February 24, 2009 at 12:11 am
(Source: Bostonglobe.com)
In the half-month since the Senate nearly slashed mass transit from the stimulus bill, yet more locales broke ridership records from coast to coast. The New York City subway system moved 1.62 billion people last year, the most since 1950. Combined with buses, the city moved 2.37 billion people, the most since 1965. The Metro-North rail that services the suburbs outside New York carried a record 84 million passengers.
In the Midwest, the Madison, Wis., bus system recorded 13.4 million rides last year, the highest since 1979. Chicago’s suburban bus system carried 40 million riders last year, the highest since 1991. Minneapolis/St. Paul’s suburban bus system carried a record 2.6 million riders.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Amtrak Cascades line from Portland to Seattle set a new record with a 14.4 percent increase. In the South, ridership for the Piedmonttrain between Charlotte and Raleigh was up 30.8 percent last year.
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February 24, 2009 at 12:06 am
(Source: NYTimes.com)
Plummeting tax and fare revenues that have been depressed further by the ailing economy could increase the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget deficit this year by $650 million, according to a new estimate made public on Monday. If the doomsday forecast is borne out, the authority’s deficit this year could grow to nearly $2 billion.
Subway ridership fell 2 percent in January compared with last year.
The authority has already proposed a steep increase in fares and deep service cuts if it does not get a state bailout. But if its finances worsen significantly, it could be forced to take even more drastic measures.
“This is obviously breathtaking,” Gary Dellaverson, the authority’s chief financial officer, said as he presented the projections to a meeting of the authority board’s finance committee.
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February 22, 2009 at 12:21 am
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
(source: silive.com)
Once the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was paid for, motorists would be free from paying a toll to cross it.
So goes the urban legend, repeated for nearly half a century and believed by countless Islanders who fervently evoke it at toll-hike hearings, in letters to the Advance, or in casual conversation when the E-ZPass bill arrives.
But like the one that claims feeding Alka-Seltzer to a pigeon will cause the bird to explode, consider this myth debunked.
According to Joyce Mulvaney, a spokeswoman for MTA Bridges & Tunnels, which operates the bridge, “We have searched our archives and can find no documentation for the statement and, given the structure of our bonds, as backed by toll revenue, it doesn’t make sense that anyone would make such a statement — now or then.”
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February 21, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Source: New York Press
The New York Times reports that MTA ridership on both subways and buses is up: “Despite a slumping economy, New York City Transit recorded a total of 2.37 billion rides across the city’s subways and buses in 2008, a 3.1 percent increase from 2007 and the highest figure since 1965.”
That “despite” beginning the lede sentence makes very little sense. OF COURSE ridership would be up in a weakened economy: PUBLIC transportation should be the most affordable, efficient way to get from one point to another. Who can afford taxis or car insurance and parking? Are we supposed to be walking the length of the island. It should actually read: DESPITE massive service delays and inconveniences, MTA ridership is up. In fact,some people think the subway should be FREE!
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