bit faster before a holiday,” said John Gaul, Chief Officer of SIR. The “Get-A-Way” service plan on SIR is also available on New Year’s Eve, Friday before Memorial Day weekend, the day before July 4th, the Friday before Labor Day, and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

M Shows Slight Improvement Supposedly!

Posted by
on December 24th, 2008 at 9:31 am

Middle Village/Metropolitan Ave. bound M train leaving the Myrtle-Wyckoff Aves. station.Middle Village/Metropolitan Ave. bound M train leaving the Myrtle-Wyckoff Aves. station. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit.

So continuing with the updates, 2 new grades came out as part of the 2008 “Rider Report Cards“. The two lines in question are the 5 Train & M Train. In this entry, I will focus on the M Train which showed a slight improvement in its overall grade from 2007. Last year the line graded out as a C- but this year finished with a C. Lets get straight to the breakdown starting with:

M Train Riders’ Top 10 Priorities; 2007 priority rank will be in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains (01)

02. Minimal delays during trips (02)

03. Cleanliness of stations (05)

04. Sense of security in stations (07)

05. Adequate room on board at rush hour (06)

06. Station announcements that are easy to hear (03)

07. Sense of security on trains (08)

08. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel (15)

09. Cleanliness of subway cars (09)

10. Comfortable temperature in subway cars (14)

—-

Now here is the entire order of M train riders’ priorities 2007 priority rank will be in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains (1)

02. Minimal delays during trips (2)

03. Cleanliness of stations (5)

04. Sense of security in stations (7)

05. Adequate room on board at rush hour (06)

06. Station announcements that are easy to hear (3)

07. Sense of security on trains (8)

08. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel (15)

09. Cleanliness of subway cars (9)

10. Comfortable temperature in subway cars (14)

11. Station announcements that are informative (10)

12. Working elevators and escalators in stations (11)

13. Train announcements that are easy to hear (4)

14. Lack of graffiti in stations (17)

15. Ease of use of subway turnstiles (20)

16. Train announcements that are informative (13)

17. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines (18)

18. Signs in stations that help riders find their way (19)

19. Lack of scratchitti in subway car (12)

20. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way (21)

21. Lack of graffiti in subway cars (16)

—-

Now here is the graded breakdown for all 21 categories; 2007 grade in ( ):

01. Minimal delays during trips C (C)

02. Reasonable wait times for trains C- (D+)

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour C (C)

04. Sense of security in stations C (C)

05. Sense of security on trains C (C)

06. Working elevators and escalators in stations C (C-)

07. Signs in stations that help riders find their way C+ (C)

08. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way B- (C)

09. Cleanliness of stations C- (C-)

10. Cleanliness of subway cars C+ (C-)

11. Station announcements that are easy to hear C- (D)

12. Station announcements that are informative C- (D+)

13. Train announcements that are easy to hear C+ (D)

14. Train announcements that are informative C (D+)

15. Lack of graffiti in stations C (C)

16. Lack of graffiti in subway cars B- (C)

17. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C+ (C-)

18. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C (C)

19. Comfortable temperature in subway cars C+ (C+)

20. Ease of use of subway turnstiles B- (B-)

21. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B- (B-)

Well not much as changed on the M if you really look at things. The line graded out better in 2008 but when you examine the major categories, the line either stayed status quo or showed a lower performance. This is mixed in with a few improvements but nothing worth writing home about.

The biggest gainer in terms of ranking was “Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel” which rose 7 spots. Thankfully this is more of a customer service issue that would not take money to fix. Hopefully the personnel who caused these sentiments from riders will improve in 2009. The biggest decline in ranking was “Train announcements that are easy to hear” which fell 9 spots. This should come as no surprise considering the M does have quality stock rolling up & down the tracks.

I am a bit concerned about both security categories rising in ranks along with cleanliness. One can argue that those categories go hand in hand. I hope the MTA takes a look at what it can do to improve in these areas.

Overall I feel the grade should have remained at a C- as the data does not show much improvement to have earned a half grade increase. I also must say I am disappointed by the total responses received by the MTA. I thought last year’s total of 1,360+ was pitiful but that looks like a ton compared to the 900 received this time around. The MTA needs to do a better job of promoting these things if they ever expect it to take off.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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4

MTA NYC Transit To Test Bus Driver Protection Partitions

Posted by
on December 24th, 2008 at 8:24 am

MTA New York City Transit has announced their intention to launch a pilot program which would install partitions to protect bus drivers. The program comes as a result from the death of 46 year old Edwin Thomas who was killed by a fare beater who boarded his bus in Brooklyn.

William Neuman of the New York Times has more on the pilot program in this report:

New York City Transit will begin a pilot program to test partitions that would separate bus drivers from passengers, officials said on Thursday.

The test program was prompted by the death on Dec. 1 of Edwin Thomas, 46, a bus driver on the B46 route in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, who was stabbed to death after an argument with a passenger who had not paid his fare.

Police have charged a 20-year-old Brooklyn man, Horace D. Moore, with Mr. Thomas’s murder.

The partitions will be tested on buses operating out of the Flatbush Depot in Brooklyn, where Mr. Thomas worked. There are 252 buses assigned to the depot, according to Paul Fleuranges, a spokesman for the transit agency.

He said it was not yet known how many buses would get the partitions as part of the test. They need to be designed, and it was not clear when the program would begin.

Driver partitions are now being used or tested in bus systems in several major cities, including Chicago, Washington, Milwaukee and Baltimore, according to Mr. Fleuranges.

The pilot program was proposed by a committee studying bus driver safety and composed of representatives of Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the transit agency’s management.

Click here for the complete report.

I feel this is a great idea although it should not have taken death to make it a reality. Unfortunately in our society it usually takes death to create common sense change. Many people love to knock bus drivers & the job they do. They feel that a monkey could do the job because it is that easy to drive a bus. However those with intelligence understand that the job is not only hard but extremely dangerous.

Of all the jobs one could have with the MTA in terms of the service sector, bus drivers are put in the most danger since they have no protection from customers. At any moment a customer can be mere inches away from them. While most who ride buses are not looking to cause harm, their is a percentage of lowlifes who are looking to do just that. I feel that drivers deserve all the protection they can get as their focus should always be on properly doing their job & not on the potential threats within arms length.

I always worry about my fellow bus driver friends & others I do not know. Let me just say I am glad that my father has finally retired after almost 30 years on the job!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

MTA Posts Public Hearing Notice

Posted by
on December 24th, 2008 at 8:11 am

A few days ago the MTA sent out an e-mail to announce that they posted a public hearing notice on their site. The public hearing regards the potential fare, service, & station changes that might become a reality if they are not bailed out of their financial hole. Here is a link to the .pdf which contains details of the proposed changes along with the schedule for the hearings. According to them, more information will be posted the day after Christmas. I urge all of my readers to try & attend at least 1 hearing!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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