on June 27th, 2008 at 4:41 am
Yesterday, New York Times reporter William Neuman posted a story about the new delays the MTA faces in their attempt to install high-tech surveillance cameras in & around the subway and commuter railroads. Here is his report:
Aging fiber-optic cable in Brooklyn and Queens has become the latest obstacle to a planned high-tech system of surveillance cameras meant to safeguard the subway and commuter railroads, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.
The system, which is expected to cost at least $450 million, is a crucial component of a larger program to thwart terrorist attacks on the region’s transportation network, but it has met repeatedly with technical problems and delays.
On Wednesday, the authority’s board authorized the replacement of 84,000 feet of old fiber-optic cable, which was installed in the late 1980s. The replacement will cost $5 million and is being done as part of a separate project to build out the subway’s data network.
According to a board document, tests on the cable showed that it had “many broken fibers unsuitable to carry the high bandwidth required” to transmit large amounts of data, which hindered the surveillance camera project. The document did not say how long it would take to replace the cable.
The authority’s board received a lengthy closed-door briefing on the security project on Wednesday and was told that it continued to face significant problems, including delays and increased costs, according to an official who attended the meeting.
“It is clearly significant,” the official said, referring to the severity of the problem.
Plans for the surveillance system were announced in August 2005, when officials said that they expected to have it up and running in three years. The system, which is being built by the defense contractor Lockheed Martin, is to include at least 1,000 surveillance cameras and 3,000 motion sensors, mostly concentrated at major travel hubs and high-volume stations, like Grand Central Terminal, as well as in tunnels and other areas.
It is also supposed to combine several advanced technologies and packages of software that could integrate information collected across the region’s vast transportation network.
But officials now acknowledge that the original schedule was far too ambitious.
“Any I.T. person will tell you,” another authority official said, referring to information technology experts, “that a contract like this could not have been done in the time they allotted. They couldn’t do it in three years.”
The official estimated that it could take two or three more years to complete, although some aspects of the system could be in operation sooner.
The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the nature of the security measures, said, however, that they had not been told when the authority expected to have the system finished.
Jeremy Soffin, a spokesman for the authority, said that he could not comment on security matters.
A report released in January by the New York State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, said that the surveillance camera project was behind schedule and was scheduled, at that time, to be finished in December 2009. The officials said on Wednesday that they did not know whether the date had been pushed back further.
The comptroller’s report also said that the surveillance project had been scaled back because of problems adapting the cameras’ software to conditions in the authority’s facilities.
One of the officials who spoke on Wednesday said those problems involved the cameras’ ability to spot an unattended bag or briefcase left on a train platform or other busy area and then alert law enforcement to the possible hazard. That capability had originally been promoted as a major feature of the system, but the official said it had failed in tests.
“There are too many people, too many things moving around in the system,” the official said.
The damaged fiber-optic cable is mainly on elevated portions of the J and Z lines, running from the Broadway Junction station in East New York, Brooklyn, to the Sutphin Boulevard station in Jamaica, Queens, and then along the E line to the Union Turnpike station.
Paul Fleuranges, a spokesman for New York City Transit, the arm of the authority that runs the subway, said that the because the cable was outdoors, it had deteriorated faster than similar cable in tunnels underground.
The replacement cable is being installed as part of a $200 million project that is separate from the security program, to create an up-to-date fiber-optic network throughout the subway system.
That project was expanded last year to include a $21 million upgrade to add technology that would allow larger amounts of data to move along the network. The extra capacity was needed to accommodate the surveillance camera system. However, the board document said the damaged cable could not handle the larger volume of data.
Officials refused to say how the Brooklyn-to-Queens segment of the fiber-optic network fits into the surveillance camera system. When it is complete, the surveillance system will send images and other data to a control center beside the Sunnyside railyard in Long Island City, Queens.
The comptroller’s office has issued periodic reports highlighting delays and increasing costs in the authority’s security program, which was conceived after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The program includes the surveillance system as well as other projects to improve the security of bridges, tunnels and other facilities.
I am not surprised that this project is facing a delay. I will admit that I am not saddened by it as I do not support the installation of these camers inside railroad & subway cars. I find them to be an invasion of privacy although some argue that we are taped just about everywhere. While that maybe the case, it never has gone as far as subway cars in NYC.
Someone has to draw a line between our rights & the bullshit safety that comes with the installation of these cameras. These cameras are not going to prevent an attack no matter what they tell you. I hope they scrap the installtion of these cameras inside cars completely.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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on June 27th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Yesterday marked the end of the Long Island Rail Road’s first new rail service since the 1964 World’s Fair shuttle. The “East End” shuttle was created last October in response to the traffic congestion on County Road 39 which serves as the main east-west road in the town of Southampton. Mitchell Freedman of Newsday filed this report about the end to this popular shuttle:
The very last East End Shuttle, a four-car train out of Montauk, pulled into the Speonk railroad station at 5:33 p.m., right on time.
More than a dozen passengers got out, and – a few minutes later – Engine 510 gave a throaty diesel roar, the horn sounded, and what was one of the most popular trains ever run by the Long Island Rail Road moved a few hundred yards east, into a rail yard and into history.
In its short life, the special commuter run became wildly popular with thousands of South Fork commuters who found their trip time cut in half.
Even the conductors were a little sad. “We’re going to miss it,” said Rose Ballou. “Everyone knows everyone on the train.”
Her partner, Colleen Lamb, said it was clear that this was a different kind of train the first time she saw the passengers. “They were all friendly to each other,” she said. “They didn’t even know how to give you their tickets.”
The Shuttle, created in October as a way for drivers to avoid massive construction delays on County Road 39 – the main east-west road in Southampton – became so popular that its shutdown date was extended twice.
The final three round trips were made yesterday, the last possible date that those cars could be used before being assigned to new summer runs.
Whole groups of workers from Southampton Hospital and Southampton Town Hall and the East Hampton school system would make the commute on the shuttle each day.
Tracey Lutz, executive director of The Retreat, an East End shelter for battered women, said a half-dozen people from her organization rode the shuttle daily and found the train gave them time to talk. “You get to know each other and to talk, things you don’t do in the office,” she said.
Oddly, yesterday, she was the only one from the group on the 5:33 p.m. to Speonk. “It’s the last day of the train and I’m all by myself,” she said wistfully.
LIRR president Helena Williams said it took nearly $1 million in grants from federal, state and local governments to operate the shuttle and the feeder bus network that went from local stations across Southampton and East Hampton.
“The most wonderful thing about it was the customer reaction,” she said. “Back in November and December the ridership was at full throttle … in November we had more than 8,000 total passengers, 6,600 in December and almost 7,000 in January.”
But early completion of work on County Road 39 in May and the end of school caused a serious drop in ridership. It was down to 3,240 in May, and June is expected to be even less. Officials said it is unlikely the shuttle will start up again, although data obtained from the service will become part of an East End regional transportation plan.
The shuttle got good ridership which is a good sign that if you make mass transit available, people will use it.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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on June 26th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
The MTA’s Metro-North division issued a press release regarding their president Peter A. Cannito. The releaase highlights the prestigious railroad industry award that Mr. Cannito won. Here is the press release courtesy of the MTA:
MTA Metro-North Railroad President Peter A. Cannito is this year’s recipient of the W. Graham Claytor Award for Distinguished Service to Passenger Transportation.
Now in its 15th year, the award is given annually by Railway Age magazine to honor those who have contributed to the advancement of passenger rail in America. The award is named for late president of Amtrak.
“Pete Cannito stands tall among the industry’s great railroaders,” said Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. “It’s his love of the industry, and passenger railroading in particular, that has enabled him to make so many significant contributions. This award is well-deserved, because it honors a lifetime of notable achievements.”
“I was proud to be working at Amtrak during Claytor’s tenure when we were working to improve and expand the quality of rail passenger service nationwide, so this award holds particular meaning for me. I’m deeply honored,” Mr. Cannito said.
Mr. Cannito, who will retire from Metro-North next month, will be presented with the honor at Railway Age’s Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads Conference in Washington D.C. on Oct. 22, 2008.
As President of Metro-North since June 1999, Mr. Cannito has overseen an unprecedented investment in new rail cars, new and rebuilt shop facilities and technological improvements – all with the intent of improving customer service and further increasing ridership and revenue. During his tenure, Metro-North has set records for on-time performance, ridership, customer satisfaction, fleet performance and safety performance.
During his 41-year railroad career, Mr. Cannito has acquired extensive experience and acumen in managing all aspects of railroad operations, maintenance, engineering, construction and new car development for some of the largest, most complex railroads in the industry, among them the New York Central, Penn Central and Amtrak.
After serving in the Marine Corps, he joined the New York Central in 1967 and worked his way through Canisius College in his hometown of Buffalo, NY, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. A 1963 graduate of Bishop Timon High School in Buffalo, Mr. Cannito also has attended The Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Mr. Cannito currently is a member of the Canisius College Board of Regents.
He left the Penn Central RR in 1974, when he joined Amtrak where he rapidly advanced through several operations, maintenance and engineering positions.
In 1988 he became Vice President of Engineering for Amtrak, taking responsibility for maintenance and upgrade of the railroad’s infrastructure and rail vehicle fleet nationally. He directed the procurement of new passenger equipment including the GE Genesis Series Locomotive Program, the Superliner Program, and Viewliner Program and managed the program to introduce High Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor. He was also responsible for the construction of the Atlantic City Line from Philadelphia, PA to Atlantic City, NJ, and the reactivation of the Empire Connection from New York Penn Station to the Metro-North territory at Spuyten Duyvil on the Hudson Line.
Mr. Cannito joined ABB Traction in 1995 as Executive Vice President, overseeing all new and remanufacturing efforts for equipment in the heavy and high-speed rail markets in the U.S. Then, in 1997, he was named Vice President of Rail and Transit Programs for Raytheon Infrastructure Inc.
Previous winners and fellow New York public transportation executives include former New York Transit Authority and Amtrak President David Gunn, former Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and former U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Mortimer L. Downey, and the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Established in 1994, the W. Graham Claytor, Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to Passenger Transportation honors the memory of the late Amtrak President W. Graham Claytor, Jr. A decorated World War II veteran, Claytor served as CEO of the Southern Railway, Secretary of the Navy, and Deputy Secretary of Defense and had an illustrious legal career prior to his 12 years of service as president of Amtrak. His skillful leadership, railroad expertise, and political skills are widely credited with Amtrak’s survival during particularly turbulent years.
First published in 1856, Railway Age covers developments in the $25 billion North American railway industry. The magazine’s editorial emphasis is on technology, operations, strategic planning, marketing, and other issues such as legislative and labor/management developments. Its circulation of 25,000 goes to railway management, railway suppliers, and consultants. Railway Age is the flagship publication of the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation Rail Group.
Metro-North Railroad, one of the largest regional railroads in the United States, carried more than 80.7 million people last year, a record. Metro-North has a $1.2 billion operating budget with responsibility for 795 miles of track in nine counties. Metro-North provides 270,000 trips a day on 723 trains serving 120 stations in Manhattan, Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties in New York, and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut. The three lines east of the Hudson River, the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven, each terminate at the world’s largest and most celebrated terminal: Grand Central, which boasts 42 track platforms and 33 miles of track within its 49 acres. Each day more than 700,000 people pass through the Terminal.
Congratulations go out to Mr. Cannito for a job well done.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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on June 26th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
The Moynihan Station project has been in its share of battles & who knows if this much needed project will ever become a reality. If you ask the developers in charge, they will tell you that they are still optimistic about its chances even though the owners of Madison Square Garden announced they will not move their arena & forge on with their own renovation plans. Eliot Brown of The New York Observer has more to say:
In case there was any doubt, Steve Roth and Steve Ross really want Madison Square Garden to move.
This morning, some 13 weeks after Madison Square Garden announced it was renovating and staying in place (i.e. not moving), the developer duo professed, once again, their eagerness to see the Paterson administration pick up the ball and move forward with the large-scale Moynihan Station plan. The plan, in its most recent iteration, would involve the state using Port Authority money intended for regional transportation projects to buy the Garden and its air rights from the Dolan family, that is, if they’re willing to sell (the Dolans have expressed no interest and are moving forward with the renovation).
Mr. Ross is the chairman of the Related Companies and Mr. Roth is chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, the two designated developers in the project that would redo Pennsylvania Station.
Why not let the dream die? The air rights that would be unleashed from the Garden moving, as Mr. Roth reminded the crowd at the Portfolio real estate breakfast at the Four Seasons Pool Room, are of great value.
“Since Vornado owns all the property around it, and half the air rights above Madison Square Garden, obviously, it’s ‘come to mama,’” he said.
Some other tidbits from the breakfast:
- Mr. Roth was candid as to why he wants the Garden to move to Farley: It’s the only other place they’ll consider besides their current site, he said. “We don’t care if they move to Iowa. … They can move as far west as they want.”
- Apparently the plan to move the Garden to the rear of the Farley building was the brainchild of Mr. Ross, at least according to Mr. Roth.
- Mr. Ross likes the Port Authority for reasons other than just its money. As he put it, “If the Port Authority does it, there isn’t any additional approvals, and you don’t have to go to the state or Shelly [Silver, the Assembly speaker] to get approvals to make it happen, so I believe that the governor will see it that way.”
- Mr. Ross and Mr. Roth seemed to differ some in how strongly they feel about pushing the larger plan. Mr. Ross said he was optimistic that the whole thing would come together, (rating its chances 8 out of 10). Mr. Roth has previously trumped a scaled down “Plan B”, though talk of that was absent today (at the end of the discussion on Moynihan, Mr. Roth put the chances of everything coming together at 7.5 out of 10 … though he also added later that the reason the two were so optimistic was there was a tenant in the room, looking squarely at S.I. Newhouse, whose Condé Nast is on the hunt for a new office tower.
This project in my opinion is even more important than East Side Access. The current Penn Station is undersizd for the passenger load & quite frankly is not up to par with what a major transportation hub should look like. With ridership growing year by year, a bigger facility is needed & greedy people like the Dolans need to be put in their place.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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on June 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
As you know, the MTA Board voted to revoke the free travel perks to current & past board members at their board meeting yesterday. Later on that day, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo & Straphangers Campaign Staff Lawyer Gene Russianoff released statements. Here is Bharat Ayyar’s report courtesy of The New York Observer:
The M.T.A. board voted this morning to amend its policy of handing out free E-ZPasses and transit passes to current and former board members. Now, only current board members will get the perks and only for use on official M.T.A. business.
Andrew Cuomo, who came out strongly against the M.T.A.’s previous policy, was glad:
“I am pleased the MTA board today adopted a new policy recognizing that under the law board members are not entitled to compensation of any kind. In taking this step, the MTA board now recognizes that no one, including government agencies and officials, is above the law. Getting rid of lifetime E-ZPasses and other perks will ensure the independence of the MTA board and will save New York taxpayers money.”
I’m waiting to hear back whether Cuomo will still try to recoup the money.
The Straphangers Campaign’s Gene Russianoff, like Cuomo, also released a statement today. Unlike Cuomo, Russianoff continued to be critical of the policy, and pushed for greater oversight of public authorities like the M.T.A.
The full Straphangers release:
The financial news for the MTA and its millions of riders is terrible, with threats of fare hikes, service cuts and a downturn in the crucial rebuilding program. In the midst of this budget Armageddon, should we be talking about whether Board members should be getting free EZ-Passes and MetroCards for life? Isn’t it a distraction from the crucial problems confronting the system?
I do think that the policy on free passes raises at least two important issues.
First, the composition of the MTA board is unrepresentative of the riders who use your system — whether it’s by income, gender or race. No wonder your customers and their elected officials howled when they heard that MTA Board Members were exempted from feeling the impact of fare and toll hikes for life.
Your appointing officials — the Governor, Mayor and suburban County Executives — must commit to more diversity in their nominees to the Board. And they must find ways to make sure that all Board members regularly use transit.
Second, the MTA has a credibility problem as it asks the State, the City and possibly its riders and motorists to come to its financial rescue. The public’s skepticism has been fueled by real events, from the MTA’s spending $400 million in cost overruns for its building in lower Manhattan to the on-again, off-again service enhancements.
In all fairness, the MTA has taken steps to make itself more transparent, like releasing its preliminary budget six months in advance. But this is not enough.
Now you can take the view that negative stories are inevitable, so why bother. Or you can try to take action to improve how the public views the MTA
The state legislature has been considering beefing up a public authority oversight board, designed to open up the MTA’s policies and decisions to the public. I would urge the Board to embrace the benefits of an oversite board. Another step would be creating an easy way for the public to keep track of your contracts.
The choice is yours: You can either chalk up the EZ-Pass furor as an unfair turn of the screw. Or you can act to make the MTA more diverse and accountable.
I agree with Gene’s position. As I wrote yesterday, the MTA should consider hiring your average straphanger or solid transit advocate to the board. The board clearly could use real people who understand the grind of a daily commute & what could be done to help improve it.
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