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MTA To Retrofit Buses With GPS Tracking

Posted by
on August 16th, 2010 at 12:10 am

Bx 31
If the MTA has its way, their bus fleet will have GPS tracking in the future. Bx 31 departing Westchester Square. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit.

The last time I wrote about the MTA’s desire to retrofit their buses with GPS tracking was in November 2008 when the agency’s plan stalled due to the contractor being beyond schedule. 3 days ago, NYU’s university paper, Washington Square News had a report saying the agency is once again looking to get the plan in motion. Feiye Wang has more:

Commuting through the city may soon be a little less hectic with the help of a new program under development by the MTA that will provide tracking information for buses to passengers via GPS.

According to the MTA, the system is designed to eventually allow passengers to receive updates about their bus’ status, either on their cell phones or at their bus stops.

The public information system will get its data from another recent MTA project, Smart Cards — computer-embedded fare cards that allow passengers to tap rather than swipe to pay for transit. Each tap will be registered in a central server and will be used to determine the position of a given bus.

The project, however, is still in its early test phases and so far only eight MTA bus routes have been outfitted with the new Smart Card system.

MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said, “The purpose of the pilot is to test the technology on several fronts, mainly interoperability and performance of equipment and software, cards and readers, and bus and subway in terms of availability, speed and processing/aggregation rules.”

He added: “We are commissioning a server which receives relatively raw location and other data from the bus, integrates it with route and schedule data, and provides the results.”

Click here for the complete report.

As I noted in that entry, it is a shame that our system lacks such common technology. Our system is arguably the most important & complex in the entire world yet we lag far behind others in terms of technology. Hopefully this program gets off the ground & our system catches up with the technology & needs of today’s riders.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Rockland County Files Suit Against MTA Tax

Posted by
on August 15th, 2010 at 11:56 pm

The raging battle over the MTA Mobility Tax aka MTA Payroll Tax continues to heat up. When I last wrote about it on Wednesday, Republican Rockland County Legislator Edwin Day of New City suggested that his county should join the fight against the tax.

Fast forward to this past Friday where Rockland County officially filed their own suit against the MTA. However that was not the only news on this front as Republican Westchester County Legislator John Testa has urged the county to join the suit filed by Nassau County. Ken Valenti of LoHud (Lower Hudson Valley) has more:

The suburbs’ legal battle against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax continued to grow Friday as Rockland County filed a lawsuit to end it and a Westchester legislator proposed joining a suit filed by Nassau County.

Nassau filed its suit in late July and already has been joined by Putnam County and three Orange County towns.

“We’ve had enough here,” Westchester Legislator John Testa, R-Peekskill, said at the Cortlandt train station Friday morning, standing with Putnam County Legislature Chairman Vincent Tamagna, R-Philipstown.

Noting that Westchester has been named the highest-taxed county in the United States, Testa said, “these additional taxes (are) just too much for our residents to take. Enough is enough.”

Testa said the payroll tax of 34 cents per $100 of payroll will cost businesses, local governments, hospitals and nonprofit agencies in Westchester County $104 million this year. That includes $1.1 million paid by county government itself.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, lauded Testa’s effort in a statement calling it “a good first step for Westchester.”

Click here for the complete report.

This fight is brewing to arguably be the biggest one of the year for the much maligned transit agency. They now have multiple counties including Putnam, Nassau, & Orange suing them over the legality of this tax. Now they could possibly be adding Rockland & heavy hitting Westchester to the mix. This has the potential to get really bad for the MTA if the courts find the tax to be unconstitutional.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 08-14-10

Posted by
on August 14th, 2010 at 2:31 am

I just updated the “Service Diversions” page by removing all of the scheduled work that wrapped up by 11:59 PM last night. The weekend diversions which I posted a few hours ago 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 the phone-friendly version of Transit Blogger. Try to stay cool & as always, have safe travels!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

Service Diversions 08-13-10

Posted by
on August 13th, 2010 at 8:44 pm

I have just updated the “Service Diversions” page with the latest weekend diversions. The remaining diversions scheduled to end by 11:59 PM tonight are still listed. The next update will be at 12:01 AM Saturday when those diversions are officially over.

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. Try to stay cool & as always, have safe travels!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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TWU Protests Outside Of MTA Chairman’s Condo

Posted by
on August 12th, 2010 at 7:16 pm

Once again the battle lines between the MTA & Transport Workers Union Local 100 (TWU Local 100) has heated up. This go around once again features TWU members protesting MTA CEO & Board Chairman Jay H. Walder outside of his condo on Central Park West & 96th Street. Jen Chung of Gothamist has more:

Last month, it was reported that MTA Chairman Jay Walder had purchased a $1.6 million condo at Central Park West and 96th Street. The three-bedroom abode is near five subways (the B/C and 1/2/3), not to mention a number of buses, which makes it easy for Transit Workers Union members to protest! TWU Local 100 president John Samuelson told the Daily News that Walder’s pricey home, high salary and vacation home in France “demonstrates he’s a rich elitist completely out of touch with New York City transit workers and riders.”

Click here for the complete report.

Once again I have to question the wisdom of TWU Local 100 President John Sameulsen in regards to focusing such a major portion of his attack/defense on Jay’s salary. As I noted in May, he is engaging in a clear battle of populism that he just can’t win.

I also noted in that same entry how comparing the salary of his members to Jay’s is comparing apples to oranges. Truth be told, Jay’s salary is quite low on the wage front compared to similar CEO positions whether in the public or private sector considering his responsibilities. When you compare his salary to all CEO’s, the gap widens even more.

This is not the argument that TWU leadership & its members should be engaging in. Instead of picketing outside his condo, why not do so outside the residents of the elected officials throughout the region who have shortchanged the MTA for decades. The problems they face go a long way back & have zero to do with Jay.

The time to stop engaging in wasteful protests is now & focus on the real issues & culprits at hand. While I have not agreed with all of his decisions, I do know that he is not the “Public Enemy #1” that the TWU is trying to make him out to be.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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