This morning while attending a conference in Austin, I snapped a few photos of the downtown station (the terminal) for the new light rail that will begin service next week. I just missed a train by about 1 minute! The train had two cars and a coupler in the middle.

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OK, tell me…when you look at the photo below, do you see one bus or two? Look closely…

It’s one bus with a full bus wrap – the old bus is actually wrapped into the new bus! This is the coolest bus wrap I have ever seen and would probably freak out drivers who are driving on the side of this new bus.

Many of you have heard of snakes on a plane,  but have you heard of snakes on a bus? Our man on the street in Berlin, Mark, sent in the photos below of a bus that has a wrap promoting the zoo. We’ve seen tons of transit ad wraps here at InsideTransit – for both buses and trains – and this is the best looking wrap I’ve ever seen.

I don’t know about you but I would be a bit nervous if that bus showed up at my stop in the morning.

The transit management in NYC, known as the MTA, has posted a press release noting that they will be terminating more than 1,000 positions. The MTA says this is more than 15% of the administrative payroll. Over 500 transit station agent positions will also begin to be cut – at my station. I’ve often wondered what the station agent does but sit there or stand outside and talk on their cell phone all day. Why not give them a broom and some bleach and let them clean the stations.

“The State’s economic crisis demands that the MTA move quickly and decisively to cut costs, and that is exactly what we are doing,” said Jay H. Walder, MTA Chairman and CEO. “These layoffs are extremely painful, but we must live within our means and make the tough decisions that businesses and families across New York are making.” Walder continues, “We will be reducing overtime, consolidating redundant functions and working with suppliers to lower costs. We will not stop until I can say that every dollar the MTA receives is spent wisely.”

I’m just wondering how long before we hear that the prices will be increasing – I say somewhere around mid-April.

We’ve written about odd buses before including the Fucker Bus. Here in NYC there is a bus called the Duck which can float around in the water and then become an open-top bus. The Duck bus is for tourists coming to NYC.

Today our reporter in Berlin, Mark, has found us a new type of bus. It’s a bus that can transform into a boat and head into the water.

Check out the full story on Spiegel Online. The boat part of the bus is powered by two massive engines and the bus can carry 45 passengers across the river.

All I can say is that I want this water bus. You could easily live inside this bus and slap an Internet connection on the roof and go anywhere! I wonder how long a trip on this boat-bus would take from NYC to London. Place your bets in the comments.

Amtrak has announced cancellations for Sunday February 7th due to the massive snow that fell between Washington and New Jersey. I can only imagine what a zoo Penn Station must be with all of the canceled trains! Here’s a partial list of the canceled trains – view all of the changes on the Amtrak website.

• Carolinian trains 79 and 80 will operate only between Raleigh and Charlotte with no alternate transportation between New York and Raleigh. 
• Palmetto trains 89 and 90 are canceled in their entirety between New York and Savannah.

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I wish I could say the video below is Photoshop’d but sadly it is not. It’s a video from India where the trains are so packed that people ride on top of the train. I assume there is no fare collection for those people. I wonder how the people get up there and how long they ride up top for.

Over my many years riding the NYC subway, I like to think I’ve seen it all. From having a gun pointed at me, to watching a man take a pee off the edge of the platform, to a woman changing her clothes between two cars as we crossed the Manhattan Bridge, nearly nothing could shock me.

But today I have a video that I never thought I would see. Below is a video of a man playing with his chicken on a Bronx-bound 6 subway train. The video shows a man on the floor playing with his chicken (yes a clucking chicken) while others look on. You see, most people probably weren’t pissed that a chicken was on the subway, but that they were missing some seats!

So leave a comment, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen on the subway or bus? Make sure to note your city as well.

The NYC MTA has posted a pdf of the latest version of their proposed service cuts. The major changes are:

• W eliminated – replaced partially with Q and partially with N – I think this is a good change although I would route the N through the tunnel
• M eliminated – replaced with V – this is a railfans dream I think – I think this is a good change as well as it will provide M and J/Z riders with access to midtown
• elimination of the Staten Island Rail special train to the ballpark
• too many bus changes to note – see the PDF below 

Here’s the guiding principles the MTA used to determine the proposed cuts:

• Affect the fewest number of riders;
• Minimize the negative effects to riders (e.g., longer waiting time);
• Maintain network coverage (even if it requires lower frequency or altered routings);
• Operate service within existing service and capacity guidelines (except where otherwise noted); and
• Improve the cost-efficiency of the service provided.

You can download the service cuts pdf here.

You gotta know when to hold em…know when to fold em…Earlier this week the Las Vegas Sun is reported that the Las Vegas Monorail has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. The Monorail will continue to operate during this time.  And now plans to expand to the airport (which would be awesome) have been stalled in the station while the bankruptcy proceedings move forward.

In a statement, President and Chief Executive Curtis Myles said the system has suffered as fewer people have visited Las Vegas.

“The current economic downturn, including a 30 percent decline in convention traffic to Las Vegas, has increased the financial strain on the Monorail, like it has with every other tourism-dependent Las Vegas company,” Myles said. “Despite these challenges, the Las Vegas Monorail generates sufficient revenue to pay its operating expenses as well as a portion of its finance costs, and that will make it possible to restructure the company’s debt through the Chapter 11 process.”

Unlike most major transit systems, the Las Vegas Monorail has not taken any federal, state or local money to build the system. The monorail owes between $500 million and $1 billion and has about $50-100 million in assets.

For the geeks out there, this month’s CES only had about 145,000 riders total over the 4 days of the electronics show.

I went to Las Vegas for the first time about two years ago and rode the Monorail each day to the convention center. I found the price of $5/ride to be a bit high. It was a pretty neat ride — especially how it snaked around the hotels.