Open letter to NYC
Jul. 9th, 2007 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorrowmonkeyNew York City,
There's been a lot of talk in the news and in the worthless tree-pulp squeezings that you call newspapers about congestion pricing and some $500 million in Federal money you want to grab. I would like to introduce some thoughts on the subject which will probably feel foreign inside your empty skulls until they drain out your ears.
First, the theory that congestion pricing will reduce congestion in Manhattan is lunacy. Congestion in Manhattan is not going to get better by the creation of new taxes. The people that drive into the city are either too rich to care, or come from places were public transit isn't practical or convenient. If I can get into the city in two hours by car, or in three hours by train, do you really think I'm going to routinely choose to spend an extra two hours a day commuting?
Second, the idea that the mass transit systems can take more passengers is also critically flawed. Any drooling NY mayor (or resident) just has to take a ride on the Metro-North during peak hours (what do you mean $37.00?!?) to recognize that there isn't any space for more passengers: there isn't space for the existing passengers. The lead time to add new trains, hire new crews, and upgrade the tracks to add trains is about ten years. Do the math, if you can.
Third, riding on the New York City mass transit systems is nearly hell on Earth. The Metro-North is crowded (see #2), the LIRR is perpetually late, the buses are unspeakable (both in condition, smell, and crowding), and the subway is like a demilitarized zone. If it's 96 degrees and hazy at street level, what do you suppose it is on a typical Lexington Ave platform? My guess would be 115 degrees and raining. Raining?!? NYC sludge dripping onto the platform, always watch for the discoloration of the platform concrete, at Wall St station at least.
Finally, why in the name of all that is federalism, should New York State, or the rest of the country pay for your idiot social experiments? If you want buses, trains and subways instead of cars, then ban the cars and pay for your own shit. Why should my federal income taxes subsidize the egregious failure that is the MTA?
Admit your own failures, curl up in your filth, and suck it up.
There's been a lot of talk in the news and in the worthless tree-pulp squeezings that you call newspapers about congestion pricing and some $500 million in Federal money you want to grab. I would like to introduce some thoughts on the subject which will probably feel foreign inside your empty skulls until they drain out your ears.
First, the theory that congestion pricing will reduce congestion in Manhattan is lunacy. Congestion in Manhattan is not going to get better by the creation of new taxes. The people that drive into the city are either too rich to care, or come from places were public transit isn't practical or convenient. If I can get into the city in two hours by car, or in three hours by train, do you really think I'm going to routinely choose to spend an extra two hours a day commuting?
Second, the idea that the mass transit systems can take more passengers is also critically flawed. Any drooling NY mayor (or resident) just has to take a ride on the Metro-North during peak hours (what do you mean $37.00?!?) to recognize that there isn't any space for more passengers: there isn't space for the existing passengers. The lead time to add new trains, hire new crews, and upgrade the tracks to add trains is about ten years. Do the math, if you can.
Third, riding on the New York City mass transit systems is nearly hell on Earth. The Metro-North is crowded (see #2), the LIRR is perpetually late, the buses are unspeakable (both in condition, smell, and crowding), and the subway is like a demilitarized zone. If it's 96 degrees and hazy at street level, what do you suppose it is on a typical Lexington Ave platform? My guess would be 115 degrees and raining. Raining?!? NYC sludge dripping onto the platform, always watch for the discoloration of the platform concrete, at Wall St station at least.
Finally, why in the name of all that is federalism, should New York State, or the rest of the country pay for your idiot social experiments? If you want buses, trains and subways instead of cars, then ban the cars and pay for your own shit. Why should my federal income taxes subsidize the egregious failure that is the MTA?
Admit your own failures, curl up in your filth, and suck it up.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-09 04:49 pm (UTC)But one piece of news: there are already new trains coming on the New Haven line. Haven't googled to back this up yet, but I recently heard from a conductor that we'll start seeing new equipment in about 18 months.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-09 04:58 pm (UTC)My understanding is that the refurb LIRR trains do not have electrics that are compatible with the New Haven line, so every single one of them was placed on the Harlem line. Way to go MTA!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-11 03:51 pm (UTC)