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MTA Prepared For Season’s Biggest Snow Storm

Posted by
on March 2nd, 2009 at 1:14 am

Late yesterday evening, the MTA sent out word via e-mail of their plans in preparation for the season’s biggest snow storm. Here are the complete details:

In preparation for the predicted snow storm set to strike the greater metropolitan region, NYC Transit and MTA Bus are taking steps to ready the subway and bus network for Monday morning’s commute.

The Department of Subways has positioned crews on equipment designed to clear the rails of ice and snow in known problem locations such as the Rockaways in Queens and the Dyre Ave line in the Bronx. During the overnight and early morning hours, Stations personnel will focus attention on station platforms and entrances to ensure they are as free of snow as possible, while crews from the Maintenance of Way Division will work to keep switches clear in order for subways to operate properly.

Crews from NYC Transit’s Department of Buses and MTA Bus will man snow fighting equipment to clear bus depot aprons to allow buses to pull out, as well as bus stops along certain routes. Supervisors in the Bus Command Center will also closely coordinate snow fighting efforts with the NYC Department of Sanitation during this weather event.

NYC Transit and MTA Bus plan to run a full rush hour complement of bus and subway service on Monday. However, given the predicted conditions customers are advised to factor in additional extra travel time to their normal commutes.

Customers can keep abreast of changes in regularly scheduled subway and bus service by logging on to www.mta.info and reviewing posted Service Alerts.

I will most likely be doing all of my work from home today so I will post any major updates if I can.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Site Update 02/28

Posted by
on February 28th, 2009 at 8:15 pm

I will be moving this site to a different server I own this weekend. So you will not be able to access it for a brief period. Hopefully the DNS will not take long to propagate & things will be up & running smoothly by Monday.

There should be a difference in how fast you can access the site as the main network used in the datacenter is one of the best in the world.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Service Diversions 02-27

Posted by
on February 27th, 2009 at 6:02 pm

I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest scheduled diversions for this weekend & next week (and beyond in some cases). Don’t forget to check in for any changes to the page. I also suggest printing out a copy of the page to use while riding the system. Have a safe & wonderful weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

The F Sings The C- Blues

Posted by
on February 27th, 2009 at 4:19 am

F TrainJamaica/179th St. bound F train approaching the Ditmas Ave. station. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit.

It is after 4 a.m & here I am doing a Rider Report Card entry. If you guessed that whatever line I was going to write about earned the same overall grade from 2007, take your bow as you are 100% correct. The line that towed the company grade line was the F. It once again earned a C- from the 8.158 people who responded. If you guessed that the number of responders dropped, you get to take a second bow for being correct. This time the decrease was close to 5000. Anyhow lets get to the breakdown:

F Train Riders Top 10 Priorities; 2007 priority rank in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )

02. Minimal delays during trips ( 3 )

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 2 )

04. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )

05. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )

06. Cleanliness of subway cars ( 7 )

07. Cleanliness of stations ( 6 )

08. Sense of security in stations ( 8 )

09. Sense of security on trains ( 10 )

10. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 11 )

—-

Complete F train riders priorities 2007 priority rank in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )

02. Minimal delays during trips ( 3 )

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 2 )

04. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )

05. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )

06. Cleanliness of subway cars ( 7 )

07. Cleanliness of stations ( 6 )

08. Sense of security in stations ( 8 )

09. Sense of security on trains ( 10 )

10. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 11 )

11. Station announcements that are informative ( 9 )

12. Comfortable temperature in subway cars ( 12 )

13. Train announcements that are informative ( 13 )

14. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel ( 14 )

15. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars ( 15 )

16. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way ( 18 )

17. Signs in stations that help riders find their way ( 17 )

18. Ease of use of subway turnstiles ( 16 )

19. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines ( 19 )

20. Lack of graffiti in stations ( 21 )

21. Lack of graffiti in subway cars ( 20 )

Click here for the breakdown of votes in this section.

—-

Now here is the graded breakdown for all 21 categories; 2007 grade in ( ):

01. Minimal delays during trips C- (C-)

02. Reasonable wait times for trains C- (C-)

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour D (D)

04. Sense of security in stations C (C)

05. Sense of security on trains C (C)

06. Working elevators and escalators in stations C- (C-)

07. Signs in stations that help riders find their way C+ (C)

08. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way C (C)

09. Cleanliness of stations D+ (D+)

10. Cleanliness of subway cars D+ (C-)

11. Station announcements that are easy to hear D (D)

12. Station announcements that are informative D (D)

13. Train announcements that are easy to hear D+ (D)

14. Train announcements that are informative D+ (D+)

15. Lack of graffiti in stations C+ (C+)

16. Lack of graffiti in subway cars C+ (C+)

17. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C- (C-)

18. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C (C)

19. Comfortable temperature in subway cars C (C)

20. Ease of use of subway turnstiles B- (B-)

21. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B- (B-)

Click here for the breakdown of votes in this section.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Well a year has come & gone and it is safe to say not much as changed on the F. 2007’s top priority continues to be the main issue. The 2nd & 3rd reasons switched spots but are still causes for concern according to riders. The rest of the top 10 looks similar to 2007 minus the new entry of “Working elevators and escalators in stations” which rose a spot to 10th.

As far as the grades are concerned, I feel they are extremely accurate. If I had to nitpick, I would say that riders should have given at least a D to the top 2 priorities. A C- is being generous in my honest opinion. Most of what I said for 2007’s results still apply so you can check that out by clicking here. In the end, I feel things will only get worse for the riders of the F before it gets better.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

East New York Track Work To Affect Weekend LIRR Service

Posted by
on February 26th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

Earlier this afternoon the Long Island Rail Road issued a press release via e-mail. The release was to announce that weekend service on 3 branches will be affected due to track work at the East New York interlocking. Here are the complete details:

As part of its track rehabilitation and renewal project, the MTA Long Island Rail Road will be upgrading the switches at the East New York Interlocking, affecting service on the Far Rockaway, Hempstead and Long Beach Branches, along with connections to other branches on February 28, marking the final of three consecutive Saturdays of track work in February.

On Saturday, February 28, 2009 starting at 12:01 AM and concluding at 11:30 PM, one of two main tracks will be out of service at East New York for switch work to be performed, resulting in the following changes:

Far Rockaway Branch Trains Eastbound: All Eastbound trains from Flatbush Avenue to Far Rockaway, starting with the 12:16 AM train and concluding with the 11:13 PM train will depart 10 to 13 minutes earlier from Flatbush to Jamaica, then dwell in Jamaica Station until their regular departure times.

Far Rockaway Branch Trains Westbound: All trains will operate on regular schedule.

Hempstead Branch Trains Eastbound: All trains will operate on regular schedule.

Hempstead Trains Westbound: All westbound trains from Hempstead will operate on their regular schedules and terminate at Jamaica with the exception of the 1:19 AM Hempstead train and the 4:31 AM Hempstead train, which will operate on regular schedules to Jamaica, then dwell at Jamaica Station for 11 to 14 minutes before continuing to Flatbush Avenue. Passengers on trains that terminate at Jamaica will have to wait for the next Far Rockaway train to complete their trips to Brooklyn. This will add approximately 30 minutes of travel time.

Long Beach Branch Trains: The 1:10 AM train from Flatbush Avenue to Long Beach will depart 9 minutes earlier from Flatbush Avenue to Jamaica, then dwell in Jamaica Station until its regular departure time.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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