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LIRR 2008 Year In Review

Posted by
on January 6th, 2009 at 11:13 am

LIRR train entering Woodside.LIRR train entering Woodside. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit

2008 has come & gone & for the Long Island Rail Road, which might be a good thing considering the highs & lows the agency experienced. Positive things did happen under LIRR President Helena Williams watch such as a complete communications overhaul & adding an extra train for Adelphi & Hofstra universities.

However the year featured some events that Helena & the rest of the LIRR would love to forget including the disability benefits scandal & recent train derailment right by the Jamaica station. Alfonso A. Castillo of Newsday takes a look at the highs for the LIRR in this report:

If a movie were made about the Long Island Rail Road’s tumultuous past year, the climactic scene could take place on the tracks of Jamaica Station in the days just before Thanksgiving.

A derailment – the second train accident in four days at Jamaica and the agency’s worst in 15 years – had just occurred. It came during the same week that the LIRR proposed sharp fare hikes and service cuts, and as the agency still was reeling from a disability-pension-abuse scandal.

“I think that was the biggest black eye that the railroad had – that month from hell,” LIRR Commuters Council chairman Gerry Bringmann said.

Still, through the efforts of hundreds of LIRR employees who toiled through three bitterly cold nights, service was restored on the morning of Thanksgiving eve, just in time for the busiest travel day of the year.

MTA board member Mitch Pally of Stony Brook called it “almost a miracle.”

In some ways, the 72-hour period summed up the LIRR’s year to a T – a year during which the agency encountered some of its biggest achievements and its biggest setbacks.

Improvements in 2008

Helena Williams, who became LIRR president in mid-2007 after stints running Long Island Bus and as a deputy Nassau County executive, began 2008 with a lofty to-do list.

Near the top was putting into action a multimillion-dollar plan to remedy dangerous gaps between station platforms and train cars. By last month, more than 250 of 4,500-plus metal “threshold plates” to close those gaps had been installed on train car doors. Williams said the project should be completed by January 2010.

Setbacks in 2008

Among the biggest headaches for the LIRR in 2008 was the revelation that almost all retiring career employees in recent years applied for and received federal disability benefits.

The situation came to light following published reports in September disclosing that a little-known federal agency – the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board – had been approving 98 percent of disability claims nationwide. A disproportionately high number of those claims have come from LIRR employees, federal statistics showed.

The revelation led to federal and state investigations, and the arrest of one LIRR employee for illegally advising colleagues, during work hours, on how to collect disability benefits.

Click here for the complete report.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Man Dragged To Death By NYCT Bus

Posted by
on January 6th, 2009 at 10:40 am

This past Saturday, a 21 year old Brooklyn man was dragged to death by an out of service MTA New York City Transit bus. Dorian Block & Jotham Sederstorm of the New York Daily News have more in this report:

An out-of-service MTA bus dragged a Brooklyn man 100 feet to his death Saturday after hitting him as it cruised toward a nearby depot last night, authorities said.

The 21-year-old man was struck by the B67 after he emerged onto the street from between two parked cars on 36th St. in Kensington about 8:30 p.m., authorities said.

Witnesses said the unidentified man was hanging out with two friends when he was struck by the right passenger side of the bus and then dragged 100 feet.

“He was trapped behind the back tire,” said a neighbor, who identified himself as Rey, 32. “He was breathing. You could see smoke coming out of his mouth because it was so cold.”

“The man came in contact with the front right side of the bus,” said MTA spokeswoman Marisa Baldeo. “He came out between the cars and came in contact with the bus.”

Click here for the complete report.

I never enjoy hearing or reading stories about death. My heart goes out to the bus driver who must still be distraught over an accident that should have never occurred. It is a shame that the negligent actions of one person could potentially ruin a career but more importantly haunt this person for the rest of their life.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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NY Times Editorial – Obama Must Make Transit A Priority

Posted by
on January 5th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

Today’s print edition of the New York Times has a very strong editorial on why President-elect Obama must make transit a priority. Here is a sample:

Unlike President Bush, Barack Obama is going to enter office with a clear appreciation of the urgent problems of climate change and America’s growing dependency on foreign oil — and a strong commitment to address both.

One way he can do this is to give mass transit — trains, buses, commuter rails — the priority it deserves and the full financial and technological help it needs and has long been denied. Mass transit has always played second fiddle to the automobile, so Mr. Obama will need strong allies.

For years, the division of transportation money in Washington has heavily favored cars and trucks — more than 80 percent of the big transit money from gas taxes goes to highways and bridges, and less than 20 percent to railroads or mass transit.

The new administration could further help mass transit by shelving the unfair “cost effectiveness index” that President Bush put in place several years ago for new transit programs. The net effect of this index was to make it easier to build highways and almost impossible to use federal money for buses, streetcars, light rail, trolleys — indeed, any commuter-rail projects.

Click here for the complete editorial.

I want to thank the person who wrote this editorial as they clearly understand the importance of investing in our country’s transit infrastructure. For too long, mass transit has been treated as a stepchild by our country. The attitude was if you did not drive, you were not worth investing in.

Now those of us who understand our country’s needs knows this attitude is the exact opposite of what should be happening. A strong transit infrastructure is one of the most important aspects to a strong & healthy economy. This has been proven time & time again throughout the years yet the stigma against it has not changed.

Here is to hoping that the new administration is serious about making mass transit a priority. I & many others hope that the lack of talk about mass transit projects in recent video messages to the nation are not a sign of things to come. Mass transit users (I do drive but prefer mass transit) deserve an equal share of t he pie!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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6 Train Rider Report Card Handout

Posted by
on January 5th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

Earlier this morning, MTA’s New York City Transit e-mailed a press release to announce that the 6 Train will be the last train graded as part of the 2008 Rider Report Cards. Here are the complete details:

MTA New York City Transit is concluding its second annual distribution of Rider Report Cards this week. Riders on the 6 will cast the final ballots of NYC Transit’s over five million daily subway customers asked to rate the progress of their line since the initial round of report cards was distributed in July 2007.

The report cards are being distributed to riders during the morning rush hours from Tuesday, January 6th through Thursday, January 8th. The cards will be handed out at several different stations along the line each day over all three days. Grades will be used to identify rider preferences and to gauge how much improvement customers along the 6 line have noticed since the initial report card.

Again, the Rider Report Card will ask subway riders to grade 21 specific areas of service from an A (Excellent) to an F (Unsatisfactory). Among the areas riders will grade include: car and station cleanliness, safety, security, quality of announcements, and the courtesy and helpfulness of front line customer service staff. Riders will also assign an overall grade for 6 service. From this list of 21 service attributes, riders are also going to be asked to rank the top three improvements they would like to see made to this line.

The Rider Report Card is once again being distributed in a mailer format, designed to be returned at no cost to the rider. Customers will also have the option of completing the survey on-line, on the MTA website at www.mta.info/nyct/index.html, where it is available in three languages: English, Spanish and Chinese. From the time the survey begins, riders will have two weeks to mail in their response or to complete the survey online.

Rider Report Card results are posted on line for riders to review once they have been tabulated.

Report cards are being distributed between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at each station. The schedule for distribution of Rider Report Cards along the 6 line is as follows:

• Tuesday, January 6th – Spring Street, Astor Place, 23rd Street, 28th Street, 33rd Street, 68th Street-Hunter College, 77th Street, 96th Street, 103rd Street, 110th Street and 116th Street.

• Wednesday, January 7th – 3rd Avenue-138th Street, Brook Avenue, Cypress Avenue, East 143rd-St. Mary’s Streets, East 149th Street, Longwood Avenue, Hunts Point Avenue, Whitlock Avenue and Elder Avenue.

• Thursday, January 8th – Morrison-Sound View Avenues, St. Lawrence Avenue, Parkchester, Castle Hill Avenue, Zerega Avenue, Westchester Square-East Tremont Avenue, Middletown Road, Buhre Avenue and Pelham Bay Park.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 01-02

Posted by
on January 2nd, 2009 at 7:55 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!

P.S. Stay warm!

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