Transit

This morning the MTA announced that starting in 2019, it will close the L train between Eighth Avenue and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg for 18 months to repair damage caused by Superstorm Sandy -- surprising no one who's been paying attention.

The conventional wisdom about transit often divides riders into two neat categories: "choice" riders -- higher-income people with cars -- and "captive" riders -- lower-income people who must use transit because they don't own cars.

Transit agencies shell out big bucks to build and operate parking facilities. But how much do we really know about what they get for their money?

Which places put economic opportunity within reach for residents who don't own cars?

Streetsblog's "Sorriest Bus Stop in America" contest is back by popular demand.

DOT's "New York City Mobility Report" [PDF], released earlier this week, is the agency's first overview of NYC transportation trends in three years. As the number of people and jobs in the city has grown prodigiously in the past five years, DOT reports, the subway system and, increasingly, the bike network have allowed more New Yorkers to get where they need to go. But there are signs of strain -- bus ridership is declining and bus speeds are slowing, and traffic congestion in the Manhattan core is rising.

With New York City's population swelling to a record size, subways and bikes now account for about 700,000 more trips each day than 16 years ago, according to a new report from NYC DOT [PDF]. Car trips into the Manhattan core, meanwhile, are declining, but so is citywide bus ridership.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is calling on DOT to study making 14th Street a bus-only thoroughfare while L train service is disrupted during Sandy-related repairs.

Laying track isn't enough to build a successful transit system -- as some cities are learning the hard way.