Tag: 30 million

WOW. Gun Show on the Subway

subwayblogger3 Comments

Holy hell, did you see all the guns on the subway today?  Apparently, it’s all part of “Operation TORCH,” a new federally funded security initiative.

The NYPD received a $30 million grant to increase subway security in a major way.  However, it seems like they are only focusing on major subway hubs. 

The police units, part of a new program called Operation TORCH, will focus on major transit hubs, including Times Square, Herald Square and Grand Central Terminal, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. [1010 WINS]

I’m not sure what good that does.  I guess it deters an attack from those stations.  However, a terrorist could just get on at a different stop!

All they would have to do is get on a random stop and ride straight into Times Square or Grand Central and detonate a bomb.  So I don’t think it makes it any safer from a terrorism perspective.

On a petty crime level like purse snatching and pickpocketing, that will probably go down on the fortified stations, but that’s probably about it.

Bull Sh*t Alert: MTA Postpones Upgrades

subwayblogger5 Comments

Remember way back when the MTA promised that part of the new fare hike would include some general system upgrades with a $30 million improvement package? Yeah well, the MTA has decided they’re just gonna hold off on that for a lil bit.

This is such bullshit, it drives me nuts. If this is the stuff they can get away with, they should have just promised to make $900 million in improvements. Either way, they weren’t going to do it in the first place.

Here’s what we’re not getting:

More frequent service on the G line in Brooklyn and Queens, extending B and W service on weeknights to 11 p.m. from the current 9:30 p.m., and shaving one or two minutes from waiting times for evening service on the 1, 4 and 6 lines.

So much for that plan.  I guess at the end of the day, it just means more of the same for your commute.  For the few of us that actually pay an strange amount of attention to the happenings of the subway, we will be the only ones that get ultra pissed.

But riders having to now pay higher fares should be pissed.  Part of the “agreement” were these system improvements.

They say that if the MTA finance department can get their act together by June, the improvements might still have a chance.  Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.  I love how these financial troubles are all of a sudden brought up now…after the fare hike has already happened.  Where was this information earlier?  Saying that the numbers weren’t in is just bull.  It’s not like they are being sent in by carrier pigeon.  All you need to do is look up the tax forecasts etc. and you would have been able to see that the MTA wasn’t going to make as much this year.

So they should not have offered the improved services in the first place, or upped the fare $0.25 on the single ride fare.