By Philip Newman
Sander, delivering what was billed as the first State of the MTA address, spoke to a crowd of nearly 1,000 at Cooper Union in Manhattan Monday.Early in his vision of the future would come such improvements as increased service on the E and F lines before and after rush hour, computer-controlled trains on the No. 7 and F lines to permit more trains per hour, six new Queens bus routes and an increase in frequency of service on 13 bus routes.”Imagine the Second Avenue subway running south to Lower Manhattan, then going under the East River to downtown Brooklyn, then on to Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, via the Long Island Rail Road Atlantic Avenue branch with a connection to the AirTrain to JFK,” Sander said.Sander began by looking back to the dark days of the MTA – the 1970s – speaking against a backdrop of huge slides depicting dilapidated and graffiti-covered subway cars.”Track fires became routine,” Sander said. “Trains derailed every 18 days on average and 325 subway runs were abandoned every day. Subway crime was a fact of life.”He said that since 1982, the MTA has invested $76 billion to rebuild 200 subway and rail stations and 700 miles of track.”We've also rebuilt or purchased 6,400 subway cars and 10,000 buses,” Sander said.Sander said New York “is locked in a competition for brainpower and capital with places like London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris,” but that competing will require a greater commitment.”Next year we will have four tunnel boring machines operating to expand the subway and regional rail systems,” he said. “Sound impressive? Right now, Shanghai has 90 such machines at work. In just five years, Shanghai's subway system will be as extensive as New York's subway network.”Sander said China spends 9 percent of its gross domestic product on infrastructure. The United States spends less than 1 percent of its GDP. “That is unacceptable,” he said.Among other parts of the plan:¥ using a dormant railroad freight line for subway service from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, through Queens and up to the Bronx;¥ more service on the B and W subway lines up to 11 p.m.¥ a new AirTrain route on elevated tracks from the Woodside Long Island Rail Road station to LaGuardia airport.A more current concern for the MTA is the $29.5 billion budget covering the next five years. It was presented last week and now comes up for approval by the New York State Legislature.Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
