MTA Is Doing It

@hhusted I dont buy an unlimited card as I work from home and pay as you go suits my needs but I know some folk who get these unlimited metro cards from work and then they sell them on Craigslist as they don't need /use them . If you check the listings you will see what I mean , they dont sell them at a higher price or anything but just monetize the value on the cards. I really wonder who buys them..also the article says that these unlimited cards are now going to be of two kinds one with a cap on rides and the other truly unlimited wonder how that will work?

@Everyone here's a news item that states that a report proclaims that MTA is a train wreck which suffers from gross mismanagement. The MTA paid consulting firm $3 million for the report which states something that we all already know!
http://www.dnainfo.com/20101003/manhattan/damning-report-says-mta-train-wreck

@Everyone here's another bit of news if the fare rise proposal passes tomorrow New Yorkers will have the most expensive unlimited ride monthly passes in the country. Instead of burdening us with rising fares, I wish someone would clean up the MTA and rid of all it's ills.
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/nyc-straphangers-on-track-to-pay-more-for-monthly-pass-1.2338337

Oh, MTA. Horrible, corrupt, inefficient, and STILL cheaper by miles than the London Tube (£5.60 day pass my eye!)

I am really sick of hearing about how horrible MTA is. Let's just build a new subway system. A better one.

@ajadedidealist both systems are just as bad wasn't London crippled recently by a huge tube strike on a rainy, work day that saw people cycling to work or queuing up for hours to get the bus?

@BroadwayBK: I'd love to build a brand new subway system. The first part is to get rid of all the executives at the MTA and start from scratch.

Yeah, I say clean out that den of roaches and hire everyone new. Maybe then there will be some hope for that degenerate institution.

@Everyone Carl Paladino, the NY governor hopeful after bashing gays is now attacking the MTA
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/44182/
At least on this issue he has a valid point but he suggests that the MTA should be governed by the Governor's office I don't know how much more efficient that will be. We all know what a mess Albany is in.

Here's another story about the MTA- a diasbility advocate has sued the MTA for not making the Dyckman Street station disabled friendly despite there being regulations to do so.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20101013/washington-heights-inwood/disability-advocate-sues-mta-for-failure-put-elevators-at-dyckman-st-station
Actually hardly any stations in NYC are disabled friendly. Most times even if they have elevators they do not work and escalators in stations are rare. Traveling on the subway in NYC can be a nightmare if you are old, pregnant or are riding with young children.

I really don't know who can help the MTA these days. But I will tell you this. Something definitely has to be done and soon or many people might just consider walking or taking cabs to places.

@uptowngirl Or else if there are escalators they smell of urine. What is wrong with people!

@Uraniumfish: People are lazy by nature. They want money but are not interested in working hard for it. Therefore, they make excuses and while doing so, nothing gets done. Do you know what would happen if a state auditor, along with a rep from the Department of Labor was to come in and investigate this city. Hundreds, if not thousands of people would be fired from their jobs. That would really kill NYC's economy then. But NYC's economy is hurting as it is by people not doing anything, so maybe an investigation wouldn't hurt anything.

What do you think?

I've been talking with a friend who just finished a contract working for a city agency and she's pretty thoroughly traumatized by the experience. Like many extremely educated people who had no other choice in a tough economy, she took a gig working for the city. She has chosen to go back home and live with her psycho brother for a spell while she finds a new job rather than renew her contract working for the city! Seriously, it sounded pretty awful.

@Uraniumfish That does sound traumatic. What city agency are we talking about?

Was the MTA once a government agency? Or does it just run like one because of all the government money it gets/used to get?

@uptowngirl Just read Paladino's views on the MTA - I guess I agree with everything he is saying, except about putting it under strict government control. Then again, maybe government agencies are an improvement on MTA.

@BroadwayBK We have to admit that the MTA does keep NYC moving but seriously its efficiency has to be drastically improved. Right now its like a giant pit which just swallows money and has not much to show for it. The current CEO-Jay Walder had a pretty decent stint with the London Underground, maybe given time he will turn the MTA around?