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Friends Of Moynihan Station Unveil Principles

Posted by
on November 30th, 2007 at 6:25 am

This past Wednesday the Friends Of Moynihan Station, a coalition which consist of citizens and civic leaders convened by Regional Plan Association unveiled their principles for the highly anticipated Moynihan Station. Here is a brief sample of the principles announced:

* Put the Public Interest First: Give the public a strong voice in the planning process of the station and district. Ensure that the design of the train halls reflects the fact that they are primarily public spaces, not compromised by an excessive presence of either retail or Madison Square Garden. Maintain public ownership of the station.

* Create a Great New Train Station: The new Moynihan Station should be a grand work of civic architecture that is both beautiful and functional as a transportation hub – with large public spaces, natural light and dramatically improved public circulation and safety features.

* Protect the Historic Farley Post Office Building: Rehabilitate the Farley building in a way that qualifies the project for federal historic preservation tax credits.

* Build a Great Moynihan Station District: The district should knit together Midtown with the Far West Side, be a global model for climate-friendly development, and respect the scale of its surroundings.

For the full press release click here. For the entire list of principles click here.

This project has been on my mind the last week or so. In the coming days I hope to have time to write an entry on my full feelings about this project.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Restoration Of Rockaway Stations To Begin Next Summer

Posted by
on November 30th, 2007 at 5:45 am

Great news for residents of the Rockaway peninsula. Starting next summer the MTA will restore every single station on the peninsula except for Beach 116th Street which is already under renovation. The news was featured in an article in last Friday’s The Wave, the local newspaper for the Rockaways. I would like to thank Subchat poster “NEPONSIT2006” for sharing the article courtesy of The Wave:

Rockaway Train Stations To Get Overhaul
MTA Allocates $142 Million For Renovations
By Miriam Rosenberg

http://www.rockawave.com/news/2007/1123/Community/062.html

Platform canopies, like this one on the Beach 105 Street platform, will be replaced as part of the renovations being made along the Rockaway line.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority has confirmed that it will begin a $141.8 million restoration of the Rockaway subway line beginning next summer.

The renovation is part of the agency’s 2008 fiscal budget.

“Every single station on the peninsula – Rockaway Beach and Far Rockaway – will be rehabilitated, with the exception of Beach 116 [which is already undergoing renovation],” said Aaron Donovan, a spokesperson for the MTA.

The following are among the restorations that will be made on the Rockaway line, starting in July 2008.

The Mott Avenue station will be made compliant with the Americans with Disability Act by installing an elevator and putting up Braille directional signage. Modifications to the platforms will be made to reduce the gap at the ADA boarding areas.

From the Beach 25 Street to Beach 105 Street stations, the work will include repairing or replacing corroded stairs and columns and rehabilitating the mezzanine and track drainage systems. At all stations, all spalling [breaking or splitting] concrete and delaminating steel will be repaired. New lighting systems will be installed and additional ADA work will be done along the Rockaway line. New platform canopies will be installed at the Beach 90, 98 and 105 Street stations.

Rusted, corroded stairs all along the line will be replaced or rehabilitated.

In June, State Senator Malcolm Smith was the first to announce the upcoming renovations at a meeting at Arverne By The Sea.

“They are going to fix up every single station along the ‘A’ line,” said Smith, who added that he and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer were able to push the restoration through.

No timetable has been set for the upcoming work.

“There is no tentative date for completion,” said the MTA’s Donovan. He also could not answer what service interruptions, if any, would be caused by the renovations.

The nine stations along the Rockaway route are at least 51 years old. Four stations – Beach 90, Beach 98, Beach 105 and Beach 116 Streets, connect Rockaway Park with Broad Channel. Mott Avenue, along with Beach 25, Beach 36, Beach 44, Beach 60 and Beach 67 Streets join those areas to the mainland.

Columns along the line are scheduled for repairs.

Elevated train service to Rockaway Park and Wavecrest began on June 28, 1956. On January 16, 1958, the subway line was extended to include the Mott Avenue station in Far Rockaway.

As an October 5 photo essay in The Wave showed, the elevated train line in Rockaway is in desperate need of repair, with rusted, decaying stairs, chunks of concrete missing from the trestles and other deficiencies that make the line a disaster waiting to happen.

Idefinitely think this is great news for residents of The Rockaways who for years were forgotten about by the MTA if you ask me. The area is ripe for development & is filled with tons of potential. The subway service should match what the full potential of the area is. I see this has a great step in that direction. You can check out the long thread on Subchat about the planned renovations by clicking here.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Sensationalistic Journalism?

Posted by
on November 28th, 2007 at 7:50 am

I sure think so in regards to the latest article in the New York Daily News’ “Halt The Hike” campaign. The article is about the MTA squandering the opportunity to buy much needed fuel at a substantially lower price before the price of fuel skyrocketed. Here is a brief part of the article courtesy of The Daily News:

Bureaucratic bunglers at the MTA – which now wants a 3.8% fare and toll hike to fill a budget gap – blew a chance to save millions of dollars by not buying fuel before prices soared.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board set aside $150 million in July to buy fuel to be used next year and in 2009.

Staffers didn’t realize until September that a key contract involving fuel delivery was expiring.

By then, the lower-price deal couldn’t be locked in because a new contract would have to be put out for bid, a long process, MTA Chief Financial Officer Gary Dellaverson told board members at a committee meeting yesterday.

Prices have “skyrocketed” since July, Dellaverson said, and the MTA has all but given up on the idea.

Here is the link to the full article.

So what is so sensationalistic about this piece? I’ll tell you, it is the way Pete Donohue,  some MTA officials & politicians are using this story to cry how the savings lost could have helped save off any sort of fare hike. Who are they kidding? Do you know the total amount the MTA blew in savings? The total amount is approximately $12 million dollars. Now don’t get me wrong I am not saying $12 million dollars is chump change but in the grand scheme of things it sure is. Math was one of my favorite subjects in school & I would like to think my skills are still pretty sharp. Lets test them out shall we….

We have the MTA saying they are facing upwards of a $6 billion dollar deficit in the near future & the savings lost here was $12 million. Last I checked there is just a tiny bit of difference between these two amounts. Just in case I made an error during mental math, I will take out my trusty pen & pad. Lets see $6 billion minus $12 million leaves us $5,988,000,000. So I was right, there is just a tiny bit of difference  between these two amounts!

Seriously lets get real here, I am all for criticizing the MTA for their mistakes as they are deserved. However it is one thing to justifiably criticize them & a totally different thing to unfairly criticize them so you can sensationalize your point. I expect this from politicians who love nothing more than a free chance to get a P.R. boost but I expected more from Mr. Donohue.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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The Harsh Reality Starts To Set In

Posted by
on November 27th, 2007 at 5:15 am

When I last discussed the fare hike, I was writing about how Gov. Spitzer came to the rescue & helped keep the base fare at $2. Unfortunately the problem with his “heroic” effort was that it benefited a minority of riders, 14% to be more accurate. The other 86% of riders were going to feel the brunt of the fare hike since they are smart enough to take advantage of the tremendous discounts offered. Well the harsh reality is starting to set in on what we the 86% will face in terms of a fare hike.

The MTA announced yesterday that the average cost of commuter rail tickets, tolls at the city’s bridges & tunnels will jump by an average of 3.85%. This is a change from what was originally expected to be an average 6.5% increase in the same costs. How about the 86% of base riders who do not pay the base far you ask? Well get ready to shell out some more cash for that trusty discounted or unlimited Metrocard.

While details have yet to be released on the actual costs in the new plan that is expected to kick in at the beginning of March 2008, it doesn’t take rocket science to know the cards will see a significant increase. How could they not see such an increase when the base fares are scheduled to stay at $2 for the foreseeable future? I can imagine having to shell out $85-$90 for a monthly soon which will be a pain in the ass!

For more information & opinions on the MTA’s announcement, I highly recommend checking out these links:
Newsday, New York Times, & Second Avenue Sagas

So in the end it truly was a slick P.R. maneuver on the part of Gov. Spitzer. He comes out like a heroic winner, the MTA still imposes some sort of a fare hike, & the majority of riders are left out in the rain with no umbrella. If we were actually given superior service & facilities to the best level possible with our resources, I would fully support a fare hike.

Unfortunately I can’t fully support a fare hike until I see some results. We as riders have put up with years of inferior service & facilities although improved from the real bad times but far from where it should be. When we actually get to where we should be, I’ll be the first one standing & applauding. Maybe this new regime will get the job done over time but an immediate fare hike is a very tough pill to swallow from a population of riders who expect the worst.

In the end all I can hope for as far as this fare hike is concerned is to not see the costs of unlimited cards skyrocket too much! I better put that at the top of my wish list & fire it off to the North Pole! I am counting on Santa Claus to come through for me as well as my fellow riders!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

A Result Not Even Close To Its Name….

Posted by
on November 26th, 2007 at 5:18 pm

Brooklyn bound A train entering 2nd Avenue station during a G.O.; Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit

This is the case for the overall grade earned by the A train in its “2007 Rider Report Card”. The A train earned a C- from the 6,703 people who filled out the report card. If I am not mistaken this is the highest amount of responses received so far which is somewhat surprising as I expected that status to go to either the 4 or 6 train respectively. Anyhow lets go straight to the full breakdown shall we.

Top 10 priorities that train riders’ would like to see improvement on:

01. Reasonable wait times for trains
02. Minimal delays during trips
03. Adequate room on board at rush hour
04. Station announcements that are easy to hear
05. Cleanliness of stations
06. Train announcements that are easy to hear
07. Sense of security on trains
08. Cleanliness of subway cars
09. Sense of security in stations
10. Comfortable temperature in subway cars

Now here is the entire order of train riders’ priorities:

01. Reasonable wait times for trains
02. Minimal delays during trips
03. Adequate room on board at rush hour
04. Station announcements that are easy to hear
05. Cleanliness of stations
06. Train announcements that are easy to hear
07. Sense of security on trains
08. Cleanliness of subway cars
09. Sense of security in stations
10. Comfortable temperature in subway cars
11. Station announcements that are informative
12. Working elevators and escalators in stations
13. Train announcements that are informative
14. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel
15. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars
16. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines
17. Signs in stations that help riders find their way
18. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way
19. Ease of use of subway turnstiles
20. Lack of graffiti in subway cars
21. Lack of graffiti in stations

Now here is the graded breakdown of all 21 categories:

Minimal delays during trips C-
Reasonable wait times for trains C-
Adequate room on board at rush hour D
Sense of security in stations C
Sense of security on trains C-
Working elevators and escalators in stations C-
Signs in stations that help riders find their way C
Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way C
Cleanliness of stations D+
Cleanliness of subway cars D+
Station announcements that are easy to hear D
Station announcements that are informative D+
Train announcements that are easy to hear D+
Train announcements that are informative D+
Lack of graffiti in stations C
Lack of graffiti in subway cars C
Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C-
Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C
Comfortable temperature in subway cars C
Ease of use of subway turnstiles B-
Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B-

I will start off by saying the biggest shocker to me was the A earning a C-. I really expected it to either get the same grade as the C train or get the first F. As far as the F grade is concerned, that might be reserved for the G train. I can not wait to see the results for the G’s rider report card. However let me not digress so lets get back to the A train.

The A like its fellow Eighth Avenue counterpart is a line that takes ages to go from one end to another & has its share of problems that give its riders nightmares. While the A serves as the Eight Avenue express traveling from 207th St./Inwood to multiple terminals including Far Rockaway, Lefferts Blvd./Ozone Park, & Rockaway Park, it does not give you the fast ride one might think. The line has sub par speed in between 125th St & 59th St Columbus Circle. The speed improves on the Brooklyn express run but many times that is short lived due to some sort of delay.

From my experience riding the A, the typical tendencies for it were long wait times, train bunching, & horrific levels of crowding. The sad part is when you would think at least one of the trains in the bunch would have fewer straphangers to then be surprised & see it is as packed as the previous ones. This occurrence is quite common for straphangers who depend on the A to get around. To be honest I am surprised that “Adequate room on board at rush hour” was not the 1st or 2nd highest priority. In my opinion this category deserved to be the highest priority although it is arguable that the top 3 are interchangeable.

Looking at the full graded breakdown of all 21 categories, I can’t really see outright flaws in grading judgment. While it can be argued that the A train deserved lower grades in a few categories, the final grade is not that far from reality. As usual the A train got the free square for the “Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines”. I am starting to find that category downright comical as it seems the grade is permanently etched into the report card.

As far as improvements go, I don’t know how much the MTA can do. If I am not mistaken the line is already running at capacity. If they can find a way to improve the headways on the line, it would serve as a welcome relief for those straphangers who depend on this line. Oh & if I had it my way this line would not run local at night. The ride as it normally is with its multiple express runs takes forever, so you can only imagine how horrible it is when the line has no express runs! I don’t think you could pay me to do a time chronicle on a fully local A train! There is a reason why you have not seen one of those done yet after all this time!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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