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50 Station Agent jobs eliminated for the winter pick.


brokecrazy

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Are these jobs being completely eliminated, are they just assigning these people to be those new platform staff, or do platform staff already exist at these locations and they are eliminating these positions in accordance? If it is #2 or #3 that would make sense, but knowing the MTA it would probably be #1...

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Never understood the need for a staffed station agent at EVERY station for 24/7. Especially with help points and new fare technology, they probably could eliminate most of the position without serious problem. 

Plus most of them are either impatient or completely rude... so no sympathy there

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17 minutes ago, Mtatransit said:

Never understood the need for a staffed station agent at EVERY station for 24/7. Especially with help points and new fare technology, they probably could eliminate most of the position without serious problem. 

Plus most of them are either impatient or completely rude... so no sympathy there

The union would say that they're needed to thwart terrorist attacks and to help make the stations safer.  I can partially agree with that. However if the clerk is sleeping, then they're pretty much better off not being there.  If anything they should have more of them out on the platforms or in the stations rather than in that booth. I haven't used a token booth clerk for an actual Metrocard in MANY years. The only time I go to one is if my Metrocard isn't working so I can get one of those forms and have them buzz me in.  

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17 minutes ago, Mtatransit said:

Never understood the need for a staffed station agent at EVERY station for 24/7. Especially with help points and new fare technology, they probably could eliminate most of the position without serious problem. 

Plus most of them are either impatient or completely rude... so no sympathy there

Agreed, not every station really needs these people, too costly and inefficient. Im also sure the tourists that watch those "how to use NY subway" type videos will understand how to use it. The only time I've seen them useful is when I was at Broad Channel on the (A). A ganged fight happened (near the turnstiles) and the agent broke it up swiftly, and reported it to the NYPD. Most stations however don't have this issue so i'd care less if they went away (I mean, IIRC Broad Channel is one of the most dangerous stations in the system, and cracking down there would actually need to require a police presence).

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23 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

Agreed, not every station really needs these people, too costly and inefficient. Im also sure the tourists that watch those "how to use NY subway" type videos will understand how to use it. The only time I've seen them useful is when I was at Broad Channel on the (A). A ganged fight happened (near the turnstiles) and the agent broke it up swiftly, and reported it to the NYPD. Most stations however don't have this issue so i'd care less if they went away (I mean, IIRC Broad Channel is one of the most dangerous stations in the system, and cracking down there would actually need to require a police presence).

Aren't station agents not allowed to leave the booth? The MTA got sued about that in a rape case a few years ago IIRC.

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The last time I bought a metrocard from the booth was sometime during college (2000/01, around that time)...

The last time I went up to a clerk for any reason, was due to a faulty metrocard; happened at Rockefeller center a little less than a decade ago... I was told to fill out some form, write down the machine #, yada yada yada.... I sent the card in the mail, not expecting to get a replacement card back (to be honest). but they actually sent one back.....

As for sleeping s/a's, man, forget it.... Being that I leave the crib anytime I venture off for my NJ excursions around 3-ish , if I wanted to be a snitch, I would have pics of dozens of em sleeping on the job & have a field day e-mailing the MTA after the fact.... I personally don't care to do that, as I get no kicks out of doing so (the whole "candid camera" bit to me, is corny anyway).... Whenever I see sleeping s/a's, I just smh & proceed to wherever it is I'm going....

 

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11 minutes ago, bobtehpanda said:

Aren't station agents not allowed to leave the booth? The MTA got sued about that in a rape case a few years ago IIRC.

9 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Well they just started that pilot program where the agents go on the platform and such to help customers so who knows.

The station agent was just a regular agent in his booth that happened to run out and stop it. The attack was literally right in front of the booth itself (the booth is located on a passageway, which is above the train platform, nowhere near the tracks). I honestly don't blame the agent (in this situation) for stopping it since nobody else really could've done it. However, I have never seen the agent again after this when going back, so that may have the case.

 

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10 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

The last time I bought a metrocard from the booth was sometime during college (2000/01, around that time)...

The last time I went up to a clerk for any reason, was due to a faulty metrocard; happened at Rockefeller center a little less than a decade ago... I was told to fill out some form, write down the machine #, yada yada yada.... I sent the card in the mail, not expecting to get a replacement card back (to be honest). but they actually sent one back.....

As for sleeping s/a's, man, forget it.... Being that I leave the crib anytime I venture off for my NJ excursions around 3-ish , if I wanted to be a snitch, I would have pics of dozens of em sleeping on the job & have a field day e-mailing the MTA after the fact.... I personally don't care to do that, as I get no kicks out of doing so (the whole "candid camera" bit to me, is corny anyway).... Whenever I see sleeping s/a's, I just smh & proceed to wherever it is I'm going....

 

They're useful if you have a bunch of cards with odd amounts and want to consolidate. I've done that before with a bunch of old TransitChek PPRs.

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I'm here reading everything. And from what I can tell, removing Station Agent booths would be helpful for most stations and would help save money if I'm not mistaken. I can agree with this and the money that funded these booths should go elsewhere. But I also feel that this would be good especially after the new fare payment system comes out. As for those free maps and timetables in the booth, they should be placed outside in a little bin where you get maps and brochures in the station, similar to those bins at PABT and MTA buses.

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19 hours ago, R68OnBroadway said:

Are these jobs being completely eliminated, are they just assigning these people to be those new platform staff, or do platform staff already exist at these locations and they are eliminating these positions in accordance? If it is #2 or #3 that would make sense, but knowing the MTA it would probably be #1...

These jobs will NOT be on available on the winter pick board at the pick room. 

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On 9/3/2018 at 9:01 PM, brokecrazy said:

Some are entire booths closing, such as Jay st (R),  Chambers st (E), Botanic Garden (S).

Some are 24 hour booths closing for the night tour.

I feel sorry for tourists .  Also when a card doesn't work, people are going to have to go under.

A booth agent can't do ANYTHING about a card that doesn't work. NOTHING AT ALL. You get the envelope slide back to you under the glass, and told the mail it in. If you want to argue, the booth agent will tell you all day in a loop mail it in and wait 6 weeks. If you are a European tourist, like I heard today arguing with the agent, the booth agent says MTA will mail the check internationally (true or BS?).

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11 hours ago, bulk88 said:

A booth agent can't do ANYTHING about a card that doesn't work. NOTHING AT ALL. You get the envelope slide back to you under the glass, and told the mail it in. If you want to argue, the booth agent will tell you all day in a loop mail it in and wait 6 weeks. If you are a European tourist, like I heard today arguing with the agent, the booth agent says MTA will mail the check internationally (true or BS?).

Do you think they want to give their OWN money out if a card doesn't work?  Of course arguing is going to go in a loop, it is the machines fault, not the agents fault.

Agent has to put up money if they make a mistake or another employee steals from t hem.  

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Some of them get annoyed if you ask them anything... I don't waste time bothering anymore.

 

9 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I've noticed that the S/A's get really annoyed if I ask them to switch my fare to a new card because it intermittently gives me errors. I'm like "hey, I'm actually giving your job a reason to exist" LOL

I used to think like that, but eventually stopped caring.... The more & more I see them snapping at people (of which that weren't rude to them first), messing around on their phones, sleeping, whatever, the more I honestly believe they don't see it that way... I mean hey, you're not going to be the happiest of people, knowing that your position's going to be fizzled out - however, that doesn't give you carte blanche to take your anger/despair out on people.... It pretty much depends on your overall disposition; how you handle things in general...

The worst I've ever seen of this type of phenomenon, is at a retail store.... The last time I went to that toys r' us (the one that... was... past Kings Plaza), man IDK how many "I don't give a f***s" (not paraphrasing either) I've heard in that 20 minutes or so, I was in that place....

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On 9/4/2018 at 1:34 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The union would say

The union would say anything to preserve as many positions as possible. Cameras are better than booth agents for "thwarting terrorism" anyway, and people who need directions can learn how to use the map, ask another passenger, or consult a "wayfinder."

Removing the WTC (E) booth might have also been necessary because the recent station reconfiguration left only a small space for the machines, so removing the booth would free up a helpful amount of space. Come to think of it, the Cortlandt Street (R)(W) booth isn't really necessary either, and I'm not sure whether the new WTC/Cortlandt (1) will have one anyway. For that entire complex, a booth would really only be sufficiently helpful at the Fulton Center, and even then only one is fine. Anyone needing to speak to a booth agent in that area could be directed there.

Above all, the removal of booth agents is a cost-cutting measure from which the (MTA) would benefit greatly; that money is really needed elsewhere. $112,930 a year for sitting in a booth? $298,600,000 in annual costs to the (MTA)? Absolutely unacceptable. That's a six-figure salary for doing...that! Think about it...it doesn't add up at all! It flat-out doesn't make sense.

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Just now, Porter said:

The union would say anything to preserve as many positions as possible. Cameras are better than booth agents for 'thwarting terrorism' anyway, and people who need directions can learn how to use the map, ask another passenger, or find a platform attendant.

Removing the WTC (E) booth might have also been necessary because the recent station reconfiguration left only a small space for the machines, so removing the booth would free up a helpful amount of space. Come to think of it, the Cortlandt Street (R)(W) booth isn't really necessary either, and I'm not sure whether the new WTC/Cortlandt (1) will have one anyway. For that entire complex, a booth would really only be sufficiently helpful at the Fulton Center, and even then only one is fine. Anyone needing to speak to a booth agent in that area could be directed there.

Yeah imagine that... People actually not being lazy for once.... <_< All of this technology with people walking around with GPS enabled cell phones, and no one uses them for that. They just text, take pictures, browse the web and BS all day.

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On ‎9‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 8:49 PM, brokecrazy said:

Do you think they want to give their OWN money out if a card doesn't work?  Of course arguing is going to go in a loop, it is the machines fault, not the agents fault.

Agent has to put up money if they make a mistake or another employee steals from t hem.  

and they are charged for phony bills as well.

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