MTA
Streetsblog Basics
B44 Moving 15-30 Percent Faster After Select Bus Service Upgrades
As bus speeds decline in NYC, the few routes that are getting dedicated bus lanes and off-board fare collection are bucking the trend. The newest evidence comes from the B44 route along Nostrand Avenue and Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn, where buses are moving 15-30 percent faster since NYC DOT and the MTA upgraded the line to Select Bus Service, according to an update the agencies released yesterday [PDF]. Ridership on the route increased in 2015, going against the borough-wide pattern, following years of ridership losses before and during SBS implementation.
July 1, 2016
Maloney: Use L Train Shutdown to “Upgrade Our Bus Service”
New York City should use the impending L train shutdown to make long-term improvements to bus service, U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney said at a public forum last night.
June 30, 2016
MTA Says Proof of Payment May Increase Fare Evasion, History Says Otherwise
Last week, transit advocates called on the MTA to ensure that its next-generation fare payment system allows for "electronic proof of payment" on buses. By enabling bus riders to board without dipping a farecard or carrying a paper receipt, such a system would simplify and speed up the boarding process, saving passengers time on every route in the city.
June 21, 2016
Will the MTA Waste Its Opportunity to Save NYC Bus Riders a Ton of Time?
The MTA's next-generation fare payment system can greatly speed up buses all over the city by allowing passengers to board much faster, but so far the agency hasn't required bidders for the fare system contract to include such technology. With proposals due July 13, a coalition led by the Riders Alliance is calling on the MTA to make the most of this opportunity to improve travel times on NYC’s notoriously slow buses.
June 17, 2016
Brewer to DOT: Start Looking Into a Bus-Only 14th Street
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is calling on DOT to study making 14th Street a bus-only thoroughfare while L train service is disrupted during Sandy-related repairs.
May 24, 2016
How Long Will It Take to Modernize New York’s Commuter Rail System?
The New York region's commuter rail network is failing to keep up with current travel patterns, said panelists at Friday's Regional Plan Association annual assembly. MTA chair Tom Prendergast agrees, but he doesn't expect that to change much anytime soon -- there are too many other priorities that need to be taken care of first, he said.
May 10, 2016
Will DOT Make Safety Upgrades Over Objections of Sheepshead Bay Cranks?
Update: DOT confirmed this project is happening.
April 21, 2016
Cuomo’s MTA Debt Bomb: How the Pieces Fit Together
NY1's Zack Fink reports that last week's Albany budget deal raised the MTA's debt ceiling to $55 billion (about one-third higher than the previous cap of $41 billion). That's $14 billion more in potential borrowing that, in all likelihood, straphangers will pay off in the form of higher fares.
April 8, 2016
A Car-Free Plaza Is the Key to DOT’s Safety Plan for Myrtle-Wyckoff
The dangerous intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Wyckoff Avenue at the Bushwick-Ridgewood border is in line for a major DOT redesign this year. The proposal calls for pedestrianizing the block of Wyckoff between Myrtle and Gates to reduce potential motor vehicle turns at the intersection by 70 percent.
March 31, 2016
The Boom in Subway Ridership Is Waning. Why?
Transit officials recently reported that 1,763,000,000 subway trips were taken last year, the most since 1948. But the rise in ridership was meager, with only 12 million more trips in 2015 than in 2014. The percentage growth rate was seven-tenths of one percent. Over the same year, employment in New York City rose three times as fast.
March 30, 2016