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[TOP]
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
People Are Traffic!
Commuter world
Congested Pricing
Transit Links
Drivers Links
AIR Links
Put up or shut up scroll
Rolling along
Media [Links]
[BOTTOM]
A 3rd Manhttan [CBD] Cental Business District? Where, why and what may the tipping point may be.
By the way, oh 2006 there was an increase from 3 to 29 NYC taxis of 12,487 are wheelchair accessible and the city is in the usual bureaucratic brou-ha-ha nonsense in seeking "proposals" etc. for some new fanciful designs, even though they exist elsewhere. If you cannot arrange for other specialised services most busses have working lifts.
COURT order is to make the subway accessible by 2020- That WILL NEVER HAPPEN. MTA is trying to make "key 200" subway staions accessible by then. BUT they can't even keep existing escalators and elevators in service.
Metrocard [pay per ride type only] accepted at PATH [phased in with new turnstiles started Nov 2003 at WTC] and some NYC-bordering suburban busses.
Harsh new subway behavior regulations taking effect early DEC 2005 being enforced. A few horror stories do make the press - such as $50+ tix [oh, NO ID- you will be arrested and held] for lady who rested her little shopping bag on the F, JAN 27 2006 when there were empty seats adjacent, got fined without a warning. She was detained while her records, whatever were checked but finally on Feb 27 her fine was dropped at a hearing.
Tickets ARE issued for walking between cars, [in 2006 there were 3,600 summonses issued]. SINCE subways are STATE property and everyone buthe cops are STATE employees, I NOT know under what authority the MAYOR and NYPD make rules and patrol STATE property such as the subway?
Service on the subway was BETTER just days after 9-11 and days after the Chambers St relay room fire - other track and construction work was stopped and all the trains seemed to run on time! After service was all restored, there was not ONE weekend since then in 2005 when all service was normal!
The 2005 strike showed suburban transit riders are more fortunate than NYC "Borough" residents. They still had their MTA trains and they are more highly subsidised MTA than the subway! Of course, NJ Transit and Port Auth PATH services were unaffected.
Suburban MTA rail riders DO NOT have as many rules as NYC transit rider do, foisted on them. They can even DRINK [alchohol] on the trains, though pre-MTA perks of original privately owned railroads such as the bar cars are long gone. F__ the MTA...
*BEWARE!! NYC tow pounds information. It took a long time for them to be pressurred into accepting debit and credit cards. No late-nite parking and NO standing tow zones adjacent to west side night clubs and on w8 st between 5-6Ave!*
->Most NYC meters are for only *1 hour* There are NO residential parking permits or zones on public streets in NYC.
$20 and $50 parking cards available [CityStore or call 311] for blocks where receipt machines are used.
The highest roller parking-wise in Manhattan could be Jerry Seinfeld. He bought a small west side bldg in 1999 and renovated it in 2000 for his own private garage with office for 15-20 of his car collection, on w83st a couple of blocks from his NYC home.
National Assoc. of Insurance Commissioners - survey of 2003 rates released in Sept 2005]. New York roads are '31st' in poor or mediocre' -at 27 per cent in bad shape, according to 'TRIP' of Washington DC study in late 2001, *BUT* NJ is 8th worst and Connecticut is tied for 4th worst-[Georgia has best, next Alabama]
Though some now make a long trek east from PA into NYC, few would commute, say from NJ to Long Island.Add neighboring Long Island (w/ Nassau in top 10 metro areas by population) and - NJ! Hudson County w/ Hoboken and Jersey City, could be a "sixth Borough"- they are as integrated physically as much as Staten Island, despite the Hudson River, but then they are in another State, County, area codes, etc.
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Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
New York cannot enlarge itself and has remained at the same boundaries since consolidation in 1898. Vehicle traffic is heavier and slower each year [I know, this was true a hundred years ago!] The population is grown past to all time high of approx 8.2 million projected to be few more years to 9.5 million[!] by 2030-31. Did these cold hard facts push the Mayor to create the New York 2030 [PlaNYC] Panel DEC 2006 in response? Findings so far indicate a 12-hour rush hour! Despite or BECAUSE of record population [note the actual "demographics"] and taxes and revenue and govt spending, they try to solve the resulting problems by growing GOVERNMENT more! Taxes are ever increasing [with only small compromises such as NY clothing sales tax partly eliminated and minor property tax rebate] but significantly higher users fee, fines and tolls.Developers are enabled to overbuild irregardless of transit and infrastrucure inadequacies, with the administration's ble$$ings, UPZONING and handing over of city properties toward maximum build out, in many case for dubious or minimum public benefit or payment! West side build up of Hudson Yards and PIER 40 plans are good examples, but Atlantic Yards planned superblocks with superdense use would create the most serious new traffic problems in the city.
People are Traffic!
Putting it plainly, "Anyone who would like a real life demonstration of what a city without congestion is like should head up the New York State Thruway and check out Buffalo." [-Andrew Wolf, "The Future of Commuting" NYSun 2-7-2008] Widespread telecommuting? Rush hour a 'quaint concept' by 2050? There can only be significantly less traffic and pollution in this existing city with existing types of vehicles if the economy *SHRINKS* and people go away! It is a FALSE argument that borough commuters mostly take transit so they won't bear the cost of congestion pricing. Higher income = more miles traveled in private vehicles; they will pay the price and KEEP on! Their businesses pass the expense down to the rest of us and if this [likely] is a factor further increasing Manhattan real estate value in the -zone-, that will be passed on down too! They are giving some headroom for cost of EZPass reading but severely low-balled cost of video reading license plates [those who have NO E-ZPass] down to 15c from earlier more realistic 75c. The proposal first did NOT mandate the fees had to be used for TRANSIT! - JAN 2007 city estimated cost was $884.2mil or 44% of revenue from EZ Pass and license plate reading 4x on each trip, 346 days a year. The Mayor tried to make the plan more palatable with first details- estimates of profit were increased and cost was decreased down to $232mil a year!A million MORE people so favored by the Mayor, sure! Congestion pricing, sure. They will ride through decrepit tunnel and stations on lines that do not even go past [or to] the city boundaries [-see scroll box further down re 'dollar van' fuss], to the airports directly or link to rail commuter lines just small distances away in neighboring suburbs, yet they are part of one NY STATE "Authority" for a few DECADES! It is decades past time these extensions are made. Elitists advocate congestion pricing as a way of saving us from ourselves! MAR 2008 fare increase got final OK DEC 2007, along with some service improvements! So, on the first 'State of the MTA' address MAR 2008, right after the fare increase, the recent new MTA CEO Sander paid 'lip service' to new connections ideas but of most interest to riders NOW, he said MTA board was going give final OK to those "promised" subway service and bus route additions to start JUNE 2008, BUT-MAR 24 just a couple of weeks later, the MTA made clear that route additions, new connections/construction are shot to hell because of NY revenue shortfalls from real estate transfer tax! He was onboard for the b s about Congestion pricing benefits. There will a few [really] added subway trips starting JULY 27 2008 on weekdays / and or weekend nights on 1, 3, 4, 6, B, M, W, 42st shuttle and weekends on the 7 that will then be cut and worse late 2008 or early 2009!
It's all about charging more to keep [some] people away while actually squeezing ever more in. Limits are being reached NOW on the transit lines, even beyoned rush hour[s], yet, in the press at least, the f__ MTA just "finds out" the system is at or near capacity from an April 2007 study showing that many lines especially "IRT" line and the E are at 100% rush-hour capacity! Just as the economy is crshing and ridership likely peaked, MTA is expected to start early 2009 "flipped-up" seat trials on some subway [cattle cars?] cars to relieve some congestion! So many people in NYC are beyond the reach of subway lines so the average commute time for NYC is skewed to the *worst* in the nation! The transit system is BOTH the best in the US -and- an antiquated disgrace. New transit lines are desperately needed beyond the long-planned 2Av line. MTA won't hear of light rail anywhere in NYC. WHY? Ridership figures released AUG 23 2006 showed from the level numbers of 1980-1995 of approx 1.6 billion trips then increased in 2005 to 2.2 billion trips [includes bus] as the Metrocard was introduced and two-fare rides were practically eliminated and NYC grew to 8.2 million officially. The pols say is there is too much congestion, and want to ban or tax our way out of it, just like, ahem, the Mayor's anti-smoking schemes. Time Sq. NOW "bursting at the seams", people walk in the streets even here and there all over town at times.
It is proven that [Manhtaan] traffic greatly eases when there are taxi strikes! Manhattan congestion is also tens of thousands of truck trips because the Admin does not care to back the Port Auth harbor rail tunnel[-of 1929!] or change back to 2-way tolls on the Verranzo Bride!\ MUCH Manhattan traffic is cars cruising for parking and taxis "30% of all traffic miles" cruising for passengers. Corporate titans have their own limos or Town "the black" Cars" sent..see late evening for them and fortunate underlings serviced by a virtual army of [6,000 back in 1987 may be almost 10,000 now] Town Cars parked at the ready- with others there are nearly 40,000 cars for hire on the streets. Dump in the middle of this 5,000 bicycle messengers in Manhattan. "Nearly half of all traffic in Park Slope are cars 'cruising' around in search of parking spots, according to a Transportation Alternatives report.." of Feb 2007 -This is a much higher percentage than in Manhattan. amNewYork, NYSun 2-27-2007. Yeah that's how dysfunctional it is here. Other fortunates in Manhattan are very likely to be able to walk or have a quick cab, some are crazy enough to keep a car garaged or on streets and drive short distances[!] and be able to avoid the subway ride to work or shop. In [DEC 2006] the heat was on publcly to blame traffic / lack of parking in lower Manhattan on too many constrcution worker and especially "government workers with parking permits"; at end of APR 2008: 25,879 permits -about 1/3- were cut and AUG2008 80 percent of Dept of Education permits were cut!
Federal Clean Air Act [of when?] limited number of new parking spaces below 60st to 7,000 in order to limit carbon monoxide emssions -. The need to add parking for Hudson Yards massive planned development will put it in violation of the FED agreement..so the pols will send thousands of cars cruising around for parking - these f___ stupid agreements should only have been implemented if it included adding transit capacity- which they never did. NYC discourages construction of parking spaces in many new bldgs. also as way of discouraging people from driving and in the name of "environmental correctness"- HA. Where is leadership from the developers and the business community here who also have a worldwide reach?? As long as they can keep making so much on CONDO sales and their brokers get the fat commissions to buy them, do they CARE in any civic minded way how the city survives UNTIL it all breaks down!
Congestion Pricing Is A Regressive New Tax... NO ONE asked: What if it DOES NOT "WORK"?
Mayor Bloomberg stunned the public EARTH DAY Apr 2007 with the Giveth and Taketh: To induce support, After the defeat, the Daily News continued to shed tears for the plan and lash out out SILVER, but perhap SILVER and the Assembly -though it was clad in their obstructionist - MIMBYist manner, made the right choice. The SUN noted 4-8-2008 [-"Bloomberg's Last Stand"] re the plan's intention of getting these $$ to the dysfunctional MTA, "Why in world would they want to submit to taxing their automobile travel to give that management more money with which to work? How could the mayor have missed that basic question?" But does the SUN really believe this man would even think of of "rolling back" and liberalising big government and "strengthening the Republican party"?Congestion Pricing is socialist-utopian claptrap, implemented by Euro "GREENS" [even though SINGAPORE -think about that- was really first]! The Mayor loves that LONDON [below->] system, itself could be shown betrays its do-gooder bills of sale to the public. WHY is US Dept of Transportation [in the person of Mr. James Simpson, Fed. Transit Administrator] of the BUSH Admin. strongly pushing this on us to get a bit of added transit aid? NOTE 2002-2004 Capital programmme was "all refinancing" NO real money behind it<--yes, MR. SANDER, MTA President said it APR 2008!] "THE MTA had counted on using congestion pricing fees to back $4.5 billion of bonds for a $29.55 billion capital plan that already had a $9.31 billion gap." [-but the headline, interpretation in "The Bond Buyer" APR 11 2008 is "Failure of Congestion Pricing Plan Puts New York MTA Projects in a Bind"->WTF? HOW can THEY say THAT? NY POLS, MTA put MTA in this 'bind'!] This $354mil 'aid' from the feds is nearly literally -NOTHING- after the cost to collect it, not to mention the cost of lost business [can be seen in LONODN!], social disruption but especially in light of the billion$ in fares collected, hundreds of mil or billion$ from the precentage of vehicle TOLLS ALREADY collected, the billion$ in bonds issued on debt service on it (Gov. Paterson notes the MTA is #5 in debt behind CA, MA, NYState, NYCity!), and tens of BILLIONS$ MORE needed! *NOV 2008: deficit larger than expected [gee they are brilliant], threat of 50 perent base fare increase wto $3 without an MTA 'bailout'- same thing - taxpayers will chave to cover either!*
MAY 28 2008, while DAILY NEWS editorialised that all the main objections from so many cams [-will be camera set-ups now at "only" 25 locations,] to giving Manhattanites too big a break are solved in latest plan, NYPost showed a gravy train of new administrative positions coming up- Dept of Transportation already listed 10 new admin positions with $1.2mil in pay just for them. There was a FED JULY 16 2007 deadline for applying for "$500mil" transit aid- which somehow actually became *only* $354mil transit aid with
MAR 31APR 7 [feds quietly extended] 2008 deadline for approval [and MAR 31 2009 for implementation!], is down from AUG 14 2007 after "deadline" passed, announced Fed grants AUG 14 2007 NYC was to get $375mil for transit [mostly be used for busses and some parking] with strings attached. NYC does not have home-rule on this, the State [Assembly-S Silver in particular] stonewalled but could not kill it - then. They forced formation of a panel of politicians to come up with a workable, politically acceptable, more finalised proposal. Some details of the last, nearly final plan was released to the public JAN 31 2008. Then after MTA MTA fare increases MAR 2008, they dangled promised transit improvments on us. On eve of plan being killed with SILVER / State Assembly, pols noted how it was a take it or leave it plan [DEMAND!] from the MAYOR.Congestion Pricing fees as announced were hardly equitable and surely to increase! Onereous FINES for NOT paying up in time [next-day deadline] are what keeps the LONDON system funded. Mayor of London said he will charge 3x the regular [~$50] fee for more "polluting" vechicles such as SUVs and sports cars by OCT 2008 while dropping the charge for some hybrids! Does NYC need that crap? LONDON figures cited JUL 2007 were $184mil cost to run a system that generated $430mil from regular fees bolstered by a MILLION fines of $102 [if paid in week] or $205 otherwise! If traffic is significantly decreased, the fees collected night not leave much left over from cost of running the system! LONDONs system lead to a huge increase in stolen and fraudulent license plates used to pass the cost on to umm others..UK plates are privately produced by many companies and some may make ANY one you specify. Their police are now on lookout for false plates, and initiated programs for screwing them on better![-Wall St. Journal 11-2-2007].
Implementation goal was MAR 31 2009. Fee border was first to be 86 St 6am-6pm including W Side and E River drives, was changed to 60stcurb of south side of the street 6am-6pm. Only 1 charge per day- can go out and back in zone again. NO charge for Manhattan drivers staying within the zone! EZ Pass toll payers from TriboroughBTA bridge-tunnel=Lincoln Holland GWB etc Jersey Port Auth $8 EZ-pass toll payers=congestion fee deduction=*NO* extra charge. Cash [non-E-ZPass payers $1 extra charge. Actually, Mayor and Gov demanded PORT AUTH pay up $1billion or else who-whatever a new Congetion fee bureaucracy to-be will charge Jersey drivers extra $3![-NJ Gov Corzine threatening to sue.] ALL OTHERs: Cars $8, Trucks $21, Low-emission trucks $7. Motorcycles, scooters[!] $4 -with special E-ZPass. Tax-limo surcharge $1 in the zone! Maybe a 'demand-based' parking meter increase in the zone. and PERHAPS residential parking permits for those on edge of the zone [GEE, that is Upper EAST and WEST SIDEs- the NYTimes likes it!] to keep others from taking up those spots. NonE-Z Pass users also must pay up in 4 days or else!![-minimum $65 penalty]!
Mayor said congestion pricing would generate $491mil year for transit capital "lockbox" funding [sure!] and reduce traffic 6%.. NYC projections on costs and "profits" for mass transit funding from this "congestion pricing" are suspect. Hey we are short billion$ for MTA capital plans, Mayor also backs $410Mil to install palm scan automation of city employees "clocking in", already set up $650mil city-state tax "incentives to GOLDMAN Sachs, billions in support [infrastructure, financing] to SPORTS teams Mets- Yankees, NETS, -even a "little" bitty 20 year+ onging Madison Sq Garden subsidy[!] WHY bend NYC out of shape with "Congestion Pricing" for a few hundred mil from the Feds? Why are The FEDs pushing it? Hundreds of millions in contracts to buds? In OCT 2007 Bloomberg said the plan was to raise $767million in 5 years for transit improvement or as it was also printed, the system was projected to cost $104milion a year to raise $380mil a year for mass transit. Whatever, the numbers are fudged. 2006 studies showed conclusively that people of underserved areas in the Boroughs make up larger number of drivers coming into in Manhattan than from suburban areas, but ALMOST as many MANHATTAN drivers as from the BK-QNS commute internally - so congestion pricing will not be a panacea! It will do more to regulate people and raise tax revenue! London 2006-2007- congestion fees greatly increased, area affected was enlarged, BUT traffic *in* is INCREASING toward pre-congestion pricing level- when you gotta you gotta GO and so it is being absorbed as a cost of business. Pollution control by congestion pricing etc is B.S.
Since NYState blocked congestion pricing, MAYOR increased rhetoric in JUNE 2008 to make a congestion tax under other name[s] as a way to further control bad behavior [make people drive even less, and complain about price of gass less] and get more money to MTA. Transit delays and interruption are way up NOW, Further service and maintenance cuts coming, even cuts to signals and switches and infrastructure, costs up, projected revenue shortfalls and more uncontrolled fare increase, and 2/3 or more of $$ for next MTA capital budget will be missing, lead SANDER to call it a coming "crisis" and "time of reckoning" This AFTER Nr. Sander just got a good [ooh, it is to better "compete with salaries in private sector", the usual justification..] salary increase, it is time to say ADIOS to Mr. Sander; YOU are the same ol ___! Those who are in a position to KNOW, the in-house union engneering and technical staff continue to cry out over contracting out, leaving them in the dust, MTA-City-State use higest priced consultants -who also have a mixed to poor track record. They CAN show how costs are inflated many times over to build [or start then stop, like the 2Av subway] wrecking the MTA cap. budget[s]. NYC elected officials disregard them, so then does the press, even those transit advocate/watchdog groups! So we all pay and pay.. It is past time to gut the MTA board and change this whole monster org the GOV ROCKEFELLER, I believe, unleashed!
"The fact of the matter is that most Queens commuters are getting behind the wheel for lack of better options...[W]hile we're at it, why not institute a tax on Hamptons-bound Manhattanites who tie up our borough's highways every summer?" [-Queens Chronicle 5-3-2007 "Reducing Traffic Congestion Is A Two-Way Street" FACT is, internal Manhattan drivers make up about as many as those coming in from QUEENS- Congestion Pricing is a tax raise that will make streets clear for the upscale Manhattanite- like DUH why do you think the line is to be at 86st? | even 60st|- driver or limo /taxi passenger. It especially will *NOT* relieve traffic from taxis and the black Towncar fleet! The congestion charge is an onerous toll that the that WILL increase the flight out of the middle/ lower middle class people of the area! OOPS that IS what elites want; keep the immigrants -legal, illegal- near-rich and really rich here. Go back in time in your mind -if you can still imagine it- way baack and think how crazy things have gotten. Congestion pricing charging by electronic means, whether south of 86 or 60st by monitoring EVERY moving vehicle was a disguised massive surveilliance plan. Since those means failed for the near future at least, an overt surveillance plan "has to" be implemented and was [See ->] publicly disclosed AUG 11 2008.
MAR 2008 Mayor announced 1st NYC residential parking permit system for select areas *IF* congestion plan is approved and threatened that various transit improvements, mostly new and added bus services and priority traffic light changes that are dependent on $354mil fed Urban Partnership Agreement award for implementing congestion pricing! But why not improve transit with NO strings attached and and afterwards, if there is no impact on trafffic, phase in other kinds of restrictions or new fees? But nooooo.
EVERY MTA and PORT AUTHORITY post-911 transit project Gov Pataki milked as part of his "legacy" before his last term ended in 2006 are in doubt or in deep trouble with cost overruns of BILLION$ over funds available from current and upcoming capital budgets. Some of these projects, especially the 2Av Subway will be probably on verge of cancellation because the upcoming [2010-] proposed $29.5Bil 5-year capital plan is, may more than previous ones, ridiculously wishful thinking and $9bil! short based on speculative projected revenues including bonds [what will the interest rate be!] sales and for first time about $4.5bil from the from the uncertain congestion pricing scheme! ...
Nothing happened for decades. "Whatever the reason, you have to wonder if the Latin words on the City Seal should be replaced with a quotation from Cicero: Nihil agere delectat. It is pleasant to do nothing." -C. Haberman, NYC, NYTimes 4-13-2007 "Can It Be? A Miracle On 2nd Ave." Scratch that "real deal" and "we have the money" no matter what the Chair of the MTA said. Pataki last promised Second Av subway construction to start Dec 2004; the first section of 2Av line was due 2013 on 'groundbreaking [photo-op] APRIL 2007 which became 2014 as construction started that was $900mil short. NO->Make it June 2015 MTA said [Feb 27 2008]. With rising costs, contracts that mean little and dubious financing schemes - "MTA Chief Elliot Sander said after a board meeting yesterday that delaying completion of the Second Avenue line and other projects would allow the agency to save money by signing smaller contracts for each job."[-AMNewYork 2-28-2008]. East Side Access LIRR to Grand Central also is pushed back 7 months to FEB 2015. Commuter rail never made it directly to lower Manhattan and post 9-11, still does not include it. ..Officials continue to dismiss 42st light rail or trolley proposals [or for anywhere in NYC]!.. How about prodding the darling developers to build a NYC underground, a la Toronto or Montreal when they get NYC tax and zoning "incentives"? NONE of this is in new PlaNYC! Despite all the Mayor's P-C talk of lessening pollution from traffic and of "green" buildings, NYC is passing on construction [or not] of harbor freight tunnel to the PORT AUTH, and is still cool to any rehabbing of BK-QNS ol feight line which would eliminate thousands of truck miles! Inflation and zooming property values with lots of money chasing properties in the just passed "boom" forced construction costs up 1% to 2% a MONTH 2006-07 and now with 2008 semi-crash, revenue is starting to go down the toilet. Costs are always further bloated at the hands of the cancerous politician-developer complex.
A case study of NY dysfunction is the vital but TOTALLY F___ up Fulton Transit Center. PIE in the SKY, POST 9-11 PATAKI first said completion was for 2007! The project did start AUG 20 2005 started with DEY ST pedestrian tunneling. by Spring 2007 demolition on site of buildings to be cleared proceeded rapidly; the demolished buildings apparently were not so contaminated as they thought so the demolition was cleared by the EPA etc.in NOV 2006 the project was already 2 years behind schedule, $150mil over budget and already cut back in scale twice. As costs escalated, scope was cut. First NY Gov Pataki cut the scope with a cut of the size of the dome [too bad-it is a skylight, too] AND cut the width of the passageway under DEY ST between the subways and new PATH centre from 40 to 29 feet [a dangerous move, while commiting taxpayers for hundreds of millions for the Mets and Yankee stadiums plus another quarter-billion MORE towards Lincoln Ctr renovation!], then the skylight/dome] and completion dates were abandoned.
When the MTA received only 1 very over-budget $1.15billion[-from orig. $750mil for the Centre JAN 16 2008, prompted E. Sander, Exec. Director of the MTA to announce "..we cannot build the transit center as currently envisioned in this market.." meaning the above ground major entrance pavillion was reported as being cancelled. Yet in AUG 2008 Mr. Horodniceanu new [MTA] Capital Construction Co. President told Daily News [-see 8-4-2008] that a changed, but "transparent", "elegant" looking above ground building WILL be "delivered." No contracts are let for it [-a smaller one has to be built on the other side of Broadway at Cortlandt]. All work is still below ground, and little is publicly known of the progress other than glaring demolition of buildings on Broadway, new stair to the 4/5 on Broadway, and cosmetic work [tiles and such] on 2/3 station area, plus work on the DEY St. passage! [-see Steve Cuozzo,"The MTA's Latest Disaster" NYPost 2-28-2008] With ALL its projects now are behind schedule, facing further cuts or in doubt besides the so-so performance of actual TRANSIT, it is past time to break up and eliminate the MTA! For this centre, they spent $157mil [$50mil was first budgeted] buying up properties to evict as final landlord about 2 block-fronts worth of businesess in 7 buildings SEPT 2006 after treated them very poorly. Dey St., parts of John St, Broadway and most of Fulton St are now an obstacle course. Cortland St subway [N_W] and DEY St are still closed for construction of underground passage to the PATH centre. Cortlandt #1 stop closed since 9/11 looks like it will be closed until near-completion of towers above [2010 2011 2012?] ...Pataki, Spitzer and MTA can go to f__ hell!
" The city 'faces a total transportation investment need of between $35 and $50 billion over the next 25 years.'" Rohit Aggarwala [PlaNYC, Mayor's new planning initiative] but the Straphangers Campaign says figures show NYC contributions to the MTA core capital plan is at a 20-year low at around $70million, less than half of $200mil was during the last year of last KOCH term!-Newsday 3-2-2007 MTA- no way this "Authority" [PORK FE$T] should continue to EXIST as is. We also need tens of billion$$ of other infrastructure improvments and some progressive thinking and planning. The subway was nearly totally shut down for third time in 2007 by RAIN. Worst was AUG 8 2007, system 90% out of service in the am rush - OK it was about 3inches of rain in an hour, but it rained heavily before in the last 200 years in NYC, right? WORST of all they have NO coordinated way to communicate with riders down there! There is STILL no widespread video/text or PA system, and where any of it it exists, it hardly works. No cell service. MTA people on site did not know the big picture. Riders were misdirected. Busses brought rider to closed stations. The express bus fleet of nearly 1,000 busses did not meake extra stops or pick up to fill empty busses because the drivers did not have a clue - and are not authorised to do so on their own. The MTA web site was overloaded and down! Most subways pump into NYC sewers that are in more overloaded than ever and their back-ups kept water in the subway. NOTE 9,000 acres of NYC land paved over 1984-2002..and counting Know how much rain than can absorp?? Over all, except for subway car air-conditoning and Metrocard, the system is still operated with early 20th cent technology and passengers navigate a work of space planning with the munificence of a cut-rate sewer. An international disgrace! "The IND lines were the first part of the sytem built by the city [not privately as the original lines were] in the 1930s. At that time in 1937/38 the first big round of replacing Queens and Brooklyn trolleys [street cars] with busses and the new subway lines happened, other trolley services operatedd in the BX until about 10 years later. The IND stations have not got even a hint of "deco." Some people in 1936 with some newpapers and local politicians were pinheaded enough to kill a WPA tile art project for these new IND- city built lines because this type of work tended to be what we call now "muscular socialist". The Board of Transportation killed it and these stations went totally undecorated. Small mosaic pieces of the type were placed in the underground section of NEWARK city [trolley] subway line.
The QUEENS Blvd [E F V R] portion of these 1930s lines amongst most heavily disabled by floods! Sam Schwartz [20 years as Engineer for NYC D.O.T.] reminds us that if we did get the NY bridges into great shape it would only cost $150mil+ to maintain them - but NYC and evey other locality is addicted to Fed capital funds to replace or fix the worst, but NOT maintain anything. SO stop all your f__ whining about IRAQ and Katrina and we don't get enough money!! So stop wondering why roads are closed and re-closed and repairs are never finished. Schwartz says NYC was spending about $400 a year to replace/rebuild broke bridges rather than maintain them. He had to go aong with the program, when "..rather than lubricating the bearing plates that allow the Williamsburg bridge to slide back and forth with changes and temperature and loads, we let the bearing plates jam, which cracked the concrete pedestal the span sat on. Twice year we needed to stop traffic, jack the bridge up and slide the pedestal back in place." [-Catch Me, I'm Falling, NYTimes OpEd 8-13-2007]
DAILY NEWS NOV 2006 called the new PATH transit center a folly instead of citicising the bums who are f__ up projects the GOVERNOR of NY and his Public Authorities oversee. Of these, the JKF-Lower Manhattan Rail was barely funded, not designed and not going ahead, LIRR to [under] Grand Central-[at 38]st $1.8bil funded now of $6.3bil project, enough for kick-off -but OCT 2007 only bidder to excavate the station was $200mil higher than expcted putting the project in jeopardy- after 1st of 2 tunnel boring machine parts put down at exit of 63 st tunnel MAY 2007 for SEPT boring! The #7 extension is an 1-stop boondoggle just linking the JAVITS Ctr when for much less than they are spending, the long-proposed 42st light rail could be built!. Properties were acquired and some excavation [not tunneling yet] is under way.
In OCT 2007 MTA $1.1bil contract cut the 10Av-41st station. Its last chance option was offcially dropped early SEPT 2008 as NYC in its complex deal paying for the project at most would only fund 1/2 cost for the shell of the 10Av station. But MTA, NO one had anymore to put in. The City of NY [Bloomberg] officially said 10Av-41st station is not so important since developement is and has happened in that area already without it! But the Mayor+ the power brokers want a station at 11Av-34 because despite the crash the are pusing for HUDSON YARDS - Javits area high rise office precinct! So in NYC 2007 where multimillion condos line far w42 st and tourists by thousands go to attraction on water at 12 Av - NYC-NY State can't afford to invest in transit there! DO they want these residents to all get cars? And we will see if cost of 110 neeeded new subway cars let along probable subway yard expansion to accomodate them is funded, or not. One exception as a project actually being completed [AUG oops delayed into DEC 2008.oops maybe in 2009] is the new South Ferry #1 terminal.
MTA hit the wall on the L line [see scroll box below-], the NEW subway cars just placed in service can handle. More Brooklyn dysfunction coming as transit and streets in downtown Brooklyn are at capacity much of the day and [besides the crowd for the arena at nite] 6,860 apts, 853,000 sq ft of offices and a hotel [180rms] are part of the RATNER-Gehry "Brooklyn Yards" scheme. Local pols are being jerked off by the big money involved say there won't be any problem with traffic or transit! Manhattan E-Side W-Side cattle car conditions are getting worse too.
Portions of the NY Subway system do NOT operate 24-hr a day [-more info see below->]. From 2005 and on there have been weekends when EVERY line in the system had service changes due to maintenance or construction, causing such severe disruption that the viability of the system is doubtful for any long trip for any inexperienced rider. Past shut subway entrances and token booths, incliding the most centrally located, large stations, WERE NOT restored during the few years of budget surpluses in the late 1990s. Communications are still uncoordinated. Police even if arriving in time hd to have keys to open the new full height iron-maiden-ish metocard turnstiles from the INSIDE, but the MTA too many of these away; after a great deal of pressure they changed them for panic bar equipped doors! Access to poorly desinged staion with interlinked lines will never change. On weekends try to find an entrance to the 59Lex uptown platform-there are only 2 exits - when Alexander's Dept store there existed there was three. The rebuilt 59-Lex exit in the side of Bloomberg Bldg [Vornado trust, owner] was kept closed by the MTA for two years in liability dispute over icing problem of the new bldg. It took two years to resolve [will open FEB 4 2007] stalemate with Vornado - they would NOT build a protective canopy but MTA will keep open the entrance except in storms when bldg above gets ice on it [-ah modern architecture]. The Penn Sta 8Av subway complex is particularly hard to exit at southbound local platform on weekends there is only one exit open. Forget it if you are handicapped [or injured!]. Just 53 of 468 stations are accessible, if the elevators and stairs just worked! It is very difficult to navigate even in middle of Manhattan if you cannot use stairs. In general, stations with some elevator access are the "express stops" only.
More than one river to cross?
| Transit Links | Manhattan address finder | |
| STRIKE INFO [DEC 2005] | ||
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Suburban Rail and AMTRAK: AMTRAK 5% fare increase JULY 2008. *NJ TRANSIT: ___2009-Meadowlands-stadium rail spur to Secaucus Junction to open-meanwhile fall 2008 direct bus from NYC Port Auth was cut. AUG 13 2008-NJT new double-deck cars being phased in. *"Random bag searches started on MTA rail, [when?] MTA announced 3-20-2007 but "there is no new security threat"* *LIRR switches work JUN 16-SEPT 1 2008 Hempstead/Port Jeff/Ronkonkoma lines. Most serious is service cut east of JAMAICA Aug23-24* *Secaucus Junction station weekday service started 12-15-03* *NJ-Hudson Light rail completion to N Bergen Tonnelle Av including added Bergenline Sta. in rebuilt 121-year old Weehawken tunnel under Palisades opened early 2006* Newark City Subway extension north 2 new stations opened June 2003 ACELA Express back w limited service 2 trips daily July 11 2005- All out of service 4-15-2005 to fix brake problems. *9-23-02-All-new NJ Transit station concourse open, enter 7 Ave. Penn Sta. 9-29-02 'Montclair direct' to Penn Station so no more service to Benson St, Rowe St, Arlington. Trenton NJ to Camden light-rail opened fall 2003.*
Bus: *Late AUG 2007 test [12] bus stop electronic schedule signs in Manhattan-linked to bus GPS* *new BUS lane and sidewalk busstop extensions tip of Manhattan to Houston on Broadway-July 2007* *METROCARD accepted on Bee-line busses APR 1 2007, fares and machines will same as NYC so no more dollar bills - but free transfers to NYC transit at connecting points! *Feb 2007-GPS tracking active on 7 bus routes from e126st bus depot.*
FARES Metrocard: Near-fiscal 'crisis' mode- fare 2 more increases projected in next couple of years. Avoided in 2007, fare increased MAR 2 2008. All Metrocards except single $2 fare are up. IT is doom and deficits most of the time, -MTA shady accounting seems like HOLLYWOOD shady accounting NOV 2007 they just "found" made $220mil more than expected, will be over $500mil+ surplus..wiull it be surplus anymore in 2008 or bust as they are compaining now even after MAR 2008 fare increase* *NJ transit bus-train fare hikes JUNE 1 2007 -train and interstate bus increase by 9.9% local bus goes to $1.35 are 3rd increase since 2003* *TransitChek vouchers JAN 1 2007 will no longer be accepted at "token booths"-change to a Transit Card account etc. Transit Chek for now still accepted at LIRR, MetroNorth and some vendors* *LIRR, MetroNorth fare increased 4-1-03. Subway fare last increases May 4 2003 [base to $2 to stay same] Feb 27 2005 30-day Metrocard increased from $70 to $76.*
Part time/ Late night service ONGOING: Most express services are stopped late night with the express numbered train on the local track making all stops. J-M at Fulton St and next stop, Broad St. [other area subways are available] closed weekends. After midnite no C, 3, 5, 42st Shuttle end, their stops are covered by other services. After MAR 2008 far increase, the FIRST service enhancements in years, by mid 2008 may *NOT* be made to these lines: #3 to 145st and 148st end of line in Harlem [CLOSED late weeknights too- shuttle bus available] started 24-run again JULY 27 2008. **Rebuilt South Ferry #1 station [4 months added] opening sched AUG 2008* *APR 2007 rebuilt L-M Fulton-Wyckoff Station opened "complete" except for upcoming elevators. OCT 2006 renovated no4 Burnside and Bedford Park reopened, finishing up in 2007, other stations along the line are bing worked and MOSHULU northbound side is closed* *Exchange Pl PATH station reopened 6-29-03 and new temp 'WTC' station opened 11-23-03* The only other question - will the new Second Av subway be able to run in a heavy rain??* | ||
| Drivers Links There is ferry parking on the Jersey side and shuttle busses in Manhattan. | ||
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| *AUG 1 2004 ORANGE plus alert in 5 counties of north NJ, NYC var parts of Manhattan..NO INBOUND commercial traffic in HOLLAND TUNNEL.* *TRUCK weight restrictions June 2005 - NO heavy over 40 tons at Williamsburg Br, Throggs Neck [AUG 2007-w permit, late nite, center lanes only] Triborough and Whitestone Br- matter is in the courts* *temp Williamsburg and Battery Tunnel truck restrictions were lifted AUG 5 2004 after 3 days. Occassional Vehicle spot checks and street closings continue.* *Geo Washington Br upper deck repair and repave lane closings FRI-SAT late nights SEPT 2007 thru April 2008. VERRANZANO Br lower level lane closings-S I bound finished JUN 19 2008, Brooklyn bound will be finished at Laber Day. QUEENS along BQE MANY bridges and entrances at BQE closed for construction. ATLANTIC "Yards" construction CARLTON AV overpass closed thru 2009. SEE NYC DOT web site.* *"Started 2004 dedicated "Thru Lanes" on Fifth and Sixth Avenues - at the "holidays" late NOV thru January 2 each year-NO TURNS from center lanes. the Police Department sets up "dedicated lanes" on Fifth and Sixth Avenues to help improve through traffic."* * | ||
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Parking and Street Rules: *BRONX from 6-29-2008 on->#12 SelectBus- NO parking 7am-7pm FORDHAM Rd [Sedgwick-Southern Blvd!] mmore meters added on only a few side streets*
*Tow company charges rose $35 to $185 end of June 2006 add storage and fees min tow charge will be $265!* *NYC Advanced handheld ticketing device scan registration stickers-to be introduced starting Oct-NOV 2003 costing several mil, expected to cut error rate from over 13 to about 1 percent, making city millions more* *OCT 1 2002 NYC traffic fines increased to $115 for most illegal parking and stopping [with new $10 NYState surcharge among the tax increases etc just rammed thru by the legislature], or $85 for double-parking, parking in truck or official zone or in no night-parking zones. $230 in unpaid tix and you can be towed.* *15,000 signs have not been changed yet, but NOV 13 2005 NO need to pay at parking meters SUNDAYS-[the City Council passed and OCT 11 2005 overrode a BLOOMBERG veto of their bill end pay *SUNDAYS* on 32,000 meters which were phased in from NOV 2002 on] Why dont our elected d___heads enable 2 or 3 hour parking where appropriate?? OR is the $7Mil + $5Mil extra in fines just too good for BLOOMBERG to give up?* *Spring 2004 attempts in City Council Spring 2004 to remove it. Parking meters fees "high-traffic" meter increase early 2009, previous increase was to 50c per 15 min. midtown phased in starting APR 7 2003.
STREETS CLOSED: *TEMP 2008 2 east lanes of Broadway 35-42st closed "Broadway Blvd" for people and a bike lane.* *For more information on weekend street closures, see NYC DOT web site for NYC weekend / street fair and closings*
PERMANENT: *One lane each way 34st from SEPT 2008-new BUS LANES. *TIMES SQ traffic change test starting NOV 4 2006 traffic at 45st Bway and 7Av which BOTH go south will be cut from crossing those diagonals because the "crossover" to make room for pedestrians and keep traffic flowing, sidewalks further down at bus stops on Bway were widened took away one lane* *Prospect Park traffic: AUG 27 2007-new EAST drive restriction- SO, EAST DRIVE is open ONLY 7-9am and WEST DRIVE only open 5-7pm.* *Central Park Increasingly restrictive park drive [not the TRANSVERSES] restrictions - 6 month trial started JUNE 5 2006 NO CARS Central or Prospect Park except during morning and evening "rush hours" original closings started in 1966 weekends. East drive closed altoghether and West drives closed AM rush hour starting AUG 3 2007. Bloomberg closed some park drive entrances "permanently" in 2004 but anti-car activists are trying to get all the drives closed permanently..biggest new push is from elitest, aggresive hedge fund/ traders and such - competitive runner, bicyclists triathletes etc. who want the park as their car-free preserve for themsleves and their racing clubs- or else threaten to take their companies outide of NYC- they can get the ear of the Mayor. 2008 Central Park drives has literally gotten so dangerous that maybe for first time cops giving tickets to bicyclists going thru red lights on the park drives [when closed to cars..]. *Crosstown "express" mid Manhattan weekdays between 10am-6pm, regulations *prohibit TURNS from thru-Streets* between 3rd and 6th Avenues, with a few exceptions on narrow one-way 36,37, 45, 46, 49, 50, 53 54, 59 and 60 St in effect OCT 15 2002*
Highway: NO motorcycles in NYC HOV lanes, despite FED rules to contrary. *NYThruay toll 5% increae JAN 2009. EZ passs new $1 month tag charge added SEPT 2005* *NJ Turnpike 2006 No more EZ Pass discount in rush hour and weekends BUT look into car-pooler -3 or more- discount on PORT AUTH crossings.NJ Turnpike toll increase JAN 1 2003.* *GARDEN STATE PKWY -NO more tokens sold after DEC 31 2001, token use on busses only til Dec 31 2003* *FDR Drive reconstruction thru 2007 traffic from upper level diverted onto a temporary bridge from 54-63 st. 61st exit stays open. *Finally note State Police tested on the road license plate scanners that link thru to DMV violations.*
FERRY services: Winter 2007-08 QNs East River and Brooklyn-Wall St Water Taxi services suspended in "winter" check website for dates. Limited Rockaway-BK Army Terrminal Pier 4-Pier 11 Wall St. service started MAY 11 2008 $6. 2 round trips weekdays. Jan 2008-SeaStreak cut much of its NJ-Manhattan service. *YONKERS to WFC-Wall St Water Taxi started May 1 2007 is extended Sept 2007 to Haverstraw Vil with 2 early a.m. runs and 2 back but has low ridership so far may jeopardise the service.* *HUDSON NJ-NY by NY Waterways ferry *fares* up JUNE 1 2006. Even though they get subsidies, those north Hudson ferry services monthly tickets are $450-$650. NYWaterways expanded renovated PORT IMPERIAL/ Weehawken terminal opened MAY 23 2006 and all new w39 terminal building opened OCT 24 2005.
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| **2007-NY-NJ [Port Auth!] airports continue as most delayed in US! Delays backing up rest of US so much, FAA departures caps coming 2008. By summer 2008 will be about 20% cut in in peak hour flights out. US-Euro "Open Skies" dereg. Mar 30-> opens inland US cities as international gateways. So "..prepare for New York's descent into flyover country."[-G. Lindsay, NYMag. 1-7-2008 "Going Away..Why the Maxjet bankruptcy could signal the end of New York's transatlantic air dominance."]
*Massive flight cuts coming up fall 2008-on from NYC coming up. Already-Silverjet-UK to Newark ceased operations 5-30-2008..American Air ended JFK-Stanstead and Newark-San Juan PR service. Skybus to Stewart ceased flights APR 2008 and AirTran will shut Sept 3 2008* *JET BLUE large new terminal [5] under construction behind the ol TWA terminal opening OCT 22 2008. Partially rerstored ol landmark TWA may re- open around then too.* *new AMERICAN AIRLINES terminal JFK opened AUG 29 2007 features luxe amenities for "premium" international travelers. Old one gone early SPRING 2008.* *Southwest Airlines to expand to 8 gates from 4 now, in 2006 at LI MacArthur* *1st A380 demo flt to NYC JFK MAR 12 2007 - 4 of Terminal 1 gates will be upgraded for the 2fl planes for the regular flts late 2008 and Terminal 4 is ready* *JAN 2007 Port Auth took over lease for Stewart Airport to build International terminal. 60 miles N of NYC and 15 min drive from BEACON NY on "country road". NO transit goes there, JUL2007 MTA allocated $4mil for a consultant study of an est $600Mil rail spur to Port Jervis line.* *NOTE Jamaica Sta AirTrain access is NOT on one level, hope the escalators work.** *AIR TRANSPORT ASSOC says starve, dehydrate and let passengers hold it in - they will come back again for cheap tix! They WON in 2nd Cct Court of Appeals FED Court 3-25-2008 which upheld 'FEDs role' and especially prevent other [crazy quilt of?] similar state rules. They got a prelim injunction DEC 2007 on new NY "Airline Passenger Bill of Rights" law [was to be effective JAN 1 2008] that withstood an prior chalenge in State court. The NY law madated after 3 hour sitting on ground past leaving the gate, airlines operating in NYState provide water/ snacks/ WORKING toilets. Will Congress ever pass a passengers Bill of Rights? Can this go to the Supreme Court? Fly the friendly skies, indeed! Only NY and Chicago has 24 hr [but not 100%] subway services. DC Metro, Boston T, etc. are closed overnight so beware of late night arrival requiring transit connections. * TAXi: *starting to adjust, trivers dropped lawusit against 'GPS' system MAR 13 2008 -satellite tracking for start-end points- that was approved by TLC for MAY OCT 1 2007 deadline install. APR 2008-behind by 9 month, only 80% max of cabs have them. The idea is supposedly "for more accurate trip sheets"[-ONLY! Iit is NOT a navigation system, there is NO MAP for the drivers and does not show enough of a mapo to pasenger to plot the best wayt to go! It mainly features an updated credit card payment system with video touch-screens with LOTS NYC promos. info-tainment. Tested first in JAN 2003 as part of 2003 fare increase deal. Credit card surcharge is a high 8% though, but basic menu choice for tip percentages started to actually lead to higher tips and most complaints died down* A leading provider of credit card technology fot taxis is changing its security policies after it was disclosed that cabbies cold easily gain access to customers' cerdit card numbers online." J. Irmas NYTimes 2-4-2008* | ||
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By the way, starting with 50 red-light cams in the city which takes pics of license plates. -JUNE 2006-NYC wants to install 50 more..it took a while, but SHELDON SILVER is expected to ALLOW the required OK vote in Albany to allow the installation!] Decoy cams are present too. Drive around the region and the tolls will hit you hard...[steep increases in Spring/summer 2001 requested by POST AUTH] $6 [increased starting 3-25-01] to enter NY by the Port Auth. crossings [free outbound], $3.50 each way Triborough B&TA crossing.
NY city tried several new ways to collect parking fees trying to make paying for street parking simpler. Muni-meter [parking fee receipt machines] charge equals $2 per hour, is hgher than what came out to [25c x 6] $1.50 hr max with regular ol meters. They first placed in some Manhattan locations in the late 90s plus [AUG 2005] individual card-reading parking meters [first used in 2003 in LIC] added in central areas. CREDIT CARD reader testing started NOV 21 2005. Muni Meter machines in the theater district and is now mid 2006 being expanded to 300 on upper W Side and in Queens. Meter parking is mostly 1 hour max. AIRPORT [JFK-LGA-NWK] parking can be paid with EZ pass. Parking tax at [1,137] garages is 18-1/4%. Garage for an hour in Manhattan will be approx. $12-$15 or more. Midtown garage rates 2006 ranged from average $574 to high of $888. The proposed JETS westside-Javits-Olympic stadium did NOT include parking spaces- at least that is what alway was reported- MAY 2007 they say NYC is looking to bid construction of a 950 space underground garage adjacent rail yards [the stadium] site! The Jets [AUG 2005] played both sides - a Queens stadium and co-ownership with Giants of their new stadium in NJ - to get the best deal in NJ instead. Fans were expected to come by to the West side stadium by transit including. ferry and the #7 subway extension. In NJ - the 173 mile long Garden State Parkway with 25c and 35c tolls every 10-12 miles cash or EZ Pass ONLY- and the NJ Highway Authority budget is $200 million. EZ pass in NJ was over $400 million in red so fees are being imposed for NJ provider's subscribers and the discount on the Parkway is being ended. Note that the EZ Pass system used in the region is a *cash advance* to the Port Auth., TBTA, etc. | |
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NYC itself issues various grades of govt-related parking permits, TOTAL, more accurately calculated early 2008 includes all those issued by various agencies is 142,000. Over 33,000 are least-restricted ones for law enforcement and officials, who make good use of them. NYC lost 400 garages or parking lots in the last "few years" with 1,900 remaining. Top montly parking rates Manhttan several hundred minimum to to a high in Yorkville $800 to $1000+ month. The city-state itself continues to build new facilities such [courthouses, police, firehouses, etc.] with inadequate or no parking even in the "outer boroughs and are periodically result in petty corruption of one city or state agency overlooking illegal double-parking of another, headlines, and mea culpas from the Agencies that they won't do it [for a while, again]. Politicians illegally park umm in PARKS, such as highlighted 9-29-06 in Newsday re Borough President of Brooklyn, his staff and other local pols parking the Borough Hall Plaza. There are some parking condo spaces in garages and residential buildings selling for tens of thousands, maybe to low six figures now at the highest.
For years, avg auto insurance in NY is 2nd highest [$1161], behind NJ [$1188] no1 THE highest of all States. -that is the STATE levels - for exmple, insurance in BROOKLYN is 5x national average, largely due to rampant insurance - medical fraud. After a short period of leveling went up both States rates went up by just under 7 percent in a year. NYC has ~30 percent of ALL US transit riders and 94 percent of all MTA riders. In 2000 'we' were only getting approx. *1.5 percent* of US /federal transit $$$aid. [after 2/3 decrease after Al D'Amato was defeated by C. Schumer for US Senator from NY] NYC transit is also shortchnged by the MTA [lets say "Albany"], receiving 75.5 per cent of finds from the current 2005-09 capital plan. NYC subways fares provide 58.9 percent of its cost, while suburban train riders provide only 47.1 percent as they get a higher subsidy. NYC is a cash cow for the Fed and State government but most people are propagandized to believe that we are a drain on THEM -you? Yeah, right, there are a lot of people here getting welfare, etc. Again, lack of NYC home rule extends to not having much say over local transit. NYC population is the majority of riders in the MTA system who provide a majority of its funding. The NYC Comptroller notes [AUG 2007] that NYState is shorted tens to hundreds of million$ because NYS uses old ridership/drivers mileage numbers in determining $$ distribution to NYState transportation entities under 40 year old '18-b" funding rules. NYC is further screwed by the State as it is allocated only 6 of 26 MTA board members [GOV appoints 6 including the all-important CHAIR. The others have 1/4 vote are appointed from the other area counties, plus a few others who are are basically observers]. |
NYC Transit -subway and bus -stop at the NYC line. Agreement of June 30 2005 area transit authorities led by the Port Auth with NJ Transit and the MTA to study implementing regional smart card [chipped proximity card-no "swiping"] fall 2008 there is no news of ANY progress. PATH testing of "SmartLink" cards began FEB 21 2005 by a handfull of people to be extended to the public by summer 2006, beating out a DIFFERENT MTA system to be have a six-month trial of Citibank Mastercard Pay-pass program in LEX stations + JAY ST A-C-F and 23-ELY E-V as part of move towards this unified payment system-NOT with weekly, month pass. Fare differences and turf issues etc are a bigger obstacle than implementing the existing technology. There still is no uniform regional ticketing system, coordinated scheduling, (or even one regional map), or convenient transfer facilities or let alone links between the area directly north of NYC (MTA/Metro North services), directly east (MTA/Long Island Railroad services), the NYC Subway (MTA/ NYC Transit Auth. services), and directly west - completely separate systems in New Jersey (N J Transit) or the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) Rapid Transit, with links into NYC. #S89 SI to Bayonne limited bus service started fall 2007 due to public pressure! PORT AUTH kicked in $2mil to MTA for busses! To MTA, connecting into NJ is not part of its regulated mission to provide needed transit services. The MTA would not even hear of linking SI commuters to Bayonne NJ end of line of 34st Hudson Co Lightrail to connect to PATH and NJ Transit trains for NYC or NJ. - many SI riders go there now any way they can. "We'll look at it.." MTA said but OH they cannot pick up or drop off in NJ. BUT MTA RAIL DOES pass thru and stop in NJ on the route to Port Jervis NY! It took a new comprehensive SI transit plan in 2006 to get promises for "studies" AND APR 2006 lawsuit against MTA by the SI Borough Pres to try to force the after 9 years of local pressure and finally a change to GOV Spitzer and new MTA CEO.
How could it be a good thing for NYC to buy out private bus companies providing the express bus services to enable the MTA Bus Co. [-and why didn't the MTA chiefly fund it?] Break up and or reform of the MTA to give NYC some control over its Transit services, competition. PLUS a look at how the PORT AUTH treats labor on the PATH system is needed
now!
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