The MTA plans to add more service on the 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and L trains as soon as next year, the agency announced at a packed board meeting this morning. The Broadway and Lexington Avenue lines will get more evening service, the 7 more weekend service, and the L more trains at all times, plus two high-speed bus routes. The usual warnings of budget shortfalls and potential fare hikes were issued, and MTA executive director Lee Sander said the agency will have to crunch some numbers before it can determine exactly how many trains will be added.

He also wants MTA departments to compete for the best ideas for better connections between routes and ways to make rides more pleasant, and he's requesting $30 million for 2008 and $60 million per year for the three subsequent years to fund the best plans. Members of the public offered some of their own ideas for improvement at this morning's meeting. Among the suggestions: forcing transit workers to wear neon-colored gloves (which somehow connected to "winning against the Muslim world"), reviving the long-defunct K and RR lines, and saving money by banning Poland Spring at MTA HQ.
—Alec Appelbaum