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Khyber Sen

@khyber.bsky.social
781 followers 224 following 2.4K posts

she/her | @etany.org | 🦀

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Reposted by Khyber Sen
Adam @adamshap.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NYC’s congestion pricing program cut ambulance travel times by over a minute
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Flock-o'-Lantern @buckrawheat.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Rebellions Are Built On Transit Costs: How Affordable Hyperdrives Created An Ungovernable Galaxy
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 21/09/2026
ETA is here in Berlin and will be all week for InnoTrans to bring the best insights back to New York from the biggest public transit showcase in the world! If you'd like to meet with our team while we are here, we'd love to hear from you, feel free to drop us a message!
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Chris Goldammer @floorarearatio.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Proposed parking for new housing in NYC Before and after City of Yes, split by transit zone. * Caveats below
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 01/09/2026
New York’s congestion pricing program has resulted in a statistically significant reduction in travel times for EMS vehicles
nber.org
Urban Congestion Pricing and the Response Times of Emergency Medical Services
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
A weekend transit thread: The map of the curve changes (superelevations, realignments, cant set at 3.5") proposed in the 1960s for the NH&H but not built for budget reasons and the speeds those changes unlocked. It's faster, tho not super fast. 100 in some places, 85 in a lot of spots
The giant track chart
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 22/08/2026
According to a CB10 presentation in June, it appears the @mta.info may have reverted its plans to make 116 St on Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway an elevator-only station with a below-platform mezzanine. It now appears to be a standard above-platform mezzanine with escalators.
The rendering of the 116 St station on SAS Phase 2 from the June CB10 presentation. It shows small above-platform mezzanines instead of the previous below-platform mezzanines.
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Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · 19/08/2026
The MTA could halve the $7.7 billion price tag for the planned subway extension along 125th Street — but only if its leaders have the will to use “cut-and-cover” techniques to build shallower and smaller stations more in line with peer cities. buff.ly/sH1eo4b
nyc.streetsblog.org
Shallower, Smaller Stations Could Cut 125th Street Subway Costs In Half: Report - Streetsblog New York City
The MTA could halve the $7.7 billion price tag for the planned 125th Street subway if it's willing to use "cut-and-cover" construction.
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 19/08/2026
A 125 St subway should be a slam dunk. But at $7.7B for 1.25 miles, and with stations deep underground, current plans would not only build the most expensive subway in the the world, but would cost riders valuable minutes every single trip. It's not too late, however: www.etany.org/reports/digg...
etany.org
Digging Out of a Very Deep Hole: Saving Billions on 125th Street — Effective Transit Alliance New York
A 125 St subway should be a slam dunk. But at $7.7B and with stations more than 100 ft underground, it would be the most expensive subway in the world, and cost riders more than 5 minutes every trip b...
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
<<Throat-clearing done>> This report includes a detailed analysis on the many limits of third rail physics. The MCTA/MTA wanted trains that could accelerate at 2.7mphps+ and hit speeds of 100mph. The goal was Jamaica to Penn in 10 minutes. But third rail systems can't move that much power.
"Early in the study, it was realized that the high performance criteria of
rapid acceleration and high top speed for the cars would result in high, short time peak DC currents and hence large voltage drops . Also, the high traffic densities of the Long Island coupled with the high performance would result in heavy d-c substation loads. These two factors result in a system having many high capacity substations."
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Rafferty @rafferty-bs.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The British planning culture creates horrors you couldn't imagine
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Brendan Dawe @dawe.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I made a thing that calculates hypothetical railway timetables in QGIS cartoview.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...
cartoview.blogspot.com
The Railway Curvature & Timetabling Tool
A QGIS tool for asking "how fast could this railway actually go?" Suppose you have a railway: if you rebuilt this line properly, how fast wo...
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 18/07/2026
ICYMI, this week Manhattan BP Brad Hoylman-Sigal held a forum on through-running for Penn Station. Watch ETA's executive director Blair Lorenzo, the RPA's Tom Wright, and NYU Wagner's Polly Trottenberg debate how through-running can improve service and capacity: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms3i...
youtube.com
Penn Station Through-Running Town Hall
YouTube video by Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
East Side Access as originally engineered into the lower level of Grand Central in 1975
Track schematicPlatform layout
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 15/07/2026
Last night, ETA's Blair Lorenzo sat down with Manhattan BP Brad Hoylman-Sigal and others to argue that not only is through-running possible, but it would improve capacity at Penn Station while also building a regional transit network. Watch here!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms3i...
youtube.com
Penn Station Through-Running Town Hall
YouTube video by Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal
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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Happy to post our service optimization study! railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/new...
railroads.dot.gov
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 13/07/2026
TOMORROW NIGHT, join us for a discussion on through-running and the future of Penn Station. ETA's Blair Lorenzo will join the RPA's Tom Wright & NYU's Polly Trottenberg to discuss how to build a better transit future for greater New York! Register here: bpbhs.com/ThroughRunning
Flyer for Through-Running Panel, all details at bpbhs.com/ThroughRunning
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 06/07/2026
What's the future of Penn Station & commuter rail in greater NY? Join us next Tuesday, 7/14 @ 5:30PM for the Manhattan BP's forum on through-running, the international standard for regional rail! ETA's Blair Lorenzo will join Polly Trottenberg & Tom Wright to discuss our transit future.
Could “through-running" help un-clog Penn Station?
Penn Station is the busiest rail station in the Western Hemisphere, serving Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT, and the LIRR across 21 tracks.
With a master developer selected for the redesign of Penn Station, the idea of through-running is receiving increased attention, which would allow commuter travel through Penn Station, instead of having trains begin or end their trips there.
Could through-running increase capacity at Penn Station or improve service? What investments and operational changes would it require? What are the potential benefits, challenges, and tradeoffs for riders and the region?
Join B.P. Brad Hoylman-Sigal as he moderates a discussion with:
Blair Lorenzo (Executive Director of the Effective Transit Alliance)
Polly Trottenberg (Dean of NYU Wagner and former Deputy Secretary of Transportation)
. Tom Wright (President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association)
Opening remarks from Andy Byford (Special Advisor to Amtrak).
When: Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 5:30 pm
Where: FIT Fisch Presentation Hall (220 West 28th St.)
Register: bpbhs.com/ThroughRunning
SPONSORED BY:
Borough President
Brad
Hoylman-Sigal
Congressman
Jerry
Nadler
State Senators
Erik Bottcher
Liz Krueger
Assembly Member
Tony
Simone
Council Member
Carl
Wilson
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
the #MBTA costs are out for the BEMUs. they’re the most expensive rolling stock ever procured. but not just that—at roughly $25m/car ($525m npv over 21 usable cars), they are 2x more expensive than any other rail cars ever bought (per transitcosts.com/rolling-stoc...)
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Zach Lipton @zachlipton.com · 01/06/2026
Yes this is somehow real. The BART fare gates went down because Cubic failed to pay the AT&T bill. They had another Clipper outage last month because they let the disk fill up on the database server Just absolute clownshow stuff
Outage Summary
2 | Confidential & Proprietary
May 3 rd Major Incident
• All sales channels were impacted, preventing patrons from completing transactions
• Order Management System database archive space exhaustion caused system instability and failure across sales channels
• Capacity was increased; old archive logs were cleared and performed rolling restart of the order management system nodes
May 18th Major Incident
• BART Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) and fare gates (Tri -reader 4) at BART stations were unable to connect to the back office
• During troubleshooting, circuit issue was identified as non -technical and related to billing
• After account billing resolution, AT&T restored the network circuit, re - establishing connectivity and enabling all BART TVMs and fare gates to
resume normal operation
Fulfilment Delay
• A bug was discovered in the NextFare Central System whereby fulfilment of large order batches (discount cards and bulk orders ) was not
being processed
• Initial triage showed that this required smaller batches of orders to be processed using a script. This was fully resolved an d orders fulfilled
• The initial workaround around script inadvertently issued cards as Adult instead of discount cards. The script was corrected and all cards
updated in Backoffice
• Permanent fix is planned for roll - out as part of BackOffice build on 5/31
Reports (Settlement)
• Starting on May 8 th an issue with data feeds into operational datastore affected reports. The daily settlement report CA650 was affected
• Although this did not affect settlement and deposit into operator bank account, it did affect reconciliation
• The data feed issue was resolved and reports rerun for prior days
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John Ericson @johnericson.me · 29/05/2026
@mayor.nyc.gov You're fucking up with this. You had a clear opportunity to make more Mamdani voters, instead you're appeasing the people that hate you and will oppose your every other move.
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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 29/05/2026
This is an incredibly poor decision from the Mamdani administration. AFAIK the QueensWay park proposal exists almost entirely to block QueensLink. Blocking an existing right-of-way that travels through dense, under-served neighborhoods is an own goal that no city can afford.
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Second Ave. Sagas @2avesag.as · 29/05/2026
Extremely disappointing and a clear broken campaign promise from @mayor.nyc.gov. Short-sighted and empowers a bunch of NIMBYs.
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Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · 29/05/2026
Mayor Mamdani is going full speed ahead with plans to build the QueensWay park over abandoned train tracks in Central Queens, after his administration decisively told advocates for bringing transit to the right of way that he won’t change course.
buff.ly
Mamdani Officially Buries The QueensLink - Streetsblog New York City
The Mamdani administration told QueensLink advocates they won't change course on plans to fund the QueensWay.
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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
ICYMI, the recording of the launch event of our Transit Priority Atlas is now online: youtu.be/bmnVwb_uhHU?...
youtu.be
Transit Priority Atlas
YouTube video by NYU MARRON INSTITUTE OF URBAN MANAGEMENT
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QueensLink @queenslink.org · 27/05/2026
Here we are again. We thought @mayor.nyc.gov @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social would be different. But unfortunately on the issue of Queens' Next Subway, he isn't budging. Fortunately, it's not over yet. City Council is holding their FINAL public hearing on the budget on JUNE 10th @ 9:30am @ City Hall.
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 18/05/2026
The LIRR has some of the highest operating costs of US commuter rails, and the current strike centers on one key reason: work rules dating back to the steam era. Modernizing these agreements is critical to expanding service & ensuring fiscal stability. ETA's analysis: www.etany.org/statements/l...
ETA statement on the LIRR and work rules. Read a text version at https://www.etany.org/statements/lirr-work-rules-vestiges-of-the-steam-eraETA statement on the LIRR and work rules. Read a text version at https://www.etany.org/statements/lirr-work-rules-vestiges-of-the-steam-eraETA statement on the LIRR and work rules. Read a text version at https://www.etany.org/statements/lirr-work-rules-vestiges-of-the-steam-eraETA statement on the LIRR and work rules. Read a text version at https://www.etany.org/statements/lirr-work-rules-vestiges-of-the-steam-era
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
With the strike, NYCTA has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever: seize the railroad
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Marc Ebuña @marcebuna.info · 12/05/2026
Even on our straightest, highest speed track in America that's also recently been refurbished for 160mph running, US-adapted European trains are no match for our country's iconically horrific road quality
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Autumn 🚠 @abnyc.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
CityTicket is a revenue positive program. They made MORE money by implementing it. Both railroads would blow past 2019 ridership levels if the CityTicket had a free transfer on both sides of the trip. Even without it being lowered to $3. OMNY will *technologically* support this later this year.
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Washington DC’s transit system plans to automate its trains, removing the need for human operators. As I explained in @bloomberg.com, this could be a watershed moment for US public transportation. Gift link & 🧵
bloomberg.com
Why DC’s Metro Wants to Automate its Trains
Driverless transit is increasingly common globally, but the plan to remove human operators from Washington, DC’s Red Line trains would be a US first.
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Deinterlining, an internal debate since about 1970
The memorandumThe table of the memo
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 04/05/2026
NY's Penn Station is clogged by trains. Thankfully, there's a solution that does not involve costly reconstruction: through-running. In a newly public report, ETA illustrates how the region can use Metro-North Penn Access to build a truly regional rail network. www.etany.org/reports/thro...
etany.org
Through-Running: First Connections — Effective Transit Alliance New York
A phased plan for through-running service at Penn Station using Metro-North's Penn Station Access as a launching pad. Prepared in 2025.
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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
It's happening. On Friday, 5/15, we are soft-launching our Transit Priority Atlas 1.0 website. Come join us in person at 370 Jay Street to explore this knowledge-sharing tool and get lost in circulation planning layouts and intersection management strategies for better on-street transit.
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John Ericson @johnericson.me · 30/04/2026
liamblank.com/rpa-penn-sta... Great take-down of the @rpa.org's very disappointing recent anti-through-running report
liamblank.com
RPA’s Penn Station Capacity Case Is Not Settled - Liam Blank
Operating Case + Record Hub Records Study Watch Through-Running Study Analysis RPA Rebuttal Penn Station’s Missing Model RPA asks New York to accept a capacity case it has not tested. Liam Blank · The...
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 29/04/2026
Monthly passes are one of the strongest ways to encourage transit ridership and reduce fare evasion, but the MTA retired the pass when it retired the MetroCard last year. Read ETA's latest report: www.etany.org/reports/mont...
etany.org
Bring Back the Monthly — Effective Transit Alliance New York
Reasonably-priced monthly passes are an international best practice for a reason: they are one of the strongest ways to encourage transit ridership, reduce fare evasion, and make proof-of-payment fare...
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Sam @samd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
why don’t they try this with trains that could easily through-run (e.g., New Haven line) and just see how long it takes people IRL. instead of pinning their entire analysis on this specific assumption I don’t see why we can’t just test it under real-world conditions?
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 17/04/2026
Is it too soon to ask whether these elevators will be designed with the future 2nd Ave Subway extension in mind? What if Columbia and the MTA spend tens of millions of dollars for elevators here, only to have to knock them down and rebuild them in the context of a new underground Q station?
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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 23/04/2026
This is incredibly disappointing. In the past, the RPA has been one of the leaders in pushing for through-running regional rail service. This is simply incorrect, as proven by rail operations across the world: www.etany.org/penn-station...
etany.org
Penn Station Can Handle the Load: NY is ready for Through-Running — Effective Transit Alliance New York
Through-running at Penn Station would transform regional rail in NYC, and we have the infrastructure to do it. However, in a recent report, Amtrak made fundamentally flawed arguments pushing its unne...
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Honestly, this reads like someone at Amtrak using their RPA contract to mount a rear-guard action against Andy Byford. www.archpaper.com/2025/11/regi...
archpaper.com
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Well, I guess there's a second reason to do Penn Station discourse today, and that's the new RPA report on through-running, which is bad. And I think this schematic nicely highlights how obtuse the RPA is being. Because, obfuscating the existence of both Jamaica and THE MAIN LINE is a choice.
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 23/04/2026
Washington Metro @wmata.com board this morning unanimously approved the agency's $913 million plan to automate the Red Line, which will also include platform screen doors at 20 of 27 stations. Automation could come online by 2032 at the earliest. The plan needs federal funding support.
wjla.com
Metro board greenlights moving forward with Red Line train automation, platform doors
WMATA Board of Directors is scheduled to vote on a proposed budget that would allocate more than $900 million toward modernizing the Red Line.
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Robert Hale @rdhale92.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
I want to know why @rpa.org thinks passengers need 5 minutes to get off a *train* when our simulation finds they can clear the *train and platform* in less time than that--and that two-way flow on platforms and stairwells is fine. github.com/effective-tr...
github.com
GitHub - effective-transit-alliance/platform-crowd-model
Contribute to effective-transit-alliance/platform-crowd-model development by creating an account on GitHub.
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The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 16/04/2026
Sound Transit can halve the cost of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle by building them as a connected automated light rail line with slimmer stations, according to two transit experts who have launched the Sound Transit Now campaign. Guest op-ed: www.theurbanist.org/op-ed-reconn...
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Reconnect and Automate Ballard to West Seattle Rail to Save ST3
Sound Transit can halve the cost of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle by building them as a connected automated light rail line with slimmer stations, according to two transit experts who have la...
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Fun find this afternoon: In 1957, the Port Authority did the engineering work to link the downtown PATH to the Lexington Avenue subway local tracks.
The engineering schematic
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 02/04/2026
ETA and other civic orgs are urging NY not to require two operators on every train. One-person train operation (OPTO) is a standard practice used on every subway system around the world—including on the MTA. This bill would hurt riders and lock NY's transit system in the past. tinyurl.com/etatpto
Dear Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Chairs Cooney, Comrie, and 
Braunstein:   
We urge you to oppose S9586 (Parker) and A10706 (Chandler-Waterman), that would restrict 
the MTA’s use of one-person train operation (OTPO), the industry standard for subway systems 
in the U.S. and internationally. Under your leadership, the Legislature has done an outstanding 
job supporting the MTA through new dedicated tax revenues. We thank you for this and hope 
you continue focusing on big picture questions like the MTA’s financial sustainability as it faces 
out-year budget gaps and federal funding challenges.  
The bills require each New York City Transit subway train to have at least two crew members: a 
conductor, and operator. This is not required for any other U.S. transit system, except for the 
Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), or the world’s other major transit systems. This legislation 
would prevent the MTA from adopting the industry standard and realizing operational 
efficiencies as it deploys new trains designed to work with the billions of dollars of advanced 
signal technology being installed throughout the subway system.  
A 2025 report by NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management’s Transit Costs Project, “How 
Many People Does it Take to Operate a Train?” found that less than 6% of 400 rail lines around 
the world use two or more train operators. Of the 94% that use one or fewer operators, many 
are completely automated and more are working  towards automation as modern signal 
systems are installed. These systems have operated safely without conductors, or any staff in 
some cases, on board. The MTA has also safely and successfully operated one-person subway 
trains since 1996 on shuttles and at off-peak hours. We supported Governor Hochul’s veto of S4091/A4873 in 2025 because leaving operational 
strategies and decisions to management is the best, most flexible path to high-quality service at 
the lowest cost. The MTA should be able to follow facts and implement national and 
international best practices for staffing and technology investments. Good management and 
good transit service are based on facts, not special interest politics.  
Mandating specific staffing levels by law also risks squandering the billions in capital 
investments to modernize subway signals that are being spent by the MTA and NY State 
government, including $5.4 billion in the 2025-29 capital program, and $5.0 billion in the 
2020-24 program. It will also make it harder for the MTA to improve service—the key to building 
higher ridership. We look to you as proven champions of better transit to focus your efforts on 
forward-looking investments, not policies micromanaging subway staffing and operations. 
Thank you,  
John Kaehny 
Executive Director 
Reinvent Albany 
Andrew Rein 
President  
Citizens Budget Commission 
Blair Lorenzo 
Executive Director 
Effective Transit Alliance 
Eric Goldwyn 
Professor and Program Director 
NYU Marron Transit Costs Project 
Steven Fulop 
President and CEO 
Partnership for New York City 
Tom Wright 
President and CEO 
Regional Plan Association 
Cc:  
Governor Kathy Hochul 
Janno Lieber, Chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
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Nick Andert @nickandert.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Whoa! As I've been pushing for/predicting for years now, it seems CAHSR is abandoning the underground BUR station (whose site has now been fully redeveloped). It looks like the plan is now for a site on the AV Line ROW at BUR instead... but I bet we can get them to push it to DT Burbank.....
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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 31/03/2026
I can't believe they're shutting down the DC streetcar. And on Trams Day of Visibility, to boot.
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 31/03/2026
A 125th St Q extension is the right route, but with a price of > $7B/mi and deep stations forcing 5+min escalator trips, the current plan doesn't work. ETA sat down with @jointtransit.bsky.social to talk fixes for this vital link. Watch!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fgy...
youtube.com
Did NYC's Newest Subway Just Get Better?
YouTube video by Joint Transit Association
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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The IBX was initially envisioned as part of a grand regional rail network for the Tri-State. The current plan will be useful for Brooklyn and Queens, but nowhere beyond. With a few complimentary projects, the IBX can live up to its original promise: benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/unlocking...
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