NY Times Writer Says MTA Needs A Champion
We all know the story, the MTA is in a deep financial crisis. The crisis is so bad that they might increase the initial planned fare hikes & add service cuts/eliminations to the mix. This is due to them not knowing where the money will come from to help close an over $1 billion dollar operating budget deficit. In Sunday’s edition of the New York Times, William Neuman talks about how the MTA needs a champion through these trying financial times….
Two weeks ago, Richard Ravitch, the head of a state commission seeking a way to rescue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from its deepest financial crisis in decades, addressed some of the city’s top corporate leaders at a board meeting of the Partnership for New York City, the city’s pre-eminent business group.
In a conference room at the Broad Street headquarters of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Ravitch told the board how, more than a quarter-century ago, when he was the authority’s chairman, he had escorted the group’s founder, David Rockefeller, on an early-morning trip through the transit system to see firsthand its horrendous state of decay.
Mr. Rockefeller was so impressed (or appalled) with what he saw that he made it clear to the state’s political leaders in Albany that the business community supported Mr. Ravitch’s plan for a huge spending program to resuscitate the mass transit system.
It is a story that Mr. Ravitch recounts often. But on this particular day, Nov. 17, he was telling it with a purpose to an audience that included Richard D. Parsons, the chairman of Time Warner, and Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs and one of the partnership’s co-chairmen. The implication was clear: who would take on Mr. Rockefeller’s role this time?
There is no question that Mr. Ravitch needs help saving the authority again — but it is far from clear where it will come from.
His commission was created by Gov. David A. Paterson early this year to recommend solutions to the authority’s chronic financial problems. Mr. Ravitch declined to be interviewed for this article.
He is due to deliver a final report to the governor by Friday that is expected to include proposals for a tax on corporate payrolls in the region, tolls on the bridges across the East and Harlem Rivers and an increase in fares on the subway, bus and commuter railroads. Those measures would provide enough money for the authority to overcome a $1.2 billion budget gap next year and allow it to finance a long-term capital program that could cost as much as $30 billion through 2014.
Click here for the complete report.
The article sheds no new light on the overall situation involving the MTA’s finances. I will say that it does show how our elected officials seem hesitant to back what the Ravitch Commission opposes. I agree with William when he says it seems they are looking for someone else to take the lead. What is truly sad about that is the city but mainly Albany has & continues to control the purse strings. The constant disregard for adequate funding for the MTA is the opponent that needs to be defeated. William is right, we do need a champion, I’m just not sure if they can become that considering who we are dealing with.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Drivers Promise Civil Disobedience If They Lose Toll Rebate
10 days ago the MTA held its monthly board meeting. However this was not the typical meeting as this one featured budget proposals to help trim an over $1 billion dollar budget deficit. I outlined the specific proposals which included the elimination of the Cross Bay Bridge toll rebate program. The proposal has been met with outrage from local residents who promise civil disobedience if the proposal becomes a reality. Brendan Brosh of the New York Daily News has more in this report:
Motorists in Broad Channel and on the Rockaway Peninsula have a warning for the MTA: If you mess with our toll rebates, get ready for pandemonium.
The MTA has proposed rescinding the rebates for locals who use the Cross Bay Bridge - a move that could save the cash-strapped agency $3.6 million a year.
But residents are gearing up to fight the move with protests and acts of civil disobedience before an MTA board vote next month.
“This is the only interborough toll in the city,” said Lew Simon, a Democratic district leader who was vocal in implementing the rebate in the 1990s. “We’re going to protest and block traffic again. We’re planning to get arrested if necessary.”
Drivers from the communities with resident E-ZPasses are charged a $1.03 toll every time they cross the bridge. The fee is given back to them in a rebate.
The program was implemented in 1998 after decades of complaints by both communities.
Click here for the complete report.
Wow, those residents are serious about this toll rebate program. We usually don’t hear immediate calls for civil disobedience when something gets proposed. Lets hope it will not have to come to that.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Boy Falls Into Gap At Peekskill Station
This past Friday, a young boy fell into the gap at the Metro-North’s Peeksill station. Here is more from the Associated Press:
A Metro-North Railroad spokesman says a boy has fallen into a gap between a train and platform in Westchester County, but the child was quickly pulled out unhurt.
Railroad spokesman Dan Brucker says the boy’s parent or parents lifted him out after he stepped into the gap shortly after noon Friday in Peekskill. With no one injured, the family then left on the New York City-bound train.
The boy’s name and age were not available.
It was nice to know that the boy was not injured. Hopefully one day we will never have to hear about any gap accidents.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Metro-North May Cut 4 Trains
On Friday, word came out that the Metro-North may cut 4 trains. To be more specific, the Connecticut Department Of Transportation is considering the elimination of 4 off peak trains on the New Haven Line. The line is owned by the DOT which must approve any service changes or fare increases. Martin B. Cassidy of The Stamford Advocate has more in this report:
The state Department of Transportation is considering cutting four Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line trains and making other reductions because the Metropolitan Transit Authority faces a $1.2 billion budget gap next year, railroad officials said.
The railroad is working with the DOT to choose four off-peak trains that could be eliminated with the least disruption to commuters, said Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman.
Other belt-tightening proposals include cutting 88 jobs on the New Haven, Harlem and Hudson lines; decreasing the number of cars on some trains to reduce power costs; and cleaning trains less frequently, Anders said.
The railroad might eliminate its toll-free schedule information line at (800) METRO-INFO to save $200,000, Anders said.
“These are desperate times,” she said. “We’re looking for as many ways to eliminate costs throughout the system in ways that add up.”
The DOT owns the New Haven Line and must approve service changes or price increases, agency spokesman Kevin Nursick said.
The department will work with Metro-North and the MTA to limit service cuts, Nursick said.
“The budget process within the State of New York is ongoing and we will work hard with our regional partners to advocate equitable impacts for, and minimize hardships on, Connecticut commuters,” he said.
The MTA’s 2009 budget proposed last week included recommendations for cutting costs to reduce the deficit, which jumped from $900 million to $1.2 billion since September, officials said.
State Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said cutting service or shortening trains would undermine efforts to promote use of mass transit.
“This is really the wrong time to do that when we are seeing increased ridership,” Duff said. “We need the MTA to look a little deeper on how they can finance this rather than taking away seats from commuters who use them every day.”
The New Haven Line is 65 percent funded by the DOT, and the MTA provides the balance, Anders said.
Metro-North plans to cut five other trains on its Harlem and Hudson lines, with a goal of cutting 4.7 percent, or $35 million, from the overall budget, Anders said.
Click here for the complete report.
I rarely ride the Metro-North so I can’t really dive into how big a deal this might be. Riders never like to hear about service cuts. However in this day & age where financial situations are not strong for many, saving money where possible is a necessity.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Service Diversions 11/29
I apologize for not getting these up sooner. I have been extremely tied up with the holiday weekend.
I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest scheduled diversions for this weekend & next week (and beyond in some cases). Don’t forget to check in for any changes to the page. I also suggest printing out a copy of the page to use while riding the system. Have a safe & wonderful weekend!
P.S. Stay warm!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I would like to take this time to wish all of my readers a Happy Thanksgiving! May you have a safe, wonderful, & tasty day!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Sneak Peek At The Ravitch Commission Proposals
As we all know by now the MTA is in a deep financial crisis. The budget deficit continues to grow with each passing day & some wonder when we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Many people are pinning their hopes on proposals from the 12 deep Ravitch Commission. The commission headed by former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch was created to recommend strategies to fund MTA capital projects and operating needs over the next ten years.
Earlier this evening New York Times reporter William Neuman along with contributions from Charles V. Bagli and Sam Roberts brought us a sneak peek at some of the proposals that will be presented next month:
A state commission appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson is expected next week to propose a rescue package for the financially imperiled Metropolitan Transportation Authority that includes a new tax on corporate payrolls and tolls on the East River and Harlem River bridges, several people informed of the plan said on Wednesday.
The commission, led by Richard Ravitch, a former chairman of the authority, will also recommend an increase next year in fares on subways, buses and commuter railroads, as well as in tolls on the bridges and tunnels it currently controls. But those increases would be much smaller than the ones the authority recently outlined in its proposed budget for next year.
The commission is also expected to call for minimal cuts, if any, in transit service. The plan, which is due to be released by Dec. 5, will contain recommendations to the governor, subject to passage by the Legislature.
The people familiar with the rescue plan cautioned that it is still being refined and may change as Mr. Ravitch tries to win the support of elected officials like Mr. Paterson and state legislative leaders. Mr. Ravitch is expected to meet with the governor in the coming days to present a final version of the plan.
Opposition to some of the plan’s central elements is sure to be strong. Despite the growing problems at the authority, most elected officials have remained publicly uncommitted about how to help it, saying only that they were awaiting the commission’s report.
So far the strongest show of support has come from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, who said last week that he was open to raising taxes or creating a new tax to support the authority.
It was not clear, however, whether Mr. Silver or other legislators would support instituting tolls for the bridges. Bridge tolls are seen by many as similar to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan to charge drivers for entering Manhattan on its busiest streets; that plan died in the Legislature this year, largely because of opposition from Assembly Democrats.
Click here for the complete report.
I really want to wait until the full proposals come out before I comment point by point. However at first glance, I can tell you one part of the proposal that is a bad idea. The part I am referring to is the tax increase on corporate payrolls. I can’t even begin to say how bad of an idea this is. As I said I will wait until the full plan is announced before going “all-in” with my thoughts.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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The F Is The Next Line To Be Graded
About an hour ago, NYC Transit e-mailed a press release to announce that the 
is the next line to be graded in the 2008 Rider Report Cards. Here are the complete details:
In our continuing effort to solicit feedback from our customers, MTA New York City Transit is again distributing Rider Report Cards throughout the system. Riders on the F are next in line of NYC Transit’s over five million daily subway customers asked to rate the progress of their line since the initial round of report cards was distributed in July 2007.
The report cards are being distributed to riders during the morning rush hours from Tuesday, December 2nd through Friday, December 5th. The cards will be handed out at several different stations along the line each day over all four days. Grades will be used to identify rider preferences and to gauge how much improvement customers along the F line have noticed since last year’s report card.
Again, the Rider Report Card will ask subway riders to grade 21 specific areas of service from an A (Excellent) to an F (Unsatisfactory). Among the areas riders will grade include: car and station cleanliness, safety, security, quality of announcements, and the courtesy and helpfulness of front line customer service staff. Riders will also assign an overall grade for F service. From this list of 21 service attributes, riders are also going to be asked to rank the top three improvements they would like to see made to this line.
The Rider Report Card is once again being distributed in a mailer format, designed to be returned at no cost to the rider. Customers will also have the option of completing the survey on-line, on the MTA website at www.mta.info/nyct/index.html, where it is available in 3 languages: English, Spanish and Chinese. From the time the survey begins, riders will have two weeks to mail in their response or to complete the survey online.
Rider Report Card results are posted on line for riders to review once they have been tabulated.
Report cards are being distributed between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at each station. The schedule for distribution of Rider Report Cards along the F line is as follows:
• Tuesday, December 2nd – West 8th Street-NY Aquarium, Neptune Avenue, Avenue X, Avenue U, Kings Highway, Avenue P, Avenue N, Bay Parkway, Avenue I and 18th Avenue.
• Wednesday, December 3rd – Ditmas Avenue, Church Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway, 15th Street-Prospect Park, 7th Avenue and Smith-9th Streets.
• Thursday, December 4th — Carroll Street, Bergen Street, York Street, East Broadway, Lower East Side-2nd Avenue and 23rd Street.
• Friday, December 5th – 57th Street, Lexington Avenue-63rd Street, Roosevelt Island, 21st Street-Queensbridge, Sutphin Blvd., Parsons Blvd., 169th Street and Jamaica-179th Street.
xoxo Transit Blogger
