Gene Russianoff
Report: G train outshines reputation, L train disappoints, Hurricane Sandy lingers
However trendy it may be to knock the G, a new report finds that the oft-ridiculed subway line continues to outperform its reputation, while delays along the neighboring L train have gotten dramatically worse. More
The one-hour-maximum commute, and other big transit ideas from Christine Quinn
"Today I'm setting a clear goal," said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "By the year 2023, not a single New Yorker should ahve to spend more than an hour commuting in either direction." More
Council demands an end to the M.T.A.'s subway-safety 'exploratory' phase
About 135 riders get hit by subway cars every year. Many of them die, some of them spectacularly, like in December, when Sunando Sen and Ki Suk Han were pushed to to their deaths. More
A less-unwieldy possible alternative to subway-platform screen doors: track sensors
Subway platform doors, like the kind on the Air Train, are the only known way to prevent deaths on the tracks. But in light of the many challenges to installing them in New York City's subway systems, some people are asking, why not subway track sensors instead?
"To me it’s an example of something that’s worth thinking about," said Gene Russianoff, the head of NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign. More
(1)The year in transit: 'Most people will remember the storm and the two pushing deaths'
"There were a lot of good things that happened, but most people will remember the storm and the two pushing deaths," said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney at NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign, which this morning issued its third-annual year-end list of the M.T.A.'s best and worst moments. More
In Congress, a testament to turnover at the M.T.A.
Yesterday, when Joe Lhota formally announced that, after just a year, he was leaving his position as M.T.A. chairman for a possible run for mayor, he promised that he would remain the M.T.A.'s lobbyist in chief, a job at which he has excelled, through the end of the month. "I will continue to fight through the end of the year to get the supplemental resolution passed in Washington, as will everybody at the M.T.A," he promised.
But today, it wasn't Lhota who went down to Washington to plead the M.T.A.'s case for post-hurricane relief from the Senate. It was Tom Prendergast, the M.T.A.'s head of transit in New York City.
In an email, Gene Russianoff, a transit advocate with the Straphangers Campaign, called it "a good illustration of my point that heavy turnover it M.T.A. leadership—6 M.T.A. Chairs and C.E.O.'s in 6 years—reduces developing personal connections and presence." More
Report: New York's 'schleppiest' buses are in Manhattan
Manhattan's congested streets are home to New York City's 'pokiest' and 'schleppiest' bus lines, according to a new report. More
Transit advocates want countdown clocks for New York City buses
Bus riders who smartphones can use the M.T.A.'s new "Bus Time" app to find out when the next one's coming. More
M.T.A. reaps goodwill with post-hurricane performance, but 'New Yorkers are New Yorkers'
M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota has made it his mission from the beginning to improve the image of his authority. More
Now, Andrew Cuomo is a governor who talks about transit
This was the week that Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has historically avoided mass transit in New York City, took ownership of the M.T.A.
"He's made it clear to all New Yorkers if there was any question," said Noah Budnick, deputy director of Transportation Alternatives, adding, "It's been abundantly clear this week." More
(1)Now arriving: an 'Alinsky-style' transit advocacy group for New York
Joe Lhota, the not-so-new keeper of New York City’s subways and buses, has said that the success of his tenure as chairman of the M.T.A. should be measured by his ability to change its reputation from bad to good. Only then, he argues, will legislators fund it properly. More
On bike-share delays, advocates cut the mayor and their 'dream commissioner' some slack
Today, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced during his regular Friday morning radio appearance that the city's much-touted, long-awaited bike share program, which had originally been scheduled to debut in July, would instead launch in spring 2013 thanks to a frequently cited, but never fully explained, problem with its "software." More
(2)Vindication for the G: Study shows every other line has more delays, especially the 2 and 5
The G train, contrary to popular belief, is not terrible.
The only subway line connecting Brooklyn to Queens, the G actually generated the fewest M.T.A.-issued, and M.T.A.-caused service alerts in 2011 of all of the 20 New York City subway lines analyzed, according to a study released this morning by NYPIRG’s Straphangers Campaign.
Of the nearly 2,967 significant-incident alerts that could be attributed to M.T.A. action, or inaction, only 45 were generated by the G line. More
On the reappropriation of transit money, Foye says it's just what governors have to do sometimes
Patrick Foye, Governor Andrew Cuomo's pick to serve as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, defended a governor's right to cut funding for mass transit as he sees fit, saying, "Governors unfortunately have to make tough fiscal and policy choices." More
Cuomo's transit-crisis manager: The first 100 days of M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota
M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota, a lifelong conservative Republican, thinks the way the government funds the mass transit system that sustains New York's economy is fundamentally inadequate.
He has taken to saying as much in public, most recently at an infrastructure forum at Baruch College. More
