Last night at the New York Blood Center auditorium on the Upper West Side, Assemblyman Micah Kellner moderated a panel on post-congestion-pricing solutions for city transportation that reached a general consensus but no real solution: Congestion pricing is not a bad idea, the proposal was just executed poorly, and right now the M.T.A. is, as one panelist said, in “deep doo-doo.”

“The congestion pricing plan proposed by Mayor Bloomberg failed to gain approval in the State Legislature in the spring,” said Kellner, who was a vocal proponent of congestion pricing. "Neither the plan’s supporters nor its critics seem to have a firm idea of what to do next.  read more »

New York City commuters awoke this morning to the grim reality that improved mass transit service is not in the cards anytime soon; but if it’s any consolation subways have gotten (slightly) cleaner since 2005, according to the ninth annual “Subway Shmutz” report released today by the Straphangers Campaign.

On the whole, the results will probably not do much to brighten an otherwise gloomy day for subway passengers—unless you happen to ride the L or the 7. Between Sept. 20, 2007, and Jan. 11, 2008, Straphangers inspected 2,200 subway cars on 22 lines and found that half were “clean," up from 47 percent when the last survey was conducted in 2005.

Subway cars were rated on the cleanliness of floors and seats, according to the M.T.A.’s official standards. The ones that were "basically dirt free" or had "light dirt"—"occasional 'ground-in' spots but generally clean"—were rated clean.

The survey found nine lines had improved noticeably (2, 7, B, E, G, J/Z, L, M, and V); six had deteriorated (3, 4, 6, C, D, and Q); and seven lines remained basically unchanged (1, 5, A, F, N, R, and W).  read more »