NEW YORK CITY | Subway

[hkskyline]

NYC subway's elevators, escalators are troubled
19 May 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - New York City Transit spent nearly $1 billion to install elevators and escalators in the subways since the early 1990s, yet one of every six was out of service for more than a month last year, according to a published report.

Two-thirds of the subway elevators had at least one breakdown last year in which passengers were trapped inside, The New York Times reported Monday.

"This organization is very, very good at subway car maintenance; it's very good at bus maintenance. But maintaining auxiliary equipment it hasn't done as well," said Howard H. Roberts Jr., president of New York City Transit. "I think that we are in the process of trying to create the same competence in elevator and escalator maintenance that we have in buses and subway cars."

The system has about 200 elevator and escalator mechanics, who receive as little as four weeks of training, a fraction of what they would receive elsewhere, the report said.

"They don't have enough competent people with the proper training," said Michele O'Toole, president of J. Martin Associates, which the transit agency hired in 2006 to evaluate its elevator operations but has since quit.

In 1990, about 48 elevators were in the subway system. Today, there are 167 in 62 stations, with about two dozen more under construction and many more planned.

Five million people ride the subway in New York City every day.

[geoking66]

Originally Posted by xote

London being the capital and largest city of the country can suck the funds it wants to out of the UK's treasury. New York City is not even the capital of its state, let alone the country.

Simple enough. Does not make it right, but, everyone loves to treat this city like a cash cow, and we lack the ability at the state and federal level to get the infrastructure we need.

London also has over 12m people within the conurbation alone (that is the Greater London + M25 fringe suburbs), over 9m commuting into the City alone. It has one of the most congested transport networks in the world, even tube lines that run every two minutes can't handle demand. Although it wrongly takes such a disproportionate amount of money from the national budget, London is just as disproportional by density and population, necessitating it.

[drunkenmunkey888]

Originally Posted by geoking66

London also has over 12m people within the conurbation alone (that is the Greater London + M25 fringe suburbs), over 9m commuting into the City alone. It has one of the most congested transport networks in the world, even tube lines that run every two minutes can't handle demand. Although it wrongly takes such a disproportionate amount of money from the national budget, London is just as disproportional by density and population, necessitating it.

Yeah well New York has 20 million in the conurbation and 8 million within city limits. It needs massive money for budgets but it doesn't get it because it must pass through two levels of bureaucracy for funding.

[geoking66]

Originally Posted by drunkenmunkey888

Yeah well New York has 20 million in the conurbation and 8 million within city limits. It needs massive money for budgets but it doesn't get it because it must pass through two levels of bureaucracy for funding.

However the combined totals for commuter rail and subway ridership in New York City are lower than those for the Greater London area.

[hkskyline]

I doubt many cities have enough funds to keep their systems running without any shortfall. Reality is what people want will never reach what is available.

[hkskyline]

NY transit agency rescinds perk for ex-board members
29 May 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - The free ride is over for Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board members, who for decades have enjoyed lifetime passes for the agency's mass-transit system, bridges and tunnels.

Under pressure from state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the nation's largest mass-transit agency said Thursday it planned to rescind former board members' free-travel perks and restrict current members to using the privilege only for official business.

The announcement came as Cuomo cracked down on a long-standing tradition of providing free E-ZPasses -- electronic toll-payment systems -- for board members at the MTA and various other public agencies. State Thruway Authority board members agreed Wednesday to stop using their free E-ZPasses.

"I think it's very important that we say to government on all levels, 'This is a new day in New York, and public integrity is important ... and also the public perception,'" Cuomo said at a news conference.

The perk for MTA board members -- many of them multimillionaires -- has drawn stiff criticism at a time when many commuters are absorbing toll and transit-fare increases that took effect in March.

MTA board members' free E-ZPasses work only on the MTA's own nine bridges and tunnels, where tolls are as high as $10 round-trip, spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.

Until now, the unpaid board members also have ridden free on the agency's subways, buses and Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road commuter trains.

It's unclear how much the perk has cost in free fares and tolls, Soffin said.

All but one of the 22 current board members and 34 ex-members have E-ZPasses, Soffin said. Some have more than one, such as former MTA Chairman Peter S. Kalikow, a real estate developer and car collector with eight of the passes. He plans to turn them in, saying he has always abided by the law, spokesman Martin J. McLaughlin said.

The perks date at least to the 1950s, Soffin said. But after the Daily News reported on the practice Tuesday, Cuomo's office told the MTA and Thruway Authority to end it, citing legislation specifying that the agencies' board members serve "without salary or other compensation."

"Just because it's been going on for a long time doesn't make it right," the attorney general said Thursday.

MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger told The New York Times Wednesday that the agency would ask a court to decide whether the travel perks amounted to compensation.

But the agency concluded Thursday that "we wanted to just make a policy change," Soffin said. Board members are expected to give it formal consideration at a meeting next month.

The plan would let current board members keep using their E-ZPasses and fare privileges for "actual and necessary expenses." Such costs would not be considered compensation, Cuomo said.

The MTA doesn't plan to seek reimbursements for the perks used so far, Soffin said.

Cuomo has made a point of going after questionable government freebies during his 16 months in office. He is probing possible pension fraud at school districts and local governments across the state, saying some have improperly let outside consultants qualify for state pensions.

He also has told the MTA and about 100 other agencies to stop giving board members a break on health care benefits. The MTA had been paying the bulk of health insurance premiums for four board members, but it has stopped doing so.

The agency's vast transit system carries more than 8.2 million riders on an average weekday. More than 300 million vehicles a year use its bridges and tunnels, which include the Triborough and Verrazano-Narrows bridges and the Brooklyn Battery and Queens Midtown tunnels.

------

Associated Press Writer Michael Gormley in Albany contributed to this report.

[stewartrama]

Originally Posted by drunkenmunkey888

Yeah well New York has 20 million in the conurbation and 8 million within city limits. It needs massive money for budgets but it doesn't get it because it must pass through two levels of bureaucracy for funding.

THANKYOU so many people are so ignorant and assume that the subway is just not mantained. Over 1 billion people ride the subway every year. OF COURSE IT'S GOING 2 GET DIRTY. The government does need to spend more on maintnance though.

[Giorgio]

I love the look of NYC Subway.

[iampuking]

Originally Posted by stewartrama

THANKYOU so many people are so ignorant and assume that the subway is just not mantained. Over 1 billion people ride the subway every year. OF COURSE IT'S GOING 2 GET DIRTY. The government does need to spend more on maintnance though.

Moscow and Tokyo metros are far cleaner and have more people using them.

[ramvid01]

But they aren't open 24 hours a day. Nor is New York the capital of the US.

[hkskyline]

The New York subway is very dirty given its age and usage. There are many busier systems that are just as extensive but have much less a sanitary problem. This is consistent even on the streets though, as I think this is a general problem with the US. Beyond Midtown, many stations are in dire need of repairs, a paint job, and roof fixes. Some of the stations I've been to around GWB and even Brooklyn are downright scary - you'd think the whole station would cave in any day.

[iampuking]

Originally Posted by ramvid01

But they aren't open 24 hours a day. Nor is New York the capital of the US.

Stop making excuses, it's dirty because it's poorly maintained.

[ramvid01]

Dirtiness and poorly maintained are 2 different things. The Time Square station might be dirty but it isn't poorly maintained. However the first stop in Queens on the G train is poorly maintained. So don't go off saying its poorly maintained due to dirtiness.

[iampuking]

Okay, a better phrase would be "poorly looked after" but that just sounds rubbish. Anyway, it has no relation to whether the system is 24 hours or not, it's not like they can't have cleaners doing basic stuff like picking up rubbish when there are passengers there.

[ADCS]

Originally Posted by iampuking

Stop making excuses, it's dirty because it's poorly maintained.

It's poorly maintained due to lack of funding, stemming from being neither the state or national capital.

[geoking66]

Originally Posted by xote

London being the capital and largest city of the country can suck the funds it wants to out of the UK's treasury. New York City is not even the capital of its state, let alone the country.

Simple enough. Does not make it right, but, everyone loves to treat this city like a cash cow, and we lack the ability at the state and federal level to get the infrastructure we need.

Your argument about population size is counter-intuitive. New York's metropolitan area contains 18.815m people, the next largest is Los Angeles which has 12.875m in its metropolitan area. That's a 46% difference between the two cities. In fact, the metropolitan area of Washington DC has only 5.306m; the difference between Washington DC and New York is 254%. The fact that New York has such a higher population and is the only Class A world city in the United States (the other three are London, Paris, and Tokyo) demands that New York receive the money it needs to sustain itself, $11bn of which doesn't come back from the State of New York.

[ramvid01]

Just because it makes sense doesnt mean that the US politicos would follow that line of thinking. Further the politics of the state of New York are probably some of the most backwards and corrupt (three men in a room) that you will find in the United States.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by ADCS

It's poorly maintained due to lack of funding, stemming from being neither the state or national capital.

Yes, and also because it costs a lot of money to keep such a large system well-maintained - far beyond what government is able to support given other priorities.

[Xusein]

Originally Posted by geoking66

Your argument about population size is counter-intuitive. New York's metropolitan area contains 18.815m people, the next largest is Los Angeles which has 12.875m in its metropolitan area. That's a 46% difference between the two cities. In fact, the metropolitan area of Washington DC has only 5.306m; the difference between Washington DC and New York is 254%. The fact that New York has such a higher population and is the only Class A world city in the United States (the other three are London, Paris, and Tokyo) demands that New York receive the money it needs to sustain itself, $11bn of which doesn't come back from the State of New York.

Population doesn't matter. New York is a net-giver state, like other states in the Northeast. We get sucked dry by the feds...continuously getting less money than we give there. And if it's not the Feds, its the crap politics in Albany that keeps it messed up. Off-topic, but they VETOED the congestion zone bill. A bill that would have gave NY more money to invest in PT. WTF?

[hkskyline]

MTA expects deficits, may increase commuter fares in '09
12 June 2008

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York City subway, commuter train and bus fares could increase a quarter or more in 2009 because of a projected operating deficit at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester says MTA officials told him at a hearing Wednesday a shortfall of $600 million to $700 million next year will likely force a rare second straight year of fare increases.

Brodsky warns the MTA must undergo "drastic changes" to avoid deficits and poor service reminiscent of the 1970s. He says the MTA projects shortfalls for the next few years.

The MTA didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.