Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about MTA

Off-Peak Discounts for NYC Transit: An Intriguing Idea

By Charles Komanoff | Oct 22, 2009 | 24 Comments

Photo: cunningsue/Flickr Discounting off-peak transit service could be a boon to New York City’s transportation and quality of life, so long as revenues can be found to make up for the likely farebox shortfall. MTA chief Jay Walder floated the idea of off-peak discounts in an interview in today’s New York Times. While Walder didn’t […]

Jay Walder’s Well-Placed Priorities: Doing More With New York City Buses

By John Kaehny | Oct 21, 2009 | 9 Comments

“In London, you carry nearly twice as many people in the bus system as you do on the Underground.” In New York, the opposite is true. “We must close the gap and make more of the bus system.” — Jay Walder, MTA chairman, as quoted in the New York Times Improvements like real-time arrival displays […]

NYC, SF, and DC Sign Deals to Upgrade Transit Technology

By Elana Schor | Oct 7, 2009 | 2 Comments

IBM’s Smarter Planet project, which uses technology (and sometimes plain old polling) in an effort to revamp urban infrastructure, today signed deals with transit agencies in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. to "smartly" manage the ins and outs of keeping trains and buses running. New York’s LIRR, San Francisco’s BART, and D.C.’s Metro […]

The Case for Open MTA Data: Transparency, Savings, and Easier Riding

By Ben Fried | Sep 23, 2009 | 17 Comments

Transit riders in Portland have dozens of mobile applications at their disposal thanks to Tri-Met’s open data. New York’s ridership dwarfs Portland’s, but the MTA’s data policy stifles similar innovations. Without good information for riders, transit systems don’t work very well. A subway station sans system map or a bus stop lacking a posted schedule […]

The Jay Walder Compensation Confirmation Circus Gets Underway

By Ben Fried | Sep 3, 2009 | 3 Comments

Jimmy Vielkind at the Politicker files a dispatch from the first State Senate hearing about MTA chair nominee Jay Walder’s severance package (yes, there will be more than one). At today’s hearing, in Mineola on Long Island, Regional Plan Association President Bob Yaro said that Walder’s pay is fair (and low, if you compare it […]

Time-Polluting Daily News Honcho Goes Public

By Charles Komanoff | Aug 18, 2009 | 17 Comments

Car commuters waste more than emissions. Photo: Kevin Coles/Flickr. In Utah, they flip off forest rangers and wheel their ATV’s onto delicate wilderness trails. In the Virginia exurbs they lounge in air-conditioned trophy homes and write checks to stop carbon taxes. Here in NYC, they find their “Network” moment in a 25-cent bump in MTA […]

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