AMNY Subway Tracker

Marvin Franklin, a Transport Workers Union maintenance worker, was killed on the job one year ago today. Franklin, a talented artist, was 55 years old. He was killed in Downtown Brooklyn when a G train struck him as he tried to lift a dolly from the tracks onto the platform.

Five days earlier, Danny Boggs, a 41-year-old track worker was killed at Columbus Circle station.

The two deaths, so close together, spurred a call for new safety measures. The anniversary of their deaths has led John Samuelson, to dispute the value of the safety rules enacted over the last year. Samuelson, a union member who plans to run against TWU President Roger Toussaint, says the new rules do nothing to add to safety, while Toussaint and MTA chief Lee Sander say the new regulations make track work safer and signal cooperation between the union and the authority.

On Friday, Samuelson planned to gather a small group in remembrance of Franklin outside of the Smith and Hoyt Street station where Franklin died. A group gathered April 24 outside Columbus Circle on April 24 in memory of Danny Boggs.

Image at right: Marvin Franklin, "Subway Series, Morning Rush Hour," 2004, Ink. From www.dangheno.net.

(via Subivor.com)

For $39.99, you can survive a smoky subway disaster, according to the creators of a subway survival kit. Subivor is a 6 by 5-inch pack equipped with a smoke mask, mini flashlight, pry bar, whistle and sterile wipes. The creators claim the kit can help a sraphanger faced with smoke inhalation, biological contaminants, radioactive matter and dust and debris. The pack can slip into a purse or briefcase. Representatives from Subivor will be demonstrating the kit tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Lexington Avenue at the 53rd Street subway station. But anyone can check out the specs of the pack on its Web site, which notes that parts of the pack (the pry bar) may not be allowed into stadiums, airplanes or other places. Riders are already offering up their opinions on the kit on the Straphangers Campaign blog.

A bill establishing a "New York City Transit Authority Track Safety Task Force" passed both the Senate and Assembly this week, paving the way for a more stringent safety program. The bill comes in the wake of two subway track worker deaths in April. The task force would be made up of three members, including the MTA commissioner, the president of New York City Transit Authority and the president of Transport Workers Union, Local 100. Any of those three may delegate someone else to take their place on the committee. The Assembly has passed safety bills before, but they always stalled in the Senate or, as in 2004, vetoed by then Gov. George Pataki. More tomorrow in amNewYork.

-- Justin Rocket Silverman

Photo: Workers in A train tunnel under High Street by Rebecca Letz

With more a dozen riders injured when a drunk driver collided with a NYC Transit bus this weekend, we thought it would be good time to take a look at bus safety. According to the MTA's latest figures released last week, there are an average of 43 collisions per million miles traveled. Those accidents result in an average of 6.65 injuries per million miles traveled. The numbers have held steady for the past year.

-- Michael Clancy