New York City - Transit News

[Busy Bee]

Shocker

[ardecila]

I'm not surprised, Trump has seemingly decided that Penn Station is where he will make his (likely last) mark on NYC. And in that case, he's not wrong that he can probably bully the city/state into paying for it. It's just too important.

Sunnyside Yards is simply too expensive to finance without Federal help, and Trump has gutted the capacity of the government to do anything remotely like that.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

suckered in by another trump photo op shill by donny boi —



a burst of enthusiasm over sunnyside yard queens project, followed by yawning silence

by willow higgins
published aug 13, 2026


it seemed like a watershed moment in february when mayor zohran mamdani and president donald trump locked hands and eyes in the white house and posed with a mock daily news front page with the headline “trump to city: Let’s build.”

a mamdani aide said at the time that queens-born trump was particularly interested in one project: The long-stalled sunnyside yard development, a $21 billion plan to build a massive platform over a railyard – largely owned by amtrak – and 12,000 housing units. “the president was very enthusiastic about this idea,” mamdani spokesperson joe calvello said.

But what's followed in the months since has not inspired confidence, queens leaders said. The mayor's office has reported scant progress, and the white house has said little publicly to match city hall’s assessment that the president was interested in the idea. City councilmember julie won, who represents the area, said in a statement that she is no longer taking the project seriously, as she hasn’t gotten a single update in months.


More:
https://gothamist.com/news/a-burst-of-en...eens-project-followed-by-yawning-silence

taco!

[dchan]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Busways and bus rapid transit usually comprise of a whole lot of streetscape work including new curbs and curb geometry and often all new sidewalks, including street furnishings, street lighting, info design/wayfinding elements, etc. Often times street rebuilding and streetscape beautification projects coincide with the transit project, even if they wouldn't have occurred otherwise. Rarely full street reconstruction is necessary, but there are examples where a complete street reconstruction is performed since so many elements interfere with it anyway and they take the opportunity to build something that will last decades without having to address major wear and tear.

I wouldn't expect a full street rebuild here, it will be more likely limited to new curbs, bulb outs, some relocated drainage infrastructure and lighting/street furnishings as well as traffic signal upgrades and alterations. And of course I would expect a nice coat of blacktop with colored bus lanes.

If they do grind the street pavement surface down to the old brick surface, I'm eager to catch a glimpse of the old TARS streetcar tracks.

Unfortunately, none of NYC's current and upcoming bus projects should be considered as true bus rapid transit (BRT).

Many of the projects feature new concrete bus boarding islands that are built on the street (rather than creating sidewalk extensions). But whereas BRT has station platforms elevated to the same height as the bus' passenger floor, NYC's bus boarding islands have platforms roughly the same height as a typical sidewalk (maybe a few inches taller at most). That means that instead of the bus pulling into the station and opening the doors, the NYC buses need to lower their floor to match height of the bus stop platform. Raising and lowering the bus each time adds up over time and is hardly considered rapid transit.

In addition, the current OMNY system for Select Bus routes is a catastrophe. There should be card readers at every limited and express stop, just like the Metrocard payment ticket dispensers along Select Bus routes. Riders should not be paying on slow wonky OMNY readers as they board the bus because that defeats the purpose of the Select Bus routes. They should be pre-paying for their ride even before they board the bus.

Many of the recent bus projects are being handled completely internally within DOT, hence why they can be built within the same year as they are announced. A full street reconstruction is more of a DDC capital project and is well outside the scope and ability of DOT to handle internally. Capital projects usually take years to execute from their proposal up until they are substantially completed.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Sunnyside Yards is simply too expensive to finance without Federal help, and Trump has gutted the capacity of the government to do anything remotely like that.

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

taco!

Ironically the Trump administration just awarded a huge chunk of railroad money (almost $600M) for a vague but enormous, Sunnyside-esque development in Chicago.

Notably the Chicago development is headed up by a billionaire. On the record he has no ties to the president, but he seems to have gotten very lucky in receiving these federal grants…. So maybe that’s the hangup in Queens - no oligarchs stand to profit.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Ironically the Trump administration just awarded a huge chunk of railroad money (almost $600M) for a vague but enormous, Sunnyside-esque development in Chicago.

Notably the Chicago development is headed up by a billionaire. On the record he has no ties to the president, but he seems to have gotten very lucky in receiving these federal grants…. So maybe that’s the hangup in Queens - no oligarchs stand to profit.

per AI --
More than $600 million in federal grants awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration will fund Amtrak’s relocation of its Chicago maintenance facility from the South Loop to a Union Pacific rail yard in Bridgeport. This move clears a 47-acre parcel along the Chicago River, setting the stage for a major mixed-use real estate and mega-development project.

^ i knew this had something to do with union pacific after the ceo ruined the big boy eastern tour experience by hooking up a suckup trump train to it. otoh, looks like his cheap flattery paid off.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by dchan

Unfortunately, none of NYC's current and upcoming bus projects should be considered as true bus rapid transit (BRT).

Many of the projects feature new concrete bus boarding islands that are built on the street (rather than creating sidewalk extensions). But whereas BRT has station platforms elevated to the same height as the bus' passenger floor, NYC's bus boarding islands have platforms roughly the same height as a typical sidewalk (maybe a few inches taller at most). That means that instead of the bus pulling into the station and opening the doors, the NYC buses need to lower their floor to match height of the bus stop platform. Raising and lowering the bus each time adds up over time and is hardly considered rapid transit.

In addition, the current OMNY system for Select Bus routes is a catastrophe. There should be card readers at every limited and express stop, just like the Metrocard payment ticket dispensers along Select Bus routes. Riders should not be paying on slow wonky OMNY readers as they board the bus because that defeats the purpose of the Select Bus routes. They should be pre-paying for their ride even before they board the bus.

Many of the recent bus projects are being handled completely internally within DOT, hence why they can be built within the same year as they are announced. A full street reconstruction is more of a DDC capital project and is well outside the scope and ability of DOT to handle internally. Capital projects usually take years to execute from their proposal up until they are substantially completed.

its true the select busses are brt-lite at best. probably its best to avoid that term altogether and stick to calling them select busses with some bonus dedicated roadway. they do have raised pads now on the 14st busway as kind of a pilot, which works fine imo, so maybe they will do more of that.

as for the omny payment for select busses, mta clearly wants to get rid of paper as much as they can, so no more receipts. its perplexing why you cant just tap while you wait or before you board as the bus approaches. that would need quite a few omny readers installed at bus stops -- a big expense, but maybe they will get to that eventually? or just wait to upgrade the readers on the bus to make them speedier?

tbh in my experience nobody pays on the busses, so that is by far the biggest bus issue.

[mrnyc]

heads up -- this event is always fun to visit --



Historic NYC buses are coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park for free Bus Festival

By Olivia Seaman
Posted on August 11, 2026


Brooklynites will get a chance to step inside some of New York City’s most memorable buses next month when the New York Transit Museum brings its annual Bus Festival to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The museum, together with MTA New York City Transit, will host the 29th annual event on Sept. 19 at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza. The free festival will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., rain or shine.

The event will showcase buses spanning more than a century of New York transportation history, giving visitors a look at how the vehicles that carried generations of New Yorkers have changed over time.

Attendees can board the vintage buses, explore their interiors and exteriors and meet members of the workforce responsible for the city’s transit system.


more:
https://www.brooklynpaper.com/new-york-transit-museums-bus-festival/


Next month, New York Transit Museum will host their annual vintage Bus Festival. Bus 3100 (pictured) will be one of many on display.Photo courtesy of Trent Reeves/New York Transit Museum

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

per AI --
More than $600 million in federal grants awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration will fund Amtrak’s relocation of its Chicago maintenance facility from the South Loop to a Union Pacific rail yard in Bridgeport. This move clears a 47-acre parcel along the Chicago River, setting the stage for a major mixed-use real estate and mega-development project.

^ i knew this had something to do with union pacific after the ceo ruined the big boy eastern tour experience by hooking up a suckup trump train to it. otoh, looks like his cheap flattery paid off.

Certainly there's some smoke-filled room somewhere that UP's CEO, Justin Ishbia and some Trump admin guys cooked up this plan. Amtrak certainly didn't ask for it.

I'm naturally skeptical, but I don't think it's a bad plan, necessarily. The new yard will be further from Union Station, but still closer than Sunnyside Yard is to NYP. And it can be planned from the ground up for greater efficiency.

[mrnyc]

What is the real cost of NYC's Second Avenue subway extension? Depends who you ask.

By Clayton Guse
Published Aug 21, 2026


The Second Avenue subway extension is slated to be one of the most expensive projects of its kind in the history of the world — but exactly how much it’s expected to cost has been a source of confusion among eagle-eyed followers of mass transit in New York.

In press releases, the MTA states it’ll cost $6.9 billion. But in federal reporting documents, the U.S. Department of Transportation puts it at $7.7 billion — a number this newsroom and other media outlets have reported.


more:
https://gothamist.com/news/what-is-the-r...nue-subway-extension-depends-who-you-ask

[mrnyc]

omny cards for your cell phone —


MTA plans to pilot virtual OMNY cards after year of delays


The MTA plans to begin testing out a “virtual” reloadable OMNY card that New Yorkers can keep on their smartphones later this year.


more:
https://gothamist.com/news/mta-plans-to-pilot-virtual-omny-cards-after-year-of-delays

[mrnyc]

the fix plan —


Mamdani plans to build temporary highway in Brooklyn Heights to fix crumbling part of BQE

By Stephen Nessen
Published Aug 24, 2026


New York City officials say they need to erect a temporary highway next to Brooklyn Bridge Park in order to rebuild a half-mile section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that’s been crumbling for years.

The city transportation department on Monday announced the highway’s triple-cantilever will be closed while it’s rebuilt and restored in the 2030s. The project to repair the two stacked roadways beneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade is expected to last a decade.


more:
https://gothamist.com/news/mamdani-plans...lyn-heights-to-fix-crumbling-part-of-bqe

[Busy Bee]

What a missed opportunity.

[mrnyc]

more including a peek at the fix --

cost $4B paid by city so they can control the work, starts 2030 --

• Video Link

[mrnyc]

citibike fees are through the roof --

• Video Link

[mrnyc]

3 stations fixed up --


Rail re-do: Three Lower Manhattan subway stations get spruced up for fall

By Barbara Russo-Lennon
Posted on August 26, 2026


The MTA has completed extensive functional and aesthetic improvements at three busy subway stations in Lower Manhattan during already-planned service outages to refurbish the stops, the transit agency said on Tuesday.


more:
https://www.amny.com/news/lower-manhattan-subway-stations-clean-up/


The MTA announced that New York City Transit crews completed extensive functional and aesthetic upgrades at the Houston St station on the 1 line.MTA

[mrnyc]

adding bus lanes to 116st —


NYC begins construction on Manhattan’s 116th Street bus lanes aiming to speed up commutes for 65,000 daily riders

By Ethan Stark-Miller
Posted on August 31, 2026


The city Department of Transportation kicked off construction Monday on a project to add 2.5 miles of new bus lanes to Manhattan’s 116th Street — an effort designed to speed up commutes for 65,000 daily bus riders who use 10 bus routes that travel along the corridor.

The undertaking will add a combination of curbside and offset bus lanes along 116th Street between Morningside and Pleasant Avenues, from Morningside Park to the East River. Buses along the stretch can currently crawl at speeds slower than 4 mph — half the citywide average.

more:
https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/construction-manhattan-116th-street-bus-lanes/


A redering of East 116th Street and Madison Avenue once new buses lanes the city is adding to the stretch are complete. The city Department of Transportation broke ground on the bus lanes on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026.Photo Credit: NYC DOT

[mrnyc]

a push for more flights at stewart —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc1o8ExvQkC/?stkn=NHVuajJ1MnAyaDZ0

[mrnyc]

ride on the refurbished line 2 east river tunnel —

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcgkxuhxEU-/?stkn=NmR6ZmJqcXk1d3Zt