MTA & Commuter Advocates Have A Transit Wish List
9 days ago Marlene Naanes of AMNY wrote an article about the MTA & other transit advocates having a wish list as the deadline approaches for the submission of the 5 year capital plan to the state. Here is the article courtesy of AMNY:
As New York barrels into 2008, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and transit advocates are pressing for rail improvements they hope will make commuters’ lives easier for years to come.
Their post-holiday wish lists include:
Adding a 10-mile-long third track to the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line between Queens Village and Hicksville to hasten the ride.
Replacing the old subway signal system with computer-based communication technology, which has been installed on the L line. This will improve speed, say advocates.
Running trains into the future Moynihan Station, Penn Station’s replacement, to allow Metro-North riders to commute to the West Side without changing trains.
Extending the No. 7 train line west to a station at 10th Avenue and 41st Street.
Speeding up train station face-lifts.
Replacing aging buses.
Continuing funding of mega projects such as the Second Avenue subway line and the Fulton Street Transit Center.
“We’d love to have enough to do another phase of the Second Avenue subway,” said MTA board member Andrew Albert. “We’d love for Fulton Street Transit Center to be more than a shrunken head.”
With their eyes on a March 31 deadline to submit a five-year capital plan to the state, the MTA and the advocates are pressing local, state and federal officials for the money to fund these projects.
“We wanted to begin speaking early in the process about the order of magnitude of the investment in transportation that will be needed in the five years if New York’s economy is to remain competitive with those of other world cities like London, Shanghai and a host of others” said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.
MTA officials are looking to surpass the current plan, which totals about $21 billion, by about $5 to $10 billion to keep the system in the best possible shape to accommodate the area’s booming population. State officials said it is too soon to say how much funding it might approve sometime this year.
While you are at it, I suggest checking out the comments left for the article which can be found by clicking here. After reading the first comment from Castile, NY resident James, I felt the need to respond. I can’t stand the typical idiotic ranting from upstate residents who continue to look down on New York City (NYC) considering we are the hand that feeds it.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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