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MTA Still On Track To Buy New Subway Cars

Posted by
on December 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 pm

Earlier today the New York Post had a brief report about the MTA still being on track to spend almost $1 billion dollars on 382 new subway cars. The report which was written by Tom Hamako features a headline that questions why the MTA would go through with a purchase consider its $1+ billion dollar budget deficit:

The MTA promises to keep rolling out new subway cars, despite its $1.3 billion budget gap.

The cars, to run on the letter lines, are similar to those already on the L, with electronic signs that update the route as the train passes each stop.

The agency yesterday said it would go though with its nearly $1 billion purchase of 382 cars.

Click here for the complete report.

To the common rider, the headline makes sense & really has you scratching your head on the MTA’s decision. However if a reporter is going to use a headline to question the MTA, shouldn’t they get their facts straight? The answer is a resounding yes! The purchase of these cars has nothing to do with the budget deficit of over $1 billion dollars which is related to the “Operations Budget”. The cost of these cars comes from the “Capital Budget”. I think it is completely irresponsible to write such a piece & not know the differences between the two budgets.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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5

Brooklyn Bus Driver Fatally Stabbed

Posted by
on December 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 am

Late yesterday evening, my sister sent me a text message asking if I heard about the Brooklyn bus driver who was fatally stabbed. I told her I did not & just a few minutes ago got the chance to find out what happened. The B46 driver who was killed was 46 year old Edwin Thomas. He was stabbed by a non-paying passenger aboard his bus. Al Baker & Sewell Chan of the New York Times have more in this sad report:

A 46-year-old New York City bus driver working his route in Brooklyn was stabbed to death on Monday afternoon by a passenger who did not pay the fare, sat down anyway, and later demanded a transfer ticket, the authorities said.

The driver, identified as Edwin Thomas, was operating a bus on the B46 line when he was stabbed at 12:28 p.m. at the intersection of Gates Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard (also known as Reid Avenue) in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in the 81st Precinct. The passenger fled, and no arrest has been announced.

According to the police, the passenger boarded the bus and inserted an invalid MetroCard several times. Although the card was not valid, the rider sat down, and Mr. Thomas continued to operate the bus. At some point later, the rider demanded a transfer, and the driver refused, pointing out that the rider had not paid the fare.

The rider got up, the police said, punched Mr. Thomas in the head and made as if to get off the bus. Then, the authorities said, he suddenly turned around, came back toward the driver and made a slashing motion. He stabbed Mr. Thomas numerous times in the chest and torso.

Mr. Thomas was taken to Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, where he was pronounced dead. A $36,000 reward was offered for information leading to the capture of the suspect: $12,000 each from the police, the M.T.A. and Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, which represents bus operators.

The police described the passenger as a black man in his 20s, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Click here for the complete report.

Let me first offer my condolences to the friends & family of Edwin Thomas who unfortunately died due to the actions of heartless bastard.

This unfortunate death should send a huge reminder to the risks all bus drivers face while taking passengers from one place to another. This reminds me of a conversation I had with my dad yesterday afternoon. We were talking about the whole Plaxico Burress incident & carrying guns in general.

He took the time to share a story he never told me or my mother about an experience he had while driving. A driver became irate when he felt he was cut off my dad’s bus. He pulled up alongside & someone in the car started waving a gun threatening to shoot him. He dared the guy to do so while not thinking of the consequences if they guy called his bluff.

He admitted that it did not hit him until he reflected on the incident later that same day. In the end, he told me that he was glad to be retiring very soon. In his eyes, 29 years of seeing the good, bad & ugly of being a MTA NYC Transit bus driver was enough.

I told him maybe he should try to hold out a few more months to officially make it to 30 years. However after hearing about this incident, I’m glad he won’t be considering that. So the next time you feel like cursing out that driver or bad mouthing him/her for whatever reason, or question the toughness of this job, remember just how dangerous & hard this job really is.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

MTA NYC Transit To Run Vintage Buses In December

Posted by
on December 1st, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Earlier today, MTA New York City Transit sent a press release via e-mail to announce that vintage buses would run on 9 routes in December. Here are the complete details:

For a period of five weeks between December 1st and January 2nd you won’t need a time machine to go back to the 1960s and 1970s. Bus customers on the M8, M14, M20, M23, M34, M42, M57, M79 and Q32 will have the opportunity to ride a fleet of vintage New York City buses for the holiday season. Everything will be original except the fare.

The buses will be running from Monday, December 1st through Friday, January 2nd, in service during morning and evening weekday rush hours. With a little bit of luck and good timing you could catch a ride back in time on one of MTA New York City Transit’s classic coaches for the price of a regular ride. And don’t forget, these Nostalgia Coaches are equipped with modern fareboxes, so they’ll accept your MetroCard or coins.

While all of the coaches will not be in service, the agency’s historic fleet consists of 19 buses, ranging in age from the Queen Anne – a 1917 wood-bodied double-decker manufactured in the shops of the old Fifth Avenue Coach Company – to bus number 1201, NYC Transit’s first General Motors RTS. Many of the vehicles have been deemed to have historical significance to the city, including bus number 3100, a 1956 GM which was the first air-conditioned transit bus manufactured, and 5227, the last non-wheelchair-accessible bus to operate for NYC Transit, pulled from service in 1993.

“Bus technology has come a long way since the 1960s and 70s and riding on these buses is a great contrast to the equipment we operate currently,” noted Joseph Smith, Senior Vice President, Department of Buses. “The older buses have a lot of charm but our customers are benefiting from tremendous advances in bus design, with improvements in comfort and efficiency.”

While most of the preserved and restored vehicles were ordered and operated by NYC Transit, the earliest buses belonged to predecessor companies, particularly the Fifth Avenue Coach Company. The historic fleet is made up largely of so-called “old look” buses (built prior to the Fall of 1959) and “new look” models (buses with slanted windows and enlarged windshields built from the Autumn of 1959 until the introduction of the RTS in 1977).

General Motors and Flxible are the most heavily represented manufacturers, though there is also a 1956 Mack in the collection. Interestingly, all three companies are now gone from the bus-building business.

You can also catch the Transit Museum’s Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal through January 19, 2009. Visit the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn Heights all year long to see and experience the history of NYC Transit and the MTA.

List and description of buses that will be in operation and on display:

Buses in service

Bus No. 5117 – 1964 Flxible. Retired from service in 1983.

Bus No. 7340 – 1973 Flxible. Part of a 267 bus order. This bus ran until 1990.

Bus No. 4727 – This 1969 Flxible was delivered as part of an order for 331 buses. It last saw service in 1988.

Bus No. 2151 – 1962 General Motors Coach. Model TDH 5301. Remained in service for 20 years.

Bus No. 100 – 1959 General Motors Coach. Model TDH 5301. This was the first model year of the GM’s New Look bus design. It was retired from service in 1973.

Buses on Display

Bus No. 2124 – 1938 Yellow Coach 735 (GM) double-decker ran until 1953 and was among the last of the fleet to serve.

Bus No 1263 – This 1931 Yellow Coach double decker was part of a 52 bus order for Fifth Avenue Coach Company.

Sorry for not getting this up sooner.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

NY Times Writer Says MTA Needs A Champion

Posted by
on November 30th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

We all know the story, the MTA is in a deep financial crisis. The crisis is so bad that they might increase the initial planned fare hikes & add service cuts/eliminations to the mix. This is due to them not knowing where the money will come from to help close an over $1 billion dollar operating budget deficit. In Sunday’s edition of the New York Times, William Neuman talks about how the MTA needs a champion through these trying financial times….

Two weeks ago, Richard Ravitch, the head of a state commission seeking a way to rescue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from its deepest financial crisis in decades, addressed some of the city’s top corporate leaders at a board meeting of the Partnership for New York City, the city’s pre-eminent business group.

In a conference room at the Broad Street headquarters of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Ravitch told the board how, more than a quarter-century ago, when he was the authority’s chairman, he had escorted the group’s founder, David Rockefeller, on an early-morning trip through the transit system to see firsthand its horrendous state of decay.

Mr. Rockefeller was so impressed (or appalled) with what he saw that he made it clear to the state’s political leaders in Albany that the business community supported Mr. Ravitch’s plan for a huge spending program to resuscitate the mass transit system.

It is a story that Mr. Ravitch recounts often. But on this particular day, Nov. 17, he was telling it with a purpose to an audience that included Richard D. Parsons, the chairman of Time Warner, and Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs and one of the partnership’s co-chairmen. The implication was clear: who would take on Mr. Rockefeller’s role this time?

There is no question that Mr. Ravitch needs help saving the authority again — but it is far from clear where it will come from.

His commission was created by Gov. David A. Paterson early this year to recommend solutions to the authority’s chronic financial problems. Mr. Ravitch declined to be interviewed for this article.

He is due to deliver a final report to the governor by Friday that is expected to include proposals for a tax on corporate payrolls in the region, tolls on the bridges across the East and Harlem Rivers and an increase in fares on the subway, bus and commuter railroads. Those measures would provide enough money for the authority to overcome a $1.2 billion budget gap next year and allow it to finance a long-term capital program that could cost as much as $30 billion through 2014.

Click here for the complete report.

The article sheds no new light on the overall situation involving the MTA’s finances. I will say that it does show how our elected officials seem hesitant to back what the Ravitch Commission opposes. I agree with William when he says it seems they are looking for someone else to take the lead. What is truly sad about that is the city but mainly Albany has & continues to control the purse strings. The constant disregard for adequate funding for the MTA is the opponent that needs to be defeated. William is right, we do need a champion, I’m just not sure if they can become that considering who we are dealing with.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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3

Drivers Promise Civil Disobedience If They Lose Toll Rebate

Posted by
on November 30th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

10 days ago the MTA held its monthly board meeting. However this was not the typical meeting as this one featured budget proposals to help trim an over $1 billion dollar budget deficit. I outlined the specific proposals which included the elimination of the Cross Bay Bridge toll rebate program. The proposal has been met with outrage from local residents who promise civil disobedience if the proposal becomes a reality. Brendan Brosh of the New York Daily News has more in this report:

Motorists in Broad Channel and on the Rockaway Peninsula have a warning for the MTA: If you mess with our toll rebates, get ready for pandemonium.

The MTA has proposed rescinding the rebates for locals who use the Cross Bay Bridge – a move that could save the cash-strapped agency $3.6 million a year.

But residents are gearing up to fight the move with protests and acts of civil disobedience before an MTA board vote next month.

“This is the only interborough toll in the city,” said Lew Simon, a Democratic district leader who was vocal in implementing the rebate in the 1990s. “We’re going to protest and block traffic again. We’re planning to get arrested if necessary.”

Drivers from the communities with resident E-ZPasses are charged a $1.03 toll every time they cross the bridge. The fee is given back to them in a rebate.

The program was implemented in 1998 after decades of complaints by both communities.

Click here for the complete report.

Wow, those residents are serious about this toll rebate program. We usually don’t hear immediate calls for civil disobedience when something gets proposed. Lets hope it will not have to come to that.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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