Might This Be A Good Or Bad Idea For The West End?

[INDman]

Subwayguy is always right just admit it

 

Take it easy motor...

[superdotny]

....and Jay Walder. AND all the other corrupt big wigs....

 

Don't want to start a war here, but don't forget it's a budget we have the fix. Chair Walder is doing his best from past admins's mistakes. Labor and capital costs money if you want a better system.

 

You cannot add service without additional funding. Re-routing the M to run on Sixth Avenue and Queens Blvd maximizes output. Running the M via West End and and 4th will not when you cut the V. Work with the constraints.

[INDman]

Don't want to start a war here, but don't forget it's a budget we have the fix. Chair Walder is doing his best from past admins's mistakes. Labor and capital costs money if you want a better system.

 

 

 

Drinking the cool-aid I see...

[Kamen Rider]

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[INDman]

Unless you post as Superdotny, the cool-aid is not directed at you. As far as Walder doing the best he can, no. He is destroying the MTA.

[SubwayGuy]

Don't want to start a war here, but don't forget it's a budget we have the fix. Chair Walder is doing his best from past admins's mistakes. Labor and capital costs money if you want a better system.

 

You cannot add service without additional funding. Re-routing the M to run on Sixth Avenue and Queens Blvd maximizes output. Running the M via West End and and 4th will not when you cut the V. Work with the constraints.

 

Do you even know what capital is?

[Kamen Rider]

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[T to Dyre Avenue]

Unless you post as Superdotny, the cool-aid is not directed at you. As far as Walder doing the best he can, no. He is destroying the MTA.

 

The State Government is doing more to destroy the than Walder is. They've been wrecking the long before Walder got here.

[Joe]

Seeing as the goal of the new service pattern is to...save money, and this would...spend money...no

 

el oh el.

[INDman]

The State Government is doing more to destroy the than Walder is. They've been wrecking the long before Walder got here.

 

While what has been done before does count for alot, so do his current actions. He as done alot of damage in a short time.

[EE Broadway Local]

Some interesting viewpoints, but we've been through this at least once before.

 

In 1975-1976 with Governor Hugh Carey, Mayor Abraham Beame and Mr. Yunich as MTA Chairman, the MTA cut routes, raised fares, revised the capital budget and survived.

 

Maybe the time was a little different: the city was facing bankruptcy (Daily News front page: Ford To City: Drop Dead) Actual Daily News front page with this headline: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/Ford%20to%20City%20Drop%20Dead.jpg

 

But the theme was the same: service cuts, raised fares, etc.

[superdotny]

Do you even know what capital is?

 

Nice question. Capital are usually in technology and long-term investments to increase productivity. No investments, no returns. The MTA is too labor-intensive at this point, with too few additions in capital. You can't blame Walder for the current faults, as mentioned by Kamen. He's working with constraints set by Albany, and it is the Legislature that controls what the MTA can and can't do. They failed to pass congestion pricing to support drivers. State and City funding to the MTA is tremendously lower than say forty years ago.

 

I think Walder has done a lot to transform the system and more than can be done. If you want the current system to stay status quo, nothing will get done. He has advocated for transparency and he delivered within a year. He sought the tech sector's help in building apps to speed ahead in real-time apps. Tell me if that's a change from past Chairs of the MTA. Past MTA Chairs would have turn their backs on the public, minus Elliot Sander. He is seeking help, and he is getting it.

 

Without reform in Albany, the MTA (or mostly the NYCT segment) will be in its current condition or worse.

 

I know this will be a bad question to ask, but I'll ask it anyways. If you were Walder, what would you do to MANAGE the MTA WITHIN the budget constraint to produce optimally and bring improvements? A shift in the West End line to Queens Blvd/6th Ave is shifting the load to make sure MOST riders get from point A to point B to point C.

 

Yes, there will be trade-offs, but you need to consider the money available. I will not support any loans or mortgages to get a short-term free ride. Yes, the MTA is also a mess with tenured workers/administrators seeking higher salaries, but you can't fire all of them. It's the same way when the Unions react when admins eliminate jobs. Internally, the smart transportation development team was downsized already. If you're asking for no more cuts and no more fare raises, you have few options

1) Re-organize the MTA to balance labor and capital investments (MTA is labor intensive)

2) Improve productivity

3) Reform Albany

4) Re-negotiate contracts with private contractors and Unions based on job performance to ensure accountability (the DC Education Dept did this to reform the arcane ladder-styled salary system to ensure kids get a good education, and the DC UFT agreed. the same can be done for transportation and the NYC DOE)

5) Seek the public's help in developing applications, instead of big corps. (aka Open Source programs)

[R10 2952]

1.If you were Walder, what would you do to MANAGE the MTA WITHIN the budget constraint to produce optimally and bring improvements?

 

2.Reform Albany

 

1. If I was Walder, I'd start by getting rid of all the excess, waste, corruption, and overall sleaze that exists within the (MTA)'s layers of managment.

2. Yes, Albany ought to be changed, but how about we start by reforming the MTA first? Clearly the in its current form is not working.

[T to Dyre Avenue]

1. If I was Walder, I'd start by getting rid of all the excess, waste, corruption, and overall sleaze that exists within the (MTA)'s layers of managment.

2. Yes, Albany ought to be changed, but how about we start by reforming the MTA first? Clearly the in its current form is not working.

Agree on number 1, but we can help bring change to Albany by not voting in November for the same people who put us in this mess. Most of the State Senators and Assemblymen are running for reelection. None of them feel like they are doing anything wrong and feel they are entitled to another term. Throw them out on their ears and show them they aren't entitled to anything. What this current bunch of clowns are doing is also not working.

[SubwayGuy]

Nice question. Capital are usually in technology and long-term investments to increase productivity. No investments, no returns. The MTA is too labor-intensive at this point, with too few additions in capital. You can't blame Walder for the current faults, as mentioned by Kamen. He's working with constraints set by Albany, and it is the Legislature that controls what the MTA can and can't do. They failed to pass congestion pricing to support drivers. State and City funding to the MTA is tremendously lower than say forty years ago.

 

I think Walder has done a lot to transform the system and more than can be done. If you want the current system to stay status quo, nothing will get done. He has advocated for transparency and he delivered within a year. He sought the tech sector's help in building apps to speed ahead in real-time apps. Tell me if that's a change from past Chairs of the MTA. Past MTA Chairs would have turn their backs on the public, minus Elliot Sander. He is seeking help, and he is getting it.

 

Without reform in Albany, the MTA (or mostly the NYCT segment) will be in its current condition or worse.

 

I know this will be a bad question to ask, but I'll ask it anyways. If you were Walder, what would you do to MANAGE the MTA WITHIN the budget constraint to produce optimally and bring improvements? A shift in the West End line to Queens Blvd/6th Ave is shifting the load to make sure MOST riders get from point A to point B to point C.

 

Yes, there will be trade-offs, but you need to consider the money available. I will not support any loans or mortgages to get a short-term free ride. Yes, the MTA is also a mess with tenured workers/administrators seeking higher salaries, but you can't fire all of them. It's the same way when the Unions react when admins eliminate jobs. Internally, the smart transportation development team was downsized already. If you're asking for no more cuts and no more fare raises, you have few options

1) Re-organize the MTA to balance labor and capital investments (MTA is labor intensive)

2) Improve productivity

3) Reform Albany

4) Re-negotiate contracts with private contractors and Unions based on job performance to ensure accountability (the DC Education Dept did this to reform the arcane ladder-styled salary system to ensure kids get a good education, and the DC UFT agreed. the same can be done for transportation and the NYC DOE)

5) Seek the public's help in developing applications, instead of big corps. (aka Open Source programs)

 

The reason I asked you that question is that capital is a term that applies most commonly to the purchasing power of private corporations. It not only refers to capital projects in private corporations, but also the resources that companies raise through issuance of stock or debt which are used to pay for such mundane expenses as payroll and debt. The term "capitalization" is used to refer to the money given freely to the private corporation (even if publicly traded, it still falls under the "private sector" because it is not a government entity) by stockholders or bondholders that allows the company to grow. This is very different than an agency like the MTA which, while it does issue debt through bonds, does not have stockholders and does not have as its main aim to make profit (I'm talking about the MTA, not the rich guys that run it ). In 99% of cases the capital model is not a good model to apply to a public entity such as the MTA.

 

The word "capital" is frequently thrown around regarding the MTA because of "capital" improvement which refers to large projects that for accounting purposes can have their costs "capitalized" and depreciated over a number of years rather than immediately. Hence why subway cars, with an average useful life of 40 years, fall under the MTA's "capital" plan.

 

However, the goal of a successful MTA necessarily must be to provide service. Not make money. Costs are out of control because the chief goal of the MTA is no longer to provide service. You provide service by having capable supervision that is well versed in railroading / bussing, and has experience in the field. You provide service by having upper management that understands what happens in the field, and at minimum indirectly understands "a day in the life" and the sorts of things that can go wrong. They can formulate strategic plans that are respectful of reality, and prioritize service, which leads to growing ridership. Supervision can then implement these strategic plans at the local level and "tweak" and "interpret" them based on their in depth field knowledge to make things happen. And the combination of a management and supervision that empowers its workforce to take pride in its work and treats them well enough that it's worth taking pride in, WILL get more from the line employees who serve customers.

 

The MTA does not have that. Like many corporations it is run by suits who are disconnected from everything they are charged with overseeing. They do not trust their workers. They do not trust the supervisors that oversee them. They do not even trust the superintendents charged with high level oversight. Everything becomes politically correct. Everything becomes about saving face. "Policy" overwhelms common sense, and policy is dictated by the very suits who do not understand the daily realities NY commuters, TA employees, and city residents face every day during commutes. That policy cannot be implemented effectively because it is wrong from the start. Things like a policy that prioritizes gimmicky new toys above service. Things like spiraling human resources budgets, redundant managers, redundant bean counters, pilot programs that cost millions of dollars. All signs of a clueless upper management.

 

And who gets the blame? The workers. Who gets the shaft? The riders.

 

Ask any New Yorker if they'd rather have more frequent train service or signs telling them that the next train is 5 minutes further away than it would have been if the sign wasn't there. EVERY one of them will tell you they want the first. Good managers would understand that.

 

Walder does not get it. He is another finance guy who thinks slashing the workforce and cutting costs for short term profits will make him look nice. In the business world, there are lots of people like this. They usually take an unprofitable company, take a huge accounting bath, lose a shit ton of money, and lay a lot of people off. Then the following quarter or year they do really well because they already wrote off a lot of costs, so suddenly they look profitable. The manager gets credited with a turnaround, finds a buyer, and the company is sold to someone else, and the manager and his butt buddies all get a handsome stock or cash package as part of the sale, and they don't have to be part of the picture anymore. But the underlying company never gets better.

 

In a public model that won't work. There are no buyouts only bailouts and then the public tit is dry (govt's in massive debt) there is nothing. Walder will get his lavish pay package and that bogus buyout that he doesn't deserve when the next Gov. says it's time for him to GTFO, and the ones left holding the bag, will be the ridership, and the employees. And ironically, the riders will blame the employees for the deplorable service they sometimes receive, because MTA's upper management is too busy suing and running a smear campaign in the media of the union rather than trying to make the best of a bad situation.

 

The state gets its share of blame from me too, because they're supposed to provide the MTA with MUCH more funding than they do. But Walder has to make tough choices, and so far he has made literally every single WRONG choice.

[T to Dyre Avenue]

I concur that there might be some problems with extending the to southern Brooklyn (whether it's Bay Ridge, 9 Av, or Bay Parkway), most importantly the skip-stop issue. If a gets delayed down south, and Jamaica Line riders start to see 2-3 trains in a row, it defeats the purpose of the system. It would probably make more sense to bring back the <R> (or use a different letter), having it drop out at Chambers Street, or have it terminate at Eastern Parkway or Metropolitan instead.

Exactly. I would leave (J)/(Z) skip stop service alone and not extend it into southern Brooklyn. If there proves to be an definite need for additional 4th Avenue service during rush hours, I'd run the old <R> service, but call it ( W ) and run it from Chambers Street to Bay Ridge. I don't think the West End line needs an additional service. It seems like the handles West End well on its own.

[2 Train Master]

If Jamaica didn't give away so many R46's some ®'s could had ran via West End.

[Grand Concourse]

Why the hell would you run the to the West End? The is long enough as it is going to just 95th. It should not be changed. If more West End service was needed it should require trains from CI yard. Basically add a few extra trains for the .

Plus they really need to retire those R44s.