MTA

Tonight and Thursday, DOT and New York City Transit will conduct the last of their spring and summer Bus Rapid Transit Phase II workshops. The workshops are intended to allow DOT and NYCT to educate the public on Select Bus Service, and gather feedback on neighborhood transit needs, as the agencies plan future routes and service improvements.

From the MTA press office:

Ready for some positive transit news? Flush with the success of the inaugural route on Fordham Road in the Bronx, DOT and New York City Transit are looking ahead to the expansion of Select Bus Service.

The mayor's office just released a statement insisting that the MTA financing plan address the transit system's long-term needs:

If there's one state legislator who gets it when it comes to the value of transit and car-free mobility, it's Senator Eric Schneiderman. Representing parts of the Upper West Side, Northern Manhattan and the Bronx since 1998, Schneiderman once served as counsel for NYPIRG. He heralded the release of PlaNYC, likening its sweeping vision for the city to that of "a twenty-first century, kinder and gentler Robert Moses." In late 2007 Schneiderman co-wrote, along with Gene Russianoff, an op-ed for the Daily News systematically tying MTA financial woes to the failures of Albany and, to a lesser degree, New York City lawmakers.

From the cutting-off-one's-nose-to-spite-one's-face department comes this nonetheless impressive song and video excoriating the MTA (a.k.a. "Money-Taking Assholes") and calling on transit riders to "start jumping the gates." But there's more to the message than misguided MTA bashing, as "the fuck-ups in Albany" -- Ruben Diaz, Sr., Pedro Espada and Carl Kruger, specifically -- get their due.

There will be a rally today from 5:30 to 7:30 at Union Square (Broadway and 14th St. in Manhattan) in protest of planned MTA fare hikes and service cuts. Event organizers include Transportation Alternatives, the Straphangers Campaign, the Working Families Party, Keep New York Moving and the Facebook group "1,000,000 People Against the NYC MTA Fare Hike."

Wondering how the revised version of the Ravitch plan compares to what's come before? Here's a look at the tweaks proposed yesterday by the Ravitch Commission:

Dollar Van Demos, the unlikely union of transportation needs and musical dreams that has entranced New York bloggers, is giving private transit operators in Brooklyn and Queens some of the best press they've ever received. But that isn't the only reason it's worth taking a fresh look at dollar vans. If the state legislature can't avert the MTA's doomsday scenario, the vans may soon see a surge in ridership -- perhaps big enough to launch a few recording careers.