Train horns: I agree entirely with the train lines. This form i
>> Used Solar Panel >> Get cheap used solar panel: [... - thirdrail.smorgasblog.com is other nice pla
>> Butal Dildo]dildos amarillo texas[/url]: dildo college girls using: now i`ll read your rss
>> Phaggitiavy: Hi! Backlash klooper in F7*&%^! frame of my englis
>> tumaxoldamali: Hei Backlash klooper allocate in support of my eng
>>
Metro has recently admitted something that any rider has known for years: the agency is absolutely terrible at communicating with riders during service disruptions. This week two stations in the core of the system were closed, leading to delays for riders on all lines except the Red. Yet many riders did not know this as they entered the system--and had they known, perhaps they could have found alternate routes or simply stayed at home.
Metro will run shuttle buses during disruptions. This works fine for planned disruptions, such as when stations are closed for weekend track work. It's always an utter mess when unexpected problems crop up--you're better off walking. But scrambling buses in short order can't be easy, so maybe this can't be helped.
The "MAJOR DELAY ON METRORAIL" signs that have been added in the station managers' kiosks are a good step, but they aren't visible enough. These signs should be placed on five-foot-tall freestanding pedestals, with several of them placed directly in the paths of riders as they enter stations. Right now I'm more likely to notice a "Caution Wet Floor" pylon than one of these "MAJOR DELAY" signs.
The MAJOR DELAY signs could direct riders to the station manager's kiosk for more information. At the kiosk, clear signs explaining the delay would help greatly. Metro is working on adding flat-panel displays that could have this information. If those take forever to get, or if they never come at all, why not get each kiosk a cheap, $100 laser printer so the station manager can print out signs on the spot?
Even if the high-tech displays do come along, printers would be helpful so that signs could be made for other parts of the station as needed. Things often happen in stations--closed escalators, single-track service--that call for clear signage. Right now, some station managers try to make signs on their own, with Sharpies, leftover pieces of carboard, and stray bits of paper. If a Sharpie isn't handy they'll use ballpoint pens. These signs are barely readable, and not visible from a distance. At least these station managers try: often stations will have no signs at all. So equip the stations with printers, bright paper, and plenty of pedestals available so that signs will be at least waist-high and visible.
But Metro is trying to communicate better with riders. Just in the past day or two, service delays have become much more prominent on the home page, with no need to wait for the irritating ticker to finish scrolling.
Also, on the non-urgent communications side, iPod maps of Metrorail are now available, but apparently only for the special July 4 service plan. You can now subscribe to Metro press releases (don't worry, I read these so you don't have to.) Finally, I spotted a very, very useful map of connecting bus routes, posted in the Judiciary Square station. I'll post a photo when I can. It clearly shows nearby bus stops and frequency of service, along with a map showing where the routes go. Very handy.
The Globe reports that the MBTA has modified one commuter rail train car to be more bike friendly. They removed the seats from one side of the car and replaced them with bike racks. The car will run on the Fitchburg line from Boston to Rockport, and its inaugural trip coincides with the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic cycling race. The T has no plans to make similar modifications in other cars. So, that's not particularly helpful to bike riders on all the other cars in the system. If the T wanted to make a truly bike friendly statement, they should have put one of these bike mounts in every other car, or something like that. I guess this was easier.
Also, the Globe notes that the labor contracts for transit workerss will expire tomorrow. The T is not anticipating any work stoppage. Apparently this happens regularly.
MBTA Commuter Rail riders are complaining about stiffling hot trains. The Globe reports that the elderly fleet and the slow pace of train car rehabs are partly to blame. One rider says, "It is early in the summer, and if the heat continues, some pregnant woman or senior citizen is going to collapse."
Interestingly, I have been freezing on the Green line subway lately. The T in the summer can sometimes be uncomfortably stuffy and hot when the train's a/c isn't working, but more often the a/c is cranked on high and we're all shivering. It seems that in these trains the a/c is either on or off, and the drivers don't seem to notice the iciness. I guess those polyester uniforms are pretty insulating.
Yucky commute for D.C.-area commuters this morning: heavy rain flooded the Archives and Federal Triangle Metrorail stations, forcing their closure and massive train delays on all lines except Red. Much commuter rail into D.C. was halted too. Amtrak had halted service between Washington and points north, but around 10:00 this morning they say they are restoring those trains. However Amtrak service between Washington and points south remains cancelled due to high water.
Check out Extreme Engineering: Subways, a Discovery Channel documentary. It briefly discusses construction of BART's Transbay Tube, as well as various aspects of the NYC subway such as car and track maintenance, the destruction of September 11, and the East Side Access project. It glossed over many details, but there's still some good footage.
The rail subcommittee of WMATA's Riders Advisory Council has made the recycling of newspapers one of its top priorities. There are already recycling bins placed in the unpaid area of every station. However, many riders don't use them. Instead, they toss their newspapers into the garbage cans. And there are plenty of newspapers to toss, with the recent advent of free newspapers like Express and the Examiner, which are liberally handed out at the stations where commuters begin their trips in the morning.
Irked by the environmental unfriendliness of this discarded newsprint, the RAC rail subcommittee has been talking to Metro staff about the issue and at a June 14 meeting of the committee staff explained some of the issues at hand. Lt. George Burns is the counterterrorism coordinator for the Metro transit police. He says that 2004 directives from the Transportation Security Administration required that rail stations have either blastproof trash cans or lightweight clear plastic trash cans. Metro staff ruled out the clear plastic cans because they would be tossed onto the track by vandals, so staff sought out blast-proof cans instead.
Nothing about blast-proof trash cans is simple. They were placed on the platforms only after staff performed assessments of the "blast mitigation properties" of various areas of the platform. (Have any of you noticed a pattern as to where the cans are placed on the platforms?) Only bomb-proof cans are in the paid area, so the recycling bins, whiich are not bomb-proof, are banished to the unpaid area of stations.
Metro apparently has been a leader in bomb-proof trash can technology: already the agency has spent $800,000 on bomb-proof cans, and staffers say it's the first transit agency to have bomb-proof cans on station platforms. Even so, the agency might get more cans: at Metro Center during the morning rush hour, the trash cans fill up every fifteen minutes, mostly with Express newspapers. Custodians must lift these heavy sacks of trash, so they would like some more trash cans to help ease the load.
Of course it's the Expresses in the trash cans that irk the committee, so they asked Lt. Burns about labeling the cans more clearly. Why not put a big sign on the trash can saying it's only for trash, while directing riders to the newspaper bins? For some reason I don't understand, Burns did not like this idea, which led to some heated discussions between he and members of the committee, who couldn't understand what was so hard about putting some labels on the trash cans.
Perhaps the best idea would be some bomb-proof newspaper cans on the platforms. But those would likely cost $4000 each.
I say: get the Washington Post to pay for more trash cans. It's their Express newspapers that are filling them. The newspapers may be free for riders, but they're costing Metro money. But of course the Post has no good reason to pay for the cans, so why would they...but their brand does appear on the recycle bins. Perhaps they help pay for recycling? Metro says it does not receive revenue for the newsprint it brings in.
At a future meeting the rail subcommittee likely will have a Metro staffer discuss a peeve of many riders: elevator and escalator reliability.
Along with the panicked teenager (who hasn't had that sinking feeling when your train speeds through your stop?), the Globe has reported that a pedestrian was struck and killed by a commuter train this morning. The article also notes that a railroad worker was fatally injured by a piece of machinery at another commuter rail station.
The MBTA website is silent about these accidents and deaths. Surely the MBTA should make some kind of public statement on their website?
Is your train not stopping where you want? There's an easy solution. Jump off.
The Boston Globe reports that a teenager jumped from a moving commuter rail train is Boston yesterday when a conductor told him that the train he was on was an Express train and would be missing his stop. Among other things, he blamed the uninteligible announcements and the fact that the conductor didn't tell him how to get back to his intended stop from the end of the line.
Back in college, a friend of mine took a MARC train from D.C., intending to ride it to Baltimore. Unfortunately, she got on the Frederick line, and ended up somewhere in West Virginia. A $90 cab ride later, she made it to Baltimore. At least she didn't jump off a moving train.
Flooding has been, and probably will continue to be, a major problem for New York's century-old subway system. A solution designed to cover sidewalk gratings has been developed. Evidently, the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) seems to believe that the "latest and best technology," at least for Queens, is in the form of plywood and plastic.
Meanwhile, commuter railroad Metro-North, a division of the MTA, has again contracted out to New Jersey Transit the operation of its Port Jervis and Pascack Valley Lines, which have been run by the Garden State's rail service for years. Though the vast majority of Metro-North commuters enter the city via the Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines to Grand Central, riders on the aforementioned two must travel through New Jersey before reaching Manhattan at Penn Station. The contract has a cost of around $20 million a year and will service roughly 3,000 commuters.
Finally, mega-developer Steven Roth, who owns much of the land surrounding Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, which sits on top, is proposing a $7 billion new plan to rebuild the West Side of the city. He wants to not only build the proposed Moynihan Station on the west side of 8th Avenue, but he'd also like to expand the current Penn Station (on the east side). To do so, he'll build a new Madison Square Garden on the 9th Avenue side of the Farley Post Office, directly next to Moynihan Station, and build five new towers on the side of the current arena. It's a big, ambitious plan that will be good for the city.
Is your $3,000 a month studio apartment in NYC getting you down? Soon, you'll be able to spend your rent money at the slots next to all the little old ladies spending their social security checks, thanks to a direct train from NYC to Atlantic City, New Jersey. NJ Transit's pilot program will run a train directly from NYC's Penn Station to Atlantic City, a trip that will take about 2.5 hours -- and only be available on the weekend. The train will (as with all other things casino-related) be funded largely by casino owners Borgata, Caesars, and Harrah's, "who are hoping the direct route will appeal to young gamblers who don't want to take the bus." Approximately 1,100 riders are expected per weekend.
I say cut out the middle man. Just put slots and baccarat tables on the train itself and we'll return to the days of the Wild West. Think of it as a casino boat on wheels. It would be a lot more fun than going to the depressing casinos in Atlantic City -- and NJ Transit could use the winnings to pay for the rest of the rail system.
Metro's got big plans to light up the stations in the system and to make audio announcements more understandable, as staffers discussed in a Wednesday presentation to the Riders Advisory Council rail subcommittee meeting.
You may recall that Interim General Manager Dan Tangherlini has made improving station lighting one of his top short-term priorities. Kevin Donahue, who works in the general manager's office on strategic issues, explained Tangherlini's thinking. As head of DC's Department of Transportation, Tangherlini worked with D.C. police to identify high-crime pockets of the city. Those areas received lighting upgrades, which then led to a noticeable decrease in crime. Though Metro harbors little violent crime (at least in stations; parking lots can attract robbers and car thieves) Tangherlini also thinks that better lighting has good psychological effects. It helps people feel better about riding Metro. Furthermore, Tangherlini says that strings of burnt-out light bulbs signal to riders that Metro is not on the top of its game.
So Tangherlini formed a team to work on improving station lighting. Many station lights have deteriorated over time and they produce much less light than they used to. But members of the team looked at lighting from a fresh angle to determine how they can improve lighting while maintaining the architectural beauty of the stations.
Maintenance team steps up light bulb maintenance
While Donahue considers making long-term plans to improve lighting, David Knights, head of track structures and system maintenance, told the committee about some short-term improvements that are in the works. Nine stations, for example, have lights with covers to protect them from dust. These covers got dirty with age and Metro workers discovered that the stations were much brighter after removing the covers from the lights. So Metro plans to remove more covers. (I would think the covers were there for a good reason, so I have been wondering if there are any long-term disadvantages to taking those covers out.)
Also Donahue will change some of the light bulbs that are in the big brown pylons that point to the ceilings of the stations. They found a new bulb that is five percent brighter--a difference that is, they say, more significant than it sounds. Metro will also change burnt-out bulbs more quickly, which can be challenging because many bulbs are inaccessible when trains are running. On a longer-term basis, Metro is considering changing the management structure for the maintenance department and maybe organizing it by rail line, as the customer service teams are now oriented.
Long-term changes to lighting planned
Ed Riley, Metro's chief architect, explained some longer-term design changes they are considering in lighting. Originally Metro was designed to have soft lighting that would provide dramatic effects as trains entered and left stations. Designers succeeded at this; I've often delighted in the interesting patterns of light that emerge in Metro stations. Riley hopes to brigten stations while preserving that architectural integrity. New specifications for lighting have resulted in three new above-ground stations (New York Avenue, Morgan Boulevard, and Largo Town Center) with very brightly lit platforms. You can also visit Woodley Park and Cleveland Park on the Red Line, where Metro has already upgraded underground lighting. They installed new lights for the area of the platform that is directly underneath the mezzanine--an area that can sometimes get quite dark.
Metro is also looking at greater use of LEDs. Riley says the technology changes "almost weekly, it seems." There are already some LEDs in stations: see the handrails at the three new above-ground stations. New mezzanine lighting might throw light upward as well as downward (current mezzanine lights only shine down.) Metro also has replaced the flashing platform edge lights with LEDs at Rosslyn, and is considering doing so throughout the system. Riley is considering using more of the LEDs in the handrails in the platform areas beneath escalators and stairs.
Metro has hired a consultant to study lighting, who will recommend not only ways to brighten stations but also ways to decrease the manpower required to change lights. But some actions can have unintended consequences: some stations have been painted. This brigtens them considerably, but is also causes increased reverberation from passing trains because the paint fills little holes in the concrete that used to absorb vibrations from trains.
Announcements in stations
To address another common annoyance, Dave Couch addressed the committee about audibility of announcements in stations. Stations originally had very cheap speakers that sounded horrible, but speakers have been upgraded. Metro has also placed additional speakers in the stations: originally, underground stations had speakers only in the coffered ceilings and in the ceilings of the platform areas that are underneath a mezzanine. Additional speakers were placed on the pylons (Couch called these "ears") which helped with audibility. Also, at some Red Line side-platform stations, Metro placed speakers along the side of the platform, in the area between the platform and the wall. Look for these on the Red platform at Metro Center, for example. However these speakers tend to send sound bouncing off the walls, which actually lowers audibility. So Couch considers other possibilities for future improvement, like mounting more speakers along the walls.
Announcements on trains
Then Dave Halen addressed the committee on audibility of announcements on vehicles. Newer 6000-series rail cars, which Metro will start receiving soon, have an additional microphone in the operator's cab that will allow the operator to address passengers even while on the left side of the cab. (At center platform stations, operators must stick their heads out of the window on the left side of the train, so the only microphone in today's cars, on the right side of the cab, doesn't do much good then.) New cars will also have two new intercoms at areas designated for wheelchairs. Future cars (beyond the 6000-series ones, I guess) will be linked into what Halen called a "total communication system." This will allow station announcements about, for example, service delays, to be beamed into rail cars in addition to being heard in stations systemwide.
Metro staff knows that some announcements are inaudible because operators can be hard to understand. So they are training operators to speak more clearly. They're considering automating announcements as well (I know this has caused debate in the past; previous general manager Richard White said that making announcements helps keep train operators engaged in their jobs.) They're also considering LED strip maps inside the cars to show which station is next, similar to the maps you'll find in many newer train cars in New York.
I'm tapped out for tonight so later this week I will write more about a spat at the meeting about, of all things, trash cans.
MBTA is launching a new campaign for courtesy from both them and us. “Courtesy Counts” is the slogan, and it is a three part plan.
1. T employees will be encouraged to be more professional and helpful and to “speak as you’d like to be spoken to.” (I salute the T's efforts to get blood from a stone.)
2. Riders will be encouraged to give up their seats, throw away their trash and generally to be respectful of their fellow sardines.
3. Undercover T employees will be handing out Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to riders committing random acts of kindness. (Dangle a large light regular under our noses, and we'll do anything you ask.)
North South Rail Link rears its head again in Boston
An op-ed in the Boston Globe written by State Senator Stephen Lynch and Mass Siera Club director James McCaffrey argues that now is the time to build the North South Rail Link.
For those who don't know, the two primary rail stations in Boston (about one mile apart) are not connected. You can connect between North Station and South Station via the subway, but only if you transfer between two different lines. Naturally, it would have made sense to build a rail tunnel connecting the two stations as part of the Big Dig, and it was discussed as part of the original proposal, but it was ultimately dropped from the final plan. Unfortunately, that was probably the NSRL's best opportunity.
Pay a visit to Secaucus Junction, New Jersey. By allowing quick transfers, this marvelous train station saves New Jersey commuters about fifteen minutes on their trips to midtown Manhattan. (Wikipedia tells us that the station is not a true junction, as trains can't switch lines there. It says "Secaucus Transfer" would be more fitting.)
Can't (or won't) visit in person? No matter, the Flash website is probably better anyway. There's jazzy music, and if you click on "Junction Fun," you can get Secaucus Junction wallpapers (none of which, however, feature Secaucus Junction!) and even free downloadable music "to make your trip even better." Who thought a train station would be so much fun?
SustainLane's 2006 Sustainability Rankings of the nation's 50 largest cities are out. This web-based non-profit ranks cities based on a variety of factors relating to public health, quality of life, local economies and planning efforts. Access to public transit is a major factor, and the work commute is actually the most heavily weighted factor in the ranking. Portland is #1 this year, with San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago rounding out the top five. See where your city ranks.
WMATA is already making key decisions about its 2008 budget--and without public input.
At last Wednesday's meeting of the Riders Advisory Council, member Kevin Moore reported on the work of the council's budget subcommittee. He explained that one of the most important parts of the budget process is when the Board of Directors gives so-called "guidance" to agency staff. This guidance will indicate, for example, how much subsidy dollars the budget will likely have, or whether or not the budget should include provisions for a fare increase. (Last year's guidance indicated there would be no fare increase.) Using this guidance, agency staff prepare a budget for the board's consideration.
Thus many of the big decisions--including those on fares, which riders are especially sensitive to--are made before the board even sees a budget. Rather, those decisions are made when the guidance is issued. Indeed, as Moore pointed out, the board pays little attention to comments it receives after the budget has been written. By the time the board has its official public comment period for the budget, Moore says, the substance for the budget will have already been set. So having input into the budget process before the board issues its guidance is key.
However, the budget process for fiscal year 2008 is already beginning--weeks earlier than was originally planned. In just a few weeks, agency staff members will brief the board of directors with forecasts that the board will use as it formulates its guidance. On July 13, the board will give its guidance to Metro staff. Thus Moore emphasized that it is crucial that members of the Riders Advisory Council be briefed by agency staff with the same information that the board will be getting. At least then the RAC would have a chance to offer its input on the budget.
Moore points out that the RAC was already frozen out of the 2007 budget process and that it is just weeks away from being frozen out of the 2008 budget process too.
Also at the meeting: staff members involved in "joint development," the folks who sell off Metro's extensive land holdings, briefed the RAC. Metro owns a lot of land near its rail stations, and it has several full-time staffers who try to promote the use of this land in development ventures so that the land will be used for transit-friendly projects. Involving the local governments while placating the NIMBYs can be a challenging process. The impact of joint development in areas like the Orange Line in Arlington, Virginia has been quite substantial, while Metro's land holdings in other areas--such as Prince George's County, Maryland--have not yet borne such impressive fruit.
The RAC's subcommittees meet this Wednesday. The rail subcommittee will hear a presentation about a common peeve of riders: audibility of train announcements.
Boston's MBTA has proposed to raise fares (45¢ for subway, 35¢ for bus) and the normally disgruntled riders are hopin' mad. The MBTA chief says that the higher fare and various other proposed changes are necessary to make up for an approximately $70 million budget shortfall for FY2007. In 2000 the Massachusetts State Legislature pushed the MBTA out of the nest, requiring that it live off a percentage of the sales tax revenues in its constituent communities. Since then, the T has had to raise fares to cover costs several times. This most recent increase is attributed to the post-911 economic downturn, rising fuel prices and spiraling debt costs. The rise in fares will not cover any infrastructure or service improvements and will not address the anticipated shortfall for FY08.
Torontoist takes a look at new cars for the Toronto subway. The cars are lovingly named the T35A08, a name siginificantly more inspiring than say, Redbirds.
If Torontoist's write-up isn't enough for the transit addicts among us, you can view a fly-through animation on the TTC's website here.
A planned BART extension to San Jose is now on rocky ground, as voters rejected a bid to increase the local sales tax by 0.5% to pay for the project and for county health services. According to KCBS, 58 percent voted no on Measure A, which would have hiked the country sales tax rate to 8.75% in a bid to bring in more money for the transit project.
The plan is similar to the local transit tax used elsewhere to fund BART, which was worked remarkably well for the region, especially when compared to a city like D.C., where there is no dedicated source of funding. It's unfortunate that the local community rejected the tax, as it seems like just one more example of taxpayers ignoring the vast economic benefits that come with transit.
Other than D.C., New York has the only transit system in the country whose riders are more likely to take the train than the bus. Even so, New York still has far more bus-takers than any other city: in 2004, it had 740 million riders, more than double the number in bus-dependent L.A.
That's why the MTA is working on developing a bus-rapid transit network to serve the most congested corridors of the city not served by the subway. Service might include dedicated lanes, bigger busses, nicer stations, and higher frequency. Some of those roads most likely to benefit from faster bus service include 1st and 2nd Avenues in Manhattan, the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
If you're interested in the project's progress, consider attending one of the public meetings the transit authority will be hosting this week and next. Even the country's biggest transit provider could better serve its riders.
Thursday June 8 is Dump the Pump day. Leave your car at home and take transit! When you're like me and don't own a car, this is not much of a problem. Folks from WMATA's Riders Advisory Council will be at the Gallery Place - Chinatown station tomorrow June 7 getting people to sign pledges to leave their cars at home. Maybe a few more people will, say, ride buses to the train station, rather than driving in and parking?
I've been concerned about the "interim" status of WMATA general manager Dan Tangherlini. But even as an interim guy, he can fire people, which I think bodes well for his power at the agency.
A manager for MetroAccess, Metro's troubled paratransit service, looks to have received a demotion, and two deputy general managers are gone altogether. As Metro's website tells us, several top managers--the heads of bus, rail, MetroAccess, police, and safety--will now report directly to Tangherlini.
All Site Information and Content Copyright by Live from the Third Rail and the Entry Author
Site Design by BinarySpark
Graphics A member of the Smorgasblog family of blogs.
The 
A planned BART extension to San Jose is now on rocky ground, as voters rejected a bid to increase the local sales tax by 0.5% to pay for the project and for county health services. According to 
Other than D.C., New York has the only transit system in the country whose riders are more likely to take the train than the bus. Even so, New York still has far more bus-takers than any other city: in 2004, it had 740 million riders, more than double the number in bus-dependent L.A.