A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on April 7, 2011 in the Transportation Services conference room at Penn Station, New York City.
The following members were present:
• Gerard P. Bringmann
• Ira Greenberg
• Sheila Carpenter
• Matthew Kessler
• Owen Costello
• Maureen Michaels
• Mark Epstein
• Larry Rubinstein
No members were absent.
In addition, the following persons were present:
• William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
• Jan Wells -PCAC Associate Director
• Joe Calderone -LIRR
• Chris Calvagna -LIRR
• Hector Garcia -LIRR
• Bob Puciloski -LIRR
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the April 7, 2011 meeting was approved. The minutes of the February 10, 2011 meetings were approved as amended.
Chair’s Report
Maureen Michaels stated that the meeting with Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is still scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 21 in Suffolk County.
Ms. Michaels commented on the Meet the Manager series and said that it is going well. She said that she would like to have LIRRCC posters produced and displayed in stations. This will be coordinated with the LIRR through Hector Garcia. Ms. Michaels also requested that LIRRCC blog be kept up and running and that members post their comments to it. Ms. Michaels also said that she is in the process of reviewing the LIRR Customer Satisfaction Survey and will be returning her comments to LIRR General Manager-Market Development Yannis Takos. She noted several items that need follow-up: many LIRR cars that are out of service, cars that do not platform at stations, and a number of dirty cars have recently been observed by members.
There was a discussion of the recent tragic shooting of a Nassau County police officer by an MTA Police officer. It was noted that this incident makes one think about coordination between law enforcement agencies in the LIRR system. The coordination of security organizations at Penn Station was briefly discussed.
Ms. Michaels commented on the topic of uncollected fares on the LIRR and stated that she rode the LIRR for free four times last week. She said that she will be sending an email to Helena Williams about this issue. Members questioned whether the fare collection problem is similar on Metro North trains.
Mark Epstein noted that he had reported a pushed-over fence at the Wyandanch station. He provided photos of the fence. Ms. Michaels stated that she has noticed this problem more and more and suggested that this may be an issue connected to snow plowing. She asked Hector Garcia about the issue of damage to the fencing. Ms. Michaels also noted that there is railroad equipment on the side of tracks and that she will follow up on the issue with Bob Brennan.
Ms. .Michaels stated that the election for Council officers will take place at the next LIRRCC meeting. She said that she is declining to run for another term as Chair because of other obligations.
Board Report
Ira Greenberg said that MTA Board Member Chuck Moerdler agrees with Council on many of its priorities. He said that Mr. Moerdler sees many of the same things that the Council members do.
Mr. Greenberg stated that he attended a security briefing in his capacity as a Board Member. He asked a question about the coordination of security among the various public safety agencies, but he was not given a real response.
New Business
Sheila Carpenter stated that she was on train during Montauk’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and the conditions were terrible. Maureen Michaels commented on the LIRR’s operational issues on the day of the parade. Other Council members remarked on the many service disruption alerts that were issued in response to problems with passenger traveling from Montauk.
Bill Henderson distributed a proposed strategy for LIRRCC activities over the remainder of 2011. The major focus in the strategy is on advocating for the adequate funding of the MTA Capital Program. Other priorities in the strategy include pursuing improvement in station and right of way conditions, improving on board fare collection, and working toward better connecting bus service.
Mark Epstein asked a question about Amtrak’s funding. He wanted to know whether it would be possible for the LIRR to get a percentage of the high speed rail funding that Amtrak is pursuing. Mr. Henderson responded that the funding is being sought for improvements to the Northeast Corridor, and that most of the LIRR system would be unlikely to qualify for funding from this source.
Owen Costello commented on an encroachment on the right of way on the Port Washington branch. The encroachment is located approximately one half mile from the Port Washington station. He stated that at this location a truck backed into a utility pole which is now leaning toward the tracks. Also, there are several retaining walls built inside the rail road right of way that are falling apart. Since this is a safety issue he would like to know who is responsible for any damage if this pole falls on to the tracks. Hector Garcia was asked to pass pictures CD and memo outlining our safety concerns to Helena Williams and any other appropriate LIRR personnel and report back to the Council at its next meeting. In addition, Mr. Costello noted that there are issues with water drains to the branch’s right of way. It was agreed that the Council will request Mr. Garcia to pass the pictures along to Helena Williams and report back at next meeting.
Matthew Kessler commented on the LIRR’s plans at Colonial Road and the opening of the public information center that he attended. He stated that Helena Williams should receive credit for calling him up at the opening and offering to let him speak on both the positives and negatives of the proposed improvements. Mr. Kessler said that he does not understand why local residents are opposed to the new bridge that has been proposed.
Owen Costello stated that there are three main objections, including that the new bridge may attract more traffic because of increased load limits, that the trains being held in the expanded pocket track will be noisy, and the fear that promised funding will not be available to sound proof the area around the pocket tracks.
Maureen Michaels stated that this issue needs to be monitored continuously. Hector Garcia mentioned that if Owen and Matt get involved more deeply in this issue, they should be fully briefed.
Larry Rubinstein commented on Brentwood Station renovations and said that he wanted to know why so many parking spaces are being lost due to the installation of solar collectors. It was noted that the solar collectors will be installed on carport structures under which commuters will park and that the closing of parking areas is a temporary measure to allow this construction to proceed.
Maureen Michaels commented on the MTA Board’s decision to discontinue its involvement with Long Island Bus at the end of December 2011. She said that this decision will hurt the riders and that the decision was made out of the public view.
Old Business
A point was raised about the status of informational monitors at Penn Station track 13. Mr. Garcia commented that as of the previous day they had been repaired. He said that there was a similar situation in Brooklyn where monitors had been broken by NYC Transit crews mistakenly power washing them.
Larry Rubinstein commented on the parking condition at Bellmore and Merrick Station. He said Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray claims that resident permit parking is not allowed to be implemented in the lots at these stations. Mr. Rubinstein said that advocates have discovered that a resident parking permit system is discussed in 1960 documents conveying the lots to the Town and that under these documents such a system is allowed. He said that up to one half of the parking lot can be reserved for resident parking.
Introduction of Robert Puciloski, LIRR Chief Engineer, and Chris Calvagna, LIRR Deputy Chief Engineer
Chris Calvagna started by responding to Ira Greenberg’s question about train delays caused by signals, which he had asked at an MTA Board committee meeting. In 2010, there were a total of 237,298 trains, and 678 trains delayed by signal problems. This accounts for .28 percent of all trains and 3.9 percent of all delays. Mr. Calvagna stated that they don’t always know why signals and switches do not work, but that it does not take much to trigger a delay because the LIRR has strict standards for signal operation. He said that many times when a delay is initially attributed to signal problems the signal is not in fact deficient and the problem that was initially blamed on a signal malfunction was in fact caused by factors such as debris and other objects on the tracks.
Mr. Calvagna said that the damage caused by the Hall Tower fire would have taken one day to restore with the new system that is in place. He said that throughout the LIRR system many relays have recently been replaced by microprocessors, and in those places where relays are still used, they are installed in a plug-in configuration that makes replacement easier. He noted that during the upcoming weekend on the Babylon Branch there will be a signal system cutover at Wantagh and Amityville.
Mr. Calvagna said that the LIRR has many examples of category 3 or 4 equipment, which is functionally obsolete or in poor condition. He said that both the MTA 20 Year Needs Assessment and Capital Program included lots of signalization work. Critical projects include the Jamaica capacity improvement work and Positive Train Control. The planned projects are needed to push the Rail Road toward a centralized control system.
Gerry Bringmann asked the question of where the LIRR system remains antiquated. Mr. Puciloski replied that there are areas that need upgrading on the Babylon branch and in so called “dark” territory where there are no signals.
Mr. Greenberg asked whether more modern equipment reduces the need for testing. Mr. Calvagna replied that Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requirements on testing intervals still exist but that the frequency at which parts of the modernized system need to be replaced has been reduced.
Mr. Puciloski stated that only .8 percentage points of the loss in on time performance on the LIRR is attributable to engineering. There were 17,000 total delays, 1300 of which were due to engineering. He also stated that his team has done a total assessment of the condition of the right-of-way. He has identified seven trouble spots that need to be cleaned up, including Amityville, Babylon, Central Islip, Farmingdale, Hicksville, Port Washington and Wantagh, and stated that the LIRR will address these areas.
Gerry Bringmann asked about garden plots on the right of way. Mr. Puciloski stated that some areas have been placed off limits because they have been enclosed by a high security fence. People in these situations won’t be able to access their plots, but the use of the right of way for gardens was authorized.
There was a brief discussion about snow equipment. Mr. Puciloski said that the LIRR has been looking at equipment used by other railroads. As a result, there are plans in the future to buy a piece of equipment known as a Jordan spreader. This snow plow is very efficient for clearing snow from the tracks in non-electrified territory.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Morrison
Administrative Assistant
Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council
Chair’s Report – April 7, 2011
Long Island Bus
First, very deep thanks go out to Larry Rubinstein for giving testimony at the LI Bus hearing that was held on March 23rd at Hofstra University before MTA Board members. Hundreds of riders turned out to plead their case. He reported that there was no visible representation from Mangano’s office and that the news media left the hearing early to make their 6:00pm news hits. Matt was also there; and Ira, as a Board member. Thanks to all.
In addition to this testimony, the Council sent a letter to all of the Nassau County legislators and to Governor Cuomo asking for support for LI Bus.
Fortunately, as a result of this outpouring of pleas to save the system, State officials said in a statement on April 1st, that “$8.6 million in MTA monies, made available by the Senate” will be used to stave off an MTA proposal to cut up to 27 of the 48 routes since Nassau County is unable to fund its $26 million annual share of the $136 million budget for the bus system, which has 100,000 daily riders. Cutting fixed bus routes would have also impacted Able Ride, a transit system for the disabled that is linked with Long Island Bus.
But the $8.6 million, which is in addition to the $52.4 million state funding already appropriated for Long Island Bus, will only keep the buses rolling through the end of the year. At that point, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano is expected to follow through on plans to privatize the bus system.
Meet the Managers
On February 15th and March 22nd LIRR held its second and third Meet the Managers event in Penn Station. In February the Ronkonoma Branch managers were present; the March occasion featured Oyster Bay and Port Jefferson. Bill Henderson and Jan Wells have been manning the LIRRCC table which now sports a new LIRRCC banner. Thanks to Council members Larry Rubinstein, Matt Kessler, Mark Epstein, Gerry Bringmann, Ira?, Shelia ? who have dropped by to talk to riders.
Info Center
Matt attended the opening of the Port Washington Branch Info Center to learn how Proposed Colonial Road Improvement Project will improve Port Washington LIRR Service. LIRR’s Project Information Center at the Great Neck Station is located at Middle Neck Road and Station Plaza at Great Neck Road, 1/4 mile north of Route 25A. A small number of backyards run alongside the proposed extension of the LIRR’s pocket track, just east of the Great Neck station. The Railroad will examine all possibilities, and determine which materials might be the best sound absorbing buffer between the new extended track and the community.