The MTA’s finance committee has passed a truckload of bus and train cuts meant to reduce the transit agency’s $800 million budget shortfall, NY1 is reporting. The savings package now goes to the full MTA board for final approval. That vote is expected Wednesday morning.

The proposal got a thumbs up from the financial committee with just one member voting no.

The revised plan approved last night is a slightly smaller version of the mega-cuts that the MTA had been considering. Some cuts were taken off the table. And the MTA decided to delay its vote on the controversial proposal to drop free and reduced-fare student MetroCards.

The MTA hast started pulling back on the massive cuts at the center of its plan to reduce an $800 million deficit this year. Among the changes: service cuts to the M22 and the S60 (a tiny, but important route, that we covered last month) will be less severe.

The revised plan will be on the table at the board meeting on Wednesday, when the budget cut plan is scheduled for vote. What won’t be on the table – the controversial plan to cut free and reduced-fare MetroCards for students. As we told you last week, Chairman Walder agreed to delay the action on that proposal.

Check back with NYCTracks.com on Wednesday for live information on the long-awaited MTA budget-cut vote.

But one cut wasn’t spared. It looks like the V-train’s D-Day is still approaching.

Also in the news:

They’re fun, urban décor. But they’re also illegal. NYC The Blog reports that a longtime shopkeeper was busted Friday for selling subway signs.

At least one public hearing has resulted in change at the MTA. The transit agency has agreed to investigate the African burial ground beneath the 126th Street bus depot, according to DNAinfo.

A commuters routine is a lot like New Yorkers’ life style. Rushing, pushing and being pushed, not enough space and the cost is always on the rise.

When it comes to relationships, it’s just the same.

With a very limited time shared with the subject of interest, anywhere in the city, as on the train – you have to be quick. That person might get off at the next stop and will disappear in the sea of uninteresting people.

Most of the time however, as our survey showed, we just don’t bother.

And here are some more poll results:

62% said that SOMETIMES it’s okay to make eye contact on the train

and 35% said it’s ABSOLUTELY okay to do it

AND:

And here are some of the suggestions for the MTA, on how to make our rides more romantic:

“Um, get me home quicker. That’s where the real romance happens.

Or candles.”

“Lower lighting, scented candles, smooth jazz and Barry White announcing stops.”

A comment that came up A LOT was:

Make the trains cleaner. A clean train is a romantic train.

Or something that would require more resources…but very creative:

“Wow, we could move the subway to Paris”

— Dana Rapoport

Chris Schuetze contributed to the reporting

The MTA will close 70 station token booths. The Clinton-Washington stop in Brooklyn and 174th Street in the Bronx are two of those. Closing booths and reducing employers in some locations can result in a safety concern for commuters, amNY reported yesterday.

Calling for more anti-fare jumping measures, Bill DeBlasio warned, that cutting MTA staffing is a safety risk that makes it easier for riders to skip out on fares, a practice that costs the agency $27 million a year. NY1, Second Ave. Sagas and Gothamist reported yesterday.

A new report released by the chief watchdog group for the MTA criticized the agency on its mismanagement of several different projects. The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee‘s survey reflected that, for example, the platform level notices for assigned service changes only 42 percent of the time, and at street level observed relevant service notices only 22 percent of the time. For more, information, check out the review

Student activists met with MTA Chairman Jay Walder on March 17 to discuss how to avoid cutting free and reduced-fare MetroCards.

— Colby Hamilton

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.

Surrounded by New York City student activists today, MTA Chairman and CEO Jay Walder announced today that no vote will take place on the proposed cut to student MetroCards at next week’s MTA board hearing. Walder said he doesn’t expect a vote on the issue until possibly June. He said he hopes by then to work with state and local officials to resolve the issue of funding for the students’ cards.

Check back with NYC Tracks for details on today’s meeting between student activists and Walder.

Movies on the tracks

The New York City subway has been the scene of many blockbuster hits. But, there are some films that really capture the essence of the tracks.

Who doesn’t love The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3—the original? Denzel was great in the 2009 remake of this classic subway movie but there is just something about the hijack scenes of the 1974 movie.

The 1974 version is based of off the 1973 novel while the 2009 version is based off of the 1974 film. The ’74 film ends with the runaway train tripping a red signal at South Ferry. The ’09 film ends with a runaway No. 6 train heading towards Coney Island at full speed. The updated film takes it a step further with Denzel Washington’s character in a face off with a hijacker, played by John Travolta, on the Manhattan Bridge.

The French Connection is another subway classic. The crime film was the first R-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The car chase in this film involves a car chasing a New York City train on elevated tracks in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The D train currently runs on the tracks used in this film. MSNBC.com named the famous car chase scene from this movie as one of the top 10 car chase scenes.

The 1995 movie, Money Train, involves a plot to rob the MTA’s weekly fare collection train. Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Lopez and Woody Harrelson play New York City Transit cops in this thriller.

The retired MTA money train. Photo Credit: The Gothamist

A yellow train with diagonal stripes once collected fares from stations around the city. The money train retired in 2006 due to above ground pickups. Since NYC Transit now uses Metrocards instead of tokens, the yellow train no longer collects fares from subway stations.

Tell us your favorite subway movies. Drop us a line at nyctracks@gmail.com

–Walter Smith-Randolph

The MTA has released staggering numbers concerning fare beaters. Research finds that in 2009, $27 million was lost due to the people not paying their way. The New York Daily News has more.

amNew York reports that hundreds of subway security cameras are inoperable. According to amNew York, over 2,000 security cameras are unable to power up or have software glitches.

A watchdog group says that weekend service on the subway system is way off schedule. The New York Post reports that instead of waiting an additional two minutes, you could be waiting up to an extra ten minutes when service is scaled back in the future.

Pull out your laptops, it appears that some transit stations will soon have wireless internet. The Epoch Times says Grand Central Station and Penn Station will soon have wireless internet capabilities.

Eavesdropping.

The 2/3 train, heading to 72^nd street.

An early Sunday afternoon. Past 1 pm.

The subway car is semi-filled with a quiet crowd.

A boy and a girl enter.

They’re young. And so is the dynamic between them. She’s pretty and reserved, his knee is jumping.

They probably have known each other for a while, but just spent the first night together.

They talk about each other’s irritating sleeping habits. They’re annoying but sweet.

Before they exit – together – HE says, “It was nice, we should do it again sometime.”

“What, take the train together?” she replies, as she turns the other way.

—

We want to know more about you. That’s right, you! the person riding the trains, and we want you to know more about your commuter community. Your communitery. And this time, it’s about you, the train, and the L word.

For this purpose, we have a new feature – THE SURVEY!

Take 3.55 minutes to check out the questions and find out next week if you can find your soul mate, on the train.

Answer a couple of questions, and by next week, you’ll know more about train romance etiquette.

— Dana Rapoport