246 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Gothamist 4/4/20
 

Emergency Measures For MTA's Finances Draw Concern

 

 

This week, the state legislature approved several emergency measures in the budget that seek to prop up the MTA as it faces a future of financial uncertainty.

 

Among them is to allow the agency to borrow $10 billion to cover operating expenses, like making payroll.

 

“This is an unsustainable measure that is akin to racking up credit card debt to pay for rent and groceries,”  .  .  .

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

WABC-TV New York 4/8/20
 

Coronavirus News: MTA death toll hits 41, with 1,500 positive cases

 

 

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The coronavirus continues to take a dramatic toll on the MTA, while police have stepped up efforts to enforce social distancing on mass transit.

MTA officials say 41 employees have now died of COVID-19, and another 1,500 have tested positive.

The staffing crunch has posed a challenge for the MTA to keep even diminished subway, bus and commuter rail service going.

More trains will run on the D and 2 lines in response to ridership changes.

 

Continue here w/video report.

[CNJRoss]

New York Post 4/8/20
 

MTA blames ‘sluggish’ WHO, CDC as its coronavirus death toll mounts

 

 

In the face of the MTA’s mounting coronavirus death toll, the transit agency on Wednesday pointed the finger at federal and global health authorities for its own slow crawl to distribute masks to workers.

 

“The only ‘sluggish’ response has been on the part of the [WHO and CDC], whose guidelines against widespread use of masks the MTA (a transportation organization, not a medical provider) initially followed but has since disregarded,” MTA Chairman Pat Foye wrote in a response to reporting about the on the agency’s well-documented struggle to protect its workforce.

 

“Only last week — after the MTA acted and we recommended our customers wear face coverings — did the CDC change course and recommend Americans wear masks. The WHO has still not acted.”

 

Nearly three dozen city bus and subway workers have died from the virus so far, and thousands more have called out sick, confounding the agency’s ability to accommodate dangerous crowds as service suffers.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Journal News, White Plains, NY, 4/8/20:

 

 

   Metro-North schedule change starts Monday due to coronavirus pandemic  

 
  

Metro-North Railroad will move to an hourly schedule on weekdays and weekends starting next week as the pandemic caused by the coronavirus reduces its ridership to essential workers.

 

Story

[KevinKorell]

MTA website:

 

 

  Long Island Rail Road Service During the Coronavirus Pandemic 

 

 

Updated April 12, 2020

 

We're here to provide all-day service for health-care workers, first responders, and other essential employees. Everyone else should stay home.

We’re operating the MTA Essential Service Plan until further notice. 

 

Details about in-person service and facilities

All LIRR ticket counters are closed. We are also no longer taking cash onboard trains. You can still use cash at ticket vending machines, or you can use the MTA eTix app.

 

The West End Concourse at Penn Station (along 8th Avenue) is closed until further notice. Entrances on 34th St and on 7th Avenue are still open.

Service details for Monday, April 13

We're running half-hourly or hourly service on most branches, with strategically added trains during peak travel times.

 

See LIRR schedules

 

Continue here for schedule of extra trains

[KevinKorell]

MTA website:

 

Metro-North Railroad Service During the Coronavirus Pandemic

 

Updated April 12, 2020

 

We're here to provide all-day service for health-care workers, first responders, and other essential employees. Everyone else should stay home.

 

While we are operating our MTA Essential Service Plan, off-peak fares will be in effect on Metro-North.

 

All Metro-North ticket counters are closed. We are also no longer taking cash onboard trains. You can still use cash at ticket vending machines. You can also use MTA eTix to buy tickets on your smartphone. These steps help us minimize direct contact for everyone in the system.

 

See Metro-North schedules

More information on schedules here.

[KevinKorell]

MTA website:

 

 

Subway and Bus Service During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Updated April 12, 2020

 

 

We're here to provide crucial service for health-care workers, first responders, and other essential employees. Everyone else should stay home.

 

More information here.   Scroll down for specific subway information.

[CNJRoss]

New York Daily News 4/7/20

Families of NYC transit workers killed by coronavirus might not qualify for $500k in MTA death benefits

 

 

Coronavirus has killed at least 33 MTA employees over the past two weeks — but it’s not clear whether the families of those workers will receive line-of-duty death benefits from the transit agency.

 

Roughly 40,000 New York City transit workers are guaranteed $500,000 if they die on the job under a benefit agreed upon by transit bosses and Transport Workers Union Local 100 in a contract ratified in January.

 

The contract language, however, does not specify whether the benefit covers workers who die from a virus pandemic.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Railway Age 4/15/20
 

MTA, Unions Agree on $0.5MM Death Benefit

 

 

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Transport Workers Union of America have reached an agreement establishing a $500,000 COVID-19 death benefit for TWU members who died after being infected with the virus. Under the agreement, the MTA will pay the $500,000 in a lump sum to the spouse, beneficiary or estate of each deceased member who was in active service on or after Feb. 1, 2020. The TWU agreement extends the COVID-19 death benefit to members of four TWU Locals: Local 100, Local 106, Local 2001 and Local 2055.

 

The TWU, the largest of which is Local 100, representing some 41,000 MTA workers, began pushing for for what it is calling a “Line of Duty” benefit—$500,000 instead of the $50,000 “Active Duty” benefit— on March 26 following the death of New York City Transit Conductor Peter Petrassi. Since then, about 60 workers have died, and about 2,270 of the MTA’s 72,000 employees have tested positive; with thousands more having been quarantined or calling out sick. Some who have resumed work were cleared by the MTA’s Temperature Brigade, which checks 2,000 employees a day for fevers.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

The City, New York, NY, 4/17/20:

 

   Two Passengers Die in a Day as Subway Fatalities Rise Amid Ridership Plunge  

 

 

 

A woman died on a Brooklyn subway platform Wednesday after exhibiting what an MTA report describes as “symptoms of COVID-19” — making her the second person to die in the system that morning and the fourth this month.

 

Here is that story.