August 2010
2 posts
Last post ever...
Well folks, tomorrow I pick up and head off on my long road trip which will eventually land me in Denver sometime later this month.
But before I go, I thought I’d put up one more MTA related item and boy is this one a doozy.
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Nothing makes us enjoy proposed MTA rate hikes quite like learning they’ve built a bus shelter where there isn’t even a bus line. Oh, MTA,...
July 2010
4 posts
Daytime subway-ing in the summertime
foureleven:
A guy on the R told me to go fuck myself when I refused his sexual advances. You stay classy, bro.
A tourist looking for the Staten Island Ferry almost burst into tears when I told her she was on an uptown N and that she was nowhere near the ferry.
A tourist getting on the 7 (ed: going to Queens) asked if she was heading in the right direction to the LES. This time, I almost burst...
In response to "foureleven"
Dedicated reader “foureleven” asked where I’m heading when I said in my last blog posting about leaving NYC.
Well “foureleven”, I am moving along w/ my wife, dog, cat, and 2 newborn sons to the great state of Colorado for a job offer I received from Starz Entertainment in Denver.
As much as I’ve enjoyed my life in NYC, it’s time to hitch up the wagons...
Thank god I'm leaving NYC
The MTA is considering a few different plans to raise fare revenue and to he honest they ALL suck.
Come on now… Where else in this country ( that has a metro system ) are you expected to pay 104 dollars for a monthly pass? Or the brilliant idea to charge 99 bucks and set a limit on the card of 90 rides.
If NYers end up paying 104 dollars, that would be a whopping 65% increase from when...
June 2010
6 posts
foureleven: Sometimes I like ballsy seniors. This... →
The end of my workday always coincides with the end of high school. (Note: Why is high school still in session? Isn’t it the third week of June?) This means I’m usually crammed on an F train with rambunctious teenagers. The girls are fine. They check facebook and twitter on their blackberries as…
Too funny…
MTA Will Erase FML From Station Signage -... →
marcohen:
MTA now has "Delay Verification" feature on... →
Ever get to work late and your boss doesn’t believe your story about the train being delayed?
Well now you can print up an official letter of delay verification from the MTA.
This service provides verification of subway delays only, and for delays that have occurred in the last 90 days.
In addition to providing your name and email address, be prepared to enter the date, ...
New "smart card" idea could spell doom for the...
First a new subway map, and now this. The MTA will begin testing a new, tap-and-go payment system Monday as part of a six-month pilot program, with the intention to eventually phase out the MetroCard. The new system will allow bus and subway riders to pass a specially equipped key chain, credit card, or phone across a reader instead of swiping a card, similar to the methods in place in London,...
May 2010
5 posts
New Subway Map next month →
Next month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will unveil a resized, recolored and simplified edition of the well-known map, its first overhaul in more than a decade.
ViolationReport.org
Hogging more than one subway seat. Blasting music from an iPod. Leaning up against a subway pole.
Inconsiderate straphangers who break these unspoken rules of rail riding are now getting publicly shamed on a new Web site created by a Brooklyn graphic designer.
“I’m not asking people to be Mother Teresa,” said Grant Gold, 24, creator of ViolationReport.org, where fed-up...
Sounds like a plan to me
Subway riders, how would you like your pain - in one intense shot or dragged out over time?
The MTA is considering a fundamental change to how it performs major repair projects - shutting large stretches of subway lines for long periods, including weekdays, to finish faster instead of dragging work out over numerous weekends.
Read more:...
No Sleep to Breuckelen
As the Wall Street Journal noted, a prankster has been altering subway signs to say “Breuckelen” rather than “Brooklyn.” The MTA was not amused: “This sign appears to have been defaced by vandals,” a spokesman for the MTA said in a statement about a sign in the 59th street station. “This is a waste of NYC transit resources.”
April 2010
4 posts
Train Stopped Safely by ‘Dead-Man Feature’
They call it the dead-man feature.
In the spartan, phone-booth-size motorman’s cab in a subway train, there is a metal arm a few inches long called the controller.
To set the train in motion, the operator presses down on the controller arm with several pounds of pressure, swivels it and holds on. If he lets go, for whatever reason, the emergency brakes are applied. This is the dead-man...
March 2010
9 posts
Unkindest cuts! Boro subways and buses are slashed...
Cuts approved last week by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will especially sting Brooklyn — where service will be slower, less frequent, and more crowded.
In total, the agency said that the cuts will save $93 million. MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the agency determines net savings by tallying costs associated with operating a particular line, such as salary, gas, and maintenance.
...
PayPass Spotted On Buses! →
marcohen:
MTA, what took so long?
Under a New Subway Plan, the V Stands for Vanished →
For the longest time, I’ve felt that the V train was useless (especially when 3 of them go by before a single F arrives). Now I can breath easily that when I see a train coming out of the tunnel, it’s going to be an F.
*EDIT* Damn the MTA! All they are doing is moving the M to take the place of the V. All I want is my F train to come when it’s supposed to!!
Subway snafu @ Columbus Circle →
At the Columbus Circle train station, the signs have the “C” line in the orange color that is designated for the “D” which is in the blue color designated for the “C”
Share-a-Cab Program Draws Few Riders
Like I said before, let’s see how this works on a Friday or Saturday night.
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Dalbir Singh did not know where to go on Wednesday when he arrived at the corner of East 72nd Street and Third Avenue, seeking one of the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s new share-a-cab stands.
I asked the T.L.C. officer, ‘Where is the taxi stand here?’ ” Mr. Singh said later, crossing Central Park...
MTA Hearing Turns Rowdy In Brooklyn
Four people were arrested Wednesday night after an argument broke out at a Metropolitan Transportation Authority hearing in Brooklyn.
Read more
DOT Plans to Bring NYC’s First Separated Busway to... →
February 2010
5 posts
Limited Share-a-Cab Test to Begin Soon
Starting on Friday, the New York City taxi ride — one of the city’s few remaining redoubts of solitude — will go communal. Up to four passengers will be able to share a yellow taxi ride, car-pool style, along three preset routes in Manhattan.
The flat fare will be $3 or $4 a head, significantly less than the regular metered rates, and riders can ask to be dropped off at most points along the...
freeups:
MY 4am G Train voyage from Smith/9th to...
New fare warning by MTA
At least we get a reprieve this year
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The MTA likely will be forced to raise fares even higher than anticipated in 2011 because state bean counters can’t accurately figure out how much tax revenue is coming to the cash-strapped agency, two board members warned yesterday.
Officials in Gov. Paterson’s administration told MTA brass late Tuesday that the business payroll...
January 2010
18 posts
No G train better than slow G train →
Trolleys to come to Red Hook? →
Subway-ad slicer 'cuts loose' again →
Tush comes to shove: NYPD ticketed 8,700 subway... →
Looks like the kings and queens of Subway Douchery will soon be getting what they deserve.
The joys of taking the A train
Reprinted from the NY Daily News “Voice of the People” (1/25/10)
My colleague who rides the A train to work every morning repeated a wonderful experience to me.
He said that on Jan. 20 at 9:10 a.m., he boarded at 181st St. in Manhattan. To his surprise, a female conductor with the most melodious of voices woke him up by greeting everyone with the following:
“Good morning,...
Free text and tweet-based notification service...
A new service will soon answer the age-old question: When’s the bus coming?
Starting Monday the Park Slope business Roadify is rolling out BusesAroundMe, a free text and tweet-based notification system, which lets riders know when to expect the next bus on the B67 line, which runs from Kensington to DUMBO.
“Now I’ll know if I have time for breakfast before the bus comes,”...
Video: Improv Everywhere stages “No Pants Day” on... →
marcohen:
witness.
Is Cash Cab for Real? 7 Contestants Speak! →
I was on this show — my episode aired in August of 2007.
marcohen:
1.5 years in New York and I have yet to find the Cash Cab. Don’t let the cab # in the picture fool you, that’s not his cab anymore (I know the number, but I’m not telling you)
sinktoswim:
An update on this subject. I’m glad to hear they actually do pick up some people off the street who haven’t been screened ahead of...