MTA

Manhattan Community Board 6 has adopted a resolution in support of a state law to bring back flashing blue lights on Select Bus Service buses. The reso also urges the MTA to explore options to restore the lights in lieu of legislative action.

Christine Quinn outlined her transit platform at a campaign event at LaGuardia Community College this morning. With a focus on Select Bus Service and ferries -- elements of the transit system that the mayor can actually control to a large degree -- Quinn's proposals tie the expansion of transit to the city's economic health. She also called for local control of the MTA.

The next mayor will have to take the lead on transportation funding challenges that, while difficult to address in campaign speeches, are critical to the city's future, former lieutenant governor and MTA chairman Richard Ravitch said today at a Fordham University infrastructure forum.

Friday's transit forum hosted by Transit Workers Union Local 100 and a coalition of rider advocacy groups offered an opportunity for a more more detailed discussion of transit policy than this year's mayoral race has seen so far. While the candidates offered few specifics about how they would improve transit for the millions of New Yorkers who depend on trains and buses, clear differences emerged, especially on the question of how to increase funding for the debt-ridden MTA.

Following the recent deaths of two subway passengers who were pushed onto tracks, TWU Local 100 is urging operators to slash train speeds as they enter stations, the New York Times reported yesterday. A TWU flier, which you can view here, advises operators that “Preventing a [run-over], and saving yourself the emotional trauma and potential loss of income that go with it, is worth a few extra minutes on your trip.”

A few quick thoughts on the news that MTA Chair Joe Lhota is going to leave the agency at the end of week to clear the way for a mayoral run...

With BusTime set to expand citywide by the end of 2013, after launches in Staten Island, the Bronx and with pilot routes in Brooklyn and Manhattan, City Council members want to bring that technology to the streets -- or more specifically, the bus stop -- and are asking MTA, DOT and bus shelter operator Cemusa to help make it happen.

The first Select Bus Service route in Brooklyn is on track to start speeding bus trips next year, after Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced yesterday afternoon that the project has secured a $28 million federal grant.

As the latest round of fare hike hearings -- the fourth in five years -- continues around the region, turnout is low but rants against the MTA board are still at a high boil. As usual, the elected officials who allocate resources to the transit system are shielded from public accountability.