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Service Diversions 09-26

Posted by
on September 27th, 2008 at 2:12 am

I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest scheduled diversions for this weekend & next 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. Have a safe & wonderful weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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TSTC Teams Up With One Region Funders Group

Posted by
on September 25th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

Earlier this afternoon the Tri-State Transportation Campaign announced it will team up with the One Region Funders’ Group to create a “new community assistance grant program to encourage transit-oriented development.” The TSTC’s Executive Director Kate Slevin provided more details in this entry:

Today the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the One Region Funders’ Group announced a new community assistance grant program to encourage transit-oriented development (TOD) by offering financial support to municipalities ready to address the linkages between affordable housing, energy efficiency, and development near transit stations.

Foundations participating in the One Region Funders’ Group and contributing toward this initiative include the Fairfield County Community Foundation, Long Island Community Foundation, New York Community Trust, Rauch Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and Westchester Community Foundation. The Fund for New Jersey is supporting the New Jersey program.

Tri-State also announced an online TOD clearinghouse as a complement to the program and a resource for those interested in pursuing transit oriented development.

Up to ten small grants will be awarded to communities across downstate New York and Connecticut. Up to five grants will be awarded in New Jersey.

Click here for the complete entry.

Groups such as the Tri-State Transportation Campaign do not get enough credit for helping fight the good fight against the masses who don’t care to or understand why a solid mass transit system & areas surrounding it are a necessity not only in our region but throughout the country. I am anxious to see what comes from the grants that will be awarded. When news comes out about it, you can be sure that I will report it.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Proposed Budget Means More Of The Same For Long Island Bus

Posted by
on September 25th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

The long standing trend of local government shortchanging the MTA in terms of funding continues. This time we will focus on Nassau County which has a history of shortchanging Long Island Bus way before the MTA took over. The latest shortchanging comes from Nassau County’s 2009 proposed budget. The proposal calls for the county’s subsidy to be $10.5 million dollars.

If this budget & more specifically subsidy is approved, it will mark the 5th consecutive year that the county would only kick in $10.5 million dollars, this as ridership has grown during the same time period. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Senior Planner Ryan Lynch has more in his entry:

Although Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi’s Proposed 2009 Budget Summary includes a property tax hike of 3.9% for the next fiscal year, none of that will be dedicated to increased funding for Long Island Bus. That’s because it was more of the same when it came to the County’s responsibility for funding the nation’s largest suburban bus system. If the budget is passed as proposed, Nassau’s subsidy to LI Bus will remain $10.5 million for the fifth year in a row

Click here for the complete entry.

The lack of funding for such an important cog to our transportation infrastructure is downright inexcusable although not surprising. Public transportation is something that has always been looked down upon & not being as important in Long Island. I speak from experience in having lived out here for years in the past & now again.

I honestly don’t see the lack of regard for transportation changing especially in terms of getting adequate funding for it. The only way the culture of disdain can be extinguished is to get new blood in office. However it is not easy when the constituents you tend to are mostly those who share in the culture of disdain to begin with.

Lets say if I ran for public office out here, do you really think I would pull out a victory being known as a huge supporter for better transportation options that do not include personal vehicles? The answer is no, so you can see how the lack of adequate funding for service that desperately could use it should come as no surprise to anyone. How sad……….

xoxo Transit Blogger

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How The MTA Was Yet Again Their Own Worst Enemy

Posted by
on September 25th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

Amidst of all the LIRR drama along with talks of hypothetical cuts was the story of the MTA getting price gouged on bus fuel as part of a new contract extension with its long running supplier Sprague Energy Corporation. Now word as come out that some officials saw this price gouge coming a mile away & warned their fellow officials to change course or else. As usual with the MTA, instead of adhering to this great advice, they chose to stay the course & show why they continue to be their own worst enemy. The New York Times’ William Neuman has more in this report:

Five years ago, as they were signing a contract for a cleaner-burning bus fuel, some officials with New York City Transit foresaw the day when similar low-sulfur fuels might become more common and less expensive.

That fuel was custom-made, and over the last two years, fuel suppliers warned transit officials that it might become difficult to get and urged them to consider a cheaper alternative.

But the transit agency never switched.

So last month, it found itself caught off guard when there were no bidders for a new fuel contract. As a result, it rushed through a stopgap agreement with its previous supplier at a much higher price.

The tale of how officials signed a contract that increases the fuel costs for their bus fleet by what could be tens of millions of dollars over the next year, at a time of budgetary crisis, helps show how well-intentioned efforts can go awry and end up affecting riders.

The custom-made fuel costs about 20 cents a gallon more than the more common ultra-low sulfur diesel that suppliers recommended. The fuel also requires special handling that in the new contract adds about 45 cents a gallon to delivery charges. On 50 million gallons of fuel to be delivered over the next 12 months, the extra costs represent an additional expense of more than $30 million.

Click here for the complete report.

Leave it to the MTA to be the one holding the gun to its own head time after time…

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

City Hall Bigwig Feels The MTA’s Decision Was Ill-Advised

Posted by
on September 25th, 2008 at 1:50 am

Yesterday was a rough day in a relationship between the city & MTA that would never be confused as being healthy to begin with. The latest rough patch stems from the MTA Board approving a measure to start charging government agencies like the NYFD, NYPD, Parks Department, etc… tolls for using its bridges & tunnels. One City Hall bigwig more specifically City budget director Mark Page said the MTA’s decision was “ill-advised”. New York Daily News transit reporter Pete Donohue has more in this report:

he MTA may regret revoking the city’s free E-ZPasses, a City Hall bigwig warned as the move was ratified Wednesday.

City budget director Mark Page called the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s money-generating initiative “ill-advised” as the city and MTA have a complex financial relationship, with several big-ticket items in dispute.

“I think … an ill will arising from this proposal is probably more expensive – in terms of the likelihood of coming together on the extremely important issues that face all of us – than it is worth,” Page said.

Page is one of Mayor Bloomberg’s four MTA board appointees. His comments came just before the board voted, 7 to 6, to bill city departments for bridge and tunnel trips.

Those departments include the mayor’s office, the mayor’s Office of Emergency Management and the Sanitation, Police, Fire and Parks departments.

The policy change also affects some state and local agencies and will raise some $10 million for the MTA as it tries to close looming budget gaps.

Click here for the complete report.

This story to me is more than just the MTA trying to raise money by collecting tolls from local government agencies. The fact that the MTA’s decision to collect these tolls is considered an “ill-advised” idea just illustrates part of what is wrong in the big picture.

The MTA is clearly in a state of financial crisis & is correctly looking for any & all ways to dig itself from out of this hole. The fact that a plan which goes along with this line of thinking is considered “ill-advised” illustrates how the city truly neglects its financial responsibilities to the MTA & more specifically its riding public, you know the millions that both parties are supposed to serve!

The city should be applauding the MTA for trying to find ways to tighten its belt while also bringing in much needed revenue. Instead of focusing on the true issues at hand, we have adults sparring over petty nonsense. How is the riding public ever supposed to believe that things will change when many people in high places are more concerned for the little things instead of the real issues at hand? If these people can’t look in the mirror or within themselves to realize this, what hope does the riding public have?

Not much if you ask me……………………………

xoxo Transit Blogger

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