A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on March 12, 2009 in the 5th Floor conference room, Jamaica Control Center Building at Jamaica Station, Jamaica, New York. The following members were present:
Ronald Breuer
Gerard P. Bringmann
Ira Greenberg
In addition, the following members were absent:
Gary Babyatzky
James L. McGovern
Maureen Michaels
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson – PCAC Executive Director
Ellyn Shannon – PCAC Transportation Planner
Rod Brooks – LIRR
Holli Dunayer – LIRR
Robert Howell – MTA Police
Edith Prentiss – NYCTRC
Matthew Kessler – Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the March 12, 2009 meeting was approved as amended. The minutes of the January 8, 2009 meeting were approved as amended.
Chair’s Report
Since it has only been a week since the PCAC meeting, there are only a few new items to report.
We received a response from Helena Williams to our letter about the LIRRCC customer satisfaction survey. She stated that the LIRR Market Research Department is familiar with the standards and rules of disclosure that we cited and that their market research vendor fully complies with the guidelines. Enclosed with the letter was an extensive report on the survey and its findings that substantially answered the questions that we asked in our letter. A copy of this response is in your meeting packets today.
We sent a letter to Helena Williams requesting that the LIRR Third Track Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) be released to the Council and to the public, either through the resumption of the environmental process, which would provide for public comment on the document, or as an unofficial document if the LIRR has determined not to move the project forward. The letter noted that it has been almost four years since a notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was issued by the Federal Transit Administration and over three years since the public comment period on the scope of the EIS ended. We will keep you informed as to any response we receive.
On March 6 Bill Henderson attended a public forum on improving bus service in Nassau County through implementing the Ravitch Commission recommendations. The forum was sponsored by the Regional Plan Association and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. Participants in the meeting included Assembly Members David McDonough and Michelle Schimel, County Executive Tom Suozzi, Long Island Bus President Joe Smith, and TWU Local 252 President Patricia Bowden, who represents Long Island Bus and some Suffolk Transit employees. MTA Board Member Mitch Pally was not on the program, but spoke at length from the audience.
There was general agreement among those speaking that expansion of the Nassau County bus system is necessary and is the only reasonable way of substantially improving access to transit in the County. The issue of funding hung over the forum, however, and there were few concrete answers offered as to how an expanded system, let alone the current network, will be financed. While County Executive Suozzi restated the central place of transit in his vision for the future of Nassau County, Mitch Pally noted that Nassau County has not lived up to its original agreement to cover LI Bus operating deficits and that the severity of the cuts and fare increases proposed for LI Bus are a reflection of this reality.
Tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. Senator Schumer will be holding a press event to promote the use of economic stimulus funds to finally get started on developing Moynihan Station. The current plan is for a development focusing on the Farley Post Office and the transportation functions of the station. I am planning to attend and offer remarks on behalf of the LIRRCC. On a less positive note, the MTA Board will be meeting in special session tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the failure of the state legislature to approve MTA funding legislation and the implementation of the 2009 budget that the Board approved in December. As you remember, this budget provides for fare increases in excess of 23 percent, combined with service and maintenance cuts.
New Business
Bill Henderson announced that Jim McGovern has requested that he not be reappointed to another term as the LIRRCC non-voting MTA Board member. Ira Greenberg has agreed to be recommended to the Governor to be appointed to this position. A motion that the Council transmit this recommendation to the Governor was made, seconded and approved. Staff will send a letter to the Governor stating that Ira Greenberg has been nominated to replace Mr. McGovern.
Gerard Bringmann said that the space for this meeting works very well for the LIRRCC and suggested that the Council hold future meetings in this space. Ms. Dunayer asked that PCAC staff send her an email to request a meeting space in Jamaica.
Old Business
No Old Business was discussed.
Board Report
There was no Board report.
Introduction of Rod Brooks, LIRR Chief Transportation Officer
Mr. Brooks was previously a member of the United States Marine Corps and joined the LIRR in 1988. He became the LIRR Chief Transportation Officer in June, 2007.
Edith Prentiss explained that she travels on the LIRR to Ronkonkoma very often, and it has long been known that there is an inconsistent width in the gap between the platform and trains at this station. She noted that there are places where the gap differs greatly in width from other positions on the platform. She said she does not have the knowledge of where it is safe to board at Ronkonkoma, unlike on the subways where she knows to board in places marked for safe loading. She said that most of the time she gets assistance in boarding, but there have been times where is a conductor is nowhere to be seen.
Mr. Brooks said that often by the end of the line only the brakeman and the conductor remain as the crew on board. He said that at a terminal the crew is required to walk through the train to make sure the train is empty before it goes to the yard.
Ms. Prentiss said that sometimes she has had to press the red call button in the car to stop the train from going to the yard, because she could not alight off due to the size of the gap. She said the conductor always asks where she is getting off when collecting the tickets, but conductors sometimes forget to come back to assist when it is time for her to leave the train.
Ira Greenberg stated that the overhead call button is for crew use only, but he has seen riders push it to make the crew aware of fare beaters, who sometimes hide in the bathrooms to avoid ticket collections. On some trains, however, fare beaters don’t need to hide in bathrooms, Mr. Greenberg reported, as there is no effort to collect fares. Mr. Brooks said that the LIRR has a process where auditors ride trains, write reports and follow up on any issues of concern. He said that the LIRR tries to address these sorts of issues early in training. He said managers ride trains to address on-board issues, and now they are using high level superintendents to ride with a team to monitor the performance of train crews.
In response to Gerry Bringmann’s question of where the alarm generated by pushing the red call button sounds, Mr. Brooks said that anyone who is in the operating cab can hear the buzzer. Mr. Bringmann said that he pushed the red button when a number of cars were beyond the platform and the doors were already open. He said there was no response but he got results when he pushed the white overhead signal button. Mr. Brooks said pushing the white button generally results in the police becoming involved, as it is intended for crew use only.
Ms. Prentiss said the Suffolk Independent Living Center clients claim to never have problems because they always demand a ramp. Mr. Brooks said that part of the problem with accommodating passengers with disabilities occurs because not all train personnel ride a given train all the way in or out. Ms. Prentiss noted that she has issues with passengers from Mac Arthur airport taking up wheelchair spaces with luggage, and when she asked a conductor to do something about one such incident, he asked “what do you want me to do?”
Ellyn Shannon noted that staff had received a copy of a letter about a drunken group on a train who had food on the seats and said that a response to the letter had not been received from the LIRR.
Lieutenant Howell of the MTA Police said that there are certain trains that MTA Police officers regularly ride or meet because of a history of problems with those trains.
Mr. Bringmann said that he believes he knows of a train that was identified as a problem and that he has heard them referred to as Boardy Barn trains. Mr. Brooks said they get a request for police on these trains on almost every trip. Lt. Howell said they won’t let people who are intoxicated board the problem trains.
Mr. Bringmann noted that closed cars seem to be an ongoing problem. Mr. Brooks said they reviewed the policy last November. He said crews are required to open all cars during peak hour service, but in the off peak the number of open cars is established by the number of staff on-board. He said they have revised the number of cars that are to be opened upward and that when there is a crowding issue train personnel must open additional cars.
Mr. Greenberg noted that there is always low staffing between Jamaica and Woodside. Mr. Brooks said that one such train that had recently been reviewed had staffing increased and another had staffing decreased. Mr. Greenberg said that train personnel don’t check tickets because most passengers transfer from other trains.
In response to Ms. Shannon’s question as to whether there is an expectation that conductors do not have to walk through the train, Mr. Brooks said that they are supposed to remain visible to the public. The train personnel don’t have to constantly be walking but must do so periodically. He noted that the auditors have confirmed that this is occurring.
In response to Ron Breuer’s question as to what the LIRRCC can do to help the LIRR, Mr. Brooks said he has been with the LIRR for 22 years and it has improved tremendously over the last several years. He said the public feedback is very important. He said he has 101 managers and 1,875 employees. He said that the managers can’t be everywhere at once and rely on complaints to address problems. Mr. Brooks said that he has responsibility for all platform conductors, train dispatchers and yard men as well as train crews.
In response to Ms. Shannon’s question as to whether conductors can use discretion in charging on-board fare when the Ticket Vending Machines at a station are broken, Mr. Brooks said they have no discretion in this regard.
Mr. Bringmann noted that the Council never hears that anyone at the LIRR is disciplined for violations of policy. There was passenger harassment issue recently where the only feedback that the LIRRCC received is that an investigation will take place. Mr. Henderson asked Lt. Howell to please relay a message to Chief Finneran that he had never received the incident statistics that he had requested.
Mr. Bruer asked if there are plans to install CCTV cameras in the LIRR system. Mr. Brooks said that he did not know, except he understands that the east terminals are getting them. Holli Dunayer said they are installed in some stations.
Mr. Bringmann noted that there was only one Rail Road police radio car from Syosset to Port Jefferson a few years ago. Lt. Howell said they have doubled the number of officers on the East End in the last decade.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
Research Associate
Follow-up Items for the March 12, 2009 meeting
Ask Holli Dunayer to reserve room at Jamaica for April 2, 2009 meeting. (Room is confirmed for 4/2 meeting)