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MTA adds detail to service notices

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Delays and service interruptions have become all-too-common with all of the construction and upgrade work taking place on tracks and stations. Now the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is trying to make it easier for commuters to figure out exactly what they can expect when they arrive for the train.

MTA has added new categories to its “service status” notices on MTA.info, breaking up interruptions and changes to provide immediate detail on whether express trains are going local, if trains are skipping stations, or if they’re being outright re-routed, among other issues.

The effort to make the change has been led by NYC Transit’s chief customer officer Sarah Meyer, according to the MTA. The categories will be expanded to include Twitter, car and station announcements, as well as station signage.

It replaces a system that only shared “delays,” “service change” and “planned work.” The goal is to make it much easier to identify service issues with just a glance, and not have to dig through blocks of unrelated data.

The categories, which went into effect Monday, include “part suspended,” “trains rerouted,” “local to express,” “express to local,” “stations skipped,” “slow speeds” and “multiple impacts.”

“When trains aren’t running normally, few things are more frustrating than not knowing what’s going on,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director of Riders Alliance, in a release. “Especially with the changes that will be required to fix the subway, it’s valuable for the MTA to give riders more information, through more channels, to help New Yorkers plan our trips.”

 

City pushes early voting into Kingsbridge

After catching heat for providing a limited number of early voting sites — and none nearby — the city elections board added four additional sites to the Bronx, including one at P.S. 207.

The new sites will join seven previously announced locations, but remains below the number the city could put in the borough, based on the state law passed earlier this year.

The Kingsbridge elementary school is the only early voting site in the area covered by Bronx Community Board 8.

In total, 19 sites across the city were added to the initial list of 38, a far cry short of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s request for 100 locations.

Early voting will begin Oct. 26 and run until Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.

— Joseph Konig

MTA, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Sarah Meyer, Danny Pearlstein, Bill de Blasio, Michael Hinman, Joseph Konig,

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