June 10th 2008
I think I’ve finally figured out that there is someone in Penn Plaza named Operating Difficulties. I don’t know who he or she is, but clearly this person is the scapegoat (or perhaps the legitimate cause) of most things gone wrong with NJTRO.
Yesterday, 6/9, provides some insight into Operating Difficulties’ workmanship in the 96+ degree […]
May 27th 2008
Poll: 6 in 10 New Jerseyans planning Shore trip
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080525/STATE/80525010
This year, for the first time in my memory, ALL summer weekend service south of Long Branch will be hourly Bay Head shuttles connecting with locals from NYPS and Newark.
- No expresses, either through or connecting, from Newark
- No Waterfront Connection service at all from Hoboken.
- All […]
May 19th 2008
The Municipal Art Society’s campaign for a new Penn Station held a fascinating panel discussion last month with Don Phillips, ex-Washington Post transportation reporter, and Walter Zullig, counsel emeritus for Metro-North. It’s a must-see for advocates of rail in the U.S. and especially in the N.Y. area.
Re-Discovering Rail: The Smart, Green Alternative from MAS on […]
May 16th 2008
http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=22200
The current ridership balance is 65% to New York, and 35% to Hoboken, Newark, and local. After a 40% rise in New York ridership to 36,150, 30% reduction to Hoboken, and assuming the rest was constant, there was still a 13% increase in overall M&E ridership, not meriting a 33% reduction in train frequency. With […]
May 8th 2008
If you want some wonderful insight into why Penn Station is designed the way it is, I encourage you to read CONQUERING GOTHAM by author Jill Jonnes. The book brilliantly describes the design of Penn Station. You come to learn what we know–it was not designed for daily riders (a.k.a. commuters).
I ride MidTown […]
March 24th 2008
The proposed second rail tunnel to New York City should go all the way to Manhattan’s East Side, according to a planning study that will be released Tuesday. Instead of ending at Penn Station, the tunnel would reach Madison Avenue with a possible link to Grand Central.
The Regional Plan Association, a transportation advocacy group, also […]
November 6th 2007
Cellphone noise pollution (from both the devices and the users) invades nearly every element of life these days, and nowhere is it more annoying and almost inescapable than in the cramped confines of public transportation. Here’s one CalTrain rider’s solution…
One afternoon in early September, an architect boarded his commuter train and became a cellphone vigilante. […]
August 29th 2007
My unusual commute, New Brunswick to Long Branch via Rahway, has only one good morning connection that gets me there with the minimum amount of layover at Rahway and minimum number of stops. I usually have an easy 9-minute connection to make in Rahway.
Today, my eastbound from New Brunswick was a few minutes late. The […]
May 31st 2007
The city banned cigarettes in bars, and the smokers trooped out to the sidewalk. Trans fats in restaurants were next, and the French fry addicts mostly shrugged. But since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that it was considering banning alcohol on commuter trains, it has been a different story. Bankers and brokers and blue-collar workers […]
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