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Bus Driver Attacked By Angry Rider

Posted by
on December 13th, 2010 at 12:18 am

Once again the dangers of being a bus driver for the MTA has reared its ugly head. The latest incident involved 60 year old driver Jacqueline Benjamin being allegedly attacked by 25 year old Alicea Diaz. Alicea claims she is always late for work due to Jacqueline purposely driving slow. Matthew Nestel, Joe Mollica, & Jamie Schram of the New York Post have more:

The agony of rotting away on a city bus as it moved at a snail’s pace sent one Brooklyn rider over the edge. Alicea Diaz, 25, who was sick of being late for work because of the pokey B82 Limited, allegedly attacked driver Jacqueline Benjamin, 60, whom she blamed for the mind-numbing rides. “She drives slow on purpose,” Diaz told The Post yesterday.

The waitress “repeatedly punched” Benjamin in the face “with a closed fist” and broke her glasses on Tuesday afternoon in Bensonhurst, according to the criminal complaint.
Benjamin, a 17-year MTA veteran, said Diaz unleashed a hail of blows after screaming, “I’m tired of you, bitch. You’re always making me late for work.”

“She thought she’d punch me and then get off at her stop,” Benjamin said. But the driver grabbed the woman’s hoodie and held her until cops showed up. Diaz — who has no prior arrests — was charged in Brooklyn Criminal Court with assault, menacing, harassment and criminal mischief. Her commuter rage could land her in prison because attacking a MTA bus driver is a felony.

Click here for the complete report.

If these allegations are true, I fully support seeing Alicea rot in prison for years & then some! As someone who has come from a family of MTA bus drivers, I saw first hand how hard & dangerous the job truly is. Whether it was seeing my dad busted open in the 90’s by someone who perfectly launched a broken beer bottle at a bus stop or this incident, these drivers put their life on the line daily to serve riders.

While he has since retired, it does not change how dangerous the job was or is for the current fleet of drivers. The increase in punishment for attacking a bus driver & the testing of bus shields are positive steps taken by the agency, it is clear that more needs to be done. The same holds true for subway conductors. Hopefully more will be done to increase the safety for these hardworking individuals.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

MTA Will Offer Online MetroCard Replacement

Posted by
on December 12th, 2010 at 10:30 pm

In news that begs you to ask, what took so long? The MTA has announced that in the first quarter of 2011, they will be offering riders an online solution to file for a MetroCard replacement. Here is more from a brief report by Maria Alvarez of Newsday:

Long Island Rail Road and other commuters will be able to go online to get damaged or defective Metro Cards replaced starting next year, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.
Problems in distribution of prepaid postage envelopes created a short supply at New York City subway token booths, prompting transit officials to set up an online replacement service as well as provide LIRR riders with the prepaid envelopes at Penn Station, transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said.

Until the online service is set up, which should be in the first quarter of next year, commuters can for the first time go to Penn Station’s customer service booth and get a prepaid postage envelope and questionnaire to fill out and mail in with their defective Metro Card and get a replacement. More than 2,500 prepaid envelopes have been delivered to the customer service booth, Parker said.

Click here for the complete report.

When I first heard about this, I immediately said to myself, what in the world took them so long? I know the agency is notorious for being horribly slow at adapting to technology but this feature is one that without question should have been available the day MetroCards were implemented. Even if not right away, within the first couple of years would have been fair.

I have to ask, why even bother starting this process now if the overall goal is to replace the MetroCard system altogether? This clearly feels like taking a step backwards for no good reason. While I am sure it will help riders in the short term, it reeks of shortsightedness to the overall situation.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Jay Street-MetroTech Station Rehab Completed

Posted by
on December 12th, 2010 at 10:14 pm

This past Friday, MTA NYC Transit held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the completed rehab of the Jay Street-MetroTech rehab. The rehab including a complete renovation of the Jay Street/Borough Hall A Train, C Train, & F Train station as well as connecting it with the Lawrence Street-MetroTech station on the R Train. I was invited to the ceremony by the agency but could not attend. Here are some details courtesy of a press release:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has put the finishing touches on a completely renovated Jay Street/Borough Hall A, C, F station as well as a new free connection to the Lawrence Street/MetroTech R station. Put it all together and you have the newly renamed Jay Street/MetroTech Station, an inviting entry point to the bustling Downtown Brooklyn area!

For the first time, customers can transfer between A, C and F lines at Jay Street to R line trains at Lawrence Street. The new transfer provides a strategic connection between multiple routes in Brooklyn. The R train has existing cross-platform connections at DeKalb Avenue to the B, Q, N and D routes so connecting it to the A, C and F Lines offers several convenient travel options. It is projected that approximately 35,000 customers will use the transfer each day.

“The new Jay Street/MetroTech Station dramatically improves the way that New Yorkers travel to and through Downtown Brooklyn,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Jay H. Walder. “We’ve providing a host of new travel options, improving the customer experience with new amenities and making the Jay and Lawrence Street stations connected and accessible to the disabled for the first time. These stations are only steps apart, yet they’ve stood unconnected since 1933. That changes today.”

“From day one, this is going to be a vital transfer point for our customers, creating another transit hub in Downtown Brooklyn,” said NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast. “Customers will also benefit from the new accessibility features. The opening of this link, as well as two other new transfers to be placed into service next year — Broadway-Lafayette B, D, F and M to the uptown No. 6 at Bleecker Street and the No. 7 train to the G at Court Square — continues the physical consolidation of a subway which had originally been built and operated as three separate systems. These new connections serve as a cost effective means of increasing our customers’ abilities to get around various potential disruptions..”

The project includes extensive rehabilitation of the Jay Street Station, including the addition of full ADA accessibility to both the Jay Street Station and Lawrence Street Station platforms. Three ADA elevators have been built into the Jay Street Station. The new ADA accessible transfer connector links the east side of the Jay Street Station mezzanine to the north end of the Lawrence Street station platform along Willoughby Street. Two escalators, one stairway and an ADA elevator have been installed as part of the transfer connection.

The rehabilitation also includes reorganization of the fare control areas to improve customer flow, reorganization of the station rooms, a power upgrade, new lighting throughout the complex, a new communication system, new flooring, new wall tiles, painting throughout and art work chosen by MTA Arts for Transit.

The Jay Street/Lawrence Street rehabilitation contract was awarded in March 2007 and the project cost $164.5 million.

Check out the official introduction video courtesy of the MTA’s Youtube page:

I look forward to checking out this station in the coming days & getting some pictures for Eye On Transit which will reopen next month.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Service Diversions 12-10-10

Posted by
on December 10th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

I just updated the Service Diversions page by removing all of the scheduled work that wrapped up by 5 AM this morning & the rest a minute ago. The weekend diversions which I posted yesterday have now moved to the top followed by the subsequent work during the week.

I suggest you print out a copy of the page to carry with you or use any mobile device to access Transit Blogger’s mobile site. The next update will be on Monday at 5:01 AM when the weekend work scheduled to wrap up by 5 AM is removed. Everyone have a wonderful weekend & as always stay safe!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions
3

Service Diversions 12-09-10

Posted by
on December 9th, 2010 at 5:56 pm

I have just updated the Service Diversions page with the latest planned work for the weekend, following week, & beyond in some cases. As is always the case, the weekend work schedule is extremely light due to it being the holiday season. The next update will be at 3:01 PM tomorrow when the diversions scheduled to wrap up at either 5 AM or 3 PM are removed.

Please print out a copy of the diversions before you head out to your destination. If you have a internet enabled mobile device, use it to access the Transit Blogger mobile site. Stay safe!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions