Subway fares are about to go up again. The governor loves to meddle with NYC, at the expense of the mayor and other local officials. Latest example - his bombshell proposal of changes to the long-planned L tunnel shutdown for repairs. It may work, but the timing - coming after all the planning for the changes - seems suspect.
As a daily subway rider (I should get back to riding a bicycle to work), I'd say the MTA should concentrate on fixing its current system, and finishing the projects it already has - which it doesn't have enough money to complete, anyway. Takes me about 70 minutes to get to work, door to door - maybe a few less if I'm lucky. Coming home late at night is crap-shoot. If all goes well, 75 minutes. That's rare. Missed connections (fewer trains at night), track work, stalled trains, etc. - usually ends up 85 to 90 minutes. Sometimes it's nearly two hours.
I was thinking about moving to New Jersey (I live near Coney Island now) - but a month or so it was announced that PATH service to World Trade Center, near where I work, will be shut down for repairs to Sandy damage on weekends for two years (would affect two days a week of my commute).
Oh, the East Side Access connection to GCT? That was supposed to be operational in 2009 for $4.3 billion. Now they're looking at December 2022, at around $11 billion.
Edit: Oh, I forgot they're working on a new fare-payment system, that's another half a billion, at least.
David
