A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on November 4, 2010 in the Transportation Services conference room at Penn Station, New York City, NY.
The following members were present:
• Sheila Carpenter
• Matthew Kessler
• Owen Costello
• Maureen Michaels
• Mark Epstein
• Larry Rubinstein
• Ira Greenberg
The following members were absent:
• Gerard P. Bringmann
In addition, the following persons were present:
• William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
• Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Transportation Planner
• Karyl Cafiero -PCAC Research Associate
• Hector Garcia -LIRR
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the November 4, 2010 meeting was approved. The minutes for the October 14, 2010 meeting were not approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.
Old Business
Ellyn Shannon, PCAC Senior Transportation Planner distributed a report she prepared, entitled “Major Causes of LIRR Delays: January through September, 2010”. A copy of the report is attached to these minutes. Ms. Shannon reviewed the findings and highlighted some of the concerns that she flagged while doing the report.
Maureen Michaels reported that she was able to pull down the data from the website and she did some analysis, reflected in the attached handout. She noted that there are many ways of analyzing the data. She said she used pivot tables, which allow one to look at individual train information.
The committee discussed a number of follow-up items from prior meetings and issues that had arisen since the last meeting, including:
• Penn Station Communication—Joe Calderone told Ms. Michaels that the LIRR has a plan that they believe is working, but Ms. Michaels said that it isn’t. She has been told that AMTRAK is the issue. She reported that the MTA and AMTRAK police are going to work together on these issues, but also want an agreement with Cablevision regarding emergency use of Madison Square Garden signage because the Garden is hesitant to put every service disruption up on the information board. They are only willing to post information in extremely severe situations.
Ms. Michaels said Helena Williams plans to ask Madison Square Garden to be able to use their electronic display boards as a way to inform LIRR riders of delays in the station. Owen Costello said the Council should work with other transportation providers at Penn Station.
Mr. Rubinstein said one problem is that many of these signs have been preprogrammed, and it would require human intervention to display an emergency message. Ms. Michaels said that for now the police will be using portable digital signs to inform riders of emergencies before they enter Penn Station. She said that she asked if there also can be estimates from the LIRR Operations Department as to how long a major incident will require Penn Station to be shut down.
Ms. Michaels said it is important for more people to sign up for MTA alert system. She said she wants to make a joint effort between MTA/LIRR and the LIRRCC to increase registration. She said that as more people use the alert system, more people will be aware that Penn Station is shut down and that they should stay away until further notice.
• Meet the Managers—Ms. Michaels said she is working with Joe Calderone on this initiative.
• Station Issues—Ms. Michaels is also pushing the LIRR to make the stations more attractive. She said that in Suffolk County there is an “Adopt A Corner” program where beautification is done through a partnership with landscapers who get good publicity in exchange for the work that they do. She would like to see something like this on the LIRR, but realizes there are union issues that must first be addressed.
In response to Sheila Carpenter’s question asked if this item includes station access issues, Ms. Michaels said no but indicated the LIRR needs to have normal and severe weather plans for opening and closing times for stations. Hector Garcia said he would be happy to set up a meeting about station access issues for the Council and Stations Operations staff.
• Right of Way Issues—Mr. Garcia also said he would be happy to set up a meeting with the ROW Maintenance people with Larry Kiss. Bill Henderson will follow up with Mr. Kiss about the meeting.
Mr. Costello asked about the encroachment of the Port Washington ROW.
Mr. Garcia said that LIRR System Safety is going to be looking at this issue in the next two weeks. Mr. Garcia explained that it is the neighboring residents who are complaining about the tree trimming.
• East Side Access—Mr. Costello expressed concern about how the Port Washington line will be affected by the opening of East Side Access. He asked what the plan and timeframe are for the project to add tracks at Port Washington. Mr. Garcia said they are currently negotiating the scope of work with the town and then will issue an RFP to get a contractor on board.
Ms. Michaels said that she would like to recommend that the LIRRCC be part of the advisory process. Mr. Costello said it is ironic that the politicians who make the decisions are not commuters and don’t regularly use the LIRR’s services.
Ms. Michaels said she will write a letter introducing the Council to Port Washington officials and will request that the council be kept informed about the design process as it moves forward.
Sheila Carpenter noted there is a plot of land at the Ronkonkoma station where people would not be happy if a flower bed was put there instead of parking.
• Pigeons–Mr. Garcia said the Port Washington pigeon contract has been completed. Mr. Costello noted that there was no pigeon prevention work done on the platform area.
• Advertising on Train Car Exteriors. Mark Epstein said he asked people how they feel about advertising on the side of train cars and noted that people the overall reaction was that if it brings in money for the MTA then it is fine. Mr. Garcia said that the current effort is just a pilot project with a contract for $105,000.
• Republic Airport—Mr. Epstein reported that he is a member of the Long Island Association’s transportation committee. He said that New York State Department of Transportation staff came to a recent meeting and gave a presentation about the Republic Airport project. He said they have engaged a consultant and the Council should follow up and stay informed about this project.
• Local Transportation Advisory Committees—Larry Rubinstein said he found out about the LIRRCC from a local transit committee he served on and he thought it would be a good idea to get in contact with these groups as a way to get our name out there. Ms. Michaels said it was a great idea and should be happy to host a lunch with heads of these committees.
New Business
Bill Henderson distributed a draft of a letter that he prepared to be sent to members of the US House and Senate about the need to extend the $230 cap on the pre-tax transit benefits, which will expire on December 31, 2010. In the stimulus legislation the cap was raised from $120 to $230 per month, equal to the amount available for pre-tax parking benefits, but as part of the stimulus legislation, the increased cap was not permanent. The LIRRCC will be asking other transit advocates around the nation to sign on to this letter, and Bill also distributed a draft of a letter sent to the transit advocate organizations.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
Research Associate