Tag: transit

Bus Data

Partially obscured by the evening commute, though, was a 3rd peak. That was new. “What we know from traditional surveys is, people remember their biggest trips. But what people forget is ‘I’m picking up the laundry,’ ‘I’m stopping to grab coffee.’ We see more of these data captured by cell phones.” Those trips, the futzing around of daily life, tend to happen in off-peak hours—from midday into the evening, 8 or 9 o’clock. “That’s traditionally when agencies cut down their services.” The buses are slacking off when they could be serving a whole other population.

A ride with Andy Byford

He may not have gotten the real sense of trying to get somewhere on a tight timeline, waiting for slow elevators, or encountering broken elevators. I think he still got some good insights and learned a few new things. For instance, auto-gates, the emergency exits that double as a wheelchair entrances, only accept reduced-fare MetroCards. This was brand new information for him. The card reader was not working where we met at Times Square, and April pointed out that she wants to pay the full fare like everyone else. He also noticed that the signage to elevators also needs work and that there weren’t enough accessible areas on the train cars themselves. We were able to deliver our wishlist, and hope to continue the conversation. I believe he will continue to listen to people with disabilities

Most expensive subway

7x more expensive than anywhere else. time for some union-busting.

An accountant discovered the discrepancy while reviewing the budget for new train platforms under Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.

The budget showed that 900 workers were being paid to dig caverns for the platforms as part of a 6km tunnel connecting the historic station to the Long Island Rail Road. But the accountant could only identify 700 jobs that needed to be done. Officials could not find any reason for the other 200 people to be there.

Privatize bus systems

Using a regression discontinuity design, we estimate the cost savings from privatization and explore the political economy of why privatization rates are lower in high cost unionized areas. Fully privatizing all bus transit would generate cost savings of $5.7b, or 30% of total US bus transit operating expenses. The corresponding increased use of public transit from this cost reduction would lead to a gain in social welfare of $524m, at minimum, and at least 26k additional transit jobs.

Subway Rave

This video gets more and more fun as it goes on. Passengers on the Bakerloo line on a London tube train were privy to a pop-up rave Monday night. At first, drum’n’bass MC Harry Shotta acts like an unsuspecting passenger, sitting behind a newspaper on a seat. He looks up in surprise as music suddenly blasts through a sound system and lights begin to flash. Then it turns into a full-on rave. Another DJ calls up Shotta and asks what his name is. When he answers “Harry Shotta” the passengers cheer, and then they are rewarded with a great show. Never has a subway ride looked so exciting.