New York City - Transit News

[Busy Bee]

^That's order of magnitude worse than any poor condition the system was allowed to get to even in the late '70s/early 80's.

[mrnyc]

gateway gets rolling --




First Gateway contract awarded to drill new Hudson River rail tunnels through the Palisades

Updated: Aug. 02, 2024
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com


The first tunnel boring contract to drill the first new Hudson River rail tunnels in 115 years through the Palisades was awarded for $465 million by the Gateway Development Commission Thursday.

The contract was awarded to Schiavone, Dragados Lane Joint Venture, which was selected from five firms that competed for the contract.


more:
https://www.nj.com/traffic/2024/08/f...palisades.html

https://www.enr.com/articles/59066-s...tunnel-project

[Nexis4Jersey]

The last few months of Subway Photos that i've taken


50th Street











Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station











Chambers Street








York Street











East Broadway





Sheepshead Bay





Bleeker Street

[mrnyc]

^ very nice —



***



abandoned subway station at park south and 18st —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-K41...VhMHN4M2Njeg==

[mrnyc]

gov hochul finds a little $ to do second ave utility work —



Work to resume on Second Avenue Subway extension after $54M cash infusion from Hochul

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on July 30, 2024

more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/second-...fusion-hochul/

[mrnyc]

yikes be careful out there —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-QM8...RvMjA2ZTM4aw==

[mrnyc]

excellent --



Bronx
City Council set to approve Bronx Metro-North rezoning to build housing around new stations

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on August 6, 2024



The City Council is set to approve an ambitious rezoning proposal to develop thousands of new housing units around new Metro-North stations being built in the Bronx.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/city-co...orth-rezoning/


Commuters wait to board a New Haven Line Metro-North train in July 2023. File Photo by Aliya Schneider

[mrnyc]

meh -- sho me the money --




Hochul ‘massaging’ proposal in Albany to replace lost congestion pricing money

By Ben BrachfeldPosted on August 6, 2024


More than two months after pausing congestion pricing, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday she is “massaging” a proposal through Albany to replace the money lost from the Manhattan toll freeze — though she is still vague on the details of how else to raise $15 billion for mass transit improvements.


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/hochul-...roposal-money/


A bus traveling under an unactivated congestion pricing toll gantry in Manhattan. Photo by Dean Moses

[k1052]

Sources in Albany say there is nothing actually going on and given that she lies so readily about this topic I'm not inclined to believe the governor. The revenue so far will not be replaced and if it remains this way the MTA will have to eat massive cuts to all their projects and lose out on billions in federal funding. Long term damage to the system as needed signal and rolling stock upgrades are deferred indefinitely will spiral into new years of bad times for riders.

[Busy Bee]

This is kinda out there but I'd like to see the entire regions transit network partially funded out of federal general revenues as an acknowledgment of the absolutely vital special economic zone NYC truly is. Other global alpha cities are absolutely showered with national investment, but New York City, being the countries most populous, dynamic and economic powerhouse but NOT the countries seat of government does not benefit from that arrangement and the entire funding mechanism is a state burden. Imagine what NYC would look like if transit was supported like a London, Paris or Tokyo.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

This is kinda out there but I'd like to see the entire regions transit network partially funded out of federal general revenues as an acknowledgment of the absolutely vital special economic zone NYC truly is. Other global alpha cities are absolutely showered with national investment, but New York City, being the countries most populous, dynamic and economic powerhouse but NOT the countries seat of government does not benefit from that arrangement and the entire funding mechanism is a state burden. Imagine what NYC would look like if transit was supported like
a London, Paris or Tokyo.

The problem would be getting funding for New York projects from the red state anti-transit (anti-anything) congressmen. UK, France, and Japan have somewhat of a benefit (compared to the US) of being smaller countries with a less spread out and less polarized population. The fuqued up part is that 7 of the 10 states most dependent on the federal government were Republican-voting, with the average red state receiving $1.24 per dollar spent.

[Nouvellecosse]

I would argue that greater DC has a metro system that's larger and more impressive than those in any of its peer cities of similar size, even including other old dense NE cities like Boston, and Philadelphia. And the GOP weren't able to block that. So I think it's safe to say that if NYC were the capital, the same thing would apply. The transit system it would have would compare to its current system the way DC's system compares to Boston or Philly.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I would argue that greater DC has a metro system that's larger and more impressive than those in any of its peer cities of similar size, even including other old dense NE cities like Boston, and Philadelphia. And the GOP weren't able to block that. So I think it's safe to say that if NYC were the capital, the same thing would apply. The transit system it would have would compare to its current system the way DC's system compares to Boston or Philly.

A huge portion of DC's metro was conceived in the 1960s/1970s. Congress can barely pass a spending bill now-a-days and it has only become increasingly worse. Just look how long it took to get funding for the crucial Gateway Tunnels from New Jersey to Manhattan, especially if you count it's previous failed iteration (ARC). If only people could at least vote for transit friendly elected officials despite differences, but, unfortunately most car loving Americans don't care about the issue. Sorry for the negativity , I guess I could at least be hopeful that things can change.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

This is kinda out there but I'd like to see the entire regions transit network partially funded out of federal general revenues as an acknowledgment of the absolutely vital special economic zone NYC truly is. Other global alpha cities are absolutely showered with national investment, but New York City, being the countries most populous, dynamic and economic powerhouse but NOT the countries seat of government does not benefit from that arrangement and the entire funding mechanism is a state burden. Imagine what NYC would look like if transit was supported like a London, Paris or Tokyo.

screw uncle sam and red states, i would settle for ny, nj and ct tri-state metro to have one consolidated and unified transit system, instead of the ridiculous arbitary legacy fiefdoms we have now.

[Busy Bee]

^ Regional consolidation under a hypothetical tri-state MTA is another issue. What i am suggesting is we get special federal funding because NY is special in a way that is unmatched economically and culturally and is uncomparible to other US cities. Basically a status as strategic special economic zone that accounts for a big chunk of national GDP and that's before you get into its cultural importance. As far as the rest of the world is concerned NYC is America's capital city. Yet it isn't treated as such. Lessening the burden of funding it's vital transit systems would go a long way in acknowleding the benefit it provides and an investment in ensuring its continued growth. Any other nation and this would be priority #1.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^ Regional consolidation under a hypothetical tri-state MTA is another issue. What i am suggesting is we get special federal funding because NY is special in a way that is unmatched economically and culturally and is uncomparible to other US cities. Basically a status as strategic special economic zone that accounts for a big chunk of national GDP and that's before you get into its cultural importance. As far as the rest of the world is concerned NYC is America's capital city. Yet it isn't treated as such. Lessening the burden of funding it's vital transit systems would go a long way in acknowleding the benefit it provides and an investment in ensuring its continued growth. Any other nation and this would be priority #1.

funding and administration would be infinitely less burdened with consolidation.


also, like denver or chicago, nyc is the big dog in its state, it gets the majority of funding attention for everything. so at least let's be glad nys isnt ohio, california or texas, which have lots of yapping jaws for state (and fed) monies.

[mrnyc]

now, err, umm, about those old east river tunnels —



Amtrak's rebuild of busted East River tunnels could strain LIRR service, experts say

By Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Aug 7, 2024


Amtrak’s 114-year-old East River tunnels, which are used by hundreds of Long Island Rail Road trains rolling in and out of Manhattan's Penn Station every day, are slated to undergo years of repairs starting this fall — and experts warn the work could spell big trouble for commuters.

The tunnels are separated into four tubes, each carrying a set of tracks. Flooding from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 damaged two of those tubes, and Amtrak last month inked a contract to rebuild the damaged structures as part of a $1.6 billion project.

Amtrak plans to fully close one tube at a time while crews “demolish all existing tunnel systems down to the liner, before completely restoring both tubes” over the course of three-and-a-half years, the railroad said in a press release. That means that from the fall until at least late 2027, trains moving between Penn Station and Queens will only have access to three tracks underneath the East River instead of four.


more:
https://gothamist.com/news/amtraks-r...ce-experts-say

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

screw uncle sam and red states, i would settle for ny, nj and ct tri-state metro to have one consolidated and unified transit system, instead of the ridiculous arbitary legacy fiefdoms we have now.

NYC is the densest city in America with 29,302.7 ppsm and one of the densest in the world. While for many transit nerds would love to have a wet dream of having one consolidated and unified transit system within the Tri State area, it makes a lot of sense why the MTA doesn't run revenue service in NJ and why NJT doesn't have revenue service outside of Penn Station in many parts of NY.





CT, NY, and to a certain extant parts of NJ already share a unified rail system with Metro-North (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven_Line), while the Paskack Valley and the Port Jervis Lines in Rockland County are operated by NJT, with the stations in the NY side maintained by Metro North, so when it comes to having a unified rail system within the NYC Metro, the Metro-North is a perfect example of such a system!

The PATH's proposals to extend from Newark Penn Station to Newark Liberty Int'l Airport is very progressive enough to connect Lower Manhattan, Jersey City, and Newark with NJ's largest and busiest airport, as well as the closest airport to Downtown Manhattan. And PATH is yet another perfect example of a consolidated and unified rail system since the PANYNJ is the operator of the PATH system and the PANYNJ is a bi-state transit agency, meaning that NJ and NY have equal rights to the system, as well as the airports and seaports that operate within the waterways, and the bridges and tunnels that cross through the Hudson River.

Finally, the reason why I mentioned Metro-North and PATH because both systems actually work for their jurisdictions. It would be extremely superfluous to extend the PATH, a local service that connects points in Lower and Midtown Manhattan, and parts of JC and Newark, as far north as New Haven, let alone the rest of NYC since NYC is properly served by the NYCTA, and it wouldn't make a lot of sense to extend the LIRR further into Morris and Somerset Counties, since Downtown and Midtown Manhattan are the biggest CBD's in not just the NYC Metro area, but in the US. Don't you think that the powers that be in the 1910's and 1920's actually had this conversation about consolidating the NYC Subway with the old H&M Subway, the predecessor to the PATH?

And why didn't consolidation happen between the two transit agencies them? Because the H&M was a private rail company from it's founding in 1900 in which it's purpose was to connect Newark Penn Station (PRR) to Hoboken Station (ERIE), and other railroads which used to terminate alone the New York Harbor such as the LVRR, and the CRRNJ. The IRT and BMT were also private rail operators in which their purpose was to transport passengers within NYC to and from Manhattan to the outer boroughs (Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens). The IND was a public agency established by the late mayor John Francis Hylan to compete with the IRT and the BMT. The BMT, IND, and IRT was unified around the 1940's to become what we all know now as the MTA and the NYCTA.

The reason why NYC's subway system and the commuter rail systems was constructed and the main operations center is in Times Sq rather than in MetroTech in Brooklyn is because Downtown and Midtown Manhattan are the main economic engines of the NYC Metro. Not Downtown Brooklyn nor LIC nor Jamaica, and not JC nor Newark, but Downtown and Midtown Manhattan! And I say this as a former Brooklynite (RIP MetroTech). Meaning each commuter rail and subway line was constructed to transport passengers to and from their work and home and back, many of whom work in Manhattan!!!

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I would argue that greater DC has a metro system that's larger and more impressive than those in any of its peer cities of similar size, even including other old dense NE cities like Boston, and Philadelphia. And the GOP weren't able to block that. So I think it's safe to say that if NYC were the capital, the same thing would apply. The transit system it would have would compare to its current system the way DC's system compares to Boston or Philly.

I would say that DC's metro is more efficient than Boston's and especially Philadelphia's, in that it covers much of DC's metro outside the District, and the Metro is constantly expanding. By 1970, DC never had a subway system in comparison to those two aforementioned cities, as well as NYC and Chicago. By 2020, DC had the second busiest system only behind NYC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ransit_systems).

Chicago's is much older and more established, by I believe that the powers that be in the 1960's and 1970's foresaw DC as having just as efficient a subway system as NYC, Chicago, and Boston, but I don't believe that those same powers that be foresaw the the DC Metro would have the second busiest in the nation, especially since DC suffered one of the worst riots after the MLK assassination in 1968, and city residents were leaving DC for the MD and VA suburbs, which actually started during the 1950's, and greatly increased after 1970's and the 1980's.

Chicago is expanding it's EL system, albeit at a much slower pace with the Red Line to the Far South Side, while DC is looking towards improving it's coverage within the metro area. The Silver Line to IAD and to Ashburn is a perfect example. Hopefully, the WMATA can expand to the National Harbor, and maybe even contract another tunnel between Rosslyn and Georgetown, and expand a few more lines. Plus the Purple Line just outside DC is a nice complement for the Metro. Boston has expanded the Green Line to Tufts, and I can only hope that the MBTA expands the Blue Line to Lynn. Even Miami is considering expanding to Hard Rock Stadium in NW Miami-Dade, as well as expanding it's commuter rail service. As a former Philadelphian, I don't have any hope that SEPTA will expand any of it's subway or commuter lines, let alone improve the coverage and the efficiency of it's surface and bus lines. It's the worst transit agency I've ever ridden on, and one in which it's potential was wasted by bureaucracy and corruption, just like the city it serves!

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^ Regional consolidation under a hypothetical tri-state MTA is another issue. What i am suggesting is we get special federal funding because NY is special in a way that is unmatched economically and culturally and is uncomparible to other US cities. Basically a status as strategic special economic zone that accounts for a big chunk of national GDP and that's before you get into its cultural importance. As far as the rest of the world is concerned NYC is America's capital city. Yet it isn't treated as such. Lessening the burden of funding it's vital transit systems would go a long way in acknowleding the benefit it provides and an investment in ensuring its continued growth. Any other nation and this would be priority #1.

More like America's economic and financial capital and even "The Capital of the World" due to the UN being based here, although it's a love-hate thing since the average NYer can be as parochial as the average Bostonian and the average Philadelphian.

Not every American city needs a NY-style, or even a Chicago, DC, Boston, or even a Miami style system, and not every state needs to have high speed rail such as NE, ND, and SD, but each city and state has it's special needs, it boggles my ind that the country which perfected the railroad now lags as China and even India, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia are constructing HSR and subway systems at a rapid pace compared to America, yet building a mile of subway lines costs over a billion dollars.