The Free Bus Era Is Over

Plus: Joe Biden is courting the train vote [View this email in your browser]( Bus Fares Are A Drop In The Bucket. The MTA Says It Needs Every Drop It Can Get. Plus: Some cab drivers are not thrilled about restaurants taking over the street. NYC Ferry will now carry passengers from Astoria directly to the hospital-heavy Upper East Side. And we got a reminder that Joe Biden likes trains. By [James Ramsay](mailto:james@wnyc.org?subject=We%20the%20Commuters) [a lone man sits on a bus during the Era Of Free Bus Rides] Jen Chung/Gothamist Starting on August 31st, New York City buses will no longer be free to ride. This comes after months of the MTA cordoning off the fronts of buses to protect drivers, the subset of transit employees [hit hardest by the coronavirus](. By resuming front-door boarding, buses are also opening up the space around fareboxes — and once again requiring riders to pay. "The fact is, we do not operate as a free service, as much as we may want to, and we can't afford to lose out on these revenues at this moment," interim NYC Transit chief Sarah Feinberg said this week. "It's important for us financially to get back to collecting the fare." Because the city's buses haven't lost as big a percentage of their ridership — both subways and buses are [now averaging about 1.3 million riders]( on weekdays — you could argue that bus fares have emerged as a crucial source of incoming cash. But the MTA said that free bus rides have cost about $159 million in lost revenue over the past several months, and the agency has been losing $200 million a week during the pandemic. Plus, it's facing a $16 billion budget shortfall through 2024. Would it not be feasible to keep the buses free, especially since it's mostly lower-income [essential workers]( who've been commuting on them? "We are in a moment when every dollar counts," Feinberg insisted. "Would we like to become an agency that can run free transit? That's an absolutely fair policy question. It's not a policy question that we can debate at this moment while our finances have fallen off a cliff, unfortunately." As more riders do continue to commute via bus, transit advocates are asking the MTA to continue to allow rear-door boarding so passengers can maintain social distancing. To protect drivers, plastic barriers have been installed around their seats, enhanced air filtration systems are being installed, and the markers behind which passengers are supposed to stand are being moved further back in the bus. In addition, some buses now have mask dispensers for riders who don't have a face covering, and Bridge and Tunnel officers will be on board to remind passengers to put on their masks — and pay their fares. — [Reporting by Sydney Pereira]( The City Is Letting More Restaurants Put Tables In The Streets, And Some Cabbies Aren't Happy About It [restaurants set up tables in the street in Chinatown] Scott Lynch/Gothamist The mayor's office announced last week that [21 additional streets]( could make extra space for outdoor dining, bringing the citywide total to 76 participating streets and nine pedestrian plazas. This means that from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays, and noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, these streets will be closed to traffic so restaurants can put more tables outside. This is good news for restaurants that want to increase their capacity, and diners who don't want to risk getting sideswiped by a vehicle. It's apparently less welcome news for taxi drivers. "I’m totally against sharing the street with restaurants," [one driver told NY1's]( Manuel Benítez](. Many for-hire vehicle drivers, who were already facing financial pressures because of a drop in ridership during the pandemic, fear that restaurants are now encroaching on their livelihood. "The city is geared up to have no vehicles on the road, and is using more an approach of bikes and walking and Open Streets — which we support, because the community needs that space, but at the same time, we provide an essential service in the city, because many people still refuse to go on mass transportation," said Cira Ángeles, a spokesperson for the Livery Base Owners Association. In addition to opening more streets for restaurants, the city last week announced new Play Streets — in which kids can participate in various classes and activities during the weekdays — at locations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Here's What Else Is Happening By 2024, experts think the MTA will still be spending an exorbitant 23 percent of its revenue just on debt repayment. For reference, New York City caps its debt services costs at 15 percent of all revenue. Budget watchdogs say that even laying off workers and cutting bus and subway service won't be enough to balance the agency's books. According to one analyst, the MTA will need to look for new revenue sources, like congestion pricing and other forms of statewide taxation, once the pandemic is over. ([The Wall Street Journal]( The Long Island Rail Road says the entire system will have positive train control — a crucial braking technology — by the end of 2020. PTC, which can slow or stop a train if the operator makes a mistake or falls asleep, was mandated by the federal government after a 2008 crash in California. The LIRR has been granted two extensions to finish installing PTC, with its final deadline set for the end of this year. The agency said 94 percent of its tracks and trains are already equipped, and it's now finalizing installation in some parts of Queens. ([Newsday]( The NYC Ferry service is tweaking its Astoria line to run directly from Queens to 90th Street on the Upper East Side. By adding the stop, NYC Ferry is looking to assist both medical workers and patients who live in Queens and want a quicker way to reach the hospitals on the Upper East Side. According to the city agency that oversees the ferry service, overall ridership rose 61 percent from June to July. ([AM New York]( The City Council has announced the winners in its Brooklyn Bridge redesign contest. The winning design in the professional category features an expanded bike and pedestrian platform with "microforests" at each end of the bridge. The winner of the amateur category includes a glass-paneled pedestrian walkway with space for vendors to set up along the bridge. The city has no immediate plans to make either of these designs — or any other Brooklyn Bridge renovations — a reality. ([The Brooklyn Paper]( Joe Biden: Train Guy [Joe Biden greets passengers on an Amtrak train] TCUVids/YouTube I agree with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and my colleagues at On The Media that the Democratic National Convention is essentially "[Shark Week, motherfucker]( and the only thing happening that isn't benign propaganda is the formal nominating of the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates. But I mean ... you'd have to be a pretty committed cynic to watch [this clip]( from the convention and conclude that Joe Biden doesn't love trains. He commuted almost daily on Amtrak for 30 years. He bought rounds of coffee for his fellow passengers. He knew conductors by name, and called to check in on one of them after they had a heart attack. It'd be cool at some point to see him [running through Penn Station with a giant backpack on]( but this was definitely something! Weekend Service Changes: Night of August 21st – Early Morning on August 24th This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. Note: The entire subway system is closed each night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice. trains will not run between Grand Central-42 St and New Lots Av. trains will not run between Grand Central-42 St and Brooklyn Bridge. Hudson Yards-bound trains skip 111 St, 103 St, 90 St and 82 St. No trains will run between Church Av and Coney Island-Stillwell Av. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. [a close-up of James Ramsay sitting on a vespa] James Ramsay would maybe vote for a train? 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