Second Avenue Subway Discussion

[MysteriousBtrain]

Video Release: Line Extension Train Operator and Dispatcher Training

Wrong thread, but good video.

[Q113 LTD]

Wrong thread, but good video.

I am so sorry. I was not paying attention. I thought I was posting this on the  "subway random thoughts" thread. I was likely in a rush to post. I had a 8 fl. oz Bud Light. smh

Edited June 1, 2015 by Q113 LTD

[LTA1992]

I am so sorry. I was not paying attention. I thought I was posting this on the  "subway random thoughts" thread. I was likely in a rush to post. I had a 8 fl. oz Bud Light. smh

I hope you weren't drinking Thot Juice. If so, I have no respect for you lol

 

On topic, I saw that earlier. The new stations need more personality. They look soulless. I mean, not as soulless as say, WMATA stations. But soulless none the less.

 

 

 

.....And that's coming from a guy with no soul....

[Sparen of Iria]

They had better not look as soulless and low-capacity as the WMATA stations... Because we are paying so much for them, and the contractors have been ripping off the MTA, and we can't do much about it.

[bobtehpanda]

They had better not look as soulless and low-capacity as the WMATA stations... Because we are paying so much for them, and the contractors have been ripping off the MTA, and we can't do much about it.

 

WMATA is many things, but I wouldn't consider their stations 'low capacity', at least when they're able to run full service for all of half an hour.

[Sparen of Iria]

I'm specifically referring to the Smithsonian station and L'Enfant Plaza. The former had a poorly designed mezzanine-platform system and the latter had a poorly designed street-mezzanine system.

 

I'm also referring to the Sakuramatsuri, where the two stations in question were impossible. People were being dumped on the Largo-bound platform faster than they could exit the station, so trains skipped the station simply because it would be a safety hazard to let more people onto the platforms.

 

As for L'enfant Plaza, I saw a line going around the block, because of the three escalators at one exit, two were going up and one was going down. Nobody bothered to reverse one of the escalators.

 

(Thankfully, New Yorkers have stairs, a wonderful invention that allows people who are in a hurry to bypass the escalators completely. The... exception being Lex/53 with its claustrophobic escalators, but that's a different story.)

Edited June 3, 2015 by Sparen of Iria

[bobtehpanda]

I'm specifically referring to the Smithsonian station and L'Enfant Plaza. The former had a poorly designed mezzanine-platform system and the latter had a poorly designed street-mezzanine system.

 

I'm also referring to the Sakuramatsuri, where the two stations in question were impossible. People were being dumped on the Largo-bound platform faster than they could exit the station, so trains skipped the station simply because it would be a safety hazard to let more people onto the platforms.

 

As for L'enfant Plaza, I saw a line going around the block, because of the three escalators at one exit, two were going up and one was going down. Nobody bothered to reverse one of the escalators.

 

(Thankfully, New Yorkers have stairs, a wonderful invention that allows people who are in a hurry to bypass the escalators completely. The... exception being Lex/53 with its claustrophobic escalators, but that's a different story.)

 

I was actually there that day this year. L'enfant Plaza wasn't so bad (although I walked there instead of taking the train one stop from Smithsonian), but in general that entire festival was one overcrowded mess, with crowds from building wall to building wall and barely anyone moving. How the MTA can manage to handle stuff like NYE is beyond me.

[LTA1992]

You should try again on a normal weekend when there are service changes and 2/3 of the trains are not in service. Those platforms are on BMT levels of thin.

[Q113 LTD]

Feds say Second Av Subway to open later than expects.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Feds-2nd-Avenue-Subway-Open-Later-Than-MTA-Expects-306552461.html

[Union Tpke]

Lovely. Another delay!

[trainfan22]

That's only a two month delay, no biggie IMO.

[Mysterious2train]

That's only a two month delay, no biggie IMO.

 

The Federal Transit Administration's projected opening date is February 2018, not February 2017. A little more than 2 months. 

 

Lovely. Another delay!

 

This isn't all that new. The FTA has been projecting a February 2018 opening for years. The MTA still claims that the line will open in December 2016, it's just that the FTA doesn't have much confidence in that at all, so they projected their own opening date. 

 

However, according to the Second Ave Sagas, Matthew Welbes, Executive Director of the FTA, later said that

 

 When we executed the revised Full Funding Grant agreement in March, the schedule is that the project is supposed to open by by February of 2018. And that was based on what we agreed to with the MTA. If the MTA can deliver the project sooner, we would be proud to see that happen. It looks like the project is trending, based on our data, toward an opening of closer to, maybe early in, sometime in 2017. So the truth is probably somewhere between December of 2016 and our February of 2018 opening date. If the MTA does some of the aggressive schedule management steps that they have planned, they may very well achieve that December date.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Mysterious2train

[Sparen of Iria]

This 'aggressive' scheduling seems hard to believe. But honestly, they have people breathing down their backs on 2 Av, so there's a lot more pressure than with Hudson Yards.

[bobtehpanda]

Hopefully after this entire debacle and East Side Access is over, the MTA will finally learn how to manage a big construction project.

[Javier]

Hopefully after this entire debacle and East Side Access is over, the MTA will finally learn how to manage a big construction project.

You read my mind +1

[Lance]

Hopefully after this entire debacle and East Side Access is over, the MTA will finally learn how to manage a big construction project.

Spoiler alert: they won't.

[bobtehpanda]

Spoiler alert: they won't.

 

I mean, of course they won't. It's a larger issue of corruption in the state, and given that we have a speaker and senate majority leader indicted by the feds, the speaker's replacement at the center of an NYT investigation into his finances, and a Governor who is prioritizing dogs at outdoor cafes more than actually funding the MTA's existing maintenance, reform is not going to come anytime soon.

 

But hey, one could dream, right?

[trainfanrod]

east side access is needed more than 2nd ave subway???

[bobtehpanda]

east side access is needed more than 2nd ave subway???

 

It's not that it's more needed than the second phase, it's that if they stop work, the MTA is technically violating the terms of an FTA grant, and the federal government can then call in what it paid for. Unless you want the MTA coughing up at least $2.6B to the feds, East Side Access must continue.

[Lance]

I mean, of course they won't. It's a larger issue of corruption in the state, and given that we have a speaker and senate majority leader indicted by the feds, the speaker's replacement at the center of an NYT investigation into his finances, and a Governor who is prioritizing dogs at outdoor cafes more than actually funding the MTA's existing maintenance, reform is not going to come anytime soon.

 

But hey, one could dream, right?

I can dream of winning PowerBall, but that's not happening either. 

[Union Tpke]

I can dream of winning PowerBall, but that's not happening either. 

 

In order to get funding Pendergast should try to win the lottery.

[N6 Limited]

Why did they decide not to do a 79th street station?

Edited June 15, 2015 by N6 Limited

[MysteriousBtrain]

Why did they decide not to do a 72nd street station?

They have a 72nd Street.

[Mysterious2train]

Why did they decide not to do a 79th street station?

 

Less stations makes the trains a little faster. It also cuts down on costs. 86 St station will have an entrance at 83 St, which is only a few blocks from 79 St.

 

Here's what the MTA's response was:

 

Comment 92: The stations are too far apart. People will not walk that far, and the long walk to stations will increase passengers’ total trip time. (Chase, Daniels, Morciglio, Rozankowski) The Upper East Side is not well served by the 14- and 15-block gaps between stations. If no additional stations are to be added, the proposed stations should have additional entrances and exits at both platform ends to provide for maximum accessibility. (Civitas)

 

Response: Station spacing has been developed to achieve a balance between maximum operating speed of the system and convenient access for passengers. Placing the stations closer than 10 blocks apart would mean that the trains would operate at a slow speed—because trains could not reach optimum speeds between stations and because of added time in each station—and customers traveling the length of the route would have a more time-consuming commute. This would mean that many customers would choose to continue to use the faster Lexington Avenue express service. With the proposed station spacing, average passenger trip time is expected to decrease because passengers located east of Third Avenue will no longer need to walk to Lexington Avenue. Travel time will also be expected to improve for passengers remaining on the Lexington Avenue Line because of reduced overcrowding on that line. As described in Chapters 2 and 8 of the FEIS, all station platforms would be two to three blocks long, and most stations would have multiple entrances. In some locations, those entrances would be on the opposite ends of the station, so that they could be as much as three blocks apart, and therefore on average customers would have at most three or four blocks to walk north or south to reach an entrance. Most riders would walk half that distance. Entrances are being sited in locations where they can best meet estimated demand.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Mysterious2train

[LTA1992]

There's a flaw in that logic, and it comes down to design at the end of the day. The effects of that limited design will rear it's ugly head in the future when they are planning yet another East Side subway. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by LTA1992