— Some persistent reporters got to the heart of what motivated t-shirt vendor Lance Orton to report the smoking car in Times Square last week.

Turns out we can thank the MTA.

“See something, say somthing,” a media-weary Ortiz mumbled, as he escaped the horde in a taxi Monday. Check out the Wall Street Journal‘s video:

— Gothamist says the Pace University student who carried cyanide into the subway tunnels last week has been formerly charged with trespassing and will receive a psychiatric evaluation. Subway workers feared he was a terrorist. But news reports say it was a suicide attempt.

— The 37-year-old Staten Island Railway cars are among the many capital projects that got the axe in the MTA budget cuts, SILive.com reports. The cars have a lifespan of 40 years, but the MTA noted that those cars recently received $11 million in maintenance work.

— HollabackNYC, the group that combats sexual harrassment on streets and public transit, is raising money to create an iPhone application. The app would allow users to snap pictures of their harassers and instantly send them along with time and location information to a central database. Check out last month’s video piece on public transit harassment. For more info on the app, check out this video report for the New York City News Service.

The main MTA stories in the news this week dealt with student MetroCards cuts, skipped fares, speculation about a ’10 fare increase and the discovery of a mock MTA website.

We were amongst the first to cover MTA Chairman Walden’s announcement that the vote on student MetroCards will be delayed until June.

The announcement that there were far more fare dodgers in 2009 than in 2008 and only slightly more citations was covered here and here (among many other places).

Heather Haddon at amNY reports on this great mock MTA website. Who or what is behind it is unclear, but much effort has been put into it.

There’s been a slew of mass transit news since Friday. Here’s your update:

New Yorkers aren’t the only ones concerned about the MTA’s plan to lay off hundreds of station agents. U.S. representatives from other states are calling it a security threat, according to The New York Times.

Finally! The Post is reporting that MTA is soliciting proposals from contractors to install wi-fi at Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station and on the LIRR and Metro-North.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle writes about an old MTA building that leaders say is a blemish on the Downtown Brooklyn’s resurgence.

Politicians from the Northern suburbs are calling for an end to the MTA’s payroll tax, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

It’ll be news the day that there’s not a rumor that the MTA is contemplating a fare hike. Today is not that day. The Post has a story on the latest fare-hike rumblings.

The 7 train is back – early! The Queens Courier has the announcement.

You have news that we missed? Let us know. Leave a comment or send an email to nyctracks@gmail.com.