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MTA & TWU Local 100 Reach New Deal

Posted by
on December 6th, 2019 at 5:19 pm

Even though it was nearly 14 years to the date, the last NYC Transit strike still resonates with me. I recall being out there providing exclusive coverage from picket lines and providing that for my readers here on Transit Blogger. While such an occurrence did not seem to be in the cards this time around, it is good to know that the MTA & TWU Local 100 reached a new deal. More on that from the press release the agency shared with me yesterday:

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye and Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 President Tony Utano today announced a tentative agreement between the MTA and TWU Local 100. The agreement, which is subject to ratification by the union’s members and approval by the MTA Board, provides a four-year contract for more than 37,000 transit workers.

“This contract reflects the hard work of thousands of Transit employees who have helped us reach the highest on-time subway performance in more than half a decade, while providing a fair deal for taxpayers and our more than eight million daily customers,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye. “The tentative agreement is responsive to the financial challenges we face and addresses important issues such as accessibility, overtime and healthcare costs.”

Accessibility remains a top priority for the MTA, and this agreement reflects the agency and the TWU’s commitment to these projects. The agreement advances the MTA’s unprecedented investment in making 70 stations accessible in the proposed 2020-2024 historic Capital Plan by accelerating the delivery of these projects. The agreement also ensures these important assets will be reliably available for customers. The parties also agree to create the first-ever tri-party committee with MTA, TWU and accessibility advocates, to ensure close collaboration and continued focus on delivering these projects quickly and efficiently.

This agreement also includes changes to modernize the health plan. The adjustments will deliver $27 million in savings through a series of changes, including increases to emergency room co-pays to encourage greater use of primary and urgent care providers; instituting nationwide in-network coverage, increasing flexibility and choice for employees among providers; and adjusting prescription drug co-pays to encourage use of generic options, among others.

The agreement includes a suite of provisions that, combined and enacted in partnership with the TWU, will ensure the MTA continues to deliver on improvements in operations while realizing savings for the financial plan. This includes a commitment to a one-and-a-half day improvement in employee availability – the number of days an employee is available and reporting to work – which will deliver an estimated $17 million in annual savings to the MTA. Availability has steadily decreased since 2000. After an improvement of one day in employee availability is achieved, any additional savings will be jointly shared between the TWU and MTA.

The agreement includes a recognition of overtime equalization as an important priority for both the MTA and TWU, to ensure that opportunities for overtime are equally available to eligible employees and that overtime is efficiently allocated. The MTA will also enforce existing contractual agreements in order to achieve this priority. The agreement also includes provisions to further modernize the agency’s approach to discipline, to ensure policies are more progressive and fair to employees – significantly advancing a key goal in Fast Forward.

The TWU and MTA will also jointly work to identify goals and align interests to increase productivity, and a clear path to achieving these improvements, with any achieved savings shared equally. The agreement allows for mutual swaps of shifts between employees in similar job classes across all TWU members for the first time, giving employees increased flexibility in scheduling while ensuring sufficient coverage for critical operational roles and minimizing overtime.

The agreement allows third-party contractors to provide a one-time deep cleaning of up to 180 subway stations.

Both the MTA and TWU recognize worker safety as a priority issue, and will work together to increase public awareness of assaults on transit workers, advocate for increased usage of existing provisions in State law that classify worker assaults as a felony, and create a Task Force that includes partners in law enforcement to ensure these issues receive necessary attention and that all parties have a sustained focus on solutions. NYCT and TWU will also cooperate to explore the use of new technologies to increase track worker and flagger safety.

Under the terms of the agreement, NYCT will pay an average net wage increase of 2.3% each year through May 2023. Before giving effect to health savings and increases in availability, a one percent increase in wages is approximately equal to $36 million, offset by $44 million in savings in the health plan and availability. Once the contract is ratified, workers would receive a 2% increase for 2019, a 2.25% increase in 2020, a 2.5% increase in 2021 and a 2.75% increase in 2022.

The contract covers more than 30,000 TWU employees working for NYC Transit and 6,600 employees of the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), which include bus operators, maintainers, cleaners, maintainers and other employees who work out of seven bus depots in Manhattan and the Bronx.

The proposed agreement can be funded within the proposed MTA 2020-2023 Financial Plan.

So far both sides seem satisfied with the deal which should calm down the usual intensity geared towards each other from both sides. Hopefully nothing comes along that could derail the deal.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Thanksgiving Holiday Service Info

Posted by
on November 27th, 2019 at 9:34 am

Today marks the busiest travel day of the season. The MTA has you covered as they put out their service plan information for the 2019 Thanksgiving holiday which they asked me to share with my readers:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and its legion of customer ambassadors are preparing to help millions of holiday travelers get to their holiday destinations during the Thanksgiving weekend 2019. Trains and buses across the MTA system will operate on special schedules on Wednesday, Nov. 27, through Sunday, Dec. 1 – with lots of extra railroad service on Wednesday afternoon – to accommodate the unique travel demands of Thanksgiving weekend.

Last year on Thanksgiving Eve, the Long Island Rail Road carried 109,125 people eastbound from Penn Station between noon and 8 p.m., a 21% increase over a normal weekday and a 5% increase over the prior year. The LIRR projects carrying more than 110,000 this year. Last year, Metro-North Railroad carried 100,275 people northbound from Grand Central between noon and 8 p.m., a 17.4% increase over a normal weekday and a 6.4% increase over the prior year. Metro-North expects to carry 102,000 customers from Grand Central between noon and 8 p.m., the highest ever in Metro-North history, and 2% higher than last year’s getaway.

Last year, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad carried a combined 60,000 people from Midtown Manhattan between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day as crowds returned from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, more than double the number of people normally departing during that time on an average weekday.

“The MTA moves 8.5 million people on a normal weekday, and we’re preparing to handle new customers at new times throughout the coming weekend, with customer ambassadors at major hubs and lots of extra train service at key times,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye. “The MTA’s digital trip planning and real-time information tools make it easier than ever to travel with us.”

In keeping with the holiday spirit, the LIRR and Metro-North will offer tickets at off-peak prices over the four-day Thanksgiving holiday starting on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28, until Sunday, Dec. 1. Customers are encouraged to buy tickets in advance, and those traveling into Manhattan can purchase a 10-trip off-peak ticket to save 30% to 40% off the one-way fare. The ticket can be used by more than one person, even when traveling together. The “Family Fare” costs $1 per ticket for up to four children (ages 5 to 11) when they are traveling with a fare-paying adult.

The LIRR and Metro-North recommend customers use MTA eTtix®, the mobile ticketing app, to buy one-way, round-trip, 10 trip, weekly and monthly passes, as well as reduced fare tickets, child and family fare tickets and military tickets, on smartphones or mobile devices.

To encourage the use of mass transit and to ease congestion on New York City streets during the Thanksgiving holiday, the MTA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are offering free rides on the Q70 Select Bus Service (SBS) LaGuardia Link from Monday, Nov. 25, to Monday, Dec. 2. The Q70 SBS connects the  subway lines and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to LaGuardia Terminals B, C and D, providing a worry-free limited-stop ride with customer amenities designed for travelers. Stops for Q70 SBS LaGuardia Link are distinctly marked outside LIRR’s Woodside Station/61 St-Woodside  subway station and the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Av /74 St-Broadway  subway station complex. Customers boarding at LaGuardia Terminals B, C, and D can spot the LaGuardia Link buses via their distinctive blue exterior design and SBS signage. Customers are urged to allow extra time due to ongoing construction near LaGuardia Airport and increased holiday traffic. More information on MTA various services to New York area airports is available here: http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/airport.htm

MTA Bridges and Tunnels will suspend all lane closures related to routine maintenance and temporary construction work beginning 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, through the end of the morning rush on Monday, Dec. 2, to accommodate motorists throughout the busy travel weekend. Any extraordinary weather-critical work that must be accomplished over the holiday weekend would occur only during overnight hours when traffic is at its lightest.

More information about subway and bus service for the holiday period is available here: https://new.mta.info/thanksgiving2019

 

Wednesday, Nov. 27: Extra Early Afternoon Service on LIRR, Metro-North and SIR

The Long Island Rail Road will operate 12 extra trains departing Penn Station between 12:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. The extra service includes four extra trains on the Babylon Branch, three on the Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch, two on the Ronkonkoma Branch, and one each on the Far Rocakway, Montauk and Port Washington Branches. Times are shown in the current timetables and are available by using the MTAmta app and MTA.info trip planning tools.

Metro-North Railroad will operate 18 early getaway trains departing Grand Central Terminal between 12:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. The extra service includes 10 extra trains on the New Haven Line, five on the Hudson Line and three on the Harlem Line. Times are shown in the current timetables and are available by using the MTAmta app and MTA.info trip planning tools.

For Metro-North’s West-of-Hudson customers, early getaway trains will operate on both the Pascack Valley Line and Port Jervis Line. On the Pascack Valley Line, there will be a 2:58 p.m. departure from Hoboken (with a connection departing New York’s Penn Station at 2:51 p.m.) making select stops in New Jersey before arriving at Pearl River, Nanuet and Spring Valley. On the Port Jervis Line, the 2:41 p.m. train from Hoboken to Middletown (with a connection departing New York Penn Station at 2:33 p.m.) is extended to Port Jervis.

Due to the busier mid-day travel patterns, some Metro-North evening trains may be canceled or combined, including two from Hoboken: the 5:58 p.m. Pascack Valley Line departure and the 6:15 p.m. Port Jervis Line departure.

Staten Island Railway customers looking to get a head start on the Thanksgiving Day holiday will be able to catch earlier afternoon express train service on Wednesday, Nov. 27, with MTA Staten Island Railway’s Early Departure Getaway schedule. Extra SIR trains will be added earlier in the afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m. from the St. George Ferry Terminal. There will be one express train and one local train awaiting every boat until 7:50 p.m.

Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28: Take the Subway to Macy’s Parade

On Thanksgiving Day, New York City subways and buses will operate on a Sunday schedule and the Staten Island Railway will operate on a Saturday schedule. Metro-North is operating on a Saturday schedule with extra service before and after the parade. The LIRR and Metro-North’s West of Hudson service will operate on a weekend/holiday schedule with extra service before and after the parade.

There are many bus routes that either do not operate on Sundays or do not run on part of the route at certain hours. Customers traveling on Thanksgiving Day should check Sunday schedules, lines and routes.

Getting to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The parade kicks off at 9 a.m. at 77th Street and Central Park West and ends in front of Macy’s at Herald Square (34th Street).

The closest subway stations to the start of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are the  at 72 St, the  at 79 Street, the  at 81 St, and the  at 59 St-Columbus Circle. There will be additional service on the  42 Street Shuttle as well as increased early morning service on the  line to accommodate spectators. In order to prevent overcrowding on stairways and platforms, some subway entrances at 59 St-Columbus Circle will be closed. Trains will bypass the 72 St  and 57 St  line stations between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. In addition, select exits and entrances will be closed at Penn Station, and other stations along the Sixth Avenue line.

The LIRR schedule is supplemented with 17 extra trains timed perfectly for those attending the Thanksgiving Day Parade or otherwise visiting the city. There will be six extra westbound trains originating on Long Island between 6 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. (two each on the Babylon Branch and Ronkonkoma Branch, and one each on the Montauk Branch and Port Jefferson Branch), and 11 extra eastbound trains departing Penn Station between 11 a.m. and 1:35 p.m. (four each on the Babylon Branch and Ronkonkoma Branch, two on the Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch and one on the Montauk Branch).

Cars will be added to select LIRR trains as the demand requires to accommodate holiday travelers.

Metro-North will provide additional inbound morning service for customers heading to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is also expanded outbound service starting in the late morning and continuing through mid-afternoon. If you’re leaving New York after the parade, customers must show a ticket before boarding trains at Grand Central or Harlem-125th Street Station.

Finally, there will be extra trains in the evening for customers returning to New York City after their Thanksgiving feasts.

West of Hudson, a regular holiday/weekend schedule is in effect for the Port Jervis Line and Pascack Valley Line, with one additional round trip on the Port Jervis Line (shown in the October 29 NJ Transit timetable). Parade-goers can take a 6:22 a.m. departure from Port Jervis arriving in Hoboken at 8:30 a.m. (a connection at Secaucus Junction arrives at New York Penn Station at 8:39 a.m.). After the parade, there is a 12:21 p.m. departure from Hoboken (12:14 p.m. from New York Penn Station) that operates express to Suffern before making all stops to Port Jervis.

All bus service in Manhattan may experience delays, and will be affected by reroutes, detours, and/or frozen zones, especially those routes operating in Midtown near the parade route such as the BxM2, M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M7, M10, M11, M12, M20, M31, M34 SBS, M34A SBS, M42, M50, M55, M57, M66, M72, M79 SBS, M104, Q32, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, SIM1c, SIM3c, SIM4c, and SIM33c. The 79th Street Transverse will be closed from noon Wednesday, Nov. 27, to noon Thursday, Nov. 28, and buses will not be permitted to cross during this time. Details will be provided at www.mta.info under “Service Status.”

Black Friday, Nov. 29

On Black Friday, Nov. 29, New York City buses will operate on a weekday schedule with some exceptions.  On Staten Island, S81 Ltd, S84 Ltd, S86 Ltd, S90 Ltd, S91 Ltd, S92 Ltd, S94 Ltd, S96 Ltd, and S98 Ltd will not run; also, in Queens, Q4 Ltd (AM from subway), Q6 Ltd, Q25 Ltd, and Q65 Ltd will not run. Local service will be available on these routes.

A special schedule will be in effect for express bus routes run by the MTA Bus Company. Visit mta.info to view this special schedule and plan your trip accordingly. All other local, express, limited-stop, and Select Bus Service will run with minor adjustments in departure times.  A listing of affected routes and timetables can be found at https://new.mta.info/schedules/bus/special

The LIRR will operate on a regular weekday schedule, with lower, off-peak fares in effect all day.

Metro-North will operate on an expanded Saturday schedule with additional inbound service in the morning and outbound service in the afternoon to accommodate the Friday workforce and Black Friday shoppers, as well as half-hourly service on the Harlem Line to/from North White Plains. West of Hudson, a regular weekday schedule is in effect.

The Staten Island Railway will operate on a regular weekday schedule.

Saturday, Nov. 30, and Sunday, Dec. 1

New York City Transit, the LIRR and Metro-North will operate on regular weekend schedules.

New York City Subway Thanksgiving Day Service and Vintage Trains Through December

The MTA celebrates the holiday season each year with its “Shoppers Special” vintage subway train cars. This special train of subway cars from the 1930s runs every Sunday between Dec. 1 to Dec. 29. For the first two Sundays, Dec. 1 and 8, the vintage train will depart from the 2 Av  station on the Lower East Side, travelling local along the Eight Avenue  lines between W 4 St and 59 St-Columbus Circle, then express up Central Park West  lines to 125 St. On the last three Sundays, Dec. 15, 22 and 29, the vintage train will operate between the 2 Av  station and 145 St . For a full listing of dates and departures visit https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/holidaynostalgiarides/

May all of my riders have save travels & a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Official Calls For Orwellian Plan

Posted by
on June 26th, 2019 at 5:23 pm

In what can only be described as an Orwellian plan, MTA Financial Chairman Larry Schwartz is calling for the MTA to flood the system of its buses, subways & railroads with more security cameras along with facial recognition technology.

Here is more via a report from CBS 2 New York’s Marcia Kramer:

Fed up with the insanity on buses, subways and commuters rails, the head of the MTA’s finance committee is calling for the installation of surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology to catch and deter criminals.

A homeless man threatening subway passengers with a hammer, an emotionally disturbed person cutting the rubber accordion that connects two sections of a bus, a train operator left with a black eye and bruises after a rider attacked her, a man throwing a cup of urine at a bus driver, someone throwing a shovel and hazardous material on the subway tracks, which could have caused a derailment.

MTA finance chair Larry Schwartz says it’s time to stop the insanity and install surveillance cameras everywhere — on buses, subways and commuter rails.

“I want the riding public and our MTA employees to feel safe at every location within the MTA,” he said.

Schwartz says he will demand that the agency’s new capital plan include the tens of millions of dollars necessary to flood the system with cameras, CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer says.

Click here for the full report.

Larry Schwartz is yet another clueless individual looking to intrude on the civil liberties of people under the bullshit disguise of safety. Flooding the system with cameras is not going to serve as a deterrent to criminals.

The system has cameras all over & that has not stopped people from committing crimes. Plus most of those who do commit them tend to have mental issues. Tell us again how more cameras or facial recognition technology is supposed to help with that? I’ll save you the time Larry…. by letting you know that it for 100% fact will not help.

So Larry & the other clueless brainless sheep who believe in such intrusive nonsense, go read up on history & gain some actual knowledge to wake up your clueless minds!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Extends LIRR Atlantic Ticket Program

Posted by
on June 24th, 2019 at 3:31 pm

In what is great news for some riders (including myself!),  the MTA Long Island Rail Road has announced it is extending its Atlantic Ticket program for another year. Here are the details via the press release I received:

Long Island Rail Road President Phillip Eng today announced that the LIRR will continue its Atlantic Ticket field study for an additional year.

Atlantic Ticket offers discounted LIRR fares for customers traveling between Brooklyn and seven stations in Queens. The study, which began in June 2018, is measuring the impact the lower fare is having on ridership on the LIRR and New York City Transit’s subways and buses.

“We are seeing some promising results from Atlantic Ticket,” Eng said. “We hope this continues to support our common goal of providing more public mass transit options and giving our customers a better commute.”

With connections to nine subway lines at Atlantic Terminal, travel time to Lower Manhattan is comparable to traveling from Penn Station. As part of the metrics it is evaluating through the study, the LIRR is monitoring customer volumes at Penn Station and Atlantic Terminal to gauge whether there is a notable shift of travel habits.

“We have seen riders move from Penn Station to Atlantic Terminal,” Eng said, “balancing riders out across the western terminals.”

Under the study, the fare for a one-way LIRR ticket between Brooklyn and seven Queens stations is $5.00 at all times of day, a reduction of 51% from the baseline peak fare of $10.25, and a reduction of 33% from the baseline off-peak fare of $7.50.

The combined one-way fare covering the LIRR and NYC Transit portions of a trip is $7.75 ($5 for the LIRR Atlantic Ticket and $2.75 for NYC Transit pay-per-ride fare).

Atlantic Ticket also offers a $60.00 joint weekly unlimited-ride ticket valid for LIRR travel between the selected stations and transfers to NYC subways and buses. Compared to the current fares in Southeast Queens, this joint weekly ticket offers a 42.5% discount over the baseline two-system fare of $104.25.

The 10 LIRR stations covered under the field study are listed below along with convenient subway connections.

Brooklyn

Atlantic Terminal

East New York

Nostrand Avenue

Queens

Hollis

Jamaica

Laurelton

Locust Manor

Queens Village

Rosedale

St. Albans

Customers can purchase the Atlantic Ticket at ticket machines or from ticket sales offices and have the option to add a $5.50 New York City Transit fare to their one way or round trip tickets. The Atlantic Ticket is not available via the MTA’s eTix app or from conductors on board trains.

Between Brooklyn and Jamaica, the LIRR offers direct rush hour service of roughly every 10 minutes, and off-peak service every 30 minutes.

From Hollis, Laurelton, Locust Manor, Queens Village, Rosedale and St. Albans, the LIRR offers rush hour service roughly every 20 minutes and hourly off-peak service. Off-peak trains serve Brooklyn stations directly. For some peak-hour trains, customers traveling to Brooklyn on Atlantic Ticket need to change trains at Jamaica. Customers on these trains who remain on the train and travel to Penn Station are charged the normal, higher fares during that portion of the trip.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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New Harlem & Hudson Line Schedules

Posted by
on June 24th, 2019 at 3:24 pm

Earlier today, the MTA Metro-North Railroad announced that new schedules for the Harlem & Hudson lines will begin on Sunday, June 30th. Here are the details:

Metro-North Railroad today announced that new schedules on the Hudson Line and Harlem Line will take effect on Sunday, June 30.  The new schedules bring the return of full weekend service to and from Poughkeepsie on the Hudson Line, as well as additional trains in the morning and afternoon. Major infrastructure projects will be underway on the Harlem Line this summer, resulting in minor schedule adjustments and more reliable and dependable service for customers.

Hudson Line:

Metro-North crews completed this season’s work towards the replacement of a critical track-switching center south of Poughkeepsie, resulting in the restoration of full weekend service on the Hudson Line.  When the Hudson Line schedule change takes effect, customers can expect hourly weekend service to and from Poughkeepsie, as well as three additional trains on Saturday and two extra trains on Sunday. This increase in service comes just in time for summer visits to popular, well-known attractions in the Upper Hudson valley.  There’s good news for Yankee fans, too; the completed track work also means the return of extra “Yankee Clipper” trains on weekends between Poughkeepsie and Yankees-East 153rd Street station.

Harlem Line:

Metro-North crews will be out in force on the Harlem Line this summer making aggressive infrastructure improvements in the Bronx.  The railroad will put its new SMARTRACK program into action, strategically shutting down a continuous segment of track between Woodlawn and Mott Haven so that multiple work groups have uninterrupted access to maintain and enhance the system. Crews will make drainage improvements, replace rail and install new ties.  As a result of these upgrades to the Harlem Line in the Bronx, the following service adjustments will be in place:

  • Station stops at Melrose and Tremont will be suspended on weekdays. Substitute bus service will be provided to and from Fordham.
  • The current 8:01 a.m. local from Mt. Vernon West to Grand Central Terminal will not operate. The 7:57 a.m. train from North White Plains, will add stops at Mt. Vernon West at 8:15 a.m. and Wakefield at 8:17 a.m. the 6:55 a.m. train from Southeast, will add a stop at Woodlawn at 8:01 a.m.  The 7 a.m. train from Goldens Bridge, will add stops at Williams Bridge at 7:59 a.m., Botanical Garden at 8:02 a.m. and Fordham at 8:04 a.m.
  • Most peak-hour trains will have minor adjustments of 1-2 minutes.

Weekday trains return to serving Melrose and Tremont effective with the September 29 schedule change.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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