wpb003

It's spooky season on the subway!

A fascinating transit experience every transit fan must try: a Jersey jitney. These are privately-owned, officially-unsanctioned buses that run between New Jersey's dense suburbs and New York City. They accept only cash and have no schedule. A rare example of successful privatized transit in the US.

What's this?

www.metrotransit.org/bronze-line-...

5 years ago today, professor larry jacobs crafted his finest work

light rail train over the Kenilworth Channel

departing W Lake Street Station

At W 21st Street Station

Exiting the tunnel

More from today's initial light rail vehicle roll down the Southwest LRT route. Construction began in 2018 and Metro Transit says passengers will ride in 2027. Over the Kenilworth Channel, leaving W Lake St Station, arriving at W 21st St Station, exiting the Kenilworth tunnel.

It's arrived! The first LRV has made it to the Southwest Station area.

Around 3pm they turned on the overhead wires and operated the train under its own power for the first time! So cool to see the letter boards light up and the bell of the bombardier ring at Southwest Station.

This implies that there are authorized canines on the subway tracks

Light rail service has been restored on the METRO Blue Line – ahead of schedule – after more than a week’s worth of important maintenance activities.

Thank you for your patience!

Starting Saturday, 12-minute service begins at 7 a.m. More at www.metrotransit.org/route/blue

Just noticed that the word used is "formally" and not "formerly". I think they meant "formerly", but if not, that changes the meaning of this quite a bit!

Tbh I'm glad we're not wasting the color purple on what was shaping up to be a pretty inconsequential project. Now we can use Purple for a north-south Minneapolis rail spine!

"The BRT project formerly known as the Purple Line"

metrocouncil.org/getdoc/9fc75...

pantographapp.com

The Blue Line's outage is a stark reminder of the efficiency of rail transit. Just to provide a basic replacement service, Metro Transit has had 25-30 replacement buses out at a time, more than double the usual number of trains on the line, and the end-to-end trip time is also double!

In the US this technology is typically reserved for airport trains like this. But that doesn't have to be the case! We only have to go as far as Vancouver, Canada to see intermediate automated metro technology used for as the entire city's rail system!

The JFK AirTrain is a great example of modern, automated, elevated transit. How disruptive or unsightly is this? Basically not at all. Build more!

Public comments in support of transit: "Thank you for this proposal, it will really help me and our community. We strongly support it."

Public comments in opposition: "BOONDOGGLE!!! Waste of money empty CRIME TRAINS! How dare you!?!?"

See for yourself: metrocouncil.org/Council-Meet...

As the data shows, you are not wrong!

So while the topline fell, the numbers in fact show that the Green Line may be reversing its falling ridership trend that's been ongoing since the start of the year. Always look deeper into the numbers!

The Green Line fell below the Blue Line in total ridership for the month of July.

But! This data obscures something. The Green Line was closed for maintenance for 10 days, and if you divide the line's total monthly ridership out by 21 service days, rather than 31, you get about 23k daily riders.

We take for granted our freedoms in Minnesota. Here in New York you are not free to have THC drinks, and more importantly, you are not free to Idaho stop, and they actually enforce that!

Light-rail extension moves ahead with federal approval, but funding for $3B project still uncertain The approval means the Met Council can apply for federal grants to extend the Blue Line. But whether the Republican-controlled federal government will pick up a big chunk of the transit project’s mass...

Hardly any mention of positive benefits. No discussion of why this is completely different from the Green Line Extension. Didn't talk to any supporters. But sure, several quotes from a backbench Republican legislator who doesn't represent anywhere this line goes.

www.startribune.com/light-rail-e...

Temporary stairwell at Harlem-148th St subway station in New York City

Some fascinating MTA ingenuity at Harlem-148 St. They're installing a ramp to make the station accessible, and during construction the main stairs will be unavailable. So they closed off one of the tracks and put a temporary stairwell there!

Metro Transit is expanding service as other cities cut back “We are in an incredibly fortunate position,” said Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras. Service will grow by 5% starting Saturday.

www.startribune.com/metro-transi...

Haha yep...the "Rarely" has struck a few times already

Ah nice! And I would certainly argue that statement too. Enjoy Toronto! I hope to visit someday. Much closer now!

Yeah! I've got Zohran, AOC, and the R train, what more could I ask for?

R42 A Train out of service running the garbage train at Metropolitan/Lorimer G train station

Here's my first fun NYC subway observation. An out-of-service R42 garbage train on the Crosstown Line! Weird to see a garbage train in the middle of the day!

Astoria!

Are you out here now too? And there's interesting stuff everywhere if you know where to look!