Category: Transit Failures

Ok, time to refocus! (and a secret riding tip)

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Platform Edge

Sorry for the lack of posting today. It was just “one of those days” that you wish you just stayed in bed.

In any event, it seems that I managed to dodge a complete sh*t show of a day on the subway. The Lexington line was all out of whack apparently. The trains were only running express from 125th Street South or some craziness.

I was on 1 train today, or at least I should say, I attempted to be on one today. I waited on the local line (No 1) as 2 train after 2 train came down BOTH the local and express tracks. I thought I was stuck in some sort of time warp where trains that are supposed to be express kept coming on both tracks.

Then, I said to hell with it, and I got on one of the plentiful 2 trains. They kept coming, so I was shocked at how full it was. I guess I wasn’t the only one that finally gave up. So eventually, it came time to get off and wait for the local for real. I had ridden as far uptown on the express (running local) as I could. So me, and every other person on the train, decided to get off. What was fun was the fact that there was probably already two trains worth of people already waiting on the platform. Yay.

I had to break out one of my most top secret tricks to get on the first 1 train that finally came by. The secret is, you have to look at the ground. Yup. That’s it. Look at the ground near the edge of the platform. Usually, you want to look at the ground where the yellow warning part is near the edge. Look for the area on the ground that is the most “worn out.” Or look for the area with the least grim. Why? Because that’s where the door is going to line up.

Most trains stop within a couple feet of the “target.” So the doors will generally always line up at the same point all day long. So naturally, a worn area starts to become visibly notable. That’s where the door is going to be. So get yourself right up to that area, and you know the train is going to stop with the door right in front of you. Just make sure that you are near one side or the other of the door. Generally, try to place yourself with your shoulder lined up with the door frame. That way you won’t be in the way when people get off, and you will be in perfect position when it’s time to board.

That secret’s just between you and me.

MTA Tests the Protran1 Safety Equipment

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Protran1 gear 

The MTA is (and has) been testing the Protran1 safety system for its track workers.  The system allows workers to be alerted wirelessly when there is a train approaching. 

According to the Protran1 website, sensors are mounted on the trains which will set off portable warning lights/alarms.  The system can also set off portable pocket devices carried by each worker.  That way if they miss the primary alarm, there is the backup warning right in their pockets.  The system can warn workers when a train is 3000 feet away.

A few days ago, SUBWAYblogger reader Larry wrote a commenttalking about this Protran1 system saying that the MTA should look into it.  Looks like Larry was right!!

There is something that we find somewhat disturbing in this story though:

In the meantime, supervisors have been given radios to improve communication with train controllers, and maintenance workers have been retrained on track safety. – AP/NY Post

In the meantime?  You mean that they haven’t had these radios all along?  I’m no track worker or engineer, but wouldn’t you think that it only makes sense for the construction leader on site to have a radio that connects them to the train controllers?  That’s just common sense.  We’re kind of shocked that hasn’t been happening all along.

Also, the MTA has been going on and on about its commitment to worker safety.  Seems like a load of bull after the story that hit the presses this weekend.  Apparently, the alarm box at 59th Street where Daniel Boggs was killed has just now been repaired!  And that’s not even the most shocking news.

Apparently, there are 188 alarm boxes that are out of service at the this time.  That’s nearly 10%!  The broken alarm box that failed to warn Boggs had a repair ticked submitted almost a year before his death.  Yet, it still had not been repaired. 

Wouln’t you think that when you go to work in a specific area, the first thing the crews should do is check to see that all the “alarm boxes” are working?  If they discover one that is busted, they should fix that first before starting work on the rails, cleaning, or whatever they are there to do. 

Marvin Franklin: Second MTA Worker Killed in Five Days

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G Subway TrainA second and third MTA construction worker were struck by a train yesterday. Mavin Franklin, 55, was struck and killed after being dragged by the train. Jeffrey Hill, 41, was also struck by the train, but was pulled out alive. Hill is listed in stable condition.

This second death in 5 days promted an emergency suspension of all nonessential construction work in the system.

Franklin and Hill were allegedly sent to retrieve a dolly of some sort. The two men decided to take a shortcut across the active tracks instead of walking the long way around. The men would have had to carry the dolly up onto the platform, up a flight of stairs to the mezzanine level, across to the other side, then back down another flight of stairs to reach the opposite platform. Basically, they would have had to walk the route a typical straphanger does when they accidentally miss their stop and need to catch a train back in the other direction.

Since the men were already working down on the tracks, they figured they would just take the quick shortcut across the tracks instead of going up and over.

Unfortunately, there was an active line in their path. A “G” train came through the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, and struck the men. The train operator saw the men, but it was too late to hit the brakes.

Since the “G” line was live that night, there were no construction signal lights on the tracks telling the operator to stop or slow down. Basically, all signs point to they should not have been there in the first place.

This second death came on the day of Danielle Boggs funeral service. Boggs was killed last week at Columbus Circle while he and a partner were setting up construction warning lights.

Turnstile Traffic Jam

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Just when I thought I’ve seen everything, I see something new.  Here’s the setup…

I’m walking down the stairs to the subway.  Already I can see that there’s a ton of a people down there for some reason.  The crowd is really thick.  Keep in mind, this is a major transfer hub, so it has tons of entrances/exits.

So I finnally squeeze my way to the turnstile to find that the line is 12 people deep at each gate.  10 gates wide, and a line 12 deep at each.

“Son of a bitch…a tourist group,” I thought to myself.  That must be why all these people are here.  Some idiot tour group is trying to get through the gates all together.  But, that wasn’t it.

I got closer to the turnstile and saw people swiping over and over again.  Wonderful!  There’s 4 or 5 people swiping all these peolpe through?  You’ve got to be kidding.  That wasn’t it either.

I finally make it up close.  Turns out, all of the gates stopped working at the same time!!  Every turnstile said, “Please swipe again,” no matter how many times you tried.

Of course, idiots in the back of the line think that us at the front are complete morons.  So of course they are yelling for us to get out of the way.  Finally, I let one a-hole get in front of me to try his magic touch.  Of course, it didn’t work.

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!” I yelled back at this jerk.  “I thought you knew how to do it, so WHAT’S THE HOLD UP CHIEF?!?”

People started jumping over, and that finally got the police officers to react.  Not the growing, angry crowds…just the jumping over the turnstile.  Can’t have that now can we.

Eventually, they opened up the service doors and let people stream through.  It was funny to see people hesitate going through the door because a cop was holding it open.  They were afraid, as if it was a trap or something.  Can’t say I blame them.

Congestion Pricing: Friend of Foe of the Subway

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Good or bad?  Let’s hope good!

Let’s backup.  What is congestion pricing?  Good question.  Congestion pricing is the theory of charging a fee to drive in congested areas of NYC during peak traffic times.

In this case,  rumour has it that Mayor Bloomberg is looking to have everywhere below 86th Street fall in the “fee” zone.  Right now, the proposal may be $8 to get down there.  How the fee would be collected is still up in the air.  Boy would toll booths suck!

Anyway, the idea is to 1) relieve traffic, and 2) improve the environmental quality of the city.  It is forecasted that by 2030, an additional million people will be in the city.

But, people still need to get places, right?  So that means people will be more likely to take public transportation.  That’s the goal anyway.  And everyone’s favorite public transportation method is the subway.

So is this a good thing or a bad thing?

On the bad side:

-More people means more crowds
-More wear and tear
-Slower commute

On the plus side:

-More subway revenue
-More an implied need for more service
-Perhaps delay a fare hike
-More focus on upgrading/maintaining the system

So yeah, it could suck that there would be a ton more people riding the subway.  But it could be a good thing because maybe that would draw more attention to repairing and fixing the subway.  Also, it might require more frequent service.

Ohh, and there’s the plus side of cleaner air and less horns on the road to honk.  So that’s good too, but the straphanger in me is a little scared!

Wet enough for you?

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 Subway walkway under water

(that’s what she said!)

Don’t you just hate when people say that?  Hot enough for you?  Cold enough for you?

No, thank you.  I prefer much wetter.  I enjoy sitting at my desk all day with wet shoes and pants.  The squishing sound when you walk is my favorite!

So yeah, as we all saw today (and the photo illustrates), the rain was bananas.  Where did you see the most flooding?

Today, I was at the 59th Street/Columbus Circle station today, and it was looking pretty rough.  The entire station is undergoing the most ridiculous looking renovations you’ve ever seen.  The street above the station was tore up all winter long.  Actually, it started back in the fall.  Anyway, there’s many areas where the street is ripped up exposing the subway platform/tracks below.  Naturally, the rain just pours in.

Then there’s tons of other construction going on there.  They are removing tons of asbestos. Yummy.  They also have these stupid “shacks” set up everywhere.  They spend weeks building these temporary rooms in the open areas of the station.  The walls are plywood painted blue, and lord knows what the are storing in there.  All I know is that every time I’ve been there in bad weather, everything is soaking wet.

Then there’s the under water tracks.  With all this track replacement work going on every weekend, how come more drainage isnt being installed?  You would think that since they have the entire trackbed pulled up, it would be pretty easy to add some drains.

Bloomberg Calls for New Yorkers to Ride Mass Transit Today

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Mayor Bloomberg

Late in the evening (within minutes of posting this), Mayor Bloomberg’s office released a statement urging New Yorkers to use mass transit in the morning.  He wants to keep as many cars of the road as he possibly can.

Yikes.

If you turned on the news overnight, you saw roads under water all over the place.  Hoboken is swimming, but hey, now the ferry can pull right up to your building!

The LIRR is already seeing water get too close to the tracks for comfort.  Westbound tunnels into Penn Station are also looking like they are going to flood.

And then there’s the subway.  There’s guaranteed problems all over the place.  However, you won’t know about most of them until you are already well on your way to work.  The MTA isn’t exactly speedy then it comes to publicly reporting transit delays.  It usually takes a pretty significant outage for it to make it on the MTA website.

Flooded Tracks + Potential Power Outages + More Passengers (thanks to Bloomy’s request) = a hell of a morning commute.  Oh, and it’s still going to be raining.  😦

Service Problems? Let us Know!!

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Well, if you have eyes, you can see that the weather is complete crap today. There’s going to be tons of flooding, especially in the subway tunnels.

So, let us know in the comments section of this post if you experience any service delays while out and about today. We will post them all here. Everyone knows that the MTA site is stupidly slow when it comes to posting alerts, so we will have to rely on eachother.

A & C Train Riders: Does your weekend suck yet?

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c_train.jpg 

Answer:  YES.

A & C train riders are in for shitty transit weekends this weekend, plus 4 more upcoming weekends.  It earned an entire pageon the MTA site.  Luckily, service will be normal for Easter Weekend.

But, as for the other weekends, you’re not getting anywhere fast.  In Brooklyn, well hell, you’re already used to crap service after the 7 train being out for so long.  Hell, you’re probably getting ready to cut all ties with Manhattan.

So, between Jay Street/Borough Hall and Utica Ave, there’s a shuttle bus for A train riders.  Yay.

The C train…well there’s just no C train at all.  Good luck.  And the A train in Manhattan is going to run local.

The current concrete roadbed has been in place since 1936. After the work is done, customers will have a smoother, more reliable and comfortable ride over the affected track segment. We apologize for the inconvenience while this work is performed.

Well, 5 weekends of nothing to do = a smooth ride in the future.  Sounds fair?

Second Avenue subway over budget? Heck yes!

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So the Second Ave subway project is already over budget. Yeah, I know. I said “What a surprise,” when I heard that too. A shovel has not yet hit the ground and they are planning to start $54 million in the hole…so to speak.

Rising real estate prices will force the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to pay about $54 million more than it had anticipated to buy five Upper East Side buildings and portions of 24 others to make way for construction of the Second Avenue subway, according to a new estimate provided to the authority.

Sometimes is makes me wonder why they even budget things like this. You know it’s going to go way over, and not just by a little bit. All they have to say is that they need more money, and the get it!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the new line. However, lets just cut through all bullshit. We all know they they are going to go through with it. Once it starts, there’s no way in hell they are going to stop in the middle. Knowing that, contractors purposely hide costs that “all of a sudden” show up after the project gets under way. Why? Because the extra costs will just get approved and swept under the carpet.

That’s why I’m sorta shocked about this real estate news. Isn’t it someone’s job to think about this stuff?