MTA's planned cuts include everything from station agents to entire train lines

[Myrtle Local]

The MTA's doomsday budget will wipe out the line, zap the line and ax more than 1,500 NYC Transit jobs, the Daily News has learned.

 

The list of bus and subway cuts the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will unveil at its monthly board meeting Thursday is extensive and potentially bruising, sources said.

 

Riders can expect longer waits, more-crowded rides and having to make additional transfers to get to their destinations if the draconian moves are put into effect.

 

"Oh, this is not good," said Gladeys Loaiza, a housekeeper from Queens who rides the W train. "When I get on in the morning, I can't sit now. What's it going to be like when the W train is gone?"

 

According to sources, the cuts include:

 

- Elimination of at least a handful of bus and subway routes, including the and subway train lines.

 

- No more express service, makes all local stops.

 

- line nearly halved with the northern terminal being Court Square, Long Island City, Queens, at all times. No more service from Court Square to Forest Hills

 

- line halved, making stops only between Metropolitan Ave., Queens, and Broad St., Manhattan.

 

- Midday: Schedules changed - less frequent trains from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. - system wide so that trains carry more passengers: 125% of the seating capacity, up from current guideline of 100%.

 

- Fewer transit workers in the subways because 600 or so station agent positions will be axed and about 350 administrative posts.

 

- Longer gaps between scheduled trains at midday and between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.

 

- Expanded subway loading guidelines to allow for more crowding of trains.

 

- Buses: A few dozen bus routes eliminated overnight and weekends, including X27 and X28 weekends. Bus routes targeted for less frequent service generally are those with lower ridership numbers or where subway trains are an option. A few routes running weekdays axed.

 

"It's a nightmare on weekends if trying to go to Queens as it is," groaned Zack Frank, 26, an actor from Queens. "The MTA should worry about strengthening what it's got, not cutting it."

 

Brooklyn graphic designer John Demeo, 39, agreed.

 

"You can't get on the trains to begin with," said Demeo. "They're just overcrowded. They should work on service first before they raise the fare."

 

MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin refused to comment on specifics of the budget.

 

Two subway lines - the and - would essentially be halved, with trains making far fewer stops.

 

MTA CEO Elliot Sander has said the authority will have to raise fares and impose drastic service cuts if Gov. Paterson and the Legislature don't adopt a bailout plan.

 

The projected 2009 operating budget has widened from about $900 million to $1.2 billion because of the weak economy and dramatically declining tax revenues, Sander said.

 

Sources said the budget plan will include layoffs in addition to jobs that can be vacated through attrition.

 

"We began internal belt tightening long before the financial crisis, and the budget released Thursday will start with more administrative cuts," Soffin said.

 

BY PETE DONOHUE

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

November 18th 2008

[Jah]

This is a disgrace. I'm shocked that the public is always so quick to bash the union who's workers get them to and from there destinations safely everyday but won't stand up to this rogue agency the MTA.

 

The NY Post article from sunday the I posted the other day shows the waste that the agency has in office, clerical, and most importantly managerial positions that if they would cut can save hundreds of millions a year. This is what must be done together with a fare hike and NO service cuts because the public doesn't deserve that!!!

 

All of these proposed service cuts at the exact same time that the MTA is adding tons of high paid managers to the subways where there is already an excess of management.

[JJr142]

Now this isnt right. They are cutting service, and yet they want a fare hike. Thats going to be messed up. This is crappy service. Hope they dont get rid of the .

[mikefrombk]

Cutting in half? You gotta be kidding me. The morning trains are packed as it is. And by completely doing away with the and , what do they plan on doing with all these leftover cars?

[B41]

This is unacceptable. I need the W line because I cannot stand the overcrowding of the R. Why would the MTA want more crowded trains?!

[Luis1985]

if by any chance they end up removing the , what are the chances of making the or the a local train??

[R421969]

if they cut the that means that the will go express or its just gonna be local with longer waits. Ill never get a seat in the morning now...great.

[Forest Glen]

The J will make all 2,000 stops from Jamaica Center to Broad Street. Of course the precious V line isn't facing elimination. They need to fire all of those overpaid MTA execs. This system is a joke.

[Eric B]

By "cutting the in half", they probably mean making *official"* the permanent cutback to Court Sq. Don't forget, it still "officially" runs to Forest Hills, even if that was only part time, and even if they have been cutting it back every weekend anyway. So they'll finally have their excuse, even before the next batch of changes where it was supposed to be cut.

 

They said making the local, but since it's the that is eliminated, I would think they mean "skip stop" that would end (of course). I don't see why it would have to go local between Myrtle and Marcy with the still running. Unless they would do something like reduce its frequency to ridiculous levels. Or when they said to cut it in half, to run it as a shuttle all times. Bu I doubt they really meant that, as they had noticed the higher use of it in extending its hours to Manhattan, and even proposing weekend service. So cutting the in half would mean it would no longer run past Chambers (which has always been a somewaht lightly used service anyway). Don't have a fit, some of you, as with the cut, it would be easier for them to run the to Broad (that would simplify the tower work, and also have all trains terminate where a dispatcher is, which would be more preferrable anyway).

 

The plan with the I have been hearing is for it to be merged with the . This may mean going back to the "Manhattan Bridge Fully Open" proposal of 1995 (also in tough times with draconian cutbacks planned), where the would only be express and via bridge to Manhattan AM, and From Manhattan PM. That way, the Sea Beach riders would still have their express via bridge, and the Astoria riders would still have their local to lower Mahnattan, which would still have its two local services. Under this new plan, the would then become the supplemental express service for Astoria; though I did not hear if they would make the local. Just can't imagine them pulling the out, and still having the two downtown expresses, and the greatly reduced local service to lower Manhattan.

[Articulated450]

this is just plain crazy the mta is out of their mind i take the w to work everyday and now they want to remove it for good.and the z i cant belive that i take the z to get to parents house to vist once in while they should really re think on what they are doing because the train lines and the crowed of people is going to increase really bad.

[Myrtle Local]

By "cutting the in half", they probably mean making *official"* the permanent cutback to Court Sq. Don't forget, it still "officially" runs to Forest Hills, even if that was only part time, and even if they have been cutting it back every weekend anyway. So they'll finally have their excuse, even before the next batch of changes where it was supposed to be cut.

 

They said making the local, but since it's the that is eliminated, I would think they mean "skip stop" that would end (of course). I don't see why it would have to go local between Myrtle and Marcy with the still running. Unless they would do something like reduce its frequency to ridiculous levels. Or when they said to cut it in half, to run it as a shuttle all times. Bu I doubt they really meant that, as they had noticed the higher use of it in extending its hours to Manhattan, and even proposing weekend service. So cutting the in half would mean it would no longer run past Chambers (which has always been a somewaht lightly used service anyway). Don't have a fit, some of you, as with the cut, it would be easier for them to run the to Broad (that would simplify the tower work, and also have all trains terminate where a dispatcher is, which would be more preferrable anyway).

 

The plan with the I have been hearing is for it to be merged with the . This may mean going back to the "Manhattan Bridge Fully Open" proposal of 1995 (also in tough times with draconian cutbacks planned), where the would only be express and via bridge to Manhattan AM, and From Manhattan PM. That way, the Sea Beach riders would still have their express via bridge, and the Astoria riders would still have their local to lower Mahnattan, which would still have its two local services. Under this new plan, the would then become the supplemental express service for Astoria; though I did not hear if they would make the local. Just can't imagine them pulling the out, and still having the two downtown expresses, and the greatly reduced local service to lower Manhattan.

 

The & merger would be fine but if both the & were running from Astoria then one of them would have to become the Broadway Local because the would be way over burdened. I'd think the should run local down Broadway and it could switch over after Prince St. so it could still travel the Manhattan Bridge and express service on 4th Ave wouldn't take a hit.

 

As far as the I'd say it's Bay Parkway days are over and will probably travel to Broad St only during rush hours and Chambers the usual middays. The most extreme case would be cutting Manhattan service at middays totally and terminate at Myrtle. Broad St. extension to 11pm would probably be cut also. We'll see what the geniuses at the MTA have come up with

[Jah]

Nobody is bringing up the fact that during the last fare hike part of the MTA's logic to the public was the added service that was put into effect July 27, 2008. Now only 4 months later they want to eliminate those improvements and more.

[Y2Julio]

Damn MTA board thinks the public and Fed Government are idiots.

[Radioguy]

I miss Hevesi. He put the fear of God into the board. There's been no one like that since.

 

Also, iin the other thread, I think this would raise crime statistics. You need consistent night service on every route. This could be like the 70s again, with people not wanting to take the train once the sun goes down.

[RokuSix]

They can't possibly mean this. This has to be the absolutely last resort. I mean, even as much as I support the , how can they keep that, but eliminate the , and also cut the in half? What about Queens Boulevard Local riders? And Broadway Local riders?

 

I really don't think they're going to do this. It's just a bluff of a threat.

[Eric B]

The & merger would be fine but if both the & were running from Astoria then one of them would have to become the Broadway Local because the would be way over burdened. I'd think the should run local down Broadway and it could switch over after Prince St. so it could still travel the Manhattan Bridge and express service on 4th Ave wouldn't take a hit.

The 1995 plan actually was for it to go express and switch over at Prince to go through the tunnel. If they were to make it local to prince, it would most likely stay local and continue through the tunnel. The would need the help down there even more, and as it is, when the is delayed, the is used to fill in the gap.

As far as the I'd say it's Bay Parkway days are over and will probably travel to Broad St only during rush hours and Chambers the usual middays. The most extreme case would be cutting Manhattan service at middays totally and terminate at Myrtle. Broad St. extension to 11pm would probably be cut also. We'll see what the geniuses at the MTA have come up with

I had been saying that the Bay Pkway service should just be reduced to a rush hour special, like the old . I had copied a timetable to begin reworking it for this, but never got to it. It would be difficult, since the trains from Bay Pkway woudl need to end somewhere, yet most of the trains from Met would be returning to Met, and you wouldn't need double service in the reverse direction over the Willimsburg Br. Plus, I had wanted to try to keep some service running through to Brooklyn both directions, only not al the way to Bay Pkway in the reverse peak. So it looked like 9th Ave. But as my idea was for the Met bound to not have to depend on the 4th Ave service (where it gets hung up), even to 9th, it would still have that problem.

 

But now, as they talk about eliminating that end altogether, just running five or so specials to Chambers or Essex (which would get it out of the way as it is cleaned out), layup on unused tracks between Essex and Chambers, and then return in the PM, and all (M)'s from Met run to Broad and back; would be a nice compromise. The abandoned designation could then be used for the southern special.

 

Nobody is bringing up the fact that during the last fare hike part of the MTA's logic to the public was the added service that was put into effect July 27, 2008. Now only 4 months later they want to eliminate those improvements and more.

While the situation was beginning then (and they already started by cutting out the second wave of improvements planned for next month, such as the weekend and full time with via the bridge all night), by now, the severity of the crisis was totally grasped, and I figured all of this would be next, eventually. That's what makes this even harder for me, transit wise. Just as things were so good that they were planning unbelievable increases, we now crash again to the dark days of the 70's and 90's where service is cut or proposed to be cut like this. (Remember the idea to take the ( completely out of uptown and run it to 21st all times, and merge the (Q6) with the to 207th, and replace the altogether with an alllocal ?)

[Myrtle Local]

They can't possibly mean this. This has to be the absolutely last resort. I mean, even as much as I support the , how can they keep that, but eliminate the , and also cut the in half? What about Queens Boulevard Local riders? And Broadway Local riders?

 

I really don't think they're going to do this. It's just a bluff of a threat.

 

I wish it were a bluff but I really don't think it is, these guys are at the point where they are going to do anything to plug up their budget gap. We'll see on Thursday for sure though I guess

[NASCAR]

Well,well,well....You guys knew this was coming!The economy is SHOT and TA is jumping on the "Bail" wagon.Don't forget it's contract time too..It's a shame that the fair might go up and all of these cuts,but what can you do??Everybody's cutting back so the TA has to do what they gotta do.I wouldn't loose any sleep on it tho(Not saying this because I'm an employee)I believe everything's gonna work out...F*ck the Bush administration and everybody that contributed to this MESS!!!

[Y2Julio]

 

Well,well,well....You guys knew this was coming!The economy is SHOT and TA is jumping on the "Bail" wagon.Don't forget it's contract time too..It's a shame that the fair might go up and all of these cuts,but what can you do??Everybody's cutting back so the TA has to do what they gotta do.I wouldn't loose any sleep on it tho(Not saying this because I'm an employee)I believe everything's gonna work out...F*ck the Bush administration and everybody that contributed to this MESS!!!

Who want's to go down with torches and pitchforks down to Wall St? Who's with me?

[metsfan]

Me, i'll go! I even have a genuine pitch fork!

 

All joking aside, this is ****ed up. Hello governor, representatives & senators of ny, make funds available NOW. Thank you & stand clear of my swinging fist.

 

- A

[Y2Julio]

Yet NYS was able to bailout AIG but not something important like the subway system?

[metsfan]

Yet NYS was able to bailout AIG but not something important like the subway system?

 

It was the NY fed combined with the treasury dept, not the state government, but yea, they need to focus on the foundation, which is getting people places safely quickly, efficiently, and environmentally sound ways. that way people are happy, healthy, mobile & employed wherever a job happens to be.

 

- A

[MARTA Reid]

I never liked the skip stop service it really saves no time the Didn't do much just like the . I think the cut is helping the since most people don't really take it past chambers. the is going hurt the bad with this cut since its not going th church or 71st.

[Forest Glen]

Still, skip stop was better than making all those stops from Queens to Manhattan.

[TransitGuy]

Wow this is probably the worst thing I have heard. I really hope it doesn't happen.