MTA Chairman's denial of the wrong announcements

I attended the first three of the four L line community meetings and one thing I can say about the MTA; they do listen at times. Granted they listened to all of the input from area residents and elected officials regarding the two service plans for the tunnel work under the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn which was heavily damaged from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.  One service plan was a full shutdown for 18 months, the other was a partial shutdown for 30 months.  The MTA board on July 26 adopted the faster and better 18 month full shutdown plan, which was endorsed by a majority of people (including me) who attended the L line community meetings via. question/comment submissions to the MTA Chairman, Thomas Prendergast, NYCT President Veronica "Ronnie" Hakim and two of her top level NYCT management team. However what I also find is that the MTA does not want to admit are the mistakes and errors which I have been documenting.  At the May 26 meeting in Canarsie, one of the questions I asked about the L line closure, starting in January 2019, was how will this closure affect subway lines that stop along 14th Street in Manhattan and will conductors continue to allow or make announcements that the L train is running when it isn't? NYCT Transit President Hakim noted that there will be a massive outreach effort to inform customers (she didn't say anything about train crews) about the L line closure through various means while MTA Chairman Prendergast stated that the wrong announcements are inherent in the newer subway cars which have the automated announcements.

I believe that the outreach on the L line closure will take place, however I also think Chairman Prendergast's statement on the subway car announcements and the problem with the newer trains is false - - just filled with excuses on blaming the wrong announcements on nearly 20 year old subway car equipment.  The first New Technology Train subway cars (NTTs) using the automated announcements, first ran on the 6 line then to other lines.  Additionally, based on Chairman Prendergast's statement, you would think the older subway cars which run on the A, 1, 3, B/D, R and 6 lines would have accurate announcements by conductors who have to do it the old fashioned way, especially on weekends where a lot of major diversions and construction take place.    Nope, totally wrong, many of these do make wrong announcements too.  During every weekend when the R was not running in Lower Manhattan due to the Montague tunnel work, conductors on the 2/3/4 would announce the R transfer at Borough Hall even though the R platform was closed.

I rode the system on two weekend days, the first was on Sunday, May 22 when the A/C was running on the F line (no A/C service at Fulton Street), the E was running on the F line between Manhattan and Queens (no E service at Lexington Ave/53rd Street), no regular D service south of 59th Street, it was running on the A line between 59th Street and Chambers Street and the 42nd Street shuttle was not running too.

I started with the 2 and 3 lines at Fulton Street where there is no A/C service.  Additionally, there was no 1 train service at Chambers Street (1 trains were not running between South Ferry and 14th Street while 2 and 3 trains were running local between Chambers and 34th Streets.    Therefore, conductors on the northbound 2 and 3 trains should warn customers of the following:

• There is no A/C service at Fulton, stay on the train to Park Place for transfers to E and rerouted D service.
• There is no Uptown 1 service at Chambers, stay on the 2 or 3 train instead. Again, none of the conductors suggested that.

Here are the results - - a pass means the conductor did say something about the A/C diversion.  All times are PM  NOTE:  On all observations, the NTT subway cars are car numbers 6300 on up.  Older non-NTT cars are below the magic 6300 number:

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result
6:33	3	SB	1400	No announcement
6:41	3	NB	1491	Fail
6:49	2	SB	6841	Fail
6:56	2	NB	6845	Fail
7:02	2	SB	6570	Fail
7:14	2	NB	6671	Fail
7:20	3	SB	1401	No transfer announcement
7:27	2	NB	6536	Fail
7:43	2	SB	7051	Fail

Going on the 4 and 6 lines at Bleecker Street to hear the D line announcements was just as bad as riding the 2 and 3 - - every train I rode announced the D transfer - - even one conductor said "transfer to the B/D/F/M" on a Sunday evening.  Even the 42nd Street shuttle was not immune to the misinformation, conductors on nearly every train on the 1/2/3/4/5/6/A/D lines announced the 42nd Street shuttle transfer (I would not be surprised at the N/Q/R side either)


Now for July 24th - the skinny:

• Conductors on the 6 lines using the older subway cars (they first ran on this line in 1986-87), announced the Q transfer at 59th Street.
• No conductor on the 4 line ever suggested the A/C transfer at Bleecker Street (they were running on the F line.)
• In Brooklyn when the 4 trains was not running, conductors on the D and R lines (using older subway equipment which MTA Chairman Prendergast flatly denies about the announcement problem) announced not only the 4 train but the 5 line transfer as well.  The 5 does not run in Brooklyn on weekends except in limited instances, such as a planned suspension of 2 and 3 service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
• Some station agent booths in Midtown Manhattan had color coded directions to other subway lines - - but did not modify the E to 8th Ave which was not running there.  The E was running on the 6th Ave F line in Manhattan.  However there were booths along the 6th Ave D/F lines which did had the message that the E trains were stopping at the F (line) platform.  I have two photos as such which showed the wrong directions to the E train, one at 34th-Penn (32nd st downtown 1 side) the other at 42nd Street-Bryant Park, main booth on the D/F lines.  What's interesting is that a customer at 42-Bryant Park needs to turn around and enter the system there for the E train instead of walking two blocks.

Now the announcements on that Sunday afternoon/evening 7/24 - no E at 51st Street/Lexington Ave is first

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result
3:51	4	SB	1236	Fail
3:58	6	NB	1720	Pass (the only one in this list)
4:06	6	SB	7605	Fail
4:15	6	NB	2021	Fail (when asked, he said "should be running, I heard nothing")
4:28	6	SB	1994	Fail (NQR at 59)
4:41	6	NB	7671	Fail
4:50	6	SB	1698	Fail (NQR at 59 and E/M at 51)
5:00	6	NB	2134	No announcement at 51
5:12	4	SB	7755	Fail

Next was the 4 train at Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center, I listened to only D and R train announcements at the 4th Ave side of this complex, Manhattan bound platform only - - about two conductors did announce something about no 4 trains at Atlantic Ave.

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result
5:54	D	NB	2616	Pass
5:58	D	NB	2574	Fail (announced 4/5 transfer)
6:04	R	NB	5756	Fail
6:06	D	NB	2712	No Transfer Announcement
6:16	R	NB	5682	Fail (announced 4/5 transfer)
6:16	D	NB	2510	No transfer announcement
6:25	R	NB	5610	No transfer announcement
6:28	D	NB	2631	Pass (asked)

Finally, I visited the 2/3 lines and passed through Fulton St for the A/C and 4/5 announcements.  Only one conductor passed:

Time	Line	Direction	Car #	Result (A/C and 4/5)
7:00	2	NB	6932	Fail/Fail
7:03	3	SB	1515	No announcement
7:05	3	NB	1521	Passed (asked)
7:08	2	SB	6871	Fail/Fail
7:20	3	NB	1521	Fail/Fail
7:26	3	SB	1341	Fail
7:30	3	NB	1577	No transfer announcement

One thing which NYCT does get it right is that the announcements about the major service diversions can be heard on station platforms (along with a scrolling visual display on the PA/CIS displays on the numbered lines.)   MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast has over 40 years experience in the transit field, most of it here in New York. It's unfortunate for the millions of subway riders that Mr. Prendergast has failed in acknowledging a serious problem that has plagued the system for decades since the first MTA Capital Program in 1982.  

The Pokemon craze - - it's only a game

Enough is enough - - it's only a game.

On July 6th, just a little over 10 days ago, Nintendo released Pokemon Go! for the Apple iTunes and Google Play app stores.  Now, the enhanced augmented reality game has made America (and half the world) beyond shameful.  I say that because for a lot of people, a game is more important than their lives or families - - a Oregon State man was playing the game with an opponent and he got stabbed instead - - yet the victim continued to go monster hunting despite a knife wound on his shoulder which required 8 stitches.   The game requires players to use their GPS and cameras on their phones to locate Pokemons at landmarks and other various locations - - through Pokemon stops (or Poke Stops) and gyms.  Once  they have a monster in their sights, they either throw a ball to catch it or take a screenshot (the pokemon is on the camera screen as they take it.).  There a many instances where multiple players meet at one location where there is a Pokemon to catch (only one player can get it). The game has surpassed Candy Crush Saga as the most players logged in a 24 hour period.  Because the game requires you to stare at the phone for extended periods of time while tracking and catching Pokemons, it has evolved in a myriad of incidents which garnered news attention, some good, some bad, some strange and some outlandishly stupid. Businesses have benefited from among the many locations which are Pokemon gyms.  However this does not mean cemeteries and sacred museums with a player finding a dead body, should be "gyms" too

The weirdest stories involving Pokemon hunting have been as follows:

1.  Two California men fell off a cliff while chasing a Pokemon

2.   A police station is one of the "gyms", and a Pokemon player with an arrest warrant checks in during gameplay, only to be arrested when cops recognize him.

3.  A Florida man whose property is a  "gym", shoots at two Pokemon players. parked outside his residence.

4.  Pokemon Go has already caused some couples to the brink of divorce.  

5.  A New Zealand bartender quits his job so he can work at his new full time job - - chasing Pokemons for free.

6.  A hacking group claimed responsibility for taking down Nintendo's servers through a calculated DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack.

7.  A rare Pokemon,Vaperon, causes a 11 PM meltdown in New York's Central Park.  The lucky one in the crowd who caught Vaperon, ran out of his car with the engine running. (I don't think his insurance company will be happy to hear about that if his car was stolen).

8.  An upstate NY man wrecks his car while playing Pokemon.  Don't Pokemon and Drive.

9.  Three people playing Pokemon were trapped after hours in a locked cemetery.     Special thanks to Brian Weinberg for the mention after I posted this article.

The whole point is, it's only a game which you should enjoy as part of your day, not taking up your entire life.  At the end of the day, you still have family and work obligations to attend to - - and your life is more important than the game which you are not really being paid to play.  I could see to a certain extent that if you received a check from Nintendo every two weeks, then be safe playing it.  But remember your family and your health comes first and foremost,  If that is a problem for you, then please uninstall the game before it is too late for you.

I am back - with a discussion on the last 72 hours which changed America's view on racism

Just a quick word that I am back - - my computer was down but that's old news now - back online.  Now the big news of the week, if not the decade.

The last 72 hours have been the most disturbing news that I have seen since 9/11 - - the police-involved shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana  and Philando Castile in Minnesota - - subsequently the tragedy in Dallas where 5 officers were killed along with nearly a dozen more officers and civilians injured during a large protest against how the police handled the Sterling and Castile incidents.  Here are the facts on each case with a starkly contrasting view against each other.


Alton Sterling facts:

1.   A homeless black man called 911 to report a man(Sterling) who was brandishing a gun and threatened the homeless man.  
2. Sterling had not only a lengthy rap sheet but he was also a registered sex offender  for impregnating a 14 year old - - six years younger when he was 20.  
3. The gun was in Sterling's pocket, according to Baton Rogue police sources.
4. Two officers were wearing body cameras which would shed more light on the shooting, however they "mysteriously" fell off in the moments before the fatal shots were fired by the officer in the viral video.

Now for the Philando Castile facts

1.  Castile was was driving with his girlfriend and their 4 year old daughter in their vehicle when police officers pulled him over for a busted taillight.

2.  Castile had a licensed permit to carry his pistol, and he told the officer who pulled him over as such.  Castile was exercising his second Amendment rights to carry a firearm - - one which the racially biased NRA didn't mention him by name - - and that was more than 48 hours after the shooting when the NRA finally opened up their big mouths.

3.  The shooting happened with the 4 year old daughter in the back seat.  Now imagine the trauma that girl is going through now seeing her dad shot dead.  

Then the Dallas massacre - - this was an unspeakable tragedy when 5 police officers were shot dead by a sniper who had a grudge against white officers.     The officers were protecting minorities who were part of the Black Lives Matter movement in protesting the Sterling and Castile shootings.  Amidst all this - - I called over a year ago for the importance that it's not just black lives that matter but its all lives matter - - everyone is a human being no matter the skin color or background - - police officers are human beings too.  However the evils of racism are rooted in a few white police officers.  If Castile was white, would the outcome be different?  Hmmm - - there were 8 instances where while males had a gun and none of them were ever shot by officers   I would also like to point out that when my in-laws came to my house at 2 AM in the morning, someone in the neighborhood called the cops - - if it was a white couple coming in at 2 AM, it would be a different story.  

As long as you have a few bad apples in everyone, racism will never go away - - the events in the last 72 hours reaffirm this.  

Week in review: Cuomo takes credit for a 16 year old problem, the W makes a comeback, NYC Sanitation throws food away and Obama disses Scalia

A lot of news items happened this past week, let's get right into it.

1.  The new 2/5 strip maps: MTA New York City Transit finally solved a problem on the 2 and 5 lines which uses the same car model (R142),  those in-car strip maps.  Unlike the R160 car counterparts which run on the lettered lines (E/F/N/Q/J/M) that have the interchangeable display, the R142 cars built in 2000-01 have a fixed strip map which can work on only one of the two IRT lines.  A 10 car train can have all 2 line strip maps then suddenly that trainset is put into service (scheduled or not) on the 5 line instead, making the 2 strip map useless except a disclaimer on the lower left corner "Route Change, Map Not In Use".  However, a train with 2 line maps may run on the 2 line then be rerouted on the 5 line between Bronx and Brooklyn.  Well after 16 years, NYCT finally got it right with the new 2/5 strip maps which combine both lines together in a single  map.  The news release claims this is part of NY State Governor Cuomo's initiative in improving customer service and communication.  Nor bad for Cuomo to take credit for something that took 16 years to solve.  Additionally, the new strip maps won't solve the problem of wrong automated announcements, such as announcing "Transfer to the A/C" during a weekend closure at Fulton Street. or the Bx41SBS transfer when it's not running after 9 PM.  More smokescreens by the MTA NYCT.


2.  The W makes a comeback:  The W line ran weekdays only between Ditmars Blvd-Astoria and Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan and like some bus routes, it's making a comeback along with the rest of the pre June 2010 service pattern on the N/Q/R lines thanks to the impending opening of Phase 1 of the Second Ave subway line.  The W line is the latest of subway and bus lines being undone from the infamous June, 2010 service cuts - - the B37 bus route in Brooklyn was restored while recently the M5 bus route is finally being shortened due to the length and poor on-time performance.  Just don't look for the V train to come back anytime soon, the V line was replaced by an extended M train and that was the MTA's best move in 2010.


3.  NYC Sanitation throws food away:  Yesterday, Gary Schlesinger posted a Facebook video taken on Feb. 3 in Chinatown that shows two NYC Sanitation workers throwing out fruits and veggies from a produce store - - the video went viral with plenty of outrage across New Yorkers about all that food wasted.  Mind you, the workers  were ordered by their enforcement officer or supervisor to throw it out when the store was cited for illegally obstructing sidewalk space.  However, it is disgusting when the food was thrown out instead of confiscating the produce then donating it to a church or a homeless shelter.  There are thousands of hungry New Yorkers who desperately need good food like fruits and vegetables.  Also if Sanitation has the gall to throw food out, why can't they throw away traffic cones and trash cans which residents use to illegally hold parking spaces?

4.  Obama disses Scalia:  Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away last weekend and his funeral is set for tomorrow (2/20).  Justice Scalia is one of the more conservative justices and well respected among his colleagues who spent nearly 30 years on the bench.  President Obama chose not to attend Scalia's funeral tomorrow.  All I can is that's disgraceful for any President not to attend a funeral of a Supreme Court Justice, liberal or conservative.  It's only 11 months to go (as of tomorrow) until we get a new President in the White House.    


Enjoy your weekend all.

Saturday (2/6) observations in the subway and more NYCT website errors

Last weekend (2/6 through early morning of 2/8), two subway lines were not running in Manhattan due to trackwork, and another three were rerouted in both directions.  The J and Q lines were not running in Manhattan while the A/C/E lines were diverted in both directions - - the A/C was running on the F in between West 4th Street and Jay Street-Metrotech and the E was running also on the F line between Queens and West 4th Street.

Unless you know to check the MTA website, consider yourself lost because conductors working on adjacent lines were giving wrong directions - - as well station platforms on the J which should never have been open in the first place.  Here is a short timeline.

Prior to my Saturday outing, I took this picture at Fulton Street on the J - - with the wrong directions  - there is no A/C at Fulton St on that same Feb 5-8 weekend.  That was corrected with a new set of posters on my Saturday outing (see before and after photos, thanks to NYCT's Twitter account for getting this done)

Now for the timeline on Saturday 2/6

10:55 AM - - I arrived at Court Square and asked the conductor on the Manhattan-bound 7 train (Car #7848) if I could "transfer" to the E train here.  The conductor pointed to the exit and told me "Yes, straight ahead and downstairs".   These instructions are incorrect, Court Square on the E side is closed.

11:10 AM - - On a southbound 4 train (car #7704) as we arrived at 14th Street-Union Square "Transfer to the ....Q.... train" automated announcement was made - - there is no Q service in Manhattan

11:15 AM  - - southbound 6 train (car 2151) at Canal Street, conductor announced only the N and R transfers.  She is correct as there is no J and Q service at this complex.  I walked over to the J platform via the N/Q lower level and saw plenty of posters - - and to no surprise at all, nobody reads them.  Conductors on the N line were making clear announcements about no Q trains running so customers can hop on and change at Atlantic/Pacific for the Q shuttle bus or stay on to Coney Island for the Q shuttle train.  I continued to the J platform where I saw things that are wrong, both by customers and NYC Transit planners - - I fault customers for not reading the paper signs about no J service and also take blame for NYCT brass not reassigning personnel to the J platform area at Canal St and Chamber Street (there is one direct exit to street from the J platform at Canal which remains open.)


If you look down and can't tell what those two red lights on the tracks mean, something is wrong with you.  This is the customer' fault.

People waiting for the J - - good luck - - next J train will arrive within the next 36-40 hours.   Note the posters are literally right in front of their faces.

Here is one of many posters at the Canal St complex.

When the J is not running at Canal Street, NYCT should close the Centre Street street level entrance to the J platform -  it is a minor inconvenience as the entrances to the northbound 6 on Lafayette Street and the rest of the complex are just around the block, no more than 200 feet away.   I went back to the southbound 6 platform where I saw the PA/CIS was showing the next 6 train was 13 minutes away.  So I took a walk on Lafayette where I saw an old B51 bus Guide A Ride.at the Lafayette and Walker Street bus stop.   The B51 bus route was discontinued in June, 2010

At Chambers Street on the J, there was no NYCT personnel telling customers about no J service -   only tape and signs were present.

11:41 AM - - took a southbound 4 train (car #1226) one stop to Fulton - this is the ugliest part of the trip.  Not only did the conductor allow the automated A/C/J transfer announcements at Fulton Street, a customer asked him how to get to Myrtle/Broadway on the J and M lines in Brooklyn.  The conductor advised the customer to take uptown trains to Canal Street and "transfer" to the J - - that is soooo wrong so I told the customer to stay on the 4/5 express to 14th Street then take the L to the M (via. transfer at Myrtle/Wyckoff) instead.  It feels good to come to the rescue of a lost customer when he was given bad directions by a NYCT employee - - many of these conductors should be cognizant in the major service disruptions happening on nights and weekends.

Oh and speaking about the Q not running in Manhattan and proofreading - - looks like NYCT needs to cross check better on their MTA website,  This is from last weekend with information on the E diverted along the F line

This coming President's Day weekend (2/12 through early AM on 2/16) southbound F trains are running on the E line between Queens and Manhattan - - look at the directions to reach Lexington Ave and 63rd Street station from Queens - - you cannot transfer from Lexington/53 Street on the E/M to an Uptown 6 train (at 51st Street, through the transfer passage) because Uptown 6 trains are running express that same weekend - bypassing 51st Street.  Proofread and cross-check, NYCT.

One big bright spot I must tell at Fulton, NYCT personnel at the 4/5 side of the A/C staircases were asking customers if they have Unlimited Metrocards and if they do, suggest going outside and walk one block over for the R to Jay Street for A/C.  It's too bad the majority of times I observe are either wrong information or wrong announcements.   As I made my way back to the 7 train, I got caught in the line suspension due to switch problems and there were announcements about no 7 trains between Manhattan and Queens.  But guess what I heard right after that 7 suspension announcement?  An automated announcement about the E line diversion which suggests to take the 7 between Queens and Manhattan.  How confusing is that to hear two contradictory announcements within a minute apart?.

This coming weekend, the same J and Q sections of their respective lines will not run - - that means it's 3 days worth of wrong announcements and wrong directions by  NYCT personnel.  It's too bad supervisors and managers act like they never ride the subway on weekends because if they really did then I would not be catching as many mistakes as I currently do.   Conductors will say or allow "transfer to the J ...Q lines" at Manhattan stations.   Or maybe I should ask myself this question - - do customers ever listen to these announcements then complain when the information they rely on from the announcement is wrong?

Super Bowl 50 and those commercials

How about Super Bowl 50 at San Francisco yesterday?  It's one for the books now with the AFC Champions Denver Broncos (led by Payton Manning in his 200th and final game of his Hall of Fame bound career) winning the game and the Vince Lombardi trophy over the NFC Champions, Carolina Panthers.  24-10 yesterday.  This was Manning's second Super Bowl championship ring. Super Bowl 50 was the most watched TV broadcast ever with an estimated 161 million TV viewers who saw part or all of the game (not including live streaming).


Of course the game sometimes takes a backseat to those commercials and there were plenty of them, some good, a lot of bad and some that really stand out from the crowd.  Here are my personal favorites of a select few which stand out, in no order of preference.


1. Kevin Hart Hyundai "First Date":  Mr. Hart is very funny and this commercial is a howl.  Hart plays an overprotective father who lends the family car for his daughter's first date then follows him all over the place.  Clearly the best commercial is a mostly so-so crop

2.   Doritos "Ultrasound Baby":  Expectant wife has ultrasound procedure while her husband looks on as he is eating a bag of Doritos,  He starts taunting the baby.  I won't give away the ending of this ad but I can say I was floored when I first saw this.    Doritos seems to produce the best SB commercials because they know two things that work all the time in the cuteness and laugh factors:  babies and animals .

3. Doritos "Supermarket Dogs".  Like the baby commercial, dogs bring the cuteness then the laughs.  Watch as these three dogs try to elude the supermarket manager (who keeps chasing them out) in buying a bag of Doritos.

4.  Toyota Prius "Longest Police chase":  It takes a lot of imagination to produce a commercial about a bunch of bank robbers who use their Toyota Prius as their "getaway" vehicle and go all out in eluding police on a long chase that captures the world.  And if you wondered who played the bad guys - - the corrupt Sobokta family from the critically acclaimed (and IMHO, the best police procedural show ever made in the history of television), The Wire.  Not only we have a well made commercial, but we also have a mini-reunion of a family from The Wire.  

5.  Steve Harvey's T-Mobile redux:  Gotta hand it to Steve Harvey - - he can make an embarassing mistake in announcing the wrong winner in the 2015 Miss Universe pageant into a funny  T-Mobile commercial tat takes aim at Verizon;s colored balls.

6. Baldwin, Marino and Missy's Amazon Echo:    The in-jokes and sarcasm go big time as NFL Hall of Fame player Dan Marino trades verbal shots with Alec Baldwin while Missy Elliot chimes in, Really cool stuff to watch.

7.  Bud Light Amy Schumer/Seth Rogen party:  I don't watch these two comedians but I was impressed at the way this commercial was handled -  with a direct reference to Bill Pullman's famous speech in the original blockbuster Independence Day,  

8.  Mountain Dew PuppyMonkeyBaby.:  Another howl - - just watch this and see the head of a puppy, the tail/midsection of a monkey and legs of a baby - - hence PuppyMonkeyBaby

There were others which were either good or bad.  You can watch all of them on You Tube - - but the highlights of yesterdays game was Lady singing the best National Anthem ever while Beyonce, Chris Martin and Bruno Mars put on an excellent halftime show with flashbacks from old shows of previous halftime Super Bowls, including Michael and Whitney - - two artists whose lives ended too short.  It was a good night for football and some entertainment.  

NYC Transit's storm response last weekend - an A for storm response and a D for miscommunication at 145th Street.

How about the storm response from the MTA last weekend?  Except for a hiccup on the Long Island Railroad, most everything else went back to normal by Monday morning (1/25).  The Jonas blizzard saw the east cost from North Carolina to Connecticut blanketed with snow - - surprisingly Boston only had a dusting compared to the storms of 2015.

Let's face it, I could go on about how NYC Transit didn't inform customers about some service changes on Friday night and Monday/Tuesday nights.  But I can say that their performance in handling the storm outweighs the negatives.  Well almost, as I was stuck waiting for a D train on Sunday morning, more on that later.


The highlight of MTA and NYC Transit's decision making was to allow underground-only subway service to continue throughout the storm, allowing about 40 percent of the subway network to run, mostly within Manhattan. (You can see the rush job on the underground map, it shows the D stopping at 36th Street in Brooklyn when it was running only in Manhattan and the Bronx.)  Rather than shutting down the entire subway system or to let the trains run until they are stranded from a snowbank, the suspension of almost all above ground service was a solid, smart, and sensible plan to keep some amount of public transportation running.   The  problem was communication - - which even the MTA admitted they faltered in the communication process.    The MTA's bus/train tracking application data was not working, making it harder to track buses and some subway lines during the storm.

Now for the Sunday morning debacle (on 1/24  ), which happened on the D line at 145th Street.  I arrived at 8:50 AM waiting for an Uptown D train.  At that time, the D was running only between Broadway-Lafayette Street in Manhattan and 205th Street-Norwood in the Bronx, however service to Coney Island was in the process of bring restored. The 145th Street station was one of a select few IND station which uses a makeshift PA/CIS (Customer Information System) setup using block signals to determine a train's position relative to the station you are at.  Unlike the full fledged PA/CIS system used on the IRT lines (except for the 7), the L line and the Staten Island Railway which are commonly called "countdown clocks" and are tied to mobile phone applications, these electronic signs only tell whether a train is arriving or up to two stations away - - it does not identify the line and final destination, nor how many minutes away.  At 145th Street, the electronic signs (along with the appropriate audio recording) will identify the arriving train will be an express or local, as well as the level where it will arrive (upper or Bronx bound/Lower).  So, my uptown D train (where it normally arrives) would have the message "The next Bronx bound train is now arriving on the (pause) lower level.  Please stand clear.....".

That message was played twice and twice the D train never arrived at 145th lower level.  The first "arrival" message was at 9:10 AM, about 20 minutes after I first entered the lower level.   That uptown D train never showed up.  At 9:25 AM, I placed my first non-emergency call through the Help Point intercom and spoke to Charles who said he has no way of knowing when the next Bronx-bound D train will arrive.  At 9:35, another message and announcement indicated that a "Bronx bound train is now arriving on the lower level" (indicating the Bronx bound D train was arriving at 145 lower).  Nothing showed up so I went back to the Help Point intercom again and spoke to Starks at 9:35.  Again, same answer as Charles, they have no answers as to when the next train will arrive but only stated that there are delays of up to 30 minutes (and I was waiting since 850 AM).  At 9:55 AM, over an hour since I and now over a hundred people were waiting to get to the Bronx, an manual announcement came over the PA system "There are delays in Uptown D service, the next Uptown D train is at (drum roll)....West 4th Street",  I immediately gave up and went outside where an arriving Bx19 bus would carry me over the 145th Street bridge and to the Bronx Terminal Market/Gateway Mall area where my garaged vehicle is waiting.  (Best 25 dollars I ever spent on keeping my car out of the storm)


Now that's really stupid to have people wait for over an hour for an Uptown D train with no announcements - - and the makeshift next train indicators were not giving right information by teasing us customers twice that the D train was arriving when it wasn't - - , only to tell them over an hour later that the next D train is at West 4th Street which was another 30 minutes away (D trains were running local between West 4th to 34th Street and again from 59th Street to 145th Street due to necessary train storage on the express tracks).  If it involved the D trains which were going to Broadway-Lafayette be extended to Coney Island then return back, I could be speculating on this.  However when people are waiting up to 90 minutes for a D train to arrive at 145 when the normal running time is 1 hour and 28-32 minutes between Coney Island and 205th Street, end to end, then there is something really wrong with the communication process by NYC Transit.  While MTA NYC Transit's storm response has been excellent, the act of ignoring and dumping customers who end up waiting over 90 minutes for a D train to the Bronx with two false announcements over the CIS indicators and no manual announcement until over an hour after the last D train left 145 before I arrived, is totally unacceptable and reeks of ignorance and incompetence in the communication process by MTA NYC Transit.