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.

ETA Statement on the FRA’s Phase I Report, read at https://www.etany.org/statements/fra-phase1-statement
Flyer for Through-Running Panel, all details at bpbhs.com/ThroughRunning
Flyer for Through-Running Panel, all details at bpbhs.com/ThroughRunning
Could “through-running" help un-clog Penn Station? Penn Station is the busiest rail station in the Western Hemisphere, serving Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT, and the LIRR across 21 tracks. With a master developer selected for the redesign of Penn Station, the idea of through-running is receiving increased attention, which would allow commuter travel through Penn Station, instead of having trains begin or end their trips there. Could through-running increase capacity at Penn Station or improve service? What investments and operational changes would it require? What are the potential benefits, challenges, and tradeoffs for riders and the region? Join B.P. Brad Hoylman-Sigal as he moderates a discussion with: Blair Lorenzo (Executive Director of the Effective Transit Alliance) Polly Trottenberg (Dean of NYU Wagner and former Deputy Secretary of Transportation) . Tom Wright (President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association) Opening remarks from Andy Byford (Special Advisor to Amtrak). When: Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 5:30 pm Where: FIT Fisch Presentation Hall (220 West 28th St.) Register: bpbhs.com/ThroughRunning SPONSORED BY: Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal Congressman Jerry Nadler State Senators Erik Bottcher Liz Krueger Assembly Member Tony Simone Council Member Carl Wilson
Blair Lorenzo
TONIGHT Friday June 26, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
QueensLink is a proposal to open a new subway line connecting Rego Park, Forest Park, Howard Beach, and the Rockaways. Much like the Interborough Express, the project would reactivate an intact, mostly abandoned rail line to provide service to underserved neighborhoods. In the case of QueensLink, this is the former LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, which was abandoned in 1955 except for its southern part, which was reactivated to bring the A train to the Rockaways in 1956. Put simply, QueensLink would turn currently abandoned tracks into a busy subway line serving tens of thousands of riders a day. Unfortunately, the proposal is at risk due to a competing proposal called QueensWay. QueenWay seeks to convert the same right-of-way into a linear park with no transit service. QueensLink, in contrast, would include both transit and green space along the majority of the route, wherever there is room, including the same location as QueenLink. Regrettably, on June 30th the New York City Council is set to vote on an Adopted Budget which includes $50 million of city funding to construct the first phase of the QueensWay park, the Metro Hub, directly blocking QueensLink’s path. (read the rest at etany.org)
Friday June 26, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
Blair Lorenzo
Tonight, Friday May 29, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
A graph of worldwide monthly pass ratios, showing the old MetroCard rate of 46, and the new rate of 50, tied for highest in the world.
Friday May 29, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
"There's a pretty clear preference for keeping vehicles moving during fare inspections, for obvious reasons," said Effective Transit Alliance Executive Director Blair Lorenzo. "Both speed and reliability are key factors that drive ridership, and random, unpredictable stops to inspect everyone on a bus obviously harms both."
A graph of worldwide pass ratios, with NY's old system under MetroCard in dark red and it's current weekly cap in bright red. Both are far higher than the international average of 29, and especially higher than Europe, where ratios are much lower.
ETA statement on the LIRR and work rules. Read a text version at https://www.etany.org/statements/lirr-work-rules-vestiges-of-the-steam-era
Penn Station Fires and the Value of an Emergency Plan May 15, 2026 On Thursday, May 14, a midday fire knocked out two of the four East River tunnels that the Long Island Rail Road uses to access Penn Station. Because one additional tunnel was closed for a long-term overhaul, this left only a single track for all trains between Penn Station and Long Island during May 15th’s AM rush. This has caused massive disruptions: at first, the LIRR suspended most service west of Jamaica. Since then, the railroad has begun to divert some trains to Grand Central Madison (GCM) and Atlantic Terminal as it very slowly resumes operations to Penn Station. Before going further, it is important to note that this is not an ordinary week for the LIRR. The railroad is preparing for a possible strike beginning at Midnight, which should it not be called off at the last minute would prevent any trains leaving terminals as of that time. This further complicates the situation by requiring the agency to modify schedules and make other preparations to ensure that trains are in locations that permit for a rapid resumption of service if the potential strike ends. For more info on the strike, the LIRR has set up an information page with final trains, and alternative service. ETA encourages straphangers to keep an eye on LIRR social media and alerts for the latest strike information. Fires and other severe disruptions are thankfully rare, and ETA is happy that no one has been injured. At the same time, thanks to its redundancy, the LIRR can and should develop emergency service plans that can be implemented on short notice for major disruptions like this1. This is not unprecedented. Trains on NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton, and Gladstone Lines that normally run into Penn Station via MidtownDIRECT are being diverted to Hoboken Terminal under an emergency operations plan. From there, riders can take PATH... read the rest on etany.org
Wordwide monthly pass ratios showing NY at the top.
Blair Lorenzo
Tonight, Friday April 24, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt Behind GCT
Friday April 24, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt Behind GCT
Dear Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Chairs Cooney, Comrie, and Braunstein: We urge you to oppose S9586 (Parker) and A10706 (Chandler-Waterman), that would restrict the MTA’s use of one-person train operation (OTPO), the industry standard for subway systems in the U.S. and internationally. Under your leadership, the Legislature has done an outstanding job supporting the MTA through new dedicated tax revenues. We thank you for this and hope you continue focusing on big picture questions like the MTA’s financial sustainability as it faces out-year budget gaps and federal funding challenges. The bills require each New York City Transit subway train to have at least two crew members: a conductor, and operator. This is not required for any other U.S. transit system, except for the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), or the world’s other major transit systems. This legislation would prevent the MTA from adopting the industry standard and realizing operational efficiencies as it deploys new trains designed to work with the billions of dollars of advanced signal technology being installed throughout the subway system. A 2025 report by NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management’s Transit Costs Project, “How Many People Does it Take to Operate a Train?” found that less than 6% of 400 rail lines around the world use two or more train operators. Of the 94% that use one or fewer operators, many are completely automated and more are working towards automation as modern signal systems are installed. These systems have operated safely without conductors, or any staff in some cases, on board. The MTA has also safely and successfully operated one-person subway trains since 1996 on shuttles and at off-peak hours.
Blair Lorenzo
TONIGHT, Friday March 27, 2026 from 6-8pm at The Irish Exit Moynihan Food Hall Penn Station
Friday March 27, 2026 from 6-8pm at The Irish Exit Moynihan Food Hall Penn Station
Division. As detailed in the RFP Overview and Proposal Procedures, both the Base Order and Option Orders have multiple split scenarios consisting of different configurations/combinations of Closed End Cars (the "R262") and Open Gangway Cars (the "R262OG"). The Contractor will provide all design, engineering, testing, manufacturing, delivery, warranty, training, spare parts, tools, diagnostics test equipment and other services as necessary.
"Blair Lorenzo, Executive Director, Effective Transit Alliance "This is a great decision by Gov. Sherrill, one which should have always been a no-brainer. Urban highway widenings have no place in the 21st century, and all too often, the need for structural replacement is used as an excuse for hidden road expansion. This is the right call not only for New Jersey, but for the entire metropolitan area." "
Blair Lorenzo
Tonight, Friday February 27, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
Friday February 27, 2026 from 6-8pm at Vanderbuilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
Researchers with the Effective Transit Alliance, who previously convinced the MTA to tunnel under All Faiths Cemetery to speed up service on its proposed Interborough Express, said that even the station at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station — the busiest planned station in Phase II — will not be 75-feet wide, so none of the stations on the crosstown branch need to approach that width. ETA researchers told Streetsblog that keeping the crosstown stations the same size as the Phase I and Phase II stations could save 15 percent on tunneling costs alone.
Logo for Unlock NY's Future: A statewide coalition of 30 organizations calling for SEQRA modernization
Blair Lorenzo in front of the Manhattan Bridge
Tonight, Friday, January 23, 2026 from 6-8pm at The Irish Exit Moynihan Train Hall's Food Hall
The stretch, which lies south of the Croton-Harmon stop, is the only one of four tracks along the route that doesn’t have a third rail, according to the solicitation document. A single, diesel-only track where all the others are electric is an unusual arrangement, said Blair Lorenzo, the executive director of the Effective Transit Alliance, an organization that advocates for improved transit in the New York region. The construction site lies within what the MTA calls its “third-rail territory,” or 102 miles of Metro-North that have electric capacity and extend up the Hudson, New Haven and Harlem lines. In September last year, the department announced that new Siemens Mobility Charger locomotives were starting to operate along the Husdon line specifically. While older models on the tracks only run electric within the tunnels of Grand Central Terminal, the Charger locomotives are built for long-distance, high-speed electric travel, Lorenzo said. Completing this final bit of electrification on the Hudson line would let the new models operate diesel-free all the way to Croton-Harmon.
Friday, January 23, 2026 from 6-8pm at The Irish Exit Moynihan Train Hall's Food Hall
A tweet from Ben Furnas of Transit Alternatives quoting an interview with MTA Chair Janno Lieber in which he says, "Organized civic groups in New York City have declined. They've in many cases, gone out of business or faded from memory or faded in importance and impact. In their place has arisen a network of urban-oriented and especially transit-oriented advocacy groups, and they had a huge impact on the all of what we've been able to accomplish in the fact in the past few years."
Friday, January 23, 2026 from 6-8pm at The Irish Exit Moynihan Train Hall's Food Hall
In an unprecedented move, Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill reappointed Kris Kolluri to head NJ Transit and also appointed him to head the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, two large and complex state transit agencies. The unusual decision to appoint one person to lead the two agencies is meant to “unify strategy, rethink how we move people, and ultimately improve commutes for the residents of New Jersey,” said the Jan. 8 press release announcing the decision. “We need a collaborative and creative approach when it comes to addressing challenges and opportunities affecting our state, which is especially true as we update New Jersey’s approach to transit,” Sherrill said in the statement.
A graph in change of bus speeds 2024-2025, showing a 2.4% increase in local bus speed through the congestion zone (vs 0.8% citywide) and a 2% increase in express bus speeds in the zone (vs -0.4% citywide)
Under the Microscope The IBX is also the first major transit project in New York to have its entire design and planning process scrutinized by a new generation of transit advocacy groups like the Effective Transit Alliance and the Transit Costs Project. Unlike older advocacy organizations, which focused on good urban planning or the needs of riders, these entities are laser-focused on the technical minutiae of transit design, construction and operations. Already, they appear to have influenced aspects of the project. For example, the MTA’s initial plans called for a short section where the train would run on the street to get around a corner of All Faiths Cemetery in Queens as a cost-saving measure. But, in a report entitled “515 Feet from Greatness,” the Effective Transit Alliance argued that this street-running section would slow down service and constrain ridership.
Blair Lorenzo of ETA
Tonight, Friday December 12, 2025 from 6-8pm at Vanderbuilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central.
Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy! Friday December 12, 2025 from 6-8pm at Vanderbuilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central. All are welcome!
Graph showing the decline of pollution both in the congestion zone and in the wider region since the implementation of congestion pricing.
"Open gangway cars have become the standard for transit systems all over the world. The MTA is paying extra to buy bespoke trains that meet out of date specifications rather than ordering off the shelf models from worldwide manufacturers. These trains will be in service for at least 30 years. There is no excuse for the MTA to live in the past and order trains that know will be out of date before they arrive. Every car should be open gangway at this point," said Lorenzo.
"We're as confused as anyone as to the MTA's reticence to buy open-gangway cars," said Blair Lorenzo, the executive director of the Effective Transit Alliance. "Walk-through trains have long since become the standard around the world: they're safer, they're more comfortable for riders, and they increase train capacity by around 10 percent. They are an obvious win."
This Friday, come join ETA for our last TOD: Transit-Oriented Drinks of the year! Join us for drinks, transit discussion, and transit advocacy! Friday December 12, 2025 from 6-8pm at Vanderbuilt Market 45th & Vanderbilt behind Grand Central. All are welcome!
A diagram of reverse branching, where two trunks split into three branches, but the middle branches from each truck join into a single branch.
Many of New York’s subway lines are interconnected through delicate acts of interlining, allowing delays to spread. This graph shows all B Division services that share tracks with at least one other service. Services that share tracks after the F/M swap are connected by a line.
Metro slide: "Investigation modernization elements directly addresses Metro's key challenges"
Public Q&A On Thursday, November 20, 2025, join Port Authority and PATH Leadership and Hudson County Complete Streets to discuss the conclusion of the PATH Forward program, review PATH’s new budget and capital plans, and to discuss PATH’s future in Hudson County. Thursday, November 20, 2025 6 – 8 PM Hudson County Community College 161 Newkirk Street Culinary Conference Center Scott Ring Room, 2nd Floor
For Immediate Release: Nov. 14, 2025 Contact: Emmanuelle Morgen, emmanuelle@hudcostreets.org Hudson County Complete Streets Celebrates PATH Improvements and Announces Nov. 20 Public Q&A with Port Authority Jersey City, NJ - Hudson County Complete Streets (HCCS) would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Port Authority for their November 13 statement with their commitment to major improvements in PATH service, including more trains on weekends, and direct weekend service to New York from both Hoboken and Jersey City on all four lines. With these improvements, the Port Authority will restore levels of service on PATH that have not been seen in nearly 25 years. Q&A with PATH / November 20, 6pm To answer any questions the public may have about these planned improvements or other PATH topics, Hudson County Complete Streets invites the public to attend a Q&A Session with PATH leadership on Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6PM–8PM, in Journal Square, at the Hudson County Community College – Culinary Conference Center, Scott Ring Room – 2nd Floor, 161 Newkirk Street, Jersey City, NJ 07306. To submit questions directly to the Port Authority ahead of time, click here. Leadership in Advocacy Launched by Hudson County Complete Streets in 2024 with the mobilization of volunteers gathering thousands of signatures, the Better PATH Campaign led the advocacy efforts for critical improvements to PATH service with a campaign that made two requests: 1. 5-minute off-peak PATH service on nights and weekends 2. A direct PATH extension to Newark Airport (EWR) The improvements on both the World Trade Center and 33rd St lines and a return to direct service to 33rd St without the detour to Hoboken represent a significant step in the right direction, with more than double the number of trains on weekends. PATH serves more than 200,000 riders per weekday and 100,000 per weekend day–the region’s gold star in sustainable transportation. Increased service means increased rider…
Daily News Opinion piece: Veto this subway featherbedding: Hochul must stop Legislature’s effort to force the use of two-person crews
An Instagram mpost by nycsubwaylife showing a new R211 G train and proclaiming that there is 5G service on the G, and that "You can now enjoy AT&T service in the tunnel between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Ave
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.
Mamdami-style sign reading "Through-Running for Penn Station"
Blair Lorenzo in front of the Manhattan Bridge
Mayor Adams Invests $40 Million for Universal Seating, Installing Seating at Every Bus Stop in New York City October 30, 2025