New and longer train cars are coming to the PATH

Plus: One conductor is not here for your door-holding games [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] New and longer train cars are coming to the PATH Plus: The city has a contract to install weight sensors for heavy trucks on the BQE. Three City Bike riders have been killed by drivers so far this year. And one conductor is not here for your door-holding games. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- [a PATH train on a trailer] Port Authority The Port Authority on Thursday unveiled [new PATH train cars]( which officials said are key to boosting service on the cross-Hudson subway. The new cars made their debut at Hoboken Station, and are the first of 72 the Port Authority ordered for the system from Japan-based manufacturer Kawasaki. The order, which will extend the length of nearly all the trains on the World Trade Center-Newark line from eight cars to nine, increases the size of PATH’s 350-car fleet by about 20%. All the new cars are scheduled to arrive by the end of 2023, at which point Port Authority officials said they plan to run PATH trains every three minutes during rush hour — an increase in frequency from current peak headways of five minutes. The Port Authority was originally scheduled to receive the new cars in the spring of 2021, but manufacturing delays and labor shortages at Kawasaki’s manufacturing plant in Lincoln, Nebraska pushed back their arrival. The company is also far behind schedule on the delivery of new train cars for New York City’s subway. The PATH is still suffering from low ridership in the aftermath of the pandemic. In March there were more than 4 million trips, which is about 2 million fewer than March of 2019. "We’re glad to see upgrades like this because they not only improve system reliability, they also help bring riders back to the system," said Zoe {NAME}, New Jersey director of the Regional Plan Association. — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen and Clayton Guse]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- City inks $1M contract for tech to catch overweight trucks on BQE [the triple-cantilevered BQE in Brooklyn Heights] Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock New York City on Tuesday approved a $1 million contract to NYU’s C2SMART Center to [install "weigh in motion" sensors]( on the crumbling triple-cantilever section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn Heights. The sensors will be used to identify trucks on the highway that exceed its legal weight limit of 40 tons. Under the program, trucks that are too heavy will automatically be issued fines of up to $7,000. It's still not clear when the automated ticketing program — which was supposed to be up and running by the end of last year — will actually begin. Department of Transportation officials said this week there's still work to be done to install weight sensors on the Queens-bound side of the triple cantilever. Staten Island-bound lanes are scheduled get the scales this spring. Ultimately, the deteriorating roadway still needs to be replaced — but city, state and federal officials must first choose a design and construction method. In the meantime, the DOT plans to launch extensive interim repairs this spring to shore up the stretch of the BQE until the larger construction project launches. — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Here's what else is happening A 16-year-old boy riding an electric Citi Bike was killed by a hit-and-run SUV driver in Queens this week, becoming the third person to die so far this year while using the bike-share service. Police later arrested a suspect who allegedly killed the cyclist at the intersection of 21st Street and 21st Avenue in Astoria on Monday night. ([Gothamist]( The NYPD plans to deploy little R2-D2-looking robots to patrol subway stations. NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said the wheeled K5 Autonomous Security Robot, a.k.a. snitchBOT, "uses artificial intelligence to provide real-time communications to first responders." ([Gothamist]( For the rest of April — which is Autism Acceptance Month — the MTA is bringing back public service announcements voiced by children with autism. The transit agency launched the campaign last year as a way of honoring the affinity that kids with autism often feel towards trains and mass transit. ([Gothamist]( A new bill in the City Council bill would overhaul the city's trucking routes for the first time since the 1970s. Lawmakers who support the change want to take environmental and climate justice concerns into account in deciding where trucks can go. ([Gothamist]( In a vote that's technically symbolic, an Upper West Side community board recently rejected installing an e-bike charging station for delivery workers at Broadway and 72nd Street. Tech experts fear this NIMBYism is keeping the city from updating its infrastructure to accommodate rapidly expanding services like app-based food deliveries. ([Gothamist]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- And Finally: Quit playin' games [a TikTok recording of a conductor telling riders that someone's holding the door open]( [@SubwayCreatures/TikTok]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential election coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [WNYC]( [WQXR]( [NJPR]( [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. [Terms of Use.]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your [preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list