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Effective Transit Alliance
@etany.org
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ETA advocates for high-quality, accessible, and forward-looking transit through internationally-inspired, technically-oriented analysis in greater New York.
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etany.org
By learning from other countries and adopting international best practices, California High Speed Rail was able to cut its costs by $14 billion and cut 70% of tunnels.

This is a big lesson for transit projects both in NY & around the US: start by learning from other countries.

tinyurl.com/mvsmfxa2
Ian Choudri: Yes. When I came on board, like we looked at six or seven different areas of improvements and one of that was engineering of how we are building it comparable to the European and Japanese systems. And came to realize that as engineers, all the folks that were in the team being very conservative. They were going, "Let’s build it not that steep." And so we are going to do it as flat as we can. While that’s fun if you are in the desert, if you are going through Tehachapi or Pacheco Pass, you quickly realize you can't stay flat. So the decision was made to make it a little higher, because Europe is doing it, Japan has been doing it. Let’s not reinvent. That eliminated about 70 percent of the tunnels that we had to do. And that’s billions of dollars. Ian Choudri: I don’t blame anyone. These were not intentional mistakes. This was a lack of checking because we don’t have another high speed rail in this country. So we were using highway bridges or freight rail design concepts, which is all we know. And so we fixed it. It took us four months to realize that this is a big mistake and improve the cost structure. When we put our plan out, we said we saved $14 billion by optimizing cost by changing design standards and criteria, bringing them up to par with the European and the Japanese.
November 11, 2025 at 10:29 PM
etany.org
Mamdami-style sign reading "Through-Running for Penn Station"
November 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
etany.org
If it's your first time, keep an eye out for Blair who will be there with a sign and nametag.
Blair Lorenzo in front of the Manhattan Bridge
November 7, 2025 at 5:31 PM
etany.org
TONIGHT, come join ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, November!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

Tonight, Friday November 7, 2025 from
6-8pm at
The Irish Exit
Moynihan Food Hall
Penn Station

All are welcome!
November 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
etany.org
This Friday, come join ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, November!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

Friday November 7, 2025 from
6-8pm at
The Irish Exit
Moynihan Food Hall
Penn Station

All are welcome!
November 5, 2025 at 6:46 PM
etany.org
In a welcome move, NYC is planning to invest $40M over the next ten years, seeking to build seats at 875 bus stops every year.

Seating is a vital part of transit that not only makes it more accessible, but improves usability by reducing perceived waiting time.

www.nyc.gov/mayors-offic...
Mayor Adams Invests $40 Million for Universal Seating, Installing Seating at Every Bus Stop in New York City October 30, 2025 NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced a $40 million investment to expand seating at the approximately 8,750 eligible bus stops — those on public property with sufficient sidewalk or island space — across the five boroughs that currently lack seating. Bus stop seating makes transportation more accessible for all New Yorkers, especially older adults, parents with young children, and people with disabilities. Beginning in November, seating will be installed, where feasible, at 875 bus stops every year over the next 10 years, while maintaining existing seating, to deliver monumental upgrades to bus stops across the five boroughs and provide universal bus stop seating to New Yorkers.
November 3, 2025 at 11:15 PM
etany.org
Walk-through open gangway trains have numerous advantages: they prevent subway surfing, improve capacity, and allow passengers to redistribute themselves along a train.

They've been successful and popular everywhere they've been implemented, including on the G train.
A walkthrough prototype R211 train on the subway, image courtesy of ETA, Khyber Sen
October 30, 2025 at 5:58 PM
etany.org
The MTA is installing experimental anti-subway surfing barriers on the 7 train.

While this is a good interim step, the real solution is to ensure that all new subway cars are walk-through (known as open gangway), as has been common practice across the world for years.

pix11.com/news/transit...
A protoype anti-subway-surfing barrier.
October 30, 2025 at 5:58 PM
etany.org
It's good to see MTA Chair Janno Lieber contemplating all-door bus boarding, an easy win for bus service.

All-door boarding and proof-of-payment enforcement speed bus service significantly. What's more, the agency is ready to go having already installed back door OMNY readers on all its buses.
Janno Lieber There was. There was all-door boarding. But let me just say this: All-door boarding is accomplishable in a paid model. We’ve been reluctant because we felt to get there, because I wanted to get fare evasion down to reestablish the position that the patterns of behavior that we lost during COVID, which is you get on the bus, you know, hopefully you say good morning to the bus driver, and you do something to pay. We can do all-door boarding in part because once we have OMNY — you know, true tap-and-ride, universal — and we can have fare enforcement agents, not armed, go up to people and say [to] anybody, “show me your OMNY card. Show me your phone, show me that you paid.” Josh Greenman But why not do it now and allow all-door boarding? Janno Lieber Right now, it’s associated with the avoidance of payment and I think we need an enforcement model that starts to, that says, wherever you got on, you’re going to be subject— because right now, somebody can get on the back and say, “I paid.” If they’re ever asked by an Eagle Team member, one of our fare enforcement people, let’s say, “I paid at the front, by coin, on the bus. You can’t validate every rider the same way you can a 100% tap and ride system. I want to get there. And then you have, universal, which is like what they have in Europe, where you can go up to anybody and say, “Please show me your fare payment.” So that’s what I think we’re waiting for to move towards all-door boarding, which I think is a positive if we can get there, once we get to OMNY.
October 29, 2025 at 8:47 PM
etany.org
MTA Board Chair Janno Lieber on the NYS legislature's bill that would require two-person crews for every train: "I think would outrage a lot of people, and I don’t think it’s a serious proposal."

He rightly points out that shorter, more frequent trains can offer better service for many places.
How did that happen? Were you involved? Were you consulted? Janno Lieber No. In the end of the session, the legislature passes a lot of bills very quickly, and that one slipped through. It’s been proposed for 20-plus years, and somehow it was allowed to slip through at the last minute this time. I don’t consider it serious, because the idea that we would now have to put— again, the public— It’s not a secret. We believe in investing in the MTA. What we don’t want the public to feel is there’s enormous lack of productivity, a lack of efficiency, and forcing the MTA to put extra people on Times Square shuttle, Franklin Avenue shuttle, and the G train, and any, if in the future we were running shorter trains more frequently, which in some neighborhoods might be a good way to serve people, that the idea that you’re just featherbedding, I think would outrage a lot of people, and I don’t think it’s a serious proposal.
October 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
etany.org
ETA talked to @thecity.nyc about how planning for the IBX is continuing quite quickly, at least by US standards.

It's especially heartening to see NY State fund an EIS on its own to ensure that this vital project will be shovel ready when federal money is available.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/15/i...
“It’s that last step before you actually start putting things in the ground, before you start digging and building,” said Blair Lorenzo, executive director of the Effective Transit Alliance. Lorenzo added that such a project would typically receive some federal funding to kickstart the environmental review process. But the Trump administration has already put $18 billion on hold for the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway and a new rail tunnel in the Hudson River. “The fact that they are doing it without any federal guarantee right now is, I think, a good sign of how committed they are — that this is a good idea and that they want to get it done regardless of national politics,” Lorenzo said. Interborough Express Reaches New Milestone on the Road to Rollout Gov. Hochul gives the go-ahead for the Brooklyn-to-Queens light-rail line to undergo environmental review, a key step for the megaproject.
October 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
etany.org
Greater New York is facing an unprecedented assault on its vital transportation infrastructure.

Infrastructure is far too important to be used for political games. Read ETA's statement:

www.etany.org/statements/2...
Greater New York is facing an unprecedented assault on its vital transportation infrastructure. According to an announcement by OMB Director Russell Vought on X and later confirmed by the US Department of Transportation, $18 billion in funding for both the Second Avenue Subway and the Gateway Program’s Hudson Tunnel Project is being put “on hold” pending “administrative review.” This announcement comes one day after it came to light that the Department of Homeland Security is planning to deny New York State tens of millions of dollars for transportation security under the Homeland Security Program and Urban Area Security Initiative. Transportation is the lifeblood of greater New York, and these projects are vital to the economies of not only the region, but the nation. Indeed, the Gateway Program is an investment in capacity right at the heart of the Northeast Corridor, by far the busiest part of the country’s rail network. The current North River Tunnels under the Hudson already carry more than 200,000 people every day, a number poised to grow dramatically once Gateway opens, and desperately need to be rehabbed due to damage from Hurricane Sandy. Phase two of the Second Avenue Subway is projected to carry more than 110,000 people every day. These numbers are why Congress saw fit to appropriate funds for these important projects. It is no exaggeration to say that every significant delay for these programs translates into millions of dollars in lost economic value. This halt will inevitably cost the taxpayer. In capital construction, time is quite literally money, and this is doubly true for projects already under construction. Work is already underway for both Gateway and Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway; this interruption may force workers in the field to put down their tools. Work schedules, equipment orders, site preparations, and the like are now uncertain. The only guarantee is that when work starts again, the price tag will be higher. This entire situation is the result of last-minute rule making clearly designed to leave the New York region stuck in a Catch-22. The administration claims that federally required regulations dating back to the Reagan administration are now considered illegal. The MTA followed these regulations in order to be eligible for funding. To then turn around and claim that following those rules makes the program ineligible for funding leaves the region in a no-win scenario. The administration could have discussed concerns with regional leaders and come to some sort of understanding. Instead, the DOTs proposed new rules were created with such haste that, at the time of the announcement of the funding pause, they had not even been entered into the Federal Register. Congress created the programs and appropriated the funds for these projects, recognizing their importance to the region and the nation. Whatever the reason for stopping the funds, Infrastructure is far too important to be used for political games.
October 3, 2025 at 4:44 PM
etany.org
Once again, it seems that the MTA's EAGLE teams are punishing normal riders because they are not using the common fare verification tools (handheld scanners) used by almost every other proof-of-payment system in the world.

www.reddit.com/r/nycrail/co...
Got a summons on the select bus even though I paid using a physical credit card I took a select bus today and paid my fare using a physical credit card on the OMNY reader. One stop later the fare inspectors requested I show them my banking app to show proof of payment. I told them I used a physical credit card and that the payment wouldn't show up right away under pending transactions since my bank seems to have a delay of 20 or so mins and I had just gotten on and they didn't care. When I asked if they had the scanner to check my credit card they didn't have it and blamed me for not having proof. I got a written summons and was told to submit my proof to get it dismissed which I will do but this infuriates me since 1. I did pay my fare and 2. What if my phone died or was malfunctioning or I was the type of person to not be tech savvy? This seems to be discriminatory to those who don't or can't have access to a banking app and just want to use a physical card. I wanted to warn others so that they can prevent this situation somehow.
September 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
etany.org
We will try to grab a seat outdoors weather permitting.

If it's your first time, keep an eye out for Blair, who will be there with a sign and business cards!
Blair Lorenzo
September 12, 2025 at 5:51 PM
etany.org
TONIGHT, come out and meet with ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, September!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

TONIGHT, Friday, September 12, 2025 from 6-8pm at

Vanderbilt Market
45th St & Vanderbilt Ave
Behind Grand Central.

All are welcome!
September 12, 2025 at 5:51 PM
etany.org
TOMORROW, come out and meet with ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, September!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

Friday, September 12, 2025 from 6-8pm at

Vanderbilt Market
45th St & Vanderbilt Ave
Behind Grand Central.

All are welcome!
September 11, 2025 at 4:42 PM
etany.org
New York is a special place in a lot of ways, but that doesn't include the reality of how transportation works.

Cities all over the world have long moved to one-person and fully automated trains.

Indeed, we do it in NY right now on the G & M trains, with no effect on safety.
But Blair Lorenzo, the Effective Transit Alliance’s executive director, said experiences in other cities prove otherwise. ”We see this across the world and we see across the country that one-person train operation is incredibly safe, and often no-person train operation is incredibly safe, if designed well,” Lorenzo said. “It’s kind of hard to argue with the fact that there are so many places doing it right now.” Samuelsen dismissed experiences in other cities, noting New York City’s trains operate seven days a week, 24 hours a day. “ Other cities are other cities, and New York City is unique,” he said.
September 8, 2025 at 5:35 PM
etany.org
The unnecessary, destructive $17B Penn Expansion is dead for now, and for the right reasons.

Through-running service will not only make the best use of Penn's existing capacity, but will open up new ways of regional travel.

gothamist.com/news/feds-ba...
But officials said they would not entertain proposals that would require the razing of a block south of 31st Street, which Amtrak officials had floated for years. Andy Byford, the former head of NYC Transit who was tapped to lead the Penn Station project for Amtrak earlier this year, said “at the moment we’re putting that on hold.” Byford said Penn Station’s existing footprint could handle more train traffic if it were to implement “through-running,” or consolidating NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road service so each railroad wouldn’t need to stop and turn around after reaching Midtown.
August 28, 2025 at 5:36 PM
etany.org
As recent analysis shows, those riding NJ Transit trains experience some of the most catastrophic delays in the region—far worse than either Metro-North or the LIRR.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

There are many reasons for this that need to be addressed:
A graphic showing that 11% of NJ Transit trains were more than 15 minutes late, while less than 1% of LIRR and MNRR trains had similar delays.
August 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
etany.org
In addition to reducing traffic and pollution on busy streets, congestion pricing is paying dividends, helping pay for the East Harlem extension of the Second Ave Subway and the new IBX.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/18/q...
A portion of the pricey expansion project will be paid for with funds generated through congestion pricing, the Manhattan vehicle-tolling plan that launched in January south of 60th Street and which the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to terminate. “Send our friends in Washington a message — it is working,” Hochul said of the vehicle tolls. “And we know that traffic is down and business is up and people are happy. I’m really happy that we stuck with it.”
August 19, 2025 at 8:56 PM
etany.org
If it's your first time, keep your eye out for Blair, who will be there with a nametag and ETA sign.

We will do our best to grab a space outside!
ETA's Blair Lorenzo
August 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
etany.org
TONIGHT, come out and meet with ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, August!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

Tonight, Friday, August 15, 2025 from 6-8pm at

Vanderbilt Market
45th St & Vanderbilt Ave
Behind Grand Central.

All are welcome!
August 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
etany.org
TOMORROW, come out and meet with ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, August!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

Friday, August 15, 2025 from 6-8pm at

Vanderbilt Market
45th St & Vanderbilt Ave
Behind Grand Central.

All are welcome!
August 14, 2025 at 4:53 PM
etany.org
This Friday, come out and meet with ETA for TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks, August!

Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy!

Friday, August 15, 2025 from 6-8pm at

Vanderbilt Market
45th St & Vanderbilt Ave
Behind Grand Central.

All are welcome!
August 12, 2025 at 5:31 PM
etany.org
ETA has been pushing as much as possible for automated light metro, and will continue to.

www.etany.org/ibx-all-fait...
Because frequency is important, it often makes sense to run shorter trains more frequently, to avoid either wasted capacity or long waits. However, surges like at Brooklyn College, or at transfers from longer subway trains running every 10 minutes, would overload 360-passenger LRVs. Instead, it is likely better to run 4- or 5-car trains akin to subway cars—like those used on the JFK AirTrain or Vancouver SkyTrain, for instance—with a surge capacity of about 150 seated and standing passengers per 60-foot car.[3] NYC Transit itself already runs 300-foot trains on the G and the Staten Island Railway, and by removing street running, the IBX can run these types of longer, automated vehicles. The IBX must be built with appropriate capacity for ridership surges, something that street running cannot accommodate. Building a new transit line that cannot even meet demand on day one is unacceptable, and future growth from transit-oriented development and improved connections to other transit lines will only strain the IBX further. This is why it is critical to build the IBX right, especially when the alternative is readily at hand.
August 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM