Subway sign- Operation and Politics of MTA

Sign shows routes for subways in area of West Midtown.

When I first came to NYC, subways had names like the Lexington Avenue IRT, the BMT, the Canarsie Line, etc. Numbers and letters came later.

Guess it makes getting around easier and makes maps more comprehensible.

Seems there is a blacked out spot on this sign...maybe it is one of the lines the MTA recently discontinued (the W?).

About MTA:

History

Chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1965 as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (MCTA) it initially was responsible only for regulating and subsidizing commuter railroads, including the Long Island Rail Road and what is now the Metro-North Railroad. The MCTA changed its name to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in 1968 when it took over operations of the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), now MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) and MTA Bridges and Tunnels (B&T) respectively.

 Responsibilities and service area

The MTA has the responsibility for developing and implementing a unified mass transportation policy for The New York metropolitan area, including all five boroughs of New York City, the suburban counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester, all of which together are the "Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD)". The current Chairman and CEO of the MTA was Jay Walder--he is now leaving as of 7/11/11 for Tokyo. No replacement has been announced yet.
The MTA is the largest public transportation provider in the Western Hemisphere. Its agencies serve 14.6 million people spread over 5,000 square miles (13,000 km²) from New York City through southeastern New York State (including Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley), and Connecticut. MTA agencies now move more than 2.6 billion rail and bus customers a year and employ approximately 70,000 workers.
Walder's recent threats to terminate Long Island Bus, under the claim of a lack of funding, have led to various lawsuits being filed against the MTA and their payroll tax by the suburban counties, as well as a call for his resignation by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.^[8]