4 ms·

And yet I just heard that the MTA is raising prices again this year. How many Fortune 100 companies need to move here before we get a working subway system?

bilbo0s 8y ago
To be fair, you do have a working subway system. If you didn't, no one would care that they raised prices. You guys have the best subway system in the US if we're being honest here. That's part of the reason why you get things like Amazon's HQ2 instead of anyone else.
- CharlesW 8y ago
  > You guys have the best subway system in the US if we're being honest here. The biggest (in the US), certainly. "Best" depends on your perspective. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/nyregion/chicago-l-train-mta-subway.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/nyregion/chicago-l-train-...
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  Having lived in both NYC and Boston for decades, I'm tempted to say the T is better than the subway, but I really just hate crowded trains in general and the T train I took was always empty because I reverse commuted. I am a happy suburb driver now :p
bradleyjg 8y ago
The MTA's problems have far more to do with inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption than they do with a lack of money. A big part of the problem is that it doesn't have an accountable governance structure. The current MTA board is made up of appointees of: the governor, the mayor, and the county executives of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Orange counties. There needs to be one elected official, preferably one with the power to really negotiate with the contracting companies and the unions, that has ultimate responsibility for the system and it's problems.
- codyb 8y ago
  Huh, I just looked it up, I guess the Mayor represents the five burroughs but you'd think Kings, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island would have representatives that represent them alone if Nassau, Rockland, Putnam, and Orange counties do. Bizarre.
  - bradleyjg 8y ago
    It gets even more bizarre. Rockland, Putnam, and Orange get board members but they only get 1/3 of a vote each. Three different unions get non-voting board members, as do three commuter councils (which are in turn not membership organizations but made up of political appointees). I'm amazed they even manage to even get minutes printed with a board organized like that.
    - codyb 8y ago
      Yea I was checking it out and mainly focused on voting members for my post. Who knew? It's something I'd never even thought of until now. Seems like something that might be worth looking into as a New Yorker considering these fifteen or twenty people are making decisions that affect six million riders a day along with countless bridge crosses and ferry takers.

bilbo0s 8y ago

To be fair, you do have a working subway system. If you didn't, no one would care that they raised prices. You guys have the best subway system in the US if we're being honest here. That's part of the reason why you get things like Amazon's HQ2 instead of anyone else.

CharlesW 8y ago
> You guys have the best subway system in the US if we're being honest here. The biggest (in the US), certainly. "Best" depends on your perspective. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/nyregion/chicago-l-train-mta-subway.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/nyregion/chicago-l-train-...
anoncoward111 8y ago
Having lived in both NYC and Boston for decades, I'm tempted to say the T is better than the subway, but I really just hate crowded trains in general and the T train I took was always empty because I reverse commuted. I am a happy suburb driver now :p

bradleyjg 8y ago

The MTA's problems have far more to do with inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption than they do with a lack of money. A big part of the problem is that it doesn't have an accountable governance structure. The current MTA board is made up of appointees of: the governor, the mayor, and the county executives of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Orange counties. There needs to be one elected official, preferably one with the power to really negotiate with the contracting companies and the unions, that has ultimate responsibility for the system and it's problems.

codyb 8y ago
Huh, I just looked it up, I guess the Mayor represents the five burroughs but you'd think Kings, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island would have representatives that represent them alone if Nassau, Rockland, Putnam, and Orange counties do. Bizarre.
- bradleyjg 8y ago
  It gets even more bizarre. Rockland, Putnam, and Orange get board members but they only get 1/3 of a vote each. Three different unions get non-voting board members, as do three commuter councils (which are in turn not membership organizations but made up of political appointees). I'm amazed they even manage to even get minutes printed with a board organized like that.
  - codyb 8y ago
    Yea I was checking it out and mainly focused on voting members for my post. Who knew? It's something I'd never even thought of until now. Seems like something that might be worth looking into as a New Yorker considering these fifteen or twenty people are making decisions that affect six million riders a day along with countless bridge crosses and ferry takers.