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New LIRR Timetables Begin Today

Posted by
on September 13th, 2010 at 3:23 am

Long Island Rail Road riders please be reminded that new timetables begin today. A few days ago the agency sent out a press release with more information on the new timetables which include the 2nd phase of service cuts:

New LIRR timetables in effect September 13, 2010 will contain schedule adjustments for some trains as well as the elimination of other trains. The new schedules implement the second phase of budget-related cuts in LIRR service that were approved by the MTA Board in March.

These service reductions along with those implemented last May 17 were required as part of the effort to close the MTA’s $900-million budget gap. The service reductions will save approximately $950,000 this year and $3.8-million annually starting in 2011.

However, the LIRR will be monitoring the changes in the new timetable and will make schedule adjustments, as necessary, based on additional ridership and possible crowding on trains.

Additional timetable changes are necessary to accommodate the fall track work and construction program.

Service Reductions (budget-related)

Atlantic Terminal:

Overnight service is eliminated between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. On weeknights and weekends, train service to/from Brooklyn will be available until approximately midnight and resume around 5:30 AM. The last eastbound train on weekdays will be the 11:55 PM from Atlantic Terminal; the first westbound train weekday mornings will be the 5:33 PM from Jamaica, arriving Atlantic Terminal at 5:51 AM.

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Long Beach Branch:

The 6:09 AM train to Atlantic Terminal has been cancelled. Service is available at 5:35 AM or 6:37 AM.

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Far Rockaway Branch:

The morning peak train departing Valley Stream at 6:30 AM, Rosedale at 6:33 AM, Laurelton at 6:36 AM & Locust Manor at 6:38 AM is canceled.

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Montauk Branch:

Starting Monday, September 13, the 4:30 PM train from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk will only operate on Fridays through October. After Friday, October 8, the train will be taken out of the schedule, and brought back in May 2011 as a seasonal, Friday-only train. An Amagansett stop has been added to the 4:06 PM train from Hunterspoint Avenue in order to close a gap in service.

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Port Washington Branch:

Midday weekday service and all weekend service is reduced from every half-hour to every hour. On weekdays there are 14 trains removed from the schedule with stops added to the remaining trains where needed, to provide service to all stations each hour. On weekends 32 trains are removed from the schedule.

After carefully examining the expected impact on customer demand and usage associated with the implementation of the hourly service during the midday weekday hours, the LIRR has decided to restore the 4:43 PM peak hour train from Penn Station to Port Washington so that the departures from Penn Station in the 4:15 PM to 5:15 PM hour will be as follows:

4:22 PM to Port Washington

4:25 PM to Great Neck

4:43 PM to Port Washington

4:46 PM to Great Neck

5:11 PM to Port Washington.

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Ronkonkoma Branch:

The 4:34 PM train to Ronkonkoma from Atlantic Terminal is canceled. The 4:24 PM Penn Station-Ronkonkoma train will have an added stop at Jamaica and the 4:31 PM Penn Station-Huntington train will have added stops at New Hyde Park, Merillon Avenue, Mineola, Carle Place and Westbury to accommodate affected customers.

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Main Line-Greenport:

Weekend service will only be available from Memorial Day Weekend through Columbus Day Weekend. As a result, weekend service will not be available starting October 16, 2010 until the Memorial Day Weekend.

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West Hempstead Branch:

Weekend service is eliminated starting the weekend of September 18 & 19. Alternate weekend service is available at Valley Stream, or at Babylon or Hempstead Branch stations.

The 8:28 AM peak train to Atlantic Terminal has been canceled and other departure times of AM peak trains have been altered to provide more evenly spaced morning service with an AM schedule as follows:

5:37 AM

6:53 AM

7:36 AM

8:07 AM

8:54 AM

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Jury Duty Special:

Starting September 13, the “Jury Duty Special” train will begin operating on the Main Line/Ronkonkoma Branch to get Suffolk jurors to Riverhead before 9 AM every day the courts are in session.

The train will depart from Deer Park at 7:54 AM, making stops at Brentwood (7:59 AM), Central Islip (8:03 AM), Ronkonkoma (8:10 AM), Medford (8:21 AM), Yaphank (8:29 AM) and arriving in Riverhead at 8:55 AM, where a free shuttle bus will take jurors to nearby courthouses.

The process is reversed in the afternoon, with trains leaving Riverhead Station at 1:21 PM and 3:58 PM. More than 30,000 Suffolk County residents are summoned to serve on juries in Riverhead every year.

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Construction/Track Work Projects

Babylon Branch (also affecting Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, Montauk trains):

Midday weekdays, one of two main tracks between Freeport and Amityville will be out of service for a track tie replacement program. One local train will operate in each direction each hour. The second Babylon local train will originate and terminate in Freeport and have added stops at Lynbrook and St. Albans each hour.

Semi-express service will remain hourly with added stops at Amityville, Copiague and Lindenhurst and no stops at Freeport and Massapequa. Train times will be adjusted up to 31 minutes later. There will also be some minor schedule adjustments for connecting trains at Jamaica for some Port Jefferson/Huntington, Oyster Bay, and Montauk Branch trains.

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Far Rockaway Branch (also affecting Hempstead, Huntington, Long Beach trains):

Midday weekdays, one of two main tracks between Valley Stream and Far Rockaway will be out of service for a track tie replacement program.

Eastbound Far Rockaway trains will operate 30 minutes later and eastbound Hempstead Branch trains (connecting at Jamaica) will also operate 30 minutes later. Eastbound Long Beach trains will operate 35 minutes later. Some midday eastbound Huntington trains will operate three minutes later.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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3

Most Riders Incorrectly Blame The MTA In Poll

Posted by
on September 13th, 2010 at 3:10 am

Over the years I have hammered home many different points on this blog. Regular readers know that the biggest one was how our elected officials are the most responsible for the overall mess the MTA routinely finds itself in.

While the MTA has made their share of mistakes, they were only a fraction of the problem as elected officials throughout the years has made the MTA their favorite scapegoat, especially when they needed perfectly timed “C.B.P.” aka “Constituent Brownie Points”. The mostly uninformed riding public would fall right in line by eating up the same rah rah nonsense from their elected officials.

So it comes as no surprise to me that, in a recent Marist Poll conducted for the Wall Street Journal, just over 60% of city residents find the MTA to be the most responsible for fare hikes, service cuts & the like. Andrew Grossman of the Wall Street Journal has more:

Transit advocates are trying to channel public anger about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s service cuts and fare increases into the November legislative elections. But a new poll shows that most New Yorkers don’t blame their elected officials, but the MTA itself.

Just over 60% of New York City residents think the agency is most responsible for the service cuts and fare hikes—not the Legislature, Mayor Michael Bloomberg or Gov. David Paterson, according to a Marist College poll conducted for The Wall Street Journal.

“They’re as popular as Goldman Sachs,” said Gene Russianoff, who runs the Straphangers Campaign, a subway-rider advocacy group.

The MTA cut two subway lines and dozens of bus routes in June to help fill a $800 million gap in its $12 billion 2010 budget. It raised fares last summer and will likely do so again in January 2011. The authority’s board will hold public hearings on a proposed 7.5% increase beginning Monday night.

Since taking over the top job at the authority in September 2009, MTA Chief Executive Jay Walder has tried to cut costs at an agency that traditionally has been criticized as bloated and inefficient. That effort resulted in $525 million in annual savings and praise from public officials who are usually quick to criticize the agency.

The uncertain budget picture has some advocacy groups trying to increase pressure on candidates to support new funding streams for the MTA, such as congestion pricing—a scheme, championed by Mr. Bloomberg, to charge drivers to enter crowded parts of Manhattan during the day. It has failed to gain support in the Legislature.

The MTA doesn’t “print their own money. They don’t control the state budget and they certainly don’t control the dedicated taxes that the legislature can pass to fund them,” said Noah Budnick, the deputy director of Transportation Alternatives, a group that tries to persuade people to find other ways to travel than driving. Mr. Budnick’s group is running a “Rider Rebellion” campaign that seeks to put pressure on candidates to support more funding for mass transit.

Click here for the complete report.

This report truly comes as no surprise to me. I have tried my best to educate people over the years via this blog, personal conversations, etc… that the MTA is not the sole culprit in its routine dismal state. They truthfully are an agency that operates alone in a lot of ways but at the mercy of our elected officials.

For years our elected officials have shown no desire or knowledge (if not both) as to how vital mass transit is to the region. For the last couple of decades, they have routinely sacrificed the future for a short term gain in the present. When the future becomes the present, they find themselves stuck in a situation that is dire & leads to the riding public being forced to deal with the consequences.

Do our elected officials take the time to help out their constituents? No, they rather enact measures that are counterproductive to their constituents. If it is not that, they jump on any little chance to bash the MTA to gain praise from those same constituents they routinely shortchange. Of course they are not smart enough to see they are being played & instead jump on the “Blame The MTA” bandwagon.

Well ladies & gentlemen, ask yourself why you tend to repeat history & complain when the results are always the same. Instead of scapegoating the MTA (who has enough to worry about), put your local leaders feet to the fire by demanding they come up with sustainable solutions for the much maligned transit agency. If they do not, you will use your power to vote them out onto the street.

Wait, who am I kidding? Why do something that makes so much sense when it is so much easier to do nothing but pass false blame & bitch to anyone who will listen to our drivel. How sad…..

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Dutchess Co. May Join MTA Payroll Tax Lawsuit

Posted by
on September 13th, 2010 at 2:39 am

The line of towns & counties against the MTA payroll tax may become bigger by the end of today. This is because Dutchess County lawmakers may take a vote as to whether they should join Nassau County’s lawsuit against the MTA’s Mobility aka Payroll Tax. Mid-Hudson News has more:

The Dutchess County Legislature Monday may vote on whether to explore joining a lawsuit spearheaded by Nassau County to sue the State of New York for imposing a payroll tax on all businesses in the MTA service territory.

That region includes the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Westchester and Rockland to the north of New York City, the five boroughs, and the two counties of Long Island. It cost Dutchess County government $400,000 in the tax this year.

Dutchess lawmakers will consider a resolution requesting the county attorney and county executive to explore “with the intent of litigating” the option to join in Nassau County’s lawsuit.

A number of area counties and municipalities have already joined the Nassau County lawsuit seeking to have the payroll tax tossed.

“The MTA payroll tax is an oppressive burden on the governments, businesses, and families of Dutchess County,” said Dutchess Legislature Chairman Robert Rolison. “This cost, mandated by the state legislature, is part of the problem that drives so many from our county and from our region.”

Click here for the complete report.

At this rate, the safest question to ask is who’s next? It seems every county wants to come out of the woodwork to rally against the tax which quite frankly was a mistake from the get go. Will it get reversed? At this point who knows although up until a decision is rendered, this fight will continue to gather steam & head for a big explosion between all parties involved.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 09-11-10

Posted by
on September 11th, 2010 at 4:10 pm

Let me apologize for the late posting of the diversions & lack of entries of late. My server was going through some repairs & I had no ability to access & update the site. Anyhow….

I just updated the “Service Diversions” page with the latest diversions for this weekend, next week, & beyond in some cases. The next update will be sometime after 5:01 AM Monday when all of the weekend diversions are removed & the ones for the week move up the list.

I suggest you print out a copy of the page to carry with you or use any mobile device to access the phone-friendly version of Transit Blogger. Everyone have a wonderful weekend & as always stay safe!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 09-07-10

Posted by
on September 7th, 2010 at 6:42 am

I have just updated the “Service Diversions” page by removing all of the work that just wrapped up at 5 AM this morning. The latest information for the upcoming week & beyond in some cases is at the forefront.

Throughout the week, I will make minor updates on the page itself (no entries about it) by removing work already completed. The next complete update will be Thursday evening or early Friday morning.

As always, I suggest you print out a copy of the diversions to have with you while riding. You may also use any phone or electronic device to access the mobile friendly version of Transit Blogger. Have a safe week & do your best to keep cool!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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