LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL
MINUTES OF AUGUST 8, 2013
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on August 8, 2013, in the LIRR East Side Access Readiness conference room at 450 7th Avenue, 20th floor, New York, New York
The following members were present:
Gerard P. Bringmann Ira Greenberg
Sheila Carpenter Matthew Kessler
Mark Epstein Maureen Michaels
Larry Rubinstein
The following members were absent:
Owen Costello Bryan Peranzo
Michael Godino Raymond Pagano
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Senior Transportation Planner
Philip McManus -Queens Public Transit Committee
Carl Perrera -Queens Public Transit Committee
Richard Schulman -Concerned citizen
Gregory Homajas -Concerned citizen
Marilyn Caroll -Concerned citizen
Susan Caroll -Concerned citizen
Approval of Minutes
The agenda for the August 8, 2013 meeting was approved. The minutes of the July 11 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s report is attached to these minutes. In addition, the following items were discussed in the course of the Chair’s report.
Mark Epstein identified the process of Medical Examiner office clearance after fatalities on the LIRR as a major cause of delays in restoring service. He said that he had brokered an agreement with the Chief Medical Examiners in Nassau and Suffolk Counties
Board Report
Ira Greenberg commented that service has been generally improving in recent months. He said that he believes that financial plan presented to the Board at its July meeting is fairly conservative and that there is potential for better revenues than those projected. He also said that he believes the projected completion of the East Side Access (ESA) project will soon be pushed further into the future. Mr. Greenberg noted that regardless of the completion date for East Side Access, the state of Penn Station is a continuing issue. The station is not a pleasant environment for commuters and he said that the LIRRCC should be involved with efforts to improve the passenger environment in Penn Station.
Maureen Michaels pointed out that near the area where the ESA project connects to the main line in Sunnyside, Queens there is a lot of flooding every time it rains.
Mark Epstein asked Gerry Bringmann if he could look at the information that we receive about this issue and give the LIRRCC the benefit of his experience in the construction industry. Mr. Bringmann agreed that he would be willing to do so.
Mr. Greenberg stated that he does not believe that the LIRR can meet their on-time performance goals on each branch and said that the goals should reflect the operating conditions on each line.
Mr. Bringmann commented that even if the goals are changed, the current calculation of on-time performance still does not reflect the riders’ experience. He said that in many cases delays cause riders to miss connections and make them even later than the initial delay.
Mr. Greenberg noted that the a Capital Program amendment was also brought to the Board that will change the equipment used for scoot service from diesel multiple unit cars to existing diesel equipment. This change would apply to future scoot service on the Oyster Bay Branch and would not affect the plan to use alternative diesel equipment to provide other scoot services that are planned.
Mr. Bringmann remarked that, looking at the big picture, scoot service from Jamaica to the Atlantic Terminal may be better for riders than the existing Brooklyn service.
Sheila Carpenter asked about the status of PCAC recommendations on reduced fare eligibility for persons with disabilities. Bill Henderson stated that he will setup a conference call of the Committee members to finalize their recommendations to the full PCAC.
Mr. Epstein remarked that he received a call from the LIRR about their plans to hold hearings for service restorations at MTA Headquarters, along with opportunities to provide video testimony on Long Island.
Ms. Michaels pointed out that when in 2010 the MTA held a public hearing in Riverhead, the hearing was well attended and speakers were great. She suggested that Council could contact these people and encourage them to comment.
Member Report
Larry Rubinstein remarked that he attended Nassau County Legislator Dave Deneneberg’s most recent meeting on transportation. He stated that there was some discussion of parking at the meeting.
Ms. Michaels pointed out that the lack of pay phones in stations is becoming a real problem. She also suggested that council needs to find out who regulates taxis, as the Orange and White Company cabs do not pick up at Cold Spring Harbor.
Mr. Rubinstein noted that on the M7 cars; the emergency exits are blocked by seats and said that the new car designs should not repeat this arrangement.
New Business
Mr. Epstein introduced four guests from the LIRR Joe Calderone, Jim Compton, Timothy Yu and Patrick Gerakaris
Mr. Compton handed out literature on new Ticket Vending Machines that the LIRR will be purchasing and proceeded to discuss them.
Mr. Yu commented that the new feature for these TVMs is that they are capable of accepting payment from Smart Card credit and debit cards. He said that the LIRR will receive seven new machines and that they will be deployed according to various locations’ ticket sales and customer base. For example, there are a lot of international travelers at the Jamaica Station and they tend to use Smart Card credit and debit cards more than Americans.
The addition of seven TVMs will allow the old machines that they replace to be moved to other stations that do not have TVMs or do not have full service machines.
Ms. Michaels wanted to know what customers do now when they travel from a location without a TVM. Mr. Yu responded stating that the customers often purchase tickets in advance so they will have them prior to boarding. Ms. Michaels remarked that she hopes that the Rail Road won’t be installing more machines that dispense daily tickets only and noted that riders become confused about what kinds are tickets are available at different types of machines.
Mr. Epstein asked if the Council could be updated on the usage of contactless cards at the new TVMs.
Mr. Calderone pointed out that the purchase of the new TVMs is a joint procurement with Metro-North Railroad and that Metro-North will be purchasing twenty of the new machines. Mr. Yu said that the railroads will be taking delivery of the new TVMs on August 19.
Mr. Greenberg asked what funds are being used for this purchase. Mr. Calderone responded that the purchase is being funded from the operating budget and that they would use money saved in the maintenance budget.
Old Business
Mr. Calderone announced that over the last month the LIRR has adjusted waiting room hours in several stations. At Floral Park the hours were reduced at the request of the community. Baldwin was removed from the program as it had issues with the homeless and Hicksville was added. He also said that there have been numerous restroom issues and vandalism at some stations such as Patchogue, Floral Park and Sayville.
Mr. Compton said that at the stations with vandalism and restroom issues, the hours are not being changed for these reasons but that the LIRR is monitoring these issues.
Ms. Carpenter said that she had initially raised this issue before the LIRRCC and that she has not noted problems at Sayville. Mr. Compton responded that the LIRR does not have any current plan to extend waiting room hours at more stations, but that he would like the Council to make recommendation about additional stations where an extension of hours would be useful.
Ms. Michaels inquired about public telephones in stations and said that there is currently no public telephone at Cold Spring Harbor. Mr. Calderone replied that the LIRR is reducing the number of payphones to one per station at some locations. Mr. Gerakaris added that the LIRR’s contract with Verizon to furnish public telephones in stations has been sold to a firm called PTS. He said that PTS does not want to service a large number of public telephones.
Richard Shulman added out that the public telephones were physically removed from the station in Deer Park and that the contractors did not properly patch the floor when they did.
Mr. Rubinstein wanted to know if more trains could be routed to Hunterspoint Avenue when there are track or signal issues. He said that he was at a meeting where this was suggested. Mr. Calderone responded that when there is a problem that causes restricted access to Penn Station, most of the time the problem has occurred between Jamaica and Penn Station at a location that would also affect access to the Hunterspoint Avenue station. Unless the issue occurred near or in the East River Tunnels, it would be equally difficult to route trains to Hunterspoint Avenue. In addition, there is a crowding problem at the Hunterspoint station that limits how many trains can be sent there.
Ms. Michaels pointed out that when customers use credit cards at the TVMs, they are asked to enter their zip code and it is displayed on the screen. She wanted to know why the machine does not block display of the zip code numbers. Mr. Yu responded that blocking display of zip codes is not part of the industry standard. When the numbers are displayed, customers can notice errors and if the numbers are blocked there will be additional problems with rejected transactions.
It was noted that the Flushing station is very busy yet it is not accessible.
Mr. Epstein said that he has concerns about the Wyandanch station. He noted that the vendor who had served the station is gone. There is no air conditioning, no bathroom and no water at the station, which creates great problem for its users. He asked how the Council can be sure that all stations along the double track project will have services maintained.
Mr. Calderone replied that when the LIRR undertakes a project they try to maintain station amenities. He noted that at Wyandanch, the town originally agreed to provide a trailer with passenger amenities. MTA Real Estate released the vendor from his contract and offered him the ability to be in the trailer, but he did not want operate his business in the trailer. The town reevaluated their plans in view of the cost of the trailer and now LIRR will maintain the waiting room through the construction period. Mr. Calderone said that the MTA Real Estate Department needs to reach out to this vendor and offer him the opportunity to return to the waiting room.
Mr. Epstein pointed out that he wanted to reinforce the importance of maintaining these station amenities for future projects.
Ms. Michaels wanted to know if there is a committee that oversees the new station as it is designed. Mr. Calderone replied that there is no single Committee and that there are a number of steps in the design process.
Mr. Epstein stated that Council will have a presentation on the Hicksville and Wyandanch projects.
Ms. Carpenter asked what determines whether buses are provided when there is a delay and no trains are going east. She said that recently waited for two hours in a service disruption and there were no buses provided. Mr. Calderone replied that the decision whether to provide substitute bus service is made by the LIRR Transportation Department. He also noted that in some cases buses may be ordered but that the contractors may not be able to provide them.
Mr. Bringmann said that recently there was a disruption where trains from Penn Station were not going to Far Rockaway. He noted that announcements were telling riders to go to Brooklyn by subway, even though there was a Jamaica connection to Far Rockaway trains. Mr. Calderone replied that this was not good messaging and that the LIRR should have announced this option.
Mr. Calderone announced that two new elevators have opened at the Queens Village station, but unfortunately they were vandalized on the first day. He also said that the test of the LIRR mobile phone app will occur in October. Mr. Calderone said that the LIRR can provide licenses so that five council members can test the system. The app will first be released for Apple phones, then Android. He also noted that the LIRR has fully tested the emergency override system for the digital train information and advertising screens. The LIRR can override the screens’ normal operation to display emergency information and they can do this from Jamaica, without involvement of CBS Outdoor.
Matt Kessler reviewed the proposed restoration of the Rockaway Beach Line. He said that it would have generally positive impacts, including
Better quality of service,
Reduced traffic, fuel use, and pollution
Economic stimulus from hundreds of direct jobs and ripple effects
Many indirect jobs from tourism; the potential is shown by the 7,000,000 annual beach visitors prior to Sandy
Improvements in property values
He said that the MTA did study recommending against restoring the line, but it assumed a project extending all the way to the Rockaway Peninsula and it was done 13 years ago. A major sticking point in this study, in terms of cost and environmental impact, was the inclusion of a new trestle across Jamaica Bay.
Mr. Kessler also noted negatives associating with restoring the Line, including
This project has a lower priority than other proposed LIRR projects
Increased noise for neighboring property owners, such as from horns
Cost; the MTA study specified a $900,000,000 cost in 1999 dollars. Although current proposals are less extensive, they would be costly
Environmental impact
Mr. Greenberg said that the City of New York owns the line’s right-of-way and that there are a few things that have been located on the right of way, such as parking areas and Little League baseball fields. He said that he has always liked this idea and that the construction of East Side Access eliminates the objection that additional service cannot be run because of the capacity of the East River Tunnels.
Mr. Epstein asked for comments from the public.
Carl Perrera pointed out that the MTA’s prior study included a separate trestle to carry the Rockaway Beach Line across Jamaica Bay, which would be very expensive. In the 1950’s, the LIRR ran service to the Aqueduct railroad station; Mr. Perrera suggested that service could be structured to provide for a cross Platform transfer to A like subway service at Aqueduct. He also noted the Regional Rail Working Group proposal to bring the train from the Rockaway Beach Line into the JFK airport. He also noted that there is an option for the Rockaway Beach line to be connected to the subway system, which would provide a slower trip. Mr. Epstein asked the view of opponents of these proposals. It was noted that the opposing proposals involve using the line for a park and multi-use path along the lines of the Queensway proposal that is now under study.
Phil McManus commented that when LIRR service was pulled from Far Rockaway, the community was becoming ghettoized and ridership to the peninsula declined. The community became a dumping ground for adult homes and other uses that many New Yorkers viewed as undesirable. As a result, the community declined as many people no longer wanted to live there.
Mr. Epstein said that generally he and the LIRRCC support proposals to increase service, but this situation involves competing priorities for scarce resources, and that some competing projects are central to the future of the LIRR.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director