SUBWAY - Random Thoughts Topic

[texassubwayfan555]

Speaking of Patco and signals, why did the  never install ATC / cab signals on the subway unlike the rapid transit lines run by the CTA, MBTA, SEPTA, and others?

[T to Dyre Avenue]

It’s not like they didn’t try. The MTA’s predecessor agency, the New York City Transit Authority, tried to about 60 years ago…

https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/IRT_Times_Square-Grand_Central_Shuttle

Scroll down to Section 5 for the details, including why it failed.

Edited December 10, 2022 by T to Dyre Avenue

[trainfan22]

MTA has an official page on Redbubble, random lol

 

https://www.redbubble.com/people/mta-ny/shop

 

 

There's some cool offerings on there but others are quite bland. Why would someone want to buy a basic T Shirt with only the sign of an random commuter rail station on it and nothing else  The Jackets I see some B/O wearing with different bus models on it are pretty cool but those aren't available to the general public. I wonder why they never sell clothing with rolling stock on it, does it have to do the manufacturer of these vehicles owning the rights to the design or something?

Edited December 10, 2022 by trainfan22

[Lawrence St]

3 hours ago, Calvin said:

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/mta-employees-will-no-longer-sit-inside-those-glass-token-booths-120922?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&cid=~newyork~natsoc~facebook~echobox&fbclid=IwAR01wFZEkhtQoAdLB62llU9-htVxT53Kcb-HuXw3HwoWqWk2oj82kvjYdPI#Echobox=1670599874

This may change soon as it states that MTA employees won't be inside the token booths. 

Finally. After the last interaction I had with one who didn’t even look up from her phone, this is a good change.

[B35 via Church]

18 hours ago, Calvin said:

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/mta-employees-will-no-longer-sit-inside-those-glass-token-booths-120922?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&cid=~newyork~natsoc~facebook~echobox&fbclid=IwAR01wFZEkhtQoAdLB62llU9-htVxT53Kcb-HuXw3HwoWqWk2oj82kvjYdPI#Echobox=1670599874

This may change soon as it states that MTA employees won't be inside the token booths. 

Passive way of getting them to retire/resign.... MTA's been trying to phase that position out for a good lil' minute now....

[Kamen Rider]

On 12/9/2022 at 7:50 PM, texassubwayfan555 said:

Speaking of Patco and signals, why did the  never install ATC / cab signals on the subway unlike the rapid transit lines run by the CTA, MBTA, SEPTA, and others?

Same Reason they stopped painting the trains.

 

Money... time,,, resources...

 

If you think of a question of "why didn't the MTA do (insert thing here" Money is the answer about 90% of the time. the other roughly 10% is because someone else stopped them. Ether the politicians or the unions. 

 

We're kinda trying our damnedest to get a tracking system up and running in the environment we have to work with. 

 

Put it this way... in roughly two weeks... my grandmother will celebrate her 95th birthday... And we're still dealing with hardware built around the same time...

[darkstar8983]

6 hours ago, Kamen Rider said:

Same Reason they stopped painting the trains.

 

Money... time,,, resources...

 

If you think of a question of "why didn't the MTA do (insert thing here" Money is the answer about 90% of the time. the other roughly 10% is because someone else stopped them. Ether the politicians or the unions. 

 

We're kinda trying our damnedest to get a tracking system up and running in the environment we have to work with. 

 

Put it this way... in roughly two weeks... my grandmother will celebrate her 95th birthday... And we're still dealing with hardware built around the same time...

Exactly: think of why OPTÓ wasn’t implemented permanently on the  - unions prevented the loss of those train operator and conductor Jobs. Think of why the Sandy Repairs to the  were as botched as they were? Former “Prince Cuomo” didn’t want a full shutdown and thought the extensive work could be done with night and weekend closures.

why hasn’t CBTC started up yet throughout the system? Dinero! (Money) 

[texassubwayfan555]

Do other systems not have problems with money?

[Trainmaster5]

16 minutes ago, texassubwayfan555 said:

Do other systems not have problems with money?

Just look at the DC Metro system right now. The same problems plaguing it too. Funding and equipment problems. There’s a stopgap funding mechanism for this year only and then it’s the  scenario for them. The government has always funded airports and highways to the detriment of public commuter systems. Those who live in the metropolitan areas like Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, DC, and Atlanta and use the systems are pitted against the highway users who don’t normally use the transit system and who resent being taxed for services they don’t use. New Yorkers know the game now.Being told that they must pay congestion pricing fees to fund a system that they don’t use. There’s gotta be a fairer, more equitable solution to the problem plaguing transit systems in the cities. I don’t know how this gets solved except for direct government funding and that’s never happened before in the past. Money is the problem, period. It’s always been the problem even when the private companies ran the system. Perhaps the public school funding mechanism is the way forward. My opinion. Carry on.

[Trainmaster5]

If you have the opportunity I’d advise folks to check out today’s editorial page in today’s Daily News. It’s informative.

[Lawrence St]

Regarding the Prince St interlocking, something has to give if the gets cut again. It's either keep the  express, reroute the  via Lower Manhattan, or get rid of Express Bridge service on Broadway entirely. 

And I've said this before,  really screwed themselves demolishing or disconnecting parts of the subway that they REALLY need in todays day & age. The Culver Shuttle, The Nassau Tracks to Manhattan Bridge, the 3rd Av elevated (even leaving the structure with no stations or tracks), putting the false wall at 2nd Av when they can really add more  shuttle trains to 2nd Ave, etc.

[Lawrence St]

Does anyone know if the station walls at Woodhaven Blvd are false walls and if the bellmouth trackbed is actually connected on both ends?

[T to Dyre Avenue]

10 hours ago, texassubwayfan555 said:

Do other systems not have problems with money?

Nearly all, if not all, of them do. Whether it’s not receiving enough funding or completing spending money foolishly, I don’t think there’s a transit system that doesn’t have a problem with money.

[darkstar8983]

12 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Regarding the Prince St interlocking, something has to give if the gets cut again. It's either keep the  express, reroute the  via Lower Manhattan, or get rid of Express Bridge service on Broadway entirely. 

And I've said this before,  really screwed themselves demolishing or disconnecting parts of the subway that they REALLY need in todays day & age. The Culver Shuttle, The Nassau Tracks to Manhattan Bridge, the 3rd Av elevated (even leaving the structure with no stations or tracks), putting the false wall at 2nd Av when they can really add more  shuttle trains to 2nd Ave, etc.

Unfortunately the use of the Prince St interlocking will not cease unless the Broadway Line gets a drastic service cut or service enhancement, like a Manhattan Bridge closure. 6 Av closure, Broadway Line capacity has to get maxed out and if the Broadway side is closed, then no Broadway Express

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, darkstar8983 said:

Unfortunately the use of the Prince St interlocking will not cease unless the Broadway Line gets a drastic service cut or service enhancement, like a Manhattan Bridge closure. 6 Av closure, Broadway Line capacity has to get maxed out and if the Broadway side is closed, then no Broadway Express

With the amount of ridership Broadway has I just don’t think it’s feasible to have express service anymore. Not to mention the express only save 1-2 minutes, if any.

[darkstar8983]

8 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

With the amount of ridership Broadway has I just don’t think it’s feasible to have express service anymore. Not to mention the express only save 1-2 minutes, if any.

The express service is really for the Manhattan Bridge and the demand for Manhattan Bridge service is too high compared to Lower Manhattan, and since the express tracks feed to the bridge…there you go

[T to Dyre Avenue]

On 12/6/2022 at 6:48 AM, darkstar8983 said:

Ehhh not 100% true, because then why would the DOT have condensed the BQE to two lanes in both directions ar the promenade to “extend the useful life” of the highway instead of starting a highway replacement project. I would do a highway tunnel under 3 Av that starts from the Gowanus straight to Tillary St, and keeping the promenade section as 2 lanes because of the reduced demand for the scenic route and higher demand for direct Brooklyn/Queens flow. Those going to manhattan and don’t want the scenic route can use the Battery Tunnel since by then congestion pricing will have leveled out the pricing tolls on all crossings between Queen/Brooklyn and Manhattan 

The reduction of the BQE from six lanes to four is more of a maintenance issue than anything else. And it appears that the City now wants to reopen the two closed lanes to traffic, plus possibly add a shoulder lane in both directions, which would indeed be a widening - https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/12/13/city-may-restore-bqe-to-six-full-lanes-of-nastiness-sources-say/

Personally, I liked Scott Stringer’s proposal to restrict the BQE to just trucks on the lower level with a park on the upper level in the Heights while decking over the roadway in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill with a park. Though I’d like to include express buses on the truck-only BQE combine that with expanded  and extended  service into South Brooklyn as alternatives to driving in cars on the BQE. Stringer’s proposal, interestingly is still on the Comptroller’s website, even though Stringer isn’t Comptroller anymore - https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-stringer-proposes-new-vision-for-bqe-reconstruction/

 

On 12/12/2022 at 10:15 AM, Lawrence St said:

With the amount of ridership Broadway has I just don’t think it’s feasible to have express service anymore. Not to mention the express only save 1-2 minutes, if any.

So you’d want to kneecap  and  service by forcing all three of them onto the local tracks between Prince and 57th? And you’d still have delays at Prince and 57th, because trains would need to be split between the bridge and the tunnel at Prince and at 57th between Queens and 2nd Ave. 

Broadway is too popular of a route in Queens and South Brooklyn, so you can’t fit all of its branches on just the local tracks without substantially reducing service to each branch.

Edited December 13, 2022 by T to Dyre Avenue

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

What is the meaning of "line up" in the subway system? I looked up the meaning and found a general definition relating to directional orientation, e.g., northbound, or southbound, but what does it mean in relation to our system? I've heard conductors asking their partners, "Do you have the line up?" before moving out of the terminal, followed by a sequence of buzzers. Is it something related to the governance of movement? Maybe it's asked at times when the the exiting homeball is out of the conductor's field of vision, preventing them from closing up as they don't know if the train can proceed to the next station? I've wondered about this for awhile. Thanks for any clarifications in advance.

[Kamen Rider]

Line up is when the signals and switches are set as the train needs to proceed in correct path.

[JustTheSIR]

5 hours ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

What is the meaning of "line up" in the subway system? I looked up the meaning and found a general definition relating to directional orientation, e.g., northbound, or southbound, but what does it mean in relation to our system? I've heard conductors asking their partners, "Do you have the line up?" before moving out of the terminal, followed by a sequence of buzzers. Is it something related to the governance of movement? Maybe it's asked at times when the the exiting homeball is out of the conductor's field of vision, preventing them from closing up as they don't know if the train can proceed to the next station? I've wondered about this for awhile. Thanks for any clarifications in advance.

I’ve heard in operations of things like “Full lineup to Forest Hills” referencing having trains enter one after another 

[trainfan22]

There's an R68 consist from Concourse on the Fulton Line going N/B right now if anybody's interested (school car train).

[LGA Link N Train]

Someone mentioned Money Problems and Spending Money Foolishly?

I was having a similar conversation with one of my maintainers the other day. IIRC, some incorrect measurements with the track or something delayed Culver CBTC by 2 years? Not to mention that Transit has a bunch of different systems all doing the same job or something like that. Same with QBL CBTC having issues on top of still being incomplete. 

On 12/11/2022 at 2:13 PM, Trainmaster5 said:

Just look at the DC Metro system right now. The same problems plaguing it too. Funding and equipment problems. There’s a stopgap funding mechanism for this year only and then it’s the  scenario for them. The government has always funded airports and highways to the detriment of public commuter systems. Those who live in the metropolitan areas like Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, DC, and Atlanta and use the systems are pitted against the highway users who don’t normally use the transit system and who resent being taxed for services they don’t use. New Yorkers know the game now.Being told that they must pay congestion pricing fees to fund a system that they don’t use. There’s gotta be a fairer, more equitable solution to the problem plaguing transit systems in the cities. I don’t know how this gets solved except for direct government funding and that’s never happened before in the past. Money is the problem, period. It’s always been the problem even when the private companies ran the system. Perhaps the public school funding mechanism is the way forward. My opinion. Carry on.

And it shouldn't have to be that way at all, although given this country's track record with Public Transport, I can't say I'm surprised.

On 12/11/2022 at 10:04 AM, darkstar8983 said:

Exactly: think of why OPTÓ wasn’t implemented permanently on the  - unions prevented the loss of those train operator and conductor Jobs. Think of why the Sandy Repairs to the  were as botched as they were? Former “Prince Cuomo” didn’t want a full shutdown and thought the extensive work could be done with night and weekend closures.

why hasn’t CBTC started up yet throughout the system? Dinero! (Money) 

Look where that's got us.

On the note of OPTO, those could've been jobs that could've be redistributed elsewhere, especially now with the Shortage of Crews. Although Staff shortages on the MoW side of things is worse atm.

[m7zanr160s]

On 12/11/2022 at 2:13 PM, Trainmaster5 said:

Just look at the DC Metro system right now. The same problems plaguing it too. Funding and equipment problems. There’s a stopgap funding mechanism for this year only and then it’s the  scenario for them. The government has always funded airports and highways to the detriment of public commuter systems. Those who live in the metropolitan areas like Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, DC, and Atlanta and use the systems are pitted against the highway users who don’t normally use the transit system and who resent being taxed for services they don’t use. New Yorkers know the game now.Being told that they must pay congestion pricing fees to fund a system that they don’t use. There’s gotta be a fairer, more equitable solution to the problem plaguing transit systems in the cities. I don’t know how this gets solved except for direct government funding and that’s never happened before in the past. Money is the problem, period. It’s always been the problem even when the private companies ran the system. Perhaps the public school funding mechanism is the way forward. My opinion. Carry on.

I don't understand this thinking, though. The people that "don't use" the system benefit from it. They should pay as well. Shut down mass transit, and gridlock everywhere; nobody goes anywhere.

[Calvin]

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=524201699744653&set=a.225302529634573

Next year, there is going to be a customer care center, for example, OMNY, wayfinding and service info. Flushing-Main St  is one of them. 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Calvin

[Calvin]

It is said that next year between 2023 and 2024, the Williamsburg Bridge will be shutdown for 25 weekends. Expect a change in travel and crowded B39 buses in the future. 
 

Saturdays and Sunday’s for  lines 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Calvin