Category Archives: Transit

Trains, Transit

NJ TRANSIT Gladstone Branch Service Suspendu

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NJ TRANSIT dit que le service le long de la branche Gladstone des lignes Morris et Essex est suspendu jusqu’à nouvel ordre en raison des travaux de réparation d’urgence.

NJ TRANSIT a déclaré jeudi dans un communiqué que le service serait suspendu pour le trajet du matin et que les billets et les laissez-passer ferroviaires seraient honorés sur les autobus de Lakeland jusqu’au terminal de bus de l’Administration portuaire.

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AMTRAK, History, New York City, Politics, Railroad, Trains, Transit, Travel

Amtrak maintenance backlog tops $38 billion on northeast route

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Crains New York Business via California Rail News

The busiest U.S. passenger rail route needs $38 billion to stay in good working order, a 36% jump over the estimate just a year ago, according to a group that oversees the Northeast Corridor.
Though Amtrak and the regional railroads that use its tracks have pledged $3.3 billion for infrastructure over five years, that won’t go toward the backlog of projects needed to refurbish signals and power systems, replace bridges and build a new Hudson River tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, according to a five-year capital-investment  plan released Thursday by the Northeast Corridor Commission.
All told, 820,000 daily riders—two-thirds of them commuters using New Jersey Transit, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road—are at risk of increased service interruptions or even failure of the entire 457-mile Boston-to-Washington route. Last fiscal year, 11% of trains using the line were late or canceled.
The Gateway Project which includes a new Hudson River rail tunnel to relieve commuter rail congestion is $25 Billion of this $38 Billion backlog.

Automobiles, Environment, New York City, Subway, Trains, Transit

Report: Uber, Lyft Worsening Congestion in New York City

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Streetsblog NYC Feb 27, 2017

The controversy over Uber’s impact on Manhattan traffic has been settled. Uber, Lyft, and other app-based ride services are unequivocally worsening gridlock in the Manhattan core as well as northern Manhattan and the western parts of Queens and Brooklyn, according to a report released today by transportation analyst Bruce Schaller.

The new ride services, known as transportation network companies, or TNC’s, last year caused a net increase of 600 million vehicle miles traveled in the five boroughs — a 3 to 4 percent jump in citywide traffic, Schaller found. This trend marks a troubling inflection point — for the first time in many years, car-based services, not transit, account for most growth in travel.
Environment, New York City, New York State, Subway, Transit

Why have 2,500 New York subway cars been dumped in the sea?

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At first sight it looks like a waste of money, a major act of pollution and a criminal act – but these New York subway cars being dumped into the sea are actually helping the environment. These truly remarkable photos detail just a small number of over 2,500 old subway cars from the Big Apple that have been used to create artificial underwater reefs on America’s Atlantic coast. Photographer Stephen Mallon of the Front Room Gallery snapped the images over a period of three years, and the photos are now are being shown in an exhibition in New York.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) of New York has been running this project for over 10 years, and ensures that on being decommissioned, the cars are cleaned, and every part which can be removed (seats, straps, windows, doors, wheels) are either recycled or sold. They are then loaded onto barges and dumped into sea to form artificial reefs. Click read more for some truly fantastic photographs…

SubwayCarsDumped2

An estimated 95 per-cent of the seabed off the US eastern seaboard is bare sand, a relatively inhospitable home for fish and crustaceans. But reefs provide protection from predators and so are attractive to fish, which inturns help build an eco-system with mussels, shrimps and crabs and eventually marlin and dolphins. And in addition to the envoronmental benefits, US corals are estimated to boost the economy by $200 million (£131 million) per year. The depositing of man-made structures to become artifical reefs is not uncommon, with tanks, armoured personnel carriers, oil rigs and even an aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany being used.

SubwayCarsDumped3

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New York City, Politics, Subway, Transit

Union slams de Blasio’s transit funding policies in ‘bad old days’ ad

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The TWU is warning Mayor de Blasio to fund the MTA or risk taking the subway back to the “bad old days.”

In an ad to run in the Daily News and other publications Monday, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 depicts de Blasio riding a relic of old New York — a tagged-up train — with the caption, “Where are you taking us?”

“Mayor de Blasio risks taking us back to the bad old days of the 1970s and 1980s, when graffiti-covered subway trains regularly broke down and rickety buses sputtered from stop to stop,” the ad says.

The TWU, Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Gov. Cuomo have been pressuring the mayor to kick in $3.2 billion to the transit authority’s $30 billion repair and upgrade program.

EDITORIAL: BILL’S BILL COMES DUE FOR THE MTA

Cuomo has promised to put $8.3 billion into the capital plan that pays for upgrades to the aging transit system and megaprojects like the Second Avenue subway.

But de Blasio has fought back against putting more money into the state-controlled agency, saying the city already increased funding to $657 million and city residents shoulder the burden of running the transit system through taxes and fares.

De Blasio has said he’s wary of giving more money to the MTA when $270 million for transit has been siphoned out for the state budget. He also wants a greater say in how the money is spent to ensure it goes to city projects.

“Instead of recruiting surrogates to make false attacks, the state must do its job and work with the city on a fair and responsible framework to move forward,” de Blasio spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said.

The TWU ad warns that crowded rides on a crumbling system will not get better without a fully funded capital plan, while new subway trains and the Second Avenue subway are at risk.

This is the TWU’s second ad against the mayor on transit funding.

Connecticut, Politics, Railroad, Trains, Transit

Connecticut To Seek Operators For New Haven-Springfield Commuter Rail Line

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PenneyVanderbilt

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Newington Junction Station in 1930’s

Newington Junction is a section of the town of Newington, Connecticut. It is centered at the intersection of Willard Avenue (Route 173) and West Hill Road in the northwestern part of the town, in the area generally just south of the Hartford city line. The name of the area refers to the railroad junction where the railroad line from New Haven meets with the railroad line from Bristol and Waterbury. The depot on the left was built in 1891 by the New York & New England RR. The passenger station on the right and the freight depot behind it were constructed by the NYNH&H in 1890.

Thanks to Tyler City Station, The most authoritative source for information on Connecticut railroad stations

The Hartford and New Haven Railroad of Connecticut was chartered in 1833 to build a railroad between Hartford and New Haven. The…

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Subway, Transit

Skeptical over Second Ave. subway

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Recent announcements by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that construction of the Second Avenue subway is 80 percent complete is really modest progress.

Consider that it’s 86 years since the project was announced in 1929, 65 years since full-financing bonds were issued for it in 1950, and 60 years since the Third Avenue elevated line was demolished with promises of a Second Avenue subway to replace it “soon” in 1955.

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In that time, the proposed subway has been reduced from a six-track plan to two tracks, replacing six tracks worth of elevated lines on Second and Third avenues (both lines had center express tracks).

The good news is that the current portion of the work, based on the most recent project construction schedule, is proceeding on time and within budget. The current estimated use date is December 2016. Don’t be surprised if this date slips to sometime in 2017.

Larry Penner, Great Neck

Awesome, Culture, Life Styles, Politics, Railroad, Subway, Trains, Transit

How transit agencies are trying to attract millennial riders

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PenneyVanderbilt

Millennials — defined as people between the ages of 18 and 34 — are members of the largest and most diverse generation in American history. Their adroitness at using technology and their predisposition for living in urban neighborhoods and taking a train or bus to get around is already influencing trends in the transportation field. That’s what the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) concluded in its 2014 report, “Millennials & Mobility: Understanding the Millennial Mindset.” The study examined what is driving the millennial generation’s transportation choices, what will drive those choices in the future, and the opportunities for the transit industry to capitalize on those choices.

The reasons behind millennials’ transportation decisions are pragmatic: They ride trains and buses primarily for convenience and to save money. At the same time, they have high expectations for the transit services they use: 61 percent want to see more reliable systems…

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New York City, Politics, Subway, Transit

Taking Sides On The Second Avenue Subway

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Amid dueling state and federal deadlines for the phase one completion of the 2nd Avenue Subway, Upper East Siders expressed skepticism it would be completed on time while local pols lauded the progress that has been made and urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to keep hitting their targets.

On time, in this case, means Dec. 31, 2016, the MTA’s self-imposed deadline by which paying customers could swipe through the turnstiles and ride a subway line that was first conceived in the 1920s. But the Federal Transit Administration, which provided $1.3 billion for phase one, puts the project’s estimated date of completion at over a year later, on Feb. 28, 2018.

In a federal oversight committee hearing this past June, Matthew Welbes, the executive director of the FTA, said a revised funding agreement reached in March with the MTA includes a completion date of Feb. 28, 2018.

“And that was based on what we agreed to with the MTA. If the MTA can deliver the project sooner, we would be proud to see that happen, right? It looks like the project is trending, based on our data, toward an opening of closer to, maybe early in, sometime in 2017,” said Welbes.

Local elected officials gathered last week outside of the 72nd Street Station to express optimism tinged with expectation.

Taking Sides on the 2nd Ave. Subway

By Daniel Fitzsimmons
Published Jun 23, 2015 at 11:42 am (Updated Jun 24, 2015)
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The state and federal governments have cited different deadlines for finishing the first phase of the project

Photos

  • Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Member Ben Kallos, Congresswoman Maloney at a press conference last week touting the progress of phase one of the Second Avenue Subway project.

Amid dueling state and federal deadlines for the phase one completion of the 2nd Avenue Subway, Upper East Siders expressed skepticism it would be completed on time while local pols lauded the progress that has been made and urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to keep hitting their targets.

On time, in this case, means Dec. 31, 2016, the MTA’s self-imposed deadline by which paying customers could swipe through the turnstiles and ride a subway line that was first conceived in the 1920s. But the Federal Transit Administration, which provided $1.3 billion for phase one, puts the project’s estimated date of completion at over a year later, on Feb. 28, 2018.

In a federal oversight committee hearing this past June, Matthew Welbes, the executive director of the FTA, said a revised funding agreement reached in March with the MTA includes a completion date of Feb. 28, 2018.

“And that was based on what we agreed to with the MTA. If the MTA can deliver the project sooner, we would be proud to see that happen, right? It looks like the project is trending, based on our data, toward an opening of closer to, maybe early in, sometime in 2017,” said Welbes.

Local elected officials gathered last week outside of the 72nd Street Station to express optimism tinged with expectation.

“In May 2014, the MTA reported that the project was 65 percent finished – and it’s now more than 83 percent complete,” said East Side Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. “That’s good news, but they have a lot more to do if they are going to finish it by December 2016.”

Maloney said she wants to make sure the MTA meets their target, and that the best way to do that is to keep a close eye on their progress. “With transportation construction, time really is money,” she said at the press conference. “If the project goes long, costs will go up.”

Last week, during an information session at Temple Israel, locals expressed a measure of skepticism regarding the December 2016 completion date.

“Given what I’ve seen, and all the construction, I have a feeling there’s going to be some slippage,” said David Rosenstein, a Community Board 8 member. “I’m making New Year’s Eve plans to do something else.”

“It’s been noted that the feds seem to be commenting on the later date,” said Elizabeth Patrick, who lives on 72nd Street and Second Avenue. “So we’re wondering.”

“Sorry, but I don’t buy the end of 2016,” said one woman who declined to give her name. “But that’s my skepticism as a New Yorker.”

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Member Ben Kallos, Congresswoman Maloney at a press conference last week touting the progress of phase one of the Second Avenue Subway project.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Member Ben Kallos, Congresswoman Maloney at a press conference last week touting the progress of phase one of the Second Avenue Subway project.

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