LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL
MINUTES OF JANUARY 10, 2013
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on January 10, 2013, in the LIRR East Side Access Readiness Conference Room at 450 7th Avenue, 20th Floor, New York City.
The following members were present:
Sheila Carpenter Matthew Kessler
Mark Epstein Raymond Pagano
Michael Godino Bryan Peranzo
Ira Greenberg Larry Rubinstein
The following members were absent:
Gerard P. Bringmann Owen Costello
Maureen Michaels
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Rod Brooks -LIRR
Joe Calderone -LIRR
Marsha Desormeaux -MTAIG
Ned Rogers -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the January 10, 2013 meeting was approved. The minutes of the October 11, 2012 meeting was approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s Report has been approved and is attached to these minutes.
Mark Epstein introduced new LIRRCC member Ray Pagano from Oceanside. He has been a LIRR rider for ten years. He works as a construction manager, and one of his assignments is to oversee MTA work under its small business mentoring program. In this role, he sees quite a few of the platforms, bridges, and stations in the LIRR system. He said that he is interested in community based organizations and economic development and serves as the President of the Oceanside Civic Association. Each of the other members introduced themselves to Mr. Pagano.
Mr. Epstein asked guests at the meeting to introduce themselves. Ned Rogers of Rockaway Beach said that he is retired and interested in LIRR issues. He said that Mark Sachs, who has attended meetings with him in the past, had passed away one week before Superstorm Sandy.
Marsha Desormeaux of the MTA Inspector General’s office said that she was attending in her capacity of covering LIRRCC meetings for her office.
Board Report
Ira Greenberg gave the Board Report. He said that the major issue discussed at the last round of meetings was the proposed fare increases. The increases in LIRR fares were adopted as initially proposed. He said that the resignation of Chairman Lhota was another major issue at the meetings, but that he had no information about the search for a new Chairman at this time.
Mr. Greenberg said that the new schedule of MTA Board and Committee meetings has not yet begun, but that under this schedule there would be only eight sets of meetings, down from the present eleven. In addition to these meetings, there are to be Chairman’s Forums, where the public can interact with the Chairman and operating agency presidents, but further plans for these events have not been released.
Sheila Carpenter said that we still do not have a copy of the reduced fare proposal that was to have been developed by the LIRR for consideration by the MTA. She said that she has called Hector Garcia twice about the proposal and has been in contact with Karyl Berger at the PCAC office. She said that the LIRR ADA Advisory Committee has not met in some time.
Mike Godino said that the MTA should use a definition of disability like that used by Social Security. He said that it is very specific and does a good job of defining who is eligible for benefits.
Staff Report
Bill Henderson gave a summary of issues that have been raised with the PCAC office by riders. These included several complaints on the scheduling and reliability of service, complaints about delays after late October and early November storms, comments about the lack of fare collection and the efficiency of LIRR operations, several comments on the fare increase, thanks for the Council’s efforts in restoring service through the East River tunnels, questions about LIRR procedures, a comment on quiet cars, and a request for further expansion of station waiting room and ticket window open hours.
Member Reports
Larry Rubinstein commented that the changes in Merrick parking regulations are generally being received well by riders. The Town of Hempstead has decided to restrict one specific lot to those having resident permits. Commuters from other towns that park at the station are now moved to the back lot, which is an issue for those who had regularly parked there. He said that the elevator and elevator outages on the Babylon Branch are also of major concern to riders.
Matt Kessler stated that Community Board 14, of which he is a member, had a visit from Joe Raskin of NYC Transit to report on subway service to the Rockaways. He said that the connection of Rockaway service to the larger system is expected to be restored by June or July of 2013.
Ray Pagano commented there is lots of debris in LIRR parking lots and rights of way near stations. He said that garbage is piling up and there is a problem with dumpsters being left in parking lots at stations such as Oceanside, Island Park, and Far Rockaway. He said that the community had applauded the LIRR for installing high security fencing at Oceanside, but after Sandy a lot of fencing under the platforms is missing and people are uncertain about who is responsible for restoring it.
Guests: Rod Brooks, LIRR Chief Transportation Officer and Joe Calderone, LIRR Vice President – Market Development and Public Affairs
Mr. Epstein asked whether the Council could publicize its need for a Suffolk County representative in Train Talk. Joe Calderone replied that a notice could be placed in the February issue.
Rod Brooks said that he is in charge of all train movement functions. Mr. Epstein said that the Council is concerned about fares not being collected. Mr. Brooks responded that he recognizes that there will be consist size and crew assignment issues from time to time. Because of a number of factors, sometimes the crew book did not match needs in the field. In response to these mismatches, the Rail Road set up a process where if there is an issue, crew members will talk to a supervisor at Penn Station and attempt to remedy the problem there before the next run. He said that sometimes supervisors are able to adjust staffing, but sometimes they are not.
Mr. Brooks said that the LIRR is counting on using handheld devices to improve crew management. He said that the handheld devices that will be assigned to crew members are not only a new piece of technology to sell tickets and accept credit cards, but a way of seeing what is happening on the trains. At present the LIRR has a time lag between the occurrence of a problem and the reporting of the problem. Often staff members from MTA Audit check a train and identify a problem, then the LIRR rechecks that train to confirm the problem, and only then can supervision act. With the handheld, Mr. Brooks noted, supervisors can see if conductors are doing their job on a real time basis. He said that the LIRR is now in the end stages of a request for proposals process and expects to release the RFP by March or April. Their plan is for the device to be in the field by the end of the year; Metro-North is the lead agency on the procurement.
Mr. Epstein said that he and the other members of the LIRRCC see patterns of failures to collect tickets and that he would like to find out whether there is a reason for these patterns. Mr. Brooks stated that the LIRR is working on a plan to address these problems. He said that some of the recurring issues are on the Montauk branch and that LIRR supervision will ride some of these trains. He also said that the Rail Road is increasing its use of random audits and that in their audits fare collection groups go out and ride particular trains.
Mr. Brooks noted that the LIRR is also working on new crew instructions to specify best practices for the job, such as having two ticket collectors work toward each other so if one crew member is delayed, the other will pick up part of his or her section until they meet. He said that sometimes fare issues take a long time to resolve. The handheld device will help to speed the process, but it will still be necessary for other crew members to pick up the slack, and by adopting a “work to meet” system, they will be able to do this.
Mr. Epstein questioned changes to the practice of “punch day,” noting that it occurs only once a month now. Mr. Brooks stated that this was an anti-fraud action and that the LIRR found that it is not necessary to perform this inspection as often as was done in the past.
Sheila Carpenter asked what policy is followed when a rider refuses to pay or has no money and no identification. Mr. Brooks stated that there are two types of instructions for riders who are willing to pay and for those who are unwilling to pay. He said that lack of identification does not necessarily prevent a rider from being billed if there is willingness to pay. If there is unwillingness to pay the conductors no longer ask passenger to leave the train, because of incidents that have occurred in these circumstances. Instead, police are notified to meet the train and they handle the situation.
Ira Greenberg noted that when he rode in from Woodside on a Port Washington train there were no seat checks, but the conductors checked and collected tickets. Mr. Brooks replied that there are no seat checks on Port Washington Branch trains. Seat checks are used to see who paid, and because there is no stop in Jamaica on these trains and no connections to other trains seat checks don’t do as much good.
Larry Rubinstein stated that the LIRR is assuming that crew members are collecting tickets, but he has gone weeks without having his ticket collected. He said that enforcement is the key to make sure that crew members collect tickets. Mr. Brooks said that he disagrees with the premise that there is a widespread lack of collection, but that it is difficult to know about every part of the system. He said that he has 130 mangers and 1500 represented people working under him.
Bryan Peranzo asked Mr. Brooks if he would take the same information that is received from MTA Audit from the Council. Mr. Brooks asked that emails citing cases of non-collection be sent to Hector Garcia as soon as the office receives them. Mr. Calderone said that a system will be developed to deal with these reports.
Ms. Carpenter asked if the Conductors have discretion in collecting tickets in sensitive situations. Mr. Brooks responded that these situations are the reason that train crews no longer put people off the train. He said that the supervisors in Jamaica are better suited to make that call.
Mr. Epstein asked whether trains should be stopped for quiet car enforcement. Mr. Brooks said that they should not be. Mr. Epstein also stated that organized groups are being put in the quiet car, displacing those who want a quiet environment. Mr. Brooks stated that organized groups are put in westernmost car, which results in a conflict with the LIRR quiet car policy. He said that he will look into this situation and resolve the conflict.
Mr. Brooks noted that ticket collection had a 1.8% failure rate in January 2012, as opposed to a 10% rate in January 2011. The failure rate for 2012 climbed over the course the year.
Ms. Carpenter commented that the day of the Montauk St. Patrick’s Day parade is terrible day on the trains. Mr. Brooks and Mr. Calderone agreed and related some of the efforts that have been suggested and made to restrain the crowd attending the parade.
Mr. Epstein ask why the LIRR includes closed containers in its alcohol ban, noting that this is a problem for those wanting to transport bottles of wine or other alcohol for consumption at their destination. Mr. Calderone stated that the provisions of the alcohol ban are at request of the MTAPD. He said that in reality, the ban is not aggressively enforced with regard to closed containers except in the late night hours.
Mr. Epstein noted that the Council has complained for some time about missing flip down seat cushions on the M7 cars. Mr. Calderone said that Mike Gelormino had planned to attend the meeting, but that there is an order in the works to replace all missing seat cushions. The result will be that all seats will be replaced and the LIRR will work with its unions to address train crew issues. The Rail Road is working on a decal to tell people that they may be asked to move if they sit in the fold down seats, as train crews may need access to windows near the seats.
Mr. Epstein asked if employees are being told that there will be consequences for removing seats. Mr. Rubinstein noted that conductors sometimes lock the end of car and customers cannot get through. Mr. Brooks replied that in an emergency, the doors will be open.
Mr. Epstein asked the timeframe for restoring the seat cushions. Mr. Brooks replied he did not know. Mr. Greenberg asked whether these seats are intended to be available for use by riders and whether they are counted in the seating capacity of train cars. Mr. Brooks replied that they are available to the public and are considered part of the train’s seating capacity. Mr. Calderone noted that the Rail Road does not condone seat cushions being taken from trains and that removing the seat cushions is considered vandalism.
Mr. Epstein inquired about the LIRR’s tap-on ticketing pilot program. Mr. Calderone stated that the trial convinced management that this is not the way to go. He said that while there was previous MTA administration that talked about gating platforms at Penn Station, the LIRR has found that riders are receptive to less onerous new technology if it is used properly. He said that they used a mobile ticketing pilot program for the Barclay’s Golf Tournament and that 20 percent of the people attending used it.
Ms. Carpenter said that she has been working for more than a year on reduced fare disability standards and that there has not been much progress. Mr. Brooks said that there is a fare committee within the LIRR and this subject is being covered there. He suggested that she send Mr. Calderone a note about her concerns.
New Business
Mr. Calderone announced an event for the opening of the Ronkonkoma double track project information center. Mr. Henderson said that he would forward an announcement of the event to members.
Old Business
Mr. Epstein said that he is still working with the LIRR to arrange M9 car design and rail freight briefings for the members.
Mr. Greenberg questioned whether there is a train that can be identified that suffers regularly from non-collection of tickets. He also noted that there had been questions raised regarding the differing degrees of control that engineers have with electric and diesel equipment. Mr. Brooks responded that electric equipment is much easier for an engineer to control.
Mr. Henderson briefly discussed the PCAC website. He said that due to changes in the site host’s software, some interim changes were made to the site to restore the functionality of its calendar and other website features. Redesign of the site will be deferred until a new PCAC Associate Director is hired.
Mr. Epstein said that he has spoken to State Senator Martins regarding the issue of ticket refund fees. The Senator will be pressing for enactment of a bill that he is sponsoring to prohibit MTA’s commuter railroads from charging these fees, and Mr. Epstein said that the LIRRCC should work with him on this effort. Mr. Greenberg said that he has spoken to a member of the Assembly who is interested in this legislation, and that he may have an Assembly sponsor.
Matt Kessler announced that the LIRR ADA Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for January 31at 12:30 pm. He also asked whether stations can be added to the waiting room extended hours pilot and stated that there is need for extended hours at the Lawrence and Valley Stream stations and that they should be added.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director