MTA

Hey folks, just a quick reminder: Today at 5:30 p.m. you're invited to join the Rider Rebellion, "an action-oriented campaign that will pressure state and city elected officials to stand up for riders and provide stable, long term funding for subways and buses." There's going to be a rally at Union Square to raise the profile of transit issues as we approach election day and the selection of a new governor for New York state.

Later today, Governor Chris Christie is expected to announce that he's shutting down construction of the ARC tunnel for good, closing off the potential for transit-based growth in northern New Jersey for the foreseeable future. In a dark day for smart planning and development, the project to double NJ Transit's capacity to Manhattan has become a casualty of cheap-gas-at-all-costs populism.

Curious about exactly why the MTA decided to raise the price of the 30-day MetroCard but leave the base fare where it was at $2.25? We got our hands on the MTA's demographic information about who uses each fare payment method on New York City Transit.

Since last August, New Yorkers waiting for a bus on 34th Street have been able to check electronic signs at bus stops to find out how long it will take for the next oneto arrive. As of yesterday, they don't even need to head to the bus stop. Riders can see the real-time location of every M16 and M34 bus on their computer or smartphone or track the buses via text message.

The one-way tolls on the Verrazano Bridge have been a major cause of truck traffic in New York City since they were instituted in 1986. Though numerous efforts to restore two-way tolls have failed over the last two and a half decades, technological progress may finally bring victory within reach. Congressman Jerry Nadler thinks that the MTA's moves toward cashless tolling could make two-way tolls politically feasible, and he's trying to pass the federal legislation necessary to allow them.

The monthly unlimited Metrocard will break the $100 barrier on January 1, following today's 12-2 MTA Board vote to balance the agency's budget by enacting a package of fare increases. (Get full details on the fare hike package from Ben Kabak.)

Earlier this week State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli came out with his latest report on the MTA's troubled finances [PDF], and if you take a look at the numbers, the big takeaway is pretty stark. Without funding for the $9.9 billion hole in the agency's capital program, MTA debt will soar even higher. If legislators don't secure more revenue for maintaining and expanding the transit system, there are basically two options: either the MTA can reduce its capital spending or straphangers can pay the price through higher fares and worse service.

Select Bus Service remains on track to debut on October 10, confirmed NYC DOT and the MTA at a meeting of the project's Community Advisory Committee last night. Bus service improvements along the corridor are as crucial as ever and will be bolstered by camera enforcement, which DOT announced would be in effect starting in November. The changes that take effect in 25 days, however, won't be the full complete streets package originally promised. Above 34th Street, bike lanes and pedestrian refuge islands were unceremoniously stripped from the plan some time this spring.