Gridlock Sam: Wrong Bridges Are Tolled
Over the last couple of years, talk of tolling East River bridges has come up numerous times to help create new funding for the MTA. The usual battle lines are drawn with those in favor spouting off the benefits & reasons why they should be & the detractors saying that it is not fair to put the burden on them.
Proponents of the tolls being added have routinely used the idiotic reasoning that people who use the bridges to drive in & out of Manhattan do so at a luxury since they clearly have so much disposable income available. I of course have called out that reasoning time & time again as it is based on opinion & no legitimate fact. I have received the typical comments of this study & that study but save it, as anyone can make a study say what you want it to say.
In today’s New York Daily News, Gridlock Sam penned an editorial explaining why the wrong bridges are currently tolled & how the East River Bridges need to be:
Here we go again: The MTA is raising tolls for all the wrong people. Drivers from communities outside Manhattan like Bayside, Queens; Throgs Neck, the Bronx; Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and Stapleton, S.I., will be asked to shell out another dollar to pay for a transit system they do not use and that doesn’t serve them very well.
For example, tolls will jump appreciably at the Throgs Neck Bridge – which connects Queens to the Bronx. Ever try to get from Little Neck, Queens, to Throgs Neck by bus? With the $223 million collected in tolls on the Throgs Neck Bridge each year and the bulk of that revenue going to mass transit, one would think we would have efficient Disney World-style monorails whisking people back and forth every few minutes. But, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website, that trip by mass transit would require four buses, more than an hour of travel and a fare of $4.50.
On the other hand, drivers in Brooklyn Heights heading to Manhattan during the peak of rush hour pay nothing to cross the Manhattan or Brooklyn bridges, despite an alphabet soup of nearby subway lines including the A, B, C, D, F, M, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
However, it’s not all good news for Brooklyn Heights residents, either. Already suffering through unbearable traffic, their wounds will be salted when the new toll sends thousands more drivers to clog Clinton, Henry, Adams and Tillary Sts. as they struggle to reach the approaches to the (free) bridges.
Another way to look at it is that the four free East River bridges into Manhattan generate $0 in revenue, although there are roughly 20 subway lines parallel to them. The six MTA bridges that serve transit-poor areas (the Verrazano, Whitestone, Throgs Neck, RFK, Marine Parkway and Cross Bay) generate more than $1 billion a year and are served by one lonely subway line, the A train’s Rockaway spur, which runs parallel to the Cross Bay Bridge.
What does this tell us? That we have tolls in all the wrong places. Yes, historically one set of bridges was built by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (now renamed MTA Bridges and Tunnels) with tolls and the others, which are older, by the city itself. But those East River bridges, now free, were all built with tolls. The tolls were removed by Mayor William Gaynor in the early 1900s. “I see no more reason for tollgates on the bridges than for tollgates on Fifth Ave. or Broadway,” he ominously said.
Click here for the complete editorial.
While I don’t completely agree with tolling the East River crossings, I understand Sam’s reasoning. If people who support the tolls being added presented their case as he did, they could potentially win more support & understanding. Instead some continue to chime in with the idiocy I referenced above & as expected get nowhere. It will be interesting to see if supporters change their tunes when the next pitch for tolling the East River crossings comes up.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Officials Want Woodside Station Improvements
If some elected officials in Queens get their way, the MTA will be making some much needed improvements to the 61st Street-Woodside station on the 
. City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and Congressmember Joseph Crowley met with the MTA late last month to discuss potential funding for the work. Corey Flayman of The Queens Courier has more:
Travelers who use the 61st Street Woodside subway station may be seeing a few new improvements.
City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and Congressmember Joseph Crowley met with Senior Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials on Monday, July 26 to discuss funding potential improvements to the station.
“The congressmember and I share the desire to see the station improve,” said Van Bramer.
Van Bramer said that they conducted a walk-through of the experience at the station and hope to improve traffic flow, cleanliness and the safety and ease of getting in and out of the station and trains.
An MTA spokesperson said they were considering installing wind screens at the No. 7 line platform. There are no definite timetables in place or costs evaluated yet, according to the sources.
Click here for the complete report.
It is nice to see some elected officials going to bat for their constituents in terms of getting improvements to the mass transit in their area. I do agree with the report talking about how this is not the best time for such a push considering the financial crisis within the MTA. Hopefully the two sides can come up with a solution that works for everyone.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Laid Off MTA Bus Drivers Win Special License
When the MTA planned to eliminate a lot of bus service in all 5 boroughs due to its financial crisis, even they could have not expected all the twists & turns that would result from it. First we had persistence of 16 year old Ali Fadil reaching out to Transport Azumah to help save the QM22 via a private bus route which shortly after debuting received a restraining order to stop running.
After that went down, some city leaders announced that they wanted dollar vans to replace the cut bus lines much to the chagrin of many local civil leaders. A short time letter, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen penned an editorial for The Brooklyn Paper urging people to “reject a cut-rate, “Wal-Mart” transit system that will lower safety, comfort and environmentally friendly standards.”
While I did not compare the potential dollar van service to Walmart, I did question the push for such a service considering the shady operators & drivers behind a majority of the fly by night operations out there currently. Fast forward to yesterday when the TWU won a special license to run a dollar van service in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, Park Slope and downtown Brooklyn. Lisa Chow of WNYC has more:
The city’s transit union says it has won a special license to run a dollar van service in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, Park Slope and downtown Brooklyn.
This comes after the union’s fierce opposition to the city’s plan to expand private van service in neighborhoods affected by the MTA bus cuts. The Transport Workers Union Local 100 represents 500 bus drivers and mechanics who were laid off because of the service cuts.
The TWU’s lawyer, Arthur Schwartz, says as the union fights the city plan in court, it also decided to submit a proposal to operate a van line.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission has been soliciting applications from van companies to operate along five now defunct bus routes in Brooklyn and Queens. This pilot program, the TLC says, is intended to give the nearly 7,000 riders of those bus routes another transportation option.
Click here for the complete report.
Personally I am not thrilled at this latest development. While it is nice to see laid off drivers finding employment, what does it really do to solve the overall problem which happens to be the funding of our mass transit system? The answer is clear in that it does nothing but provide a band-aid solution for the riders who lost their service while not addressing the current & future problems at hand.
Did John spend the last few weeks trying to secure this license instead of sitting down to continue negotiations with the MTA? If so, that is a big mistake & shows that he is not about true solutions but rather quick fixes that help his members & make him look good to them & the riding public. Now is not the time for these games as the future of our system is clearly at stake.
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MTA Seeking Higher End Retailers
When you think of the NYC Subway, images such as dirty platforms/tracks, & rats come to mind. Over the years, the MTA has tried to change that perception by having stores at stations such as 59th St-Columbus Circle & 42nd St-8th Ave.
The agency is continuing the push by looking for higher end retailers to open up storefronts throughout the system. Heather Haddon & Tim Herrera of AMNY has more in this report:
The subways could be getting swanky soon.
The MTA is pushing for higher-end retailers to open up down below, amNewYork has learned. The agency is hoping the stores will spruce up the system and bring in some much-needed dough.
“It’s a new approach,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. “We’re looking to attract a new wave of edgy and stylish vendors that put some thought into their store’s design.”
Earlier this week, a high-end toy and clothing store opened in a new space at the 42nd Street and 8th Avenue station. Merwin Andrade, a city retailer who made his mark in Japan, designed the store, called GRAST, as a tribute to “the NYC underground art scene,” he said in a statement.
In the last few weeks, the MTA has been “knocking on doors downtown” to find some stylish retail stores for the system, Ortiz said. Officials also hope to dress up the look of its newsstands, he said.
Click here for the complete report.
I think this would be a great idea for the MTA. It could bring in much needed revenue for the agency & fuel the obsession with shopping that many riders have. However with saying that, my suggestion would be to watch exactly how high end of a retailer they seek.
They have to factor in if the store’s clientele actually ride the subways. Take a high end store from 5th or Park Ave that deals with extremely pricey goods, do you really think the majority of their customers ride the subways? I highly doubt it so such a retailer would not make a good fit for the agency. If they can avoid this pitfall, & setup fair market rental deals, this project should pay big dividends for them.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Editorial: MTA Workers Keep Service On Time
When shit hits the fan involving any part of the MTA, the standard reaction is to either yell about how they have a 2nd set of books or how it is all the fault of the lazy & overpaid union workers. The former has already been disproved in court & the latter is an idiotic sentiment echoed by clueless people.
Today’s editorial in the Poughkeepsie Journal happens to focus on union workers as one in particular wants you to know that if it wasn’t for these so called lazy & overpaid workers, trains would not be running on time. Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local No. 808 in Long Island City, Fitzverity C. Silvera has more:
Today the unions find themselves, again, under a blistering attack by the media (“MTA’s policies counterproductive,” Aug. 7 editorial) and management. This attack seeks to transfer blame for the current economic crisis to organized workers who refuse to be broken or bowed into pretending that they are to blame for this crisis.
This economic disaster should be laid at the feet of the greedy capitalists working on Wall Street, in our banking sector, and their agents in government who signed ill-conceived trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China — among others.
The destruction of our industrial base and our refusal to create a high-wage-and-benefit service sector to replace our high-wage-and-benefit industrial sector, coupled with capitalist greed, has pushed our economy over a cliff without enough parachutes to protect the working class.
Currently, we see numerous questions about overtime within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The economic crisis at the MTA has nothing to do with overtime or work rules, but much to do with the overall meltdown that was precipitated by Wall Street greed. Furthermore, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli should master his own job before attacking the MTA.
The MTA could significantly lower overtime, but the impact to the commuter would not be appreciated. Currently, we experience trains arriving at their destination 95 percent or better on schedule. It would be impossible to change rails with trains running, or to weld a frog during rush hours.
This work must be done when traffic is reduced and that means at night or on the weekend. Major upgrades that keep our system the envy of the nation can only be done off-hours. Workers do not create the overtime and managers do not dole it out because they are incompetent, but because the riders want to get to their destination on time and safely. With less overtime, commuters would see on-time performance fall into the 50 percent or less bracket.
Click here for the complete editorial.
I thought it was a strongly worded editorial & very refreshing to see major political points accurately addressed. The financial crisis of the MTA & moreso our entire country is quite complex. Unfortunately most people rather read gossip columns or obsess over what some unimportant celebrity is doing, dating, or wearing instead of understand the problems our country faces & what solutions need to be enacted.
When things continue to get worse for the MTA, & our country as a whole, they will continue to be distracted with trivial things. When they decide to speak up, their blame will be thrown at the wrong people & the process just continues. What sad times we live in…..
xoxo Transit Blogger
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