Cuomo vetoes 2nd MetroCard transfer

From the Daily News:

Gov. Cuomo vetoed legislation late Monday that would have given commuters a second free transfer on pay-per-ride MetroCards.

In his veto message, Cuomo said the bill the Legislature approved had “fiscal, policy and technical flaws.” He said he was ordering the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to take steps that would make it easier for riders affected by service disruptions to complete their journeys without paying another fare.

The new policies Cuomo ordered include having Transit Authority staff distribute manual tickets for an additional subway or bus trip during unplanned disruptions.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx), who sponsored the measure, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto and that Cuomo’s remedies don’t go far enough.

The legislation, Dinowitz said, was intended to assist commuters who live in underserved areas of the city and not just those struggling with temporary service disruptions.

MetroCard 2nd free transfer coming soon?

From the Daily News:

Transit advocates are urging Gov. Cuomo to sign legislation giving commuters a second free transfer on pay-per-ride MetroCards, the Daily News has learned.

In a letter to Cuomo, advocates argued the measure sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) and Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn) would provide much needed assistance to New Yorkers who live in the “transit deserts” of the outer boroughs.

“The lowest income New Yorkers, the people at the furthest reaches of New York City are the ones who would benefit the most from this,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives are also among those urging Cuomo to sign the measure.

MTA seeks contractor for subway’s first platform safety barrier
Currently, commuters using a pay-per-ride MetroCard get one automatic free transfer per fare. The bill would allow two free transfers within two hours of the original fare’s purchase.

Cuomo vetoed a similar measure in 2015, arguing it would cost the Metropolitan Transportation Authority millions of dollars.

A very expensive non-transfer

From the Daily News:

For years, Metropolitan Transportation Authority construction and planning schedules have pegged November 2012 as the time for the opening of a new underground connection between the Fulton Center subway complex at Broadway in lower Manhattan and the Cortlandt St. station on the eastern edge of the World Trade Center site.

Workers are now putting the finishing touches on the passageway, which cost more than $200 million to build.

Known as the Dey St. Concourse, the subterranean walkway will feature a wall of giant video screens, some providing travel information, some displaying advertising.

The turnstile banks are in place. The bright lights are installed and shining. A ribbon-cutting should not be far away.

Yet transit officials now say they plan to keep the Dey St. Concourse padlocked — for several years.

The official reason: Few riders will make use of the free transfer.

The demand, officials say, will come when the new office towers being built at Ground Zero are completed and occupied, and the Port Authority finishes its permanent — and extravagant — PATH hub. That’s will be in 2015. Maybe.

“The small number of people we believe would use the transfer...does not justify the expense of opening, maintaining and policing the passage,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg explained.

LIC subway link complete

From NY1:

Riders on the 7 train who use the Court Square Station in Queens started their week off on a good note.

The station reopened Monday after three months of construction.

Workers built a new composite platform, staircases and windscreens at the station.

Riders will also be able to take advantage of the newly completed in-system free transfer.

Some construction is still taking place, but renovations are expected to be complete by June.