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I work in the rapid transit division of the New York City Transit Authority. Listening to Thursday's interview replay, I want to point out that Sander failed to mention a couple of very important facts in regard to the NYC subway system.

First, the technology involving computer-based train control may well result in the elimination of conductors on those subway lines where it is implemented. As a result, there might be only one transit employee on those trains. That one employee would be in the front of the train, responsible for opening and closing the doors and monitoring the signals and tracks while the train is moving. This seems to be the goal of the MTA -- to eliminate personnel to cut costs.

Second, computer-based train control would not eliminate the present dangers to track workers as Sander claimed. In fact, it could result in more fatalities since train operation would be guided by computer-related signals rather than by a motorman. A human being sitting at the front of the train monitoring the signals would still be responsible for observing the tracks. But, unlike now where the motorman is directly involved in the operation of the train, the technician would merely be pressing buttons and would have to stay alert enough to put the train under manual control in an emergency.

Third, there is absolutely no evidence that computer-based train control would allow trains to be run safely closer together than they do now with a human being operating them.

Hey there Elliot Sander,
look I know that we need serious upgrades to the subway system in NYC, I have an IDEA, instead of raising the fairs charge a minimal tax to the residents each year, give every New York City resident that pays the tax a metrocard and make all NYC guests pay for theirs when they come to visit. I believe it would make people take mass transit instead of driving because New Yorkers are cheap and do not want to pay twice. You would get the revenue you need for better more extended networks and we would not feel that each year we get stuck with the issues yet again. So how about it?

Is it possible to go back to environmentally clean and beautiful street cars as Portland OR has done? They offer a few things: less expense to install; the merchants love them because they deposit people easily downtown; older folks, and this will be a big one in the future, have very few steps to get on them because you enter them at the same level as the street and they have wide doors; they are sturdier and quiet and don't throw around standing passengers as busses do. They are painted brilliant colors with each group of cars one color: red or blue or yellow or green.
Thanks,
Paula

@Dimitri[41],
Now that's what I call thinking outside the box. Great idea! Only, I would rather tax everyone more, not just the wealthy.

#40: Jimmy: answer: Robert Moses (the person who forever screwed NY/LI) designed the politics of the TA and (MTA) to never be able to inter-connect.

IF obama were to direct ALL local transit agencies to inter-connect and cross-honor fares,
THEN we could have an interconnection to NJ.

BTW, that is a GREAT idea to interconnect and extend the lines both ways.

Especially the PATH system, ending just at the tantalizing tip of the NYC subways.

#28 Brian from brooklyn:

take a look at my blog:

I specifically say we need heavy/light rail down EVERY single Eisenhower highway in the nation.

This would offload freight from the truck to the train, would go to their stop, and then get off for local delivery, saving gas, greenhouse emmisions, and also rebuilding our country and infrastrucure. look at sos-newdeal.blogspot search transportation

I would like to see all transit systems in New York be free fare. By not charging fare at all, we would achive the immediate economy of not requiring gates, Metro cards, funds collected, token booths, etc. It would be a great boon to businesses, increase traffic markedly, bring consumers closer to retailers anywhere in the city, attract tourists. It would require much more capital and service improvements and upgrades. It would also greatly increase the incentive to use free mass transit instead of private cars. It would mean less traffic jams and pollution. How can we pay for it? -- higher taxes on businesses, banks, investment houses, that benefit from having world class transit for their employees, taxes on luxury hotels (rooms over $400 per night) automobile taxes, expensive cars, (over $30,000) and restaurants. Sure these higther taxes will be unpopular with the rich, but that is what we need gorvernment and the MTA to fight for.

Why can't you extend the #7 train across the Hudson in to NJ and terminate at Secaucus junction? Much better value than another tunnel into Penn station.

Why can't you connect the PATH with the subway system?

Why do NYC subway trans run at such slow speeds most of the time. Even express trains where no train is ahead of them.

I have never understood what great benefit would be achieved by creating the Fulton St. Transit Hub, and why so much money was directed there. Could not the additional underground walkways from Broadway to Church Street R,N and World Trade Center have been created without tearing down buildings and taking over a block on lower Broadway? After all, the Nassau St JMZ lines and William St 2&3 lines will not be substantially changed (as far as I know), and they are at least as important transfer routes as the Broadway 4,5 lines. Please explain.

It seems that many listeners of the show don't get it. MTA is saying that there isn't enough money and that without increases in funding, there will have to be draconian service cuts.

Yet many listeners are asking for picyune improvements that will cost A LOT of money. Eg, light rail on 42nd st, and extending the computerized announcements of train arrivals to the whole stations not just on the platforms.

Until we get through the fiscal crisis, I'd like it if the trains & buses we already have just ran on time!

What an orchestrated and systematic propaganda campaign to raise transportation fares including subways' and tolls'!

Now we have to hear this guy's propaganda every week?

This guy is talking about a TIF district! New York never uses these, but they work great in other cities.

PLEASE BRING BACK THE WHOLE SYSTEM SUBWAY MAPS inside regular train stations. Huge stations like West 4th St. etc. have maps but ordinary stations like the Lexington Ave & 86th St. station do not. I'm not talking about the map at the entrance near the token booth. But once you've swiped into/onto the platform there are no longer maps for figuring out how best to get from Point A to Point B. The 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets, attached to the beams near the tracks, that outlines ONE line are not useful when the trip includes great distances and several connections (like from the IND to IRT to BMT). I've been riding the subway for nearly 60 years and still sometimes need to consult a map BEFORE I get on the (possibly wrong) train.

Why can't someone get on the 6 train running uptown at Broadway Lafayette?

How about stretching Metro North to downtown Brooklyn..or find a way to reutilize the old SuNNyside LIRR tracks for a train to JFK?

Why did they change the SIGNS from plain black/white/ pre-print red splash (which were cheaper to produce and visually appealing) to the blue/orange colors? I accept that MTA wants common color among LIRR and MetroNorth, but why not ALL go to simpler black/white printing? I'm sure lots of money was spent on redesign efforts, to nebulous purpose.

Will there ever be a connection between upper Manhattan or the Bronx and Queens? It takes me 90 minutes each way to get from Washington Heights to Astoria using the subway because you have to go through Times Square. By car it's 20 minutes over the RFK bridge and I gladly pay the tolls to save 2 hours on the trip. I imagine it would also help people get to Yankee and Met games from all of the city and Long Island.

There seem to be plenty of bridges to run the track along.

Hi. I've been riding the subways since the time of door problems and track fires in the mid '70s. My big gripe with the MTA is the glaringly disgraceful lack of transparency. One month you hear about an enormous surplus, and the next, as the economy begins to tank, all of a sudden there's not as big a surplus as you thought you heard about previously. Then suddenly there's a crisis of debt, and the fare needs to go up again and again and again, putting increased burden on the portions of the population which can least afford it. I simply do not believe the MTA's public statements, and am outraged that we will never be able to exercise any oversight in order to alleviate suspected mismanagement and cronyistic corruption.

How does the proposed addition of Metro North to Penn Station square with the ARC project for a third rail tunnel under the Hudson, which is needed as much (or nearly so) as the Second Ave. subway to releive congestion?

What about a Freight Strategy?

We spend more time repairing bridges and tunnels because of trucks that spew diesel.

You almost never hear about taking trucks off the roads only cars

Subway card swiping

__Issue:__
The confirmed/denied auditory beep needs to be changed.

The current tone is too highly pitched to be heard by anybody with even moderate high-frequency hearing loss
Ironically, that doesn't matter much, b/c the tone is useless - it gives no information to the user since it beeps the same tone whether the card is accepted or denied.

__Solution:__
Replace the current one tone with two separate tones of lower frequency (at least 2 octaves lower). Preferably a multi-tone that sweeps up (imagine running your hand up a short keyboard) on acceptance, and sweeps down when the card is not accepted.

__Bonus points:__ Create slightly different "denied" tones so alert users to the reason why the swipe didn't work (is it b/c there wasn't enough fare on the card, or was it just poorly read, merely needing another swipe)

i wonder why the 2nd ave subway doesn't stop near 79st street like every other line in manhattan

PS: re caller regarding Light rail on 42nd street

We NEED that back. I think it is cheaper, better and a greater idea that on 42nd street would be great.

During the afternoon/evening rush hour the Brooklyn bound F train goes local through most of Manhattan and gets bogged down below 34th Street. After long delays when it gets to Brooklyn and is moving well it often ejects passengers at 7th Avenue in Park Slope so passengers going to stops between 7th Avenue and Church Avenue have to wait for the next train. Why not run express from 34th to West 4th instead?

I will grant Mr. Sanders the fact that the trains are running better because there has been significant time and money spent on maintaining and upgrading the tracks and fixing the train cars. That has been good.
But he needs to admit that the monies in the past 12 years have been mismanaged and that many MTA assets have been given away and that certain projects should not have been done with borrowed monies.

PS: re LIRR:

if Robert Moses had NOT screwed NYC/LI Big time,
there would have been mass transit (say another LIRR) line along the ENTIRE length of the LIE.

If we had had a (subway extension?) along the LIE we would have had totally different growth in the tri-county region, and LI would have had much different and better businesses that would have had employees coming and going.

(also discussed in my blog under 'moses'

Why are you not building express tracks on the Second Ave. Subway?

TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM AIRPORTS

I travel regularly to and from JFK and am always appalled at the 3rd world nature of transportation at JFK. How can NYC promote itself as a world capital when we are expected to and we expect visitors to struggle to get New York. They can choose between decrepit buses to the unpleasant Port Authority, OR use the airtrain to the absolutely disgusting and infested subway station at Sutphin and then get on 30 year old subway trains? I travel to London and Hong Kong often and in both cities there are clean fast and efficient trains to the city. A recent article in the NY Times likened HK as the Jetsons and NYC as the Flintstones! It's a disgrace.

Is the MTA going to apply for federal stimulus funds to address the effects of climate change on the transit system, e.g., pumps, that will provide a "fireweall" while longer-range planning takes place?

Why doesn't Brian ask more of our questions?
Rather than allow Mr. Sander to blather on ...

I have asked this question before by letter and e-mail of the MTA but all I have ever gotten is a polite thank you or a response to another question not asked, so I will try again.
Line like the number 1 train have a tremendous bottleneck when it meets with the express train at 96th street from commuters changing to express service, why not have a limited number of trains that continue to run express below 96th street? Will this not relieve some of the congestion, most people are off of the express train by 14th street anyway.

Why do you build elevators that go only from street level to concourse level but not to track level? Example: Columbus Circle

We need (OBAMA) to create a new program to build NEW mass transit (AND heavy rail) along EXISTING eisenhower highways ALL along the COUNTRY..

This would allow MORE commuter options, reduce and allow trucks to ride the rails along the highways, and start a new national re-development.

Just like the MTA did when creating the new JFK-Express along the Van-Wyck.

read more at my blog...(search for robert moses!)

Mr. Sanders is correct. As a lifelong native new yorker I frequently tell friends how in the 70s I would frequently wait for 20 minutes during rush hour for a train.

Have you calculated the approximate house value added to homes once their proximity to NYC is reduced to 45 minutes or less, due to improved mass transit service?

Improving housing values by, well, literally improving their value, seems to be so far the ONLY way i can imagine the government helping the housing market.

Have you heard this issue positioned as such?

What will be the same in 30 years, Bloomberg would still be finding ways to stay Mayor!

I am handicapped and live on the M10 line. I can't climb steps to get to the subway. If the M10 line is eliminated there will be no north / south handicapped access to public transportation between 50th st and 125th st.

I would have to get to Columbus Ave get a south bound bus and walk back 2 avenue blocks from 10th Ave to get home on my north bound return trip.

Will you build elevators at all the subway stops or simply abandon disabled and elderly riders?

#7 Lori: Please Lori, don't expect any transparency or honesty from Mr. Sanders or ANY NYC or NYS government official. There is no accountability or transparency and the media, for some reason, refuses call out government officials on it.

Mr. Sander,

Porjections indicate the City's population will grow by 1,000,000 people in the next decade

What would it cost for the subway, bus and surface rapid tranist systems to meet projected growth needs for the enlarged population?

#6 - Thanks for reminding us about this - The MTA has given very expensive real estate land away for projects that the mayor wanted to award to his buddies. But lets be clear here, the mayor HAS ABSOLUTELY NO INFLUENCE OR CONTROL of the MTA Board even though he names 3-4 members and even though the City provides significant funding for NYC transit. The mayor has NO LEVERAGE or SAY WHATSOEVER!.

Mr. Sanders,

Please level with the public. What service cuts have already been implemented by the MTA?

I live off the D train in Brooklyn, and for months I've noticed fewer trains that are more crowded during the morning rush hour. My friends living off the A, C, 2, and 3 trains have reported similar experiences.

With rumors that the developer of Atlantic Yards is trying to restructure the $100 million payment it committed to make to the MTA for the right to develop over its railyards that run, sunken, between Atlantic and Pacific Avenues, Is it possible that the MTA would try to obtain a better deal for Atlantic Yards and help with the budget?

To Brian, Mr. Sanders, the MTA Board and those calling for additional sources of Revenue:

I agree that we should get more funding for public transit and that there should be especial efforts to reduce the crippling debt dumped on the MTA by governor Pataki. But BEFORE we increase funding for the MTA, we need to insatitute clear and simple rules of transparency, accountability and governance. Otherwise this is additional taxpayer/commuter monies down the drain and down the pockets of politically connected individuals.

Brian, one final time. - who is the independent auditor of the MTA? Where does one go to review the quarterly/annual audits of the MTA? Is anyone required to do anything with these audit reports?

Who is accountable for how the MTA prioritizes projects/spending? - I.e., installing slippery floor tile on stations that quickly brakes and falls apart Vs. paying down the debt)

While I understand the proposal to raise fares, a cut in service is unnacceptable. I find service already inadequate. The outer boroughs are already short changed. To pay more for less just makes me angry, considering I have no choice but to take the subway.

For additional revenue streams, why isn't there a proposal to reinstate the commuter tax, that would be $750 million. Eliminating the property tax rebate (for another $250 mil) was a lost opportunity.

At first I was against bridge tolls on principal, considering such huge areas of queens and Brooklyn don't have subway service at all and have no choice but to use their cars. But what about charging tolls at the same price as subway fares? That way, for people who can't take the subway for lack of service, they would spend the same money as if they did. It would only be fair. Charging $8 for people who have no other option is punitive.

Why was there talk of extending the 7 to Javits, where nobody lives, instead of the other way into Queens to where at least a couple hundred thousand people do without service (or any other line). This simply sounds stupid.

Why cut G service, where places like Bed-Stuy are completely dependent on it and already have a difficult commute.

Closing stations downtown overnight is just wrong. What if you have to go there? This, there are close stations you could take as well, is nonsense. First of all, the R crosses up to the west side, the 4 up the east side. How is that convienient? And at that time of night, wouldn't someone want to be as close to their destination as possible for safety?

I would like to suggest a funding idea: Would it be possible to add a resident transportation tax, similar to the school's tax, to the city tax form. Payment of this tax would provide each resident with a FREE weekly Metro-card and an opportunity to purchase a discounted monthly card - or a yearly pass which provided the same opportunities. Non-residents would be charged more.

The MTA would receive a predictable income stream, which would be earning interest (such as it is at present), city dwellers would be assured affordable transportation to and from work with the opportunity to augment that at a reasonable rate and service would not need to be reduced and indeed might benefit.

Tourists would be offered special rates through the newly created website, thereby offsetting business-related concerns.

why does the second avenue bus (M15) still come 3 -4 at a time for the same destination rather than staggered - city hall, south ferry, houston st? I walk my kid to the bus every morning and if he misses the chain of south ferry buses, we wait a long time watching city hall buses, the last two usually almost empty, pass.