As temperatures dropped below the freezing mark and snowflakes fell on the city Thursday, the heating system inside a sprawling MTA bus depot remained out of order. New York City Transit’s head of buses confirmed that the main high-pressure heating system at the East New York Bus Depot is undergoing repairs that have forced the […]
Jose Martinez
Jose is THE CITY’s transportation reporter, where he covers the latest developments and policies impacting traffic and transit in the city.
Posted inTraffic
Union Boss Quits Congestion Pricing Panel as It Releases New Details of Tolling Plan
As the MTA filled in key details Thursday on a plan to toll motorists driving into the core of Manhattan as a way to fund mass transit improvements, a member of the panel that shaped the congestion pricing proposal resigned in protest. Labor leader John Samuelsen yanked his name off the congestion pricing recommendations issued […]
Posted inBrooklyn
Wary Bus Driver Spots Kids on ‘Target Adventure’ in Wee Hours
An MTA bus driver’s fatherly instincts kicked in early Monday when he helped reunite a 6-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother with their parents after they boarded his bus in East New York before sunrise, wearing pajamas and shorts. Marvin McLaurin, a dad of four, told THE CITY he was stunned when he saw the […]
Posted inTransportation
Revel Scooter Sharing Service Ceases After Ridership Plummets
When Revel shuttered its electric moped service in the city on Saturday, the Brooklyn-based tech startup left a trail of fatalities and injuries suffered after New Yorkers began cruising city streets on the distinctive blue two-wheelers in 2018. The company pulled the plug on its shared-two-wheeler system in New York and San Francisco as part […]
Posted inAccessibility
Express Bus Lift Problems Leave Wheelchair Users Stuck
New Yorkers who rely on wheelchairs to get around say they often steer clear of MTA express buses for fear of being unable to board or exit due to faulty hydraulic lifts or drivers unclear on how to operate them. Since March, 78-year-old Jean Ryan has twice needed firefighters to carry her 400-pound motorized wheelchair […]
Posted inMTA
4/5/6 Beats A/C/E: Lettered Subway Lines Hit Reliability Dip
Reliability among subway cars on the lettered lines is steadily slipping, MTA data shows — even after the transit agency recently retired its most breakdown-prone trains, which carried riders for more than half a century. An analysis by THE CITY of transit agency numbers posted to the state’s open data dashboard reveals that Mean Distance […]
Posted inTransportation
Weight, Wait: MTA Scrambles for Detour After DOT’s Surprise Bridge Sign
The MTA had to reroute buses on the fly late Wednesday after the city Transportation Department determined the rides are too overweight for a century-old bridge that links Brooklyn and Queens over Newtown Creek. Buses, which weigh between 21 and 34 tons, had to be redirected away from the city-owned Grand Street Bridge — which […]
Posted inTransit
‘Sitting Ducks’: More Subway Workers Being Spit on as MTA Tests Solutions
Eduardo Muniz has been grabbed by the neck and slapped in the face in nearly a decade as a New York City Transit subway conductor. But Muniz says nothing has rattled him as much as joining the growing number of subway workers who have been spit on — which happened last month when police said […]
Posted inTransit
City Moving Slow on Requirement for Sidewalk Ramps at Every Corner
The city’s commitment to upgrading or installing pedestrian sidewalk ramps at every street corner in the five boroughs — as required by federal disability law — has run into some roadblocks, records show. The discovery of ramp-free locations that were not previously identified, along with pandemic-driven construction delays, officials say, have combined to push back […]
Posted inMTA
Crew Shortages Slowing Subway Service — With Workers Pinning Blame on Assaults
A new rise in staffing shortfalls is taking a toll on subway service, MTA records show — even after the transit agency’s two-year hiring spree to bring onboard more than 2,000 new train operators and conductors. The number of monthly subway delays pinned on crew shortages has been climbing steadily since the start of 2023, […]