(Taken From SI Advance 1/11/12 by Michael Sedon)

Now Staten Islanders will never have to wonder where their bus is or how much longer they will have to wait because the answer is just a click away. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the introduction of Bus Time today, at the Eltingville Transit Center, as Staten Island will be the first borough to have the service implemented on all of its buses.

"MTA Bus Time is up and running throughout the entire borough of Staten Island," said MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota, who visited the Island his second day on the job to make the announcement. "This means you can get real-time information for every bus and route on this Island right on your cell phone or right on your computer."

Bus Time is an internet-based service that allows users to access real-time information via their cell phones, smart phones or computers that can tell them exactly how far away their bus is.

"We know how important bus service is to all of the citizens of Staten Island," Lhota said of the agency's reason for making Staten Island the first borough-wide application of the technology. "Instead of waiting out in the cold for a bus that's a mile away, instead of leaving home early only to wait at a bus stop -- just not knowing -- MTA Bus Time will be able to tell you exactly where your bus is."

Commuters can visit mta.info/bustime online where they will see a window to type in a bus route, intersection or a specific bus stop code that will then prompt a map to show where all the buses on that route are and, more importantly, how far away the next one is that will arrive.

"Any computer with an internet connection can take you to our Bus Time website, and there you'll be able to see a map with moving images representing the real-time location of buses moving along that route," said New York City Transit President Thomas Pendergast. "During this year and next we will upgrade more than 6,000 buses and over 14,000 bus stops system-wide in order to make Bus Time formally operational, city-wide in 2013."

The bus stop codes could be found at the specific stops, or by going the Bus Time home page and simply dragging the mouse over the desired stop, which will then display its code. Once straphangers have the bus stop code they could text it to 511123 on their cell phones, and the MTA will text back how many stops away the next bus is that will be picking up at that stop.

"We power the text messaging side of this, which allows people to text in their bus stop code and will immediately receive back information about where their bus is, how many stops away their bus is," said Jed Alpert, CEO of Mobile Commons. "They can do this from their home. They can do this from across the street. They can do this from a local business, so they don't have to spend their time waiting outside."

And finally for commuters with smart phones that have the ability to read Quick Response codes, there will be a small black and white square code posted on each bus stop that can be scanned and read by the phone to tell its owner how far away the next bus is.

For all the avenues available to tech-savvy riders to check on their bus' location, the benefit for older residents or those lacking the gadgets to access the online information would have been lost without Borough President Jim Molinaro stepping in.

"Twenty percent of our people on Staten Island are over the age of 60, and many of those people can't operate a smart phone or even have a smart phone," Molinaro said. "There's another system that I spoke to the MTA about, it's putting (electronic) boards in the bus shelters that would notify the people at the shelter to just where this bus is through the same system."

At a cost of $3,000 per shelter to add the signs, Molinaro gave the MTA $200,000 out of his office's budget to install the sign boards in 50 to 60 of the most heavily-used bus shelters on Staten Island, he said. The only hurdle mentioned was approaching the company that operates the bus shelters to gain permission to put the sign boards up, Molinaro said, but he did not envision that as being a problem.

MTA Board Member Allen Cappelli has experienced waiting for buses on Staten Island in the cold not knowing when one may arrive, so he praised this initiative as a way to bring "predictability" to the riders. "The predictability is what's important, and this will give people predictability," Cappelli said.

The program was tested on the B63 bus route in Brooklyn since February.

Other elected officials on hand included: state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island), Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-North Shore), City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) and City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore).

(Taken From NY Post 1/11/12 by JENNIFER FERMINO Transit Reporter)

The MTA is taking a hard line against its largest union in tense contract talks - demanding that workers give up an array of cushy perks, including generous vacation allowances and bloated overtime pay, The Post has learned.

The contract with the 35,000-member Transport Workers Union - which infamously went on strike during the 2005 Christmas season - ends Sunday, and until now neither side has detailed what's on the table.

In one key demand, the cash-strapped MTA wants TWU members to contribute 10 percent of the total cost of their health-care coverage, said a source briefed on the hush-hush talks. Currently, workers pay an average of 5.5 percent.

The MTA also wants workers to fork over a co-pay for emergency-room visits, said the source.

Agency chiefs also want TWU workers - who automatically get a paid day off on their birthdays - to agree to reduced vacation days for new hires. That means anyone hired under the new contract would get two weeks of vacation for the first four years on the job. Workers now get four weeks starting at three years.

The MTA is also looking to crack down on abuse of sick time. If any worker uses more than 50 percent of allotted sick time, he or she will be placed on a list. Those on the list are subject to visits from management on days they're out. Currently, only employees who have used almost all of their sick time get home visits.

The average MTA worker uses 13 paid or unpaid sick days a year, according to the agency. Union officials claim that number is so high because it is difficult to get time off for personal reasons.

Another austerity measure the MTA is pushing involves how union members accumulate overtime hours. The current collective-bargaining agreement gives workers overtime pay for any shift over eight hours.The MTA wants to change that so workers won't get overtime until they hit 40 hours in their workweek, a switch that would result in the agency having to bring fewer workers on for costlier holiday and weekend shifts.

The agency also wants the contractual right to hire part-time bus operators. The MTA says hiring part-timers would eliminate the need to pay extra full-timers on days with reduced ridership.

The Post reported exclusively last week that some full-timers were sitting around at full pay playing chess at their garages because their runs had been canceled due to service reductions during the Christmas holiday.

MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said the agency would not comment on specific contract negotiations. "We won't negotiate in the press," he said.

However, MTA officials have publicly called on the TWU to accept three years of net zero wage increases.

TWU President John Samuelsen also said he wouldn't talk about any demands until the end of negotiations.

There's no apparent immediate threat of a walkout when the current contract expires Sunday. Both sides have agreed to keep talking if they don't reach an agreement by the deadline.

(Taken from NY Post 12/19/11 by Transit Reporter JENNIFER FERMINO)

Here's a nasty lump of coal for the MTA's largest union.

The transit agency's "significant financial problems" mean it's not obligated to fork over raises to its unionized employees, an arbitration panel found in a landmark ruling.

That decision, involving part of a dispute between the MTA and a 700-member segment of Transport Workers Union Local 252 on Long Island, goes against previous rulings.

The MTA will be able to use it as ammunition in its contract talks with its main union, the 35,000-member TWU Local 100, whose pact expires Jan. 15.

The last time there was a major contract dispute, during Christmas 2005, the transit workers struck and crippled the city.

In the Long Island case, the MTA successfully argued that the TWU must "shoulder some of the burden" that the riding public and the transit agency both have endured amid the bad economy.

Those burdens include higher fares and service cuts for riders and three years of no raises for MTA management, according to the ruling. "To survive, it [the MTA] must eliminate nearly $4 billion in expenses from a $12 billion operating budget by 2015," the panel noted in summing up the MTA's predicament.

"It can do so only by controlling labor costs, which comprise two-thirds of its budget."

The ruling covers only TWU Local 252, whose members work for the soon-to-be-defunct Long Island Bus and have been operating without a contract since 2009.

TWU Local 100 has repeatedly said it will not accept a contract that doesn't give its workers raises, even though several state employee unions have agreed to work without pay hikes.

The latest ruling changes nothing, said TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen.

"We're intent on a wage increase," he said.

Even though MTA bosses haven't had raises, he said his members deserve more cash because they typically make less. The bosses are "making $200,000 [a year]," he said. "Taking a zero [pay raise] is no big deal to them."

(From NY1 News 12/15/11)

Transit workers rallied outside of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Manhattan headquarters Thursday to demand better wages and benefits in their new contract.

Bus and subway operators and maintenance workers marched from there to Zuccotti Park to meet with Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 says the city is making unprecedented demands for worker flexibility, including a reduction in the number of workers on each train and a three-year wage freeze.

"We are very important to this city. Every company that increases their revenue hires more workers. This agency here, ridership is at an all-time high, and they want to lay off more workers and have us do more with less people on the job. It's just not fair," said Scott Harris, a conductor.

"We're hard-working, we keep the trains rolling, we keep the people safe. So give us our raise like we deserve," said one protester.

The MTA says it has no comment at this time because "it does not negotiate in public."

The MTA has begun the installation of new barriers on city buses to help cut down on attacks against drivers, which saw a 17 percent increase this year. NY1's Tina Redwine filed the following report.

Marlene Bien-Aime is just one of the 84 drivers that Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say were attacked on the job this year. That's a 17 percent increase over last year.

Responding to the recent massive increase in violence against transit operators and the ongoing struggle to secure adequate bathroom breaks, local union leaders of the ATU and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) joined safety and medical experts at international headquarters, yesterday, to strategize and plan a national campaign around these issues.

The workshop went in depth with presentations from safety and medical personnel informing the political and strategic plans the group formulated. This was just the first ATU-TWU meeting on this issue. The two unions will be continuing to work together on these concerns in the future. Be sure to check out the ATU Website in the coming weeks for more details about this campaign.

(Taken from STREETSBLOG.org 12/8/11 by Noah Kazis, as quoted on ATU International site)

Governor Andrew Cuomo and the leadership of the state legislature added insult to injury last night, neutering the transit lockbox bill even after they put hundreds of millions in dedicated transit revenue at risk. While lockbox language did make it into the omnibus legislation passed last night, the governor?s office stripped out the meaningful provisions and added a giant loophole.

"It's eviscerating our bill," said Lorrie Smith, legislative director for Assembly Member James Brennan, the lockbox's sponsor along with State Senator Marty Golden. "It completely removes the impact statement requirement and it allows the governor to declare an emergency and take whatever money he wants subject to legislative removal, which is what we have now."

Since no law short of a constitutional amendment could completely stop future legislatures from raiding the MTA's dedicated funds, the most important provision in the lockbox bill required the creation of a "diversion impact statement" whenever a raid was commenced. The statement would have clearly detailed how much was stolen from transit riders and estimated the impact on transit riders' fares and service. That sunshine provision - which ought to have been a favorite of a governor who campaigned on transparency - was stripped out last night.

Smith said that Brennan, the bill's sponsor, was surprised to find the bill destroyed. He only saw the language yesterday afternoon, she said, hours before the bill was passed.

What motivated the last-minute changes? "This is what the governor negotiated," Smith said. "We really don't know."

Smith promised that Brennan would reintroduce his bill in its full form next year.

Coming on top of the massive cut to the MTA payroll tax - a move which could cost the MTA up to $320 million dollars a year over time - the effective veto of the lockbox bill caps off a political deal that has threatened transit service at every turn.

Transit advocates, good government groups, labor unions and construction associations all blasted the dismantling of the lockbox bill. "Our groups are disappointed that Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver used this special session to effectively nullify the provisions of the transit 'lockbox' bill that was overwhelmingly passed during the regular session," said a statement released jointly by the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Citizens Committee for NYC, Common Cause/NY, the General Contractors Association, the League of Women Voters of NY State, NRDC, the NYS Council of Machinists, NYLCV, Reinvent Albany, the Straphangers Campaign, Transportation Alternatives, TSTC and TWU Local 100. "We do not support the substitute legislation passed in this special session. It does not constrain future raids on transit funds and deletes the requirement that the impacts of the diversion of transit dedicated funds be reported."

It's worth remembering that every member of the State Assembly and every member of the State Senate voted for the original, stronger lockbox legislation. Even without a strong lockbox, the members of the legislature shouldn't be allowed to renege on their stated support for keeping dedicated transit funding dedicated to transit.

Give the lady a MetroCard for life - and not just because her nickname is Chocolate.

Chocolate - she wouldn't give her real name - is about 65 years old, maybe older. She walks with a cane but is otherwise a strong, stout woman. She isn't afraid to speak her mind and she curses like a sailor.

"Where I come from, I'm not afraid of anything," she said with a Jamaican accent. "I know what I'm saying is the right thing, and people need to do the right thing."

Minutes earlier, Chocolate was on a B46 bus. It was an uneventful ride. Then the candy wrapper hit the floor.

"Come on, Mommy!" Chocolate snapped at the litterbug. "You're not supposed to dump your garbage on the bus!"

The guilty woman sat across the aisle, motionless.

"I'm tired of going on the bus and finding roaches all over the place," Chocolate continued.

She ranted about riders eating fast food and leaving behind the wrappers, cartons and empty soda bottles.

"I have to use this bus!" she fumed.

It was a straphanger tirade reminiscent of Howard Beale's "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," rant in the movie "Network."

Chocolate, who remained in her seat, briefly paused before resuming her tongue-lashing.

"It upsets me bad, bad," she said. "What happened to people these days? Don't you know cleanliness is godliness?"

"We're not animals. We're not supposed to do that. Think of somebody else!"

"You got a bag. A pocketbook. Two bags! Stick it in there and take it with you!"

"And you're an elderly person. You expect that from the younger people. Most young people don't give a damn."

The B46 is hardly the Disney World Shuttle. The route runs through Brooklyn, from Williamsburg to Kings Plaza, and passes through some of the city's toughest neighborhoods.

An ex-con stabbed a B46 driver, Edwin Thomas, to death several years ago. Four MTA bus drivers have been beaten this year on the B46 tour - the most of any route. Riders also spit on two other drivers this year.

Of all the routes in the city, the B46 is considered the top priority for installing video cameras and partitions to protect drivers from abusive riders.

Fortunately, the woman who dropped the wrapper didn't respond to the scolding. But she picked up the trash and took it with her when exiting.

Several stops later, at Utica Ave. and Empire Blvd., Chocolate stood up to leave. A young woman who was sitting next to her shook her hand.

"Thank you," the younger woman said.