MTA

As expected, the proposed 2009 MTA budget is rife with grim news. In addition to various cutbacks at the administrative level, the budget and 2009-2012 financial plan -- minus an infusion of aid from the city, state or federal government -- will have a direct impact on transit customers in the form of service reductions and fare increases. From today's press announcement:

In today's Times, Richard Brodsky weighs in on the pitfalls of shortchanging capital needs in the face of the immediate MTA budget crisis.

The crack news team at Fox 5 has gotten to the root of the MTA's financial troubles: Chief Lee Sander's commuting habits.

While Washington is bailing out banks and carmakers (maybe), City Council Member John Liu thinks an allocation to the MTA is in order.

Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign (l) and TA's Paul Steely White unveil this year's honorees

MTA chief Elliot Sander announced this morning that the city's transit agency is up against a $1.2 billion budget deficit, and needs government aid or new sources of revenue to avoid fare increases or service cuts. But an expected recommendation by the Ravitch Commission to toll East River bridges is already taking heat from the usual suspects.

For months, graffiti-laden MTA Capital Construction trailers have been parked curbside on Broadway north of Isham Street, in Inwood, presumably due to ongoing work on the A line. Yesterday we snapped this shot of one trailer's new position, on the sidewalk alongside Isham Park.

The people over at CTA Tattler ("seen and heard on the Chicago Transit Authority"), as part of their tireless efforts to monitor the movements of the Chicago Transit Authority, have turned to the microblogging tool Twitter and created a Twitter feed with the user name ctatweet. It's a way for people using the city's transit system to post updates about train delays and breakdowns from their cell phones or PDAs.

Not to steal anyone's thunder, but the MTA has rolled out the second of three prototype grates designed to keep stormwater out of the subways while doubling as street furniture. The first design, though incorporating a bench, is more artful and less functional than the prototype shown above, which includes seating as well as bike racks. Fifteen of the bench/bike rack prototypes will be coming to Lower Manhattan, along West Broadway between Chambers and Leonard Streets, and on Varick Street between Leonard and Franklin.