What New York's Transit System Could Learn From São Paulo - Regional Plan Association

What New York's Transit System Could Learn From São Paulo - Regional Plan Association: "In addition to technology and design, the Metro also has generous staffing. At busy train stations, platform agents are located at every train door. Station agents also help less mobile passengers find their way around the system. There is a priority boarding car at the front of the train for elderly, pregnant women and the disabled. This system works because other passengers respect this rule, no matter how crowded the other cars are. The staff keep stations clean and safe — the metro has a clean-up policy which requires any dent or piece of gum on the floor to be immediately fixed or removed."

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175 show up for #occupy meeting in small NY town

Occupy Wall Street movement hits Orange County | recordonline.com: ""It's an amazing cross-section of people," said Weiss.

Attiya Awadallah, who attends SUNY New Paltz, said she was eager to hear what was on people's minds.

"It makes you feel like you're a part of something big," said Awadallah.

Subjects ranged from anti-forclosure home defense to stopping corporate personhood to taxing the rich."

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Public #transit is good circulation, cars are a clotting factor

NYSTEA | New York State Transportation Equity Alliance | Blog: "Transit is the circulatory system of our economy—without it people can’t get to jobs, to doctors appointments, or to the grocery store. Public transit is a public good—good for our environment, good for our economy, and good for helping underserved communities access their livelihoods and social needs."

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Buffalo: People fight back against #transit cuts

Metro Bus riders attack service cuts - News - The Buffalo News: "Metro Bus riders Thursday railed against the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority's plan to cut 22 percent of its bus routes by April 1, characterizing it as an assault on low-income citizens, the disabled and those without a personal means of transportation.

The forum, arranged by Assemblyman Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, attracted a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 100 people to the community room of the Crane Branch Library, 633 Elmwood Ave., seeking to air their concerns and grievances over the proposed service cuts."

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Bus drivers and subway workers are the real environmentalists - NY Daily News

Bus drivers and subway workers are the real environmentalists - NY Daily News: "But the real reasons that New York is the greenest place on the continent are more humble. For one thing, New Yorkers live in smaller homes and apartments that take less energy to heat and cool and light. What really sets city dwellers apart, however, is the lack of cars in the driveway (or, in most of the city, the lack of a driveway at all). New Yorkers get chauffeur service — mostly not in long black town cars, but even longer silver ones on the subway.

Forget the EPA: If you want to understand what real fuel savings look like, consider the IND and the IRT and the BMT. The average Vermonter, living amid the woods in a state we think of as ecologically sensitive, uses 540 gallons of gas a year; the average Manhattanite uses less than 90. The last time all of America was at that level was in the 1920s and we were driving Model Ts."

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Politicians serve car culture, leave #transit dependent to suffer

Suffolk bus fares to rise in spring: http://tinyurl.com/6u5wgal

My letter to the editor at Newsday:

Dear Editor,

In response to your article, Suffolk bus fares to rise in spring I am appalled at this move. It only seeks to punish those who must use public transportation in order to get around. Those are people who cannot afford to drive, cannot afford to own cars, people who are disabled and our seniors.

I have spoken out on this issue at any given moment since there are no buses on Sunday and yet, they want to raise the fares? I have challenged each and every politician via the Net to go without their cars for at least a week and take buses to where they want to go. I want them to see how we live. It seems that politicians will fight to keep the cost of gas down for those who drive cars, and yet through this move they will sanction raising the fares on those who use public transportation. What this shows me is that they are not on our side.

I work on Sundays at a job that pays a little over minimum wage, and without buses, I must take a cab to work. Lindy’s cab company charges $9.00 each way. So, I am at their mercy. If there were buses on Sunday, at the current rate, it would only cost me $3.00 which is cost affective.

I say shame to those who seek this rate hike since it shows me that they do not care for the working poor, the disabled and our seniors. We will remember this the next time they want our vote.

Sincerely,
Mary MacElveen

Buffalo - 30% of households have no car. #Transit cuts announced.

According to the Buffalo News, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority faces "staggering fiscal problems." With a $15 million budget gap and projections of deficits through 2015, transit commissioners are scrambling. They've announced they'll be laying off 20 percent of the transit police force and have approved a 22 percent cut in service miles.

Yet, Buffalo residents are taking transit in record numbers. Ridership was 29 million this year, which means that 18 percent more trips were taken by transit than in 2006. Many of these are trips of necessity, not choice: 30 percent of Buffalo households do not have a car, and the city has the third-highest poverty rate in the country.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Letter-Transit-systems-must-be-funded-2418925.php#ixzz1hMuTJfeY

Albany timesunion.com : Letter: Parking hassles can be avoided

timesunion.com : Letter: Parking hassles can be avoided: "All I can say to the "search to park" crowd is, "Why in heaven don't you try the bus?""

Reader's response to parking nightmare in Albany: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Parking-is-its-own-job-2409869.php

TWU Contract Rally with Occupy Wall Street #ows

(9) TWU Contract Rally with Occupy Wall Street: "Tranport Workers Union Local 100 made history as the first labor union to support Occupy Wall Street. Now Occupy is mobilizing to stand with TWU as they begin their campaign to demand a fair contract. The Occupy Wall Street Labor Outreach Committee says “No Givebacks to the 1%”.

On December 15th, TWU will rally outside MTA headquarters at 2 Broadway, then march to Liberty Plaza, the birthplace of Occupy Wall Street, for a rank-and-file General Assembly. We are the 99% and we stand as one!

When: Thursday, December 15 4pm
Where: MTA Offices 2 Broadway (just down the road from Zuccotti Park)
What: Tranport Workers Union Local 100 contract rally and rank-and-file General Assembly

Occupy Wall Street Labor Outreach Committee is a network of rank-and-file activists and union staffers who share a common vision of union democracy, militancy, and solidarity. We provide mutual aid and support for each other's struggles, using the tactics and principles of Occupy Wall Street."

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#occupywallstreet accurately targets those who are causing our pain

" 'Blood sucking squid' Goldman Sachs holding presser with translator who speaks squid"

@kstrel

  [UPDATE] Occupy Wall Street "Squidding" At Goldman Sachs Right Now: Gothamist: "Goldman, "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." The demonstration is also targeted at EGT, who along with Goldman is accused of "committing egregious tax fraud at West Coast shipping ports.""

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