InsideTransit

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.

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.

Everyone moans and complains about how late the subways are here in NYC. But are the subway lines really that late? Subchat has posted the latest stats for on-time performance in the New York City subway system by line.

Here’s the breakdown:

1 Line: 91.7%
2 Line: 81.9%
3 Line: 85.2%
4 Line: 82.5%
5 Line: 89.2%
6 Line: 92.0%
7 Line: 96.3%

A Line: 84.5%
B Line: 91.8%
C Line: 94.6%
D Line: 89.2%
E Line: 87.0%
F Line: 76.2%
G Line: 95.6%
J/Z Line: 98.6%
L Line: 97.0%
M Line: 99.1%
N Line 91.0%
Q Line: 95.8%
R Line: 92.4%
V Line: 91.7%
W Line: 96.6%

Grand Central Shuttle: 99.6%
Franklin Shuttle: 99.8%
Rockaway Shuttle: 98.6%

It looks like the longer the line, the more often the train is late. Also, lines that share the track with other lines also seem to have poor on-time performance. Sorry to those F train riders! For reference, a train is considered late if it arrives or departs more than 5 minutes 59 seconds past the scheduled time.

“We were treated like animals”, said one passenger stuck on a Eurostar train. Passengers stranded for hours – some calling it a “death trap”. The BBC video shows passengers who made it out of the tunnels who have some choice words for the Eurostar management.

The Eurostar trains broke down as they left the cold air in northern France and entered the warmer tunnel en route to London.

John Keefe from Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, said the situation was “absolutely extraordinary and unprecedented”.

“There’s never actually been an evacuation of a Eurostar train in the 15 years that the tunnel has been opened and last night we evacuated two whole trains to get people off.”

The BBC notes that five trains were stuck in the tunnel. Apparently it was freezing in the carriages and very little water or food was provided to the passengers. They continue, “Director of communications Mary Walsh said the company was “extremely sorry” for the delays and refunds would be available for all those affected.”

I’ve been on the Eurostar once in 2006 and overall enjoyed the trip.

It’s a hard world out there for Mickey Mouse and crew. First there was a horrible crash of the Disney monorail that killed the operator of the monorail. A week later there was a bus crash that injured 12 passengers. Today we’ve learned that 300 Disney monorail passengers were stuck for about three hours in the middle of the night last night. Apparently the cause of the delay was due to a power outage.

Bo Jones of the Reedy Creek Fire Department says firefighters used ladders to assist some visitors aboard one train “more out of customer service than as an emergency situation.” Other passengers disembarked later when the trains were towed to nearby stations.

I am thinking on my next trip to Disney World, I might just walk.

Last year Google got cozy with the MTA with the launch of transit directions inside of Google Maps. Last week the Google Maps team has announced the launch of a new layer on Google Maps that displays all of the NYC subway routes directly on the map.

There have been many mashups that created something similar in the past but now the subway lines are displayed directly on the map. So far I haven’t been able to find any errors in the lines and/or stations. I am sure my fellow railfans will find any errors this weekend.

The new subway map lines also work on the mobile version of Google Maps. Google notes that they provide transit directions for 436 transit agencies around the world.

While the subway lines on the map are nice, nothing beats the Swiss Rail mashup that shows the trains in real-time and they actually move on the map!

Ewan also reports that the subway layer works in London as well. He calls it a mess and notes how wonderful the Harry Beck London Tube map still is today.

Here’s one out of Atlanta – where Riding MARTA Means You’re Smarta…Typically when you want to exit a bus you hit the strip or pull the cord to signal for a stop. When the bus comes to a complete stop, the bus operator opens the doors and you exit. It’s pretty common bus transit practice across the world.

Atlanta MARTA bus passenger Christopher James was one of the passengers on a bus that was asked to pray before exiting the bus. James said the bus driver asked him and three other passengers to join hands in prayer. James said the driver prayed with the group for about four minutes.

WSB TV has more on the story and notes, “A MARTA representative told Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones that the transit agency suspended the bus driver, identified as Leroy Matthews, for five days and told him not to proselytize to passengers. Matthews has been with MARTA for six years.”

Aah, I miss the fun days of taking MARTA to work – it was always a fun adventure! I typically would pray before getting onboard to hope that I get to my destination in one piece and on-time. If you are new to MARTA, check out our Atlanta transit guides.

The Circle Line which runs in the London Underground is growing a hook beginning on December 13, 2009. As the TFL (Transport for London) notes, the Circle Line won’t go “round and round” anymore. Instead the route is growing a hook as displayed in the image below.

Some passengers will now need to switch trains but yet still ride on the same line – pretty interesting. Also, the TFL notes that this should help smooth out the line and reduce delays.

Check out all of the changes coming to the Circle Line by 2016 including air-conditioning! The images and videos of the new tube carriages look a lot like the new cars on the Berlin bahn.

As a railfan, I wish I could be in London for the first ride to Hammersmith!