OurMTA

The MTA & Our Streets

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:55:40 -0500

Today, we’re squandering the most valuable real estate in the world, giving this public asset to the lowest-density mode of transportation.

- Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, on Our Streets

One of the key benefits of improving the MTA is the effect it has on our streets.

When the trains are fast, frequent, reliable and uncrowded day and night, many current car commuters will choose the trains and subways a compelling alternative to their daily grind.

As they switch to the better, more efficient modes of transportation that the MTA has the power to provide, the roads become free for other uses, for faster bus service, for abundant bike lanes, and even more available to those drivers who don’t have good transit options.

But sadly, none of this can happen on a large scale without reform of the MTA. Without reform, as we see today the MTA will constantly be cutting back service, rather than increasing it. Without reform the trains will not improve, just as they haven’t improved over the past 10+ years of failed MTA capital improvement projects.

The MTA is a fantastic resource for so many New Yorkers, but if we can help to see it reach its potential, we can bring on the next stage of New York: a return to the days where the streets are free and clear first and foremost for the people of New York, rather than their cars.

New Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Added!

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:00:00 -0500

New Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Added!:

pile:

Trust me, you will enjoy this. The story behind this tunnel is unbelievable.

OurMTA will be making a group trip next month. Join the mailing list and stay tuned!

The Only Real MTA Budget Fix: Accountability to NYC

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:46:00 -0500

While the Speaker is right, that transit is crucial to the lives of New Yorkers and any cuts would be devastating, the proposed solution, to

reallocate $140 million of capital funds to temporarily close an unexpected gap in [the MTA] operating budget

does nothing but further delay maintenance and improvements to a system where:

tunnels are literally caving in for lack of maintenance, threatening reliability of service and the safety of passengers
lack of improvements to service and decades-long delays in the construction of new lines mean New Yorkers are packed into cars beyond capacity, if not waiting as trains pass without stopping

Make no mistake: riders suffer every day for lack of capital expenditures, and lack of repair could one day threaten even the lives of New Yorkers. Pulling from those funds to simply maintain the status quo for another year, without solving the root problem, is an exercise in profound, destructive short-sightedness.

What is the problem to be solved? Yes, the MTA has a funding problem, but not only that. Ask yourself why:

Every single project the MTA runs is years late and Millions over budget:
- Subway Time-to-arrival boards: 5 years and $30 Million
- Fulton Street Transit Center: 7 years and $140 Million
- Bus Time-to-arrival boards: Indefinite and $14 Million
- 2nd Ave Subway: Between 10 and 80 years late (yes, 80) and countless Billions
While riders are getting fare hikes and service cuts, and non-union employees get a 10% pay cut, union employees get a guaranteed 11% in raises the next 3 years.
When MTA whistleblowers stand up for New Yorkers by exposing the waste of having MTA workers paid for sitting idle for hours on end every single day was violently attacked in the subway and shoved onto an active track, losing teeth and risking his life in the process.

The problem is not only that the MTA has a funding problem. The MTA also has an accountability problem. A problem that has gone on for decades without a solution from Albany.

The solution is not to simply put off the problem by reallocating needed funds. The solution is to clean house. The MTA needs real accountability to the riders themselves in New York, not to politicians in Albany who have failed again and again to keep the MTA in check.

Certainly, when the MTA is a trustworthy operation, increasing funding would be long-overdue, but first we should have real assurances that this money won’t be blown on wasteful, incompetent or corrupt spending.

Accountability to the riders in New York is the only real, lasting solution which can set us on the path to progress rather than degradation. The only solution which can lead to a transit system responsive to and worthy of the people of New York.

Ben Woosley

Executive Director, OurMTA

heathalouise: Fake service advisory at Metropolitan G stop.

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:51:55 -0500

heathalouise:

Fake service advisory at Metropolitan G stop.

Photo

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:45:04 -0500

halinanewberrygrant: sunset, Brooklyn bridge, and some dude, on...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:32:28 -0500

halinanewberrygrant:

sunset, Brooklyn bridge, and some dude, on the way home today

New Ways to Share Subway Hope & Angst

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:47:39 -0500

Seeing as how photos have been making a stir of late, and all the troubles and beauty we see in the subway, we think it’s only natural to collect photos of all of these to share.

In our new group: MTA Malfeasance, you’ll find scenes of MTA’s worst moments.

And to balance things out, on OurMTA’s happy transit we’re collecting some of our best transit moments. Unfortunately as yet many of them seen and experienced abroad, but we certainly aim to change that.

Please do contribute your photos and videos! We know you’ve got some good ones!

Fixed Meetup Announcement!

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:39:21 -0500

There was a problem with the links. They work now, check them out! There’s beauty behind every one.

Williamsburg museum seeks the first-ever 'Miss G Train'

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:32:27 -0500

talesfromthemta:

Calling all G train beauties! Do you have what it takes to be “Miss G Train?”

A Williamsburg museum is hosting the first-ever “Miss G Train” competition next week, looking for the best straphanger to wear a G train sash and become the line’s unofficial ambassador.

Read More

Meetup next Thursday: The Consequences Business #1

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:05:00 -0500

Hello, New York! After a short interruption, we’re putting on a Meetup next Thursday to get things started. Task #1 is spreading the word.

We know:

the trains could run like clockwork, and twice as often, ending waiting and crowding
while the MTA doesn’t even give us arrival times, even South American subways have WiFi
new lines and buses could serve long-crowded and underserved areas of the city, giving people better access to families, friends and jobs, if the MTA were able to deliver

But how do we get the word out? How do we let the people know that instead of delays, indifference and stagnation, they could have the brilliant trains of Copenhagen or Paris, or the constant subway expansion of Tokyo?

This meeting is to organize and plan our first public actions. Our first reaching out and shaking up the public.

Among the first options to consider:

Clever Public Awareness Campaigns: Get people thinking with clever new takes on the subway
In-Station Outreach: Go where the people are, when and where they meet the often frustrating forces of the MTA
Video Competition: Enlist the aid of creative New Yorkers in developing a short viral videos via an online video competition
Politician Outreach: Meet with politicians themselves and make the case that a better MTA will mean better lives and more prosperity for all New Yorkers

And we’re open to many more.

Join us at Sidebar on Thursday, 11/19 to help put together an awesome plan and make it happen!

Take Your Talent Underground

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:52:00 -0500

While we put a lot of focus on the folks at the MTA, making a better subway experience isn’t just the work of “other people” - we all have a stake and play a part in a better subway environment. And if fact, you have more right than you might think to play a part.

Thanks to the 1st amendment, you have a right to speak and perform in the NYC subway system AND even ~~get paid for it~~ collect donations.

Many say the downfall of our economy will bring the upswing of our creativity, so for all the starving artists out there - this includes you Miss/Mister “I wanna move to New York and become a writer/poet/artist/photographer/painter/ballerina but instead took the first job the city had to offer” - the time has come. The walls of the cubicle have crumbled: artists run free! Besides, what do you have to lose?

According to MTA regulations “public speaking; campaigning; leafletting or distribution of written noncommercial materials; activities intended to encourage and facilitate voter registration; artistic performances, including the acceptance of donations; solicitation for religious or political causes;…” ARE allowed! No permission required, and for all of these you absolutely CAN ask for a DONATION.

So what will it be? Your writings? Your music? Your art? Will you be brave enought to share your beauty and insights? Whether or not you make money, you’ll emerge a freer person, and the subways will have been livlier for it.

Give a thought to how you can bring a little more New York into our subways, how you can ease or inspire the trips of others. Just before you do, check out the excellent City Lore performer’s guides: 1, 2, and remember to be considerate!

Earlier visions of New York’s Transit. What a world it...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:53:38 -0400

Earlier visions of New York’s Transit. What a world it must have been, to have had so many more options and so much more space, because transit was abundant and excellent enough to meet everyone’s needs.

zachklein:

Andrew Pile’s earlier post about the L Train reminded me to the existence of the Brooklyn Public Library’s awesome historical photo archive available to search online.

I just found the above photo of the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg bridge — what a beautiful transit space! This scene of course no longer exists. The bridge’s lower level trolley tracks have been replaced with automobile lanes, and the esplanade has been built over with the BQE’s onramp to the bridge.

It looks like this now.

FixMTA.org is now OurMTA.org

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:48:13 -0400

One of many things to come out of last night’s first planning meeting was the question: who are we, what is our message, and does the name FixMTA suit our goals?

On reflection, while we do think the MTA needs reform, that we in New York do need to “fix” the MTA, that’s not enough to capture who we are and what we’re doing.

We love the subways. We love transit. We see everywhere in the city the way that transit brings people together and enables the vibrancy and beauty we find in New York.

And loving the subways like we do, we want to embrace them, to address their current problems, to reform them and ultimately to expand on them.

But for all that to happen, we don’t simply need to “fix” the MTA, we need to take responsibility for it. We need to re-assert that the MTA is ours, that it’s our responsibility and duty to look after them and ultimately help them to improve and succeed.

We hope you’ll remember that it’s not only our commute, it’s also our MTA, and we here at OurMTA are working to bring the MTA back home, back to control by the people of NYC, and back to accountability to we the riders, the very reason for its existence.

Welcome to the OurMTA blog!

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:13:00 -0400

We’re just getting started, but we’ll have something here soon enough.