PERMANENT CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE MTA
MINUTES OF MARCH 5, 2009
A meeting of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC) to the MTA was convened at 12:00 noon on March 5, 2009, in the 5th floor Board Room, at MTA headquarters, 347 Madison Avenue, New York City. The following members were present:
Andrew Albert Shirley Genn
James F. Blair Ira Greenberg
Ronald Breuer* William K. Guild
Gerard Kopera Marisol Halpern
Trudy L. Mason Gerard Kopera
Gerard Bringmann Trudy Mason David Buchwald Edith M. Prentiss
Francis T. Corcoran Michael Sinansky
Burton M. Strauss, Jr.
*participated via telephone
The following members were absent:
Gary Babyatzky James L. McGovern
Richard Cataggio Douglas McKean
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas Maureen Michaels
Rhonda Herman Sharon Santa Maria
Thomas Jost Toya Williford
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Jan Wells -PCAC Associate Director
Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Transportation Planner
Karyl Berger -PCAC Research Associate
Barry L. Kluger -MTA/IG
Beth Keating -MTA/IG
Earamichia Brown -MTA/IG
Alfonso Castillo -Newsday
James O’Shea -Concerned citizen
Matt Shotkin -Concerned citizen
Ken Stewart -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the March 5, 2009 meeting was approved as amended. The minutes of the December 4, 2008 meeting were approved.
Chairs’ Reports
The PCAC, LIRRCC, MNRCC and NYCTRC Chairs’ Reports are attached to these minutes.
Michael Sinansky asked if it would be appropriate for the PCAC to compliment the MTA on its in-house development of their new website. Edith Prentiss suggested that the PCAC should hold off sending this letter until accessibility issues have been fully addressed. Karyl Berger said she would discuss this concern with Doug Sussman.
Mr. Sinansky made a motion that staff should draft a letter and hold it until all concerns and comments have been fully addressed. The motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Bringmann said that the LIRRCC did ruffle a few feathers with its testimony during the fare hearings.
Mr. Sinansky asked about the community concerns that have been expressed about the proposed bus service over the Tappan Zee Bridge. Ms. Shannon said the issue revolves around the notion of Bus Rapid Transit. There will be community meetings on both sides of the bridge to fully discuss the planning process for this service.
In response to Ms. Prentiss’ question as to whether the issue of amplified music at the Times Square station was addressed, Ms. Shannon indicated this was one of many issues that were raised.
James O’Shea asked if any of the economic stimulus money is being directed to repair dilapidated stations. Mr. Albert reported that most of the money is being allocated to the large projects such as the Fulton Street Transit Center.
Ms. Prentiss reported that there will be a press conference on Sunday to protest the Access-A-Ride fare increase.
David Buchwald asked what the thoughts in Albany are about whether the MTA can still be trusted. Mr. Albert said that some people think that the MTA is not providing full information but others recognize that there is a real financial problem.
Shirley Genn said she would like the PCAC to send a letter to the MTA about the pervasive lack of management in the subway stations. She believes that workers in the subway system should be better supervised.
Gerry Bringmann said the LIRRCC is trying to address similar problems on the LIRR. Mr. Guild noted that gaps in supervision seem to be a localized issue. Ms. Prentiss noted that the quality of supervision at stations on the LIRR seems to vary from location to location. She said it is hard to supervise effectively when there is no staff remaining to supervise. Mr. Albert said that if the proposed budget cuts are approved, NYC Transit will have no station personnel in many parts of the system as well.
Ms. Genn noted that she met with Steve Feil, New York City Transit Senior Vice President – Department of Subways, at the Avenue N station on the F line to show him some of her concerns.
Mr. Buchwald said the PCAC may want to use the Councils’ right to receive information from the MTA operating agencies to get answers.
Mr. Bringmann suggested that the PCAC may want to generate a letter detailing our concerns about accountability throughout the MTA network and that this will be something that PCAC and its councils will push for this year. He said the letter should be addressed to Chairman Hemmerdinger, CEO Sander and the agency presidents. Ira Greenberg made a motion and it passed. Mr. Henderson will circulate the letter before it is sent out.
Old Business
Ken Stewart asked if the PCAC was gong to withdraw its report on accessibility report until it better reflects some of the concerns he raised in his November 30 memo. Mr. Guild said there seems to be support to do an addendum with additional information to the report but not to withdraw the report completely.
Jan Wells noted that there is a wealth of information included in the report and acknowledged there are differences of opinion on some of the conclusions and recommendations. She said staff will look to more fully address the concerns and clarify the issues that have been raised.
Mr. Buchwald said this report is a good first step. Mr. Bringmann suggested that in a year we revisit the report and see what has been implemented and acknowledge the views that have been presented by the disability community.
New Business
Mr. Guild announced that at the June PCAC meeting, a new PCAC Chair would be elected and that it was time to convene a nominating committee to establish a slate of nominees for PCAC Chair and 1st and 2nd Vice Chairs. It was proposed that Mr. Guild and the three current Council Chairs would serve on the committee, and that the Council Vice Chairs would serve as alternates to the Council Chairs. A motion to this effect was made and approved unanimously.
Introduction of Barry L. Kluger, MTA Inspector General
Mr. Kluger introduced Earamichia Brown, the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG’s) Director of Intake and Public Outreach.
Mr. Kluger said he was born in Brooklyn and moved to Queens when he was young and took the Q 27 bus to school.
He noted that Francis Corcoran is on the Inspector General’s Advisory Committee.
Mr. Kluger said that at his confirmation hearing, the State Senators asked him extensively about how he would maintain the OIG’s independence. He said the independence of the office is critical, but it should be used as more than a sword. Mr. Kluger noted that his predecessor got caught in a buzz saw created by the differing interests of groups with which the office is involved. He said the public wants more independence from the Inspector General.
Mr. Kluger said that the MTA had previously accused the Inspector General of having a “gotcha” mentality. He noted that the previous IG produced an award-winning report on flooding in the subways, but the process of creating this report was marked by conflict and the report did not get as much credit as it otherwise might have.
Mr. Kluger said he wanted to give the agencies the credit where it was due and speak to the agencies as investigations progress. This would allow the agencies to respond appropriately to the problem and give them time to find a solution. Mr. Kluger said he heard from a reporter for the New York Times that if you catch a problem before it costs money, it then is not considered news.
Mr. Kluger said they are looking at a variety of issues including paratransit complaints.
He said they have begun to post their reports on the website. He said that Ken Stewart has helped with their study about the lack of noise made by hybrid buses.
Mr. Kluger said he had spoken to NYC Transit President Roberts about the initial findings of his on study on platform edges.
Mr. Kluger said that some work has been done and there have been some moves made toward performing an audit in a recently reported case involving an MTA moving contractor. In the MTA mover case, there may be some judgment required to determine whether the vendor should have been disqualified, although it is certain that relevant information should have been exchanged but wasn’t.
Mr. Kluger said he has hired many people from other investigative units and that this strategy is bearing fruit. By hiring experienced investigators, he gets both competence and relationships.
Mr. Kluger said they did an audit of MTA’s owner-controlled insurance program. The audit found that the MTA self certified certificates of occupancy for its properties and in some cases, no certificate of occupancy exists. He said they wrote a letter on this subject immediately. He noted that in many cases the OIG does not wait until a report is issued to bring issues found by the office to the agency’s attention. In some of these cases the OIG does not even issue a report.
In response to Mr. Albert’s inquiry as to whether the IG has looked at the procurement process and whether there is a trend where bidders low ball their bids on a job intentionally, knowing that the MTA will have to go back for lucrative change orders in the midst of the projects, Mr. Kluger said he has discussed this situation with Ron Saporita. He said that he has spoken to Mr. Saporita about the interface of existing contracting practices with the findings of the Blue Ribbon Commission for Construction Excellence and that he has also spoken to Linda Kleinbaum.
He said his office works closely with the Auditor General. Mr. Kluger indicated the Auditor General asked that his office do an audit of MTA Bus.
Mr. Kluger indicated that about 95 percent of recommendations and findings are accepted by the agencies.
Mr. Kluger reported that New York 1 did a story on the IG’s new outreach program to encourage customers to speak up and report problems they see within the system.
Mr. Kluger explained his office’s complaint process and said that Ms. Brown is looking at its various aspects including the accessibility of their website. He noted they do receive commendations as well as complaints.
Mr. Kluger said once the office receives a complaint, it is addressed through a complaint processing procedure. First, they review records to determine whether the person has complained on a prior occasion. He said a folder is generated for each complaint and a determination is made into which of 3 categories the complaint could be classified: 1) A complaint is referred to the investigative unit. 2) A complaint is referred to a specific agency (10 percent of all complaints go to the agency in question). 3) A complaint is referred for an audit. In some cases where not enough information is provided to pursue the complaint, the material received is filed away as intelligence. He said that his office follows up with customers through letters and emails. The agencies must respond in ninety days once they have received a complaint from his office.
Mr. Kluger said the key issue with referrals is to monitor systemic conditions. He said if they get many complaints about one issue, they will refer the collection of similar complaints to the IG’s audit unit. Mr. Kluger indicated that sometimes the New York City Police Department will ask them to do a specific investigation.
Edith Prentiss asked about complaints relating to ADA issues. She said that most people don’t get through the system. She noted that most people don’t know they can complain to the IG and how to access the information about the office.
Mr. Kluger said that the OIG should not be the first place a customer complains. He said the agencies have complaint systems that are geared to respond quickly. He said the OIG is for systemic complaints and matters of safety or security.
Ms. Mason asked if it would be helpful if the PCAC would carbon copy the IG’s office when sending a complaint letter to one of the agencies.
Mr. Kluger said he would consider holding a public forum to allow people to understand what the OIG does.
In response to Ellyn Shannon’s concerns about the need for a management audit of the LIRR where department names and individual titles have been so layered over time that LIRR staff is frequently uncertain of who does what. Mr. Kluger said he thinks that President Williams is aware of the problems. He said he is aware of our letter where we outlined some of the issues.
In response to Karyl Berger’s question as to whether Mr. Kluger and his staff has worked with the Carter Burgess staff, Mr. Kluger said they have worked with Carter Burgess on specific projects.
Mr. Kluger said he was not sure if his office had done a study of the PA/CIS project.
Mr. Kluger the main focus of his office’s work does not involve delivery of service and they are not in business to deal with these kinds of complaints. He said they refer complaints to other places where appropriate.
In response to Mr. Albert’s question as to whether he has given an opinion on how the removal of customer service agents will impact the subway system, Mr. Kluger said he has not addressed this issue officially but has addressed the impact of reduced staffing on maintenance issues.
Mr. Stewart said he personally supports the IG’s emphasis on systemic complaints and likes that the website permits anonymity when sharing a complaint. Mr. Kluger said that they have received complaints from MTA employees and have reached out to MTA employees.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
Research Associate
Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA
Chair’s Report-William Guild
March 5, 2009
On the personnel front, Jan Wells has hired two outreach assistants to work in the PCAC office. Both are graduate students concentrating in transportation planning at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Manzell Blakely, who hails from Washington State, is working on the PCAC website and will assist in the development of new promotional materials for the Councils. Chris Jewett, from Delaware, will assist in writing Council testimony and correspondence and in gathering information on the Section 8 reports that Ellyn submits to the MTA. He is enrolled in a joint program with the Rutgers Law School and will complete his legal studies after he finishes his planning degree.
Over the last few months, Bill Henderson, Jim Blair and Andrew Albert have gone up to Albany to lobby for funding and promote the Ravitch Commission recommendations for the MTA. Bill has gone with the Empire State Transportation Association (ESTA) and Jim and Andrew has gone with other members of the MTA Board and staff. Under Old Business they will give us an update on where things stand.
To save riders from the fare increases of 25 percent or more, closings of station booths and reduced system cleaning, and most importantly, severe service cuts will require prompt action by the state. The Commission on Metropolitan Transportation Authority Financing, better known as the Ravitch Commission, released its findings on December 4. The PCAC issued a press release supporting this report as a basis for ensuring adequate operating and capital funding for the MTA in 2009 and into the future. Bill Guild’s quote from this release was picked up by the NY Times in its City Room blog. PCAC also joined in the statement by ESTA on the Ravitch Commission report, which included a quote from Bill Henderson. Bill Henderson also testified on behalf of the PCAC at a joint meeting of the NYC Council Finance and Transportation committees in late December and testified in support of increased funding for the MTA at a joint hearing held by the State Senate Committees on Transportation and Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions in February.
In late December, the PCAC sent a letter to each of the State Assembly and Senate members calling upon them to provide more resources for the MTA. The letter emphasized the importance of the MTA and its agencies to the economic well being of the State and cited the Ravitch Commission report as a natural starting point for creating a new financing structure for the MTA.
The PCAC issued a press release in February to urge riders to take full advantage of the newly enacted increase in the maximum value of qualified pre-tax transit benefit programs. These programs allow workers to elect to withhold a portion of their pre-tax income to be used to pay for public transportation commuting expenses. The American Economic Recovery Act, which President Obama signed into law in late February, includes provisions expanding the maximum pre-tax benefit that can be provided for public transportation from $120 to $230 per month. These provisions make the value of transit benefits equal to that of similar pre-tax benefits available for commuter parking. The PCAC noted the leading role of New York’s senior Senator Charles Schumer, a long time champion of increased pre-tax public transportation benefits, in making this provision a part of the economic stimulus package.
Ellyn Shannon and Bill Henderson attended a preview of the MTA’s redesigned website. Ellyn also observed one of several focus groups that were held by the MTA to get feedback on the proposed new design. We’re happy to report that the redesign is a vast improvement over the current MTA website. You may remember that in March of 2007, PCAC staff wrote a six-page letter to the MTA identifying major problems with its website. The letter identified several design problems such as its visual chaos, navigational difficulty and its frequent lack of consistency. Content issues were also addressed including incorrect, outdated and inadequate information as well as poor tone, which most frequently is a problem on Transit’s website. At that time we asked the MTA to do a comprehensive redesign.
This new design has been well received by the PCAC staff and focus groups. It is cleaner, easier to navigate, and offers a very helpful “Current Service Status” section. The MTA is currently tweaking the final design to incorporate some of the recommendations made over the last few weeks. It should be noted that the MTA accomplished the redesign using its own in-house design team, which consists of a mere 2-3 individuals who have worked incredibly hard over the last two years to please the many stakeholders. The new site is expected to be launched within the next two months.
Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council
PCAC Meeting
Chair’s Report-Gerard Bringmann
March 5, 2009
I testified on behalf of the LIRRCC at the MTA fare increase and service change public hearing at the Garden City Hotel on January 21. We had sent a letter to MTA Director of Public Affairs Douglas Sussman questioning the wisdom of holding this hearing in such elegant surroundings. Mr. Sussman responded that this location was centrally located in Nassau County and easy for people to access via the LIRR and Able-Ride. He also noted because of budget cuts, many public facilities are no longer open during evening hours.
There was a good turnout for the hearing, as over 100 people attended, mainly to protest the combination of service cuts and fare increases that are proposed. Many of those in attendance were users of the Long Island Bus Able-Ride service. The fare for Able-Ride could rise as high as $7 under the proposed fare increases, and several speakers discussed the severe impact that this dramatic increase in cost for this service would have upon them. Others pointed to the impact that Rail Road fare increases would have or the impacts of service cuts. One thing was clear at the hearing: commuters don’t want to pay more for less.
At the December 2008 MTA Long Island committee meeting Bill Henderson presented a statement on behalf of the Council regarding the MTA’s 2009 proposed budget. Bill also made a statement on this subject on behalf of the PCAC at the full MTA board meeting. Although there was much discussion by the board members, the budget was ultimately approved
In December and January Bill, Jan and Ellyn met with several assembly members as part of delegations organized through the Long Island Transit Coalition. Bill’s group met with Assemblyman Charles Levine (D) in Glen Cove. Jan’s group met with Assemblyman Rob Walker (R) in Hicksville and Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel from Great Neck. Ellyn and other coalition members met with Assemblymen Tom McKevitt (R) in Garden City and Assemblyman Steve Engelbright (D) in East Setauket. These meetings are a good start to getting our assembly members aware of the LIRRCC and could be yet another useful way to get more members for the Council.
Jan Wells attended the Long Island Index 2009 presentation on January 30th at Hofstra University. This annual report on the economic, community, health, education, environmental and governance condition of Long Island is funded by the Rauch Foundation in Garden City. This year the focus was on education and the findings highlight the tremendous differences in spending and educational needs between districts. This report is available online. Suffolk County Executive Levy spoke on a pre-recorded tape and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi delivered his words in person. In her speech, Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the foundation, pointed out that they have been presenting the facts for six years but there has been no action.
After the meeting Jan toured several transit-oriented development sites by car: West Hempstead, Bay Shore and Patchogue. She noted that finding stations was a real challenge as LIRR direction signage is non-existent.
In February we sent a letter to LIRR President Helena Williams to express our dismay and concern at the incomplete information the LIRR released regarding the results of their 2008 Customer Satisfaction Survey. We received a PowerPoint presentation that merely highlighted the results with no detail on procedures for the data collection as well as no substantive information about the results. We have requested to see several pieces of information that would help to complete the picture.
Jan Wells also toured LIRR stations on the Oyster Bay branch and investigated the new private express bus service to New York that began in January. It operates from a church parking lot in Glen Cove and offers service to Midtown Manhattan and to Wall Street. On February 26th at the Farmingdale Public Library Jan attended the Stakeholder Committee for a new planning initiative called Long Island 2035. This will be a regional visioning process to “develop a public consensus on where the next generation of residents could be housed, the transportation systems needed to support these settlement patterns, and the actions needed to insure that prosperity is broadly and equitable shared.” Funding is being provided by NYMTC with RPA and the Long Island Regional Planning Board providing the leadership.
In January we did not have a guest speaker so we could discuss the content of our testimony for the fare hearings. We planned to change the venue and time for our February meeting to Jamaica station at 4:30 pm to make the meeting more accessible to the riding public. Unfortunately, this meeting had to be cancelled due to severe weather that day and has been rescheduled for the same time and place on March 12. The members were disappointed about the cancellation, as we were scheduled to discuss a number of recurring issues with LIRR Chief Transportation Officer Rod Brooks.
The issues that will be addressed next week include the lack of movement of conductors through the train, the closing of cars when paying passengers are standing, multiple reports of conductors bullying passengers, reported incidents of engineers operating trains unsafely, including talking on a cell phone while at the controls, frequent incidents involving unruly, intoxicated, and loud passengers, and rider dissatisfaction with on-board delay and courtesy announcements. We have sent Mr. Brooks a letter outlining our concerns and expect him to responsively address when he meets with the Council.
Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council
PCAC Meeting
Chair’s Report
March 5, 2009
The MNRCC was represented at fare hearings in both Westchester and Rockland Counties. On the snowy evening of January 28, Doug McKean testified for the Council at the hearing at the Westchester County Center. Gerard Kopera testified for us at the Palisades Center on February 2. Many of the speakers addressed the payroll tax proposed by the Ravitch Commission and off-peak cutbacks in West of Hudson service. Bill Henderson testified at the fare hearing that was held in Orange County this past Monday. Bill and one other person out of the 150 people in attendance spoke about transit issues; all the others spoke largely in opposition to the increase in the payroll tax.
Bill has recently left several messages for staff in the Dutchess County Executives offices and has spoken to the Putnam County Executive’s Chief of Staff, the Rockland County Executive’s Assistant, and NYCTRC member Marisol Halpern, who is responsible for transportation matters for the Bronx Borough President, regarding new members. Bill will keep after the elected officials and work to have names sent to the Governor for his decision.
On Tuesday, January 6 on Track 28 in Grand Central, Bill and Jan attended Metro-North’s invitation to preview the installation of a prototype bicycle mounting device on two M-7 cars. MNR invited representatives of bicycle groups in New York and Connecticut to visit and provide feedback on this device. Representatives of the disability community were also invited to inspect the installation, as the device is installed in the priority area for wheelchairs and may be used only when the area is not needed for wheelchairs. This effort is one of Metro-North’s initiatives to accommodate the increasing number of customers with bicycles. Metro-North is planning to install this device on a limited number of cars that will operate in passenger service to allow for a real life test of the technology.
In February 2, Bill Henderson appeared on Bronx Talk, a public affairs program carried on Bronx cable systems. He discussed the MTA’s financial position and the Ravitch Commission proposals with Robert Sinclair of the American Automobile Association. Bill noted the growth of Metro-North ridership in the Bronx and the need for adequate funding to support this expanding market, as well as the new Yankee Stadium service.
On February 13th, Jan Wells and Ellyn Shannon attended a program in New Rochelle discussing the Ravitch Commission’s proposal for a Regional Bus Authority. Larry Salley, Director of the Westchester Department of Transportation, who oversees the county’s Bee-Line Bus service, indicated that while Westchester would be willing to be part of a Regional Bus consortium, it would not consent to become part of the MTA. Ed Watt, labor representative on the MTA Board, while not directly opposing a regional bus entity, qualified his response by saying if it was a well-thought out, broad-based plan, the unions would be willing to discuss it.
Also mentioned in the panel discussion was the proposed BRT Tappan Zee Bridge connection to Westchester County and the impact it will have on the County, particularly Tarrytown. In the second half of the program, Walter Hook of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy presented a visual look at the various bus rapid transit systems (BRT) around the world. He was followed by Naomi Klein of the Westchester DOT, who spoke about the Central Avenue BRT Assessment Study for a BRT route from White Plains to the Bronx.
In the final segment Assembly member George Latimer and the mayors of New Rochelle, Tarrytown, and Peekskill spoke on how bus service affects their towns and how it can be marketed to potential riders. The event was sponsored by Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the Regional Plan Association.
The Council did not have a guest speaker in January so that we could discuss the content of our fare hearing testimony. In February we were honored to have Sharon Carlquist, now a conductor on MNR’s New Haven branch, who began her career 31 years ago as a server in the Café car on Amtrak.
Our annual President’s Forum will be held here in the MTA Board Room on Wednesday, March 11 from 5 to 7 pm. This will be our first Forum with Howard Permut as Metro-North President.
New York City Transit Riders Council
PCAC Meeting
Chair’s Report-Andrew Albert
March 5, 2009
During the last three months, our activities have focused on the MTA budget. Leading up to the budget vote in December, we expressed our objections to the harmful elements of the now approved budget. I was quoted in several newspaper articles discussing the pain that the proposals would impose on the riders, as has Bill Henderson. Our member Edith Prentiss appeared with City Comptroller William Thompson and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to raise objections to the potential 150 percent increase in Access-A-Ride fares that has been set in motion with the passage of the budget. Bill Henderson met with the Transportation Committee of Manhattan Community Board 6 to discuss the hardships that East Side residents would face if the budget is implemented, and we’ve presented the NYCTRC’s position in the public speaking and business portions of MTA New York City Transit Committee and Board meetings.
As another argument to support increased funding for the MTA, we sent letters to all the Assembly and Senate members within the five boroughs detailing the how the NYC Transit service cuts would directly affect their districts.
Trudy Mason testified at the hearing in Manhattan on January 14. Mike Sinansky testified at the hearing in Queens. Edith Prentiss schlepped to Staten Island to deliver our testimony. Toya Williford gave the testimony in Brooklyn and Marisol Halpern delivered the testimony at the Bronx hearing. I was on the dais for all five hearings. It is obvious the riders know a fare increase is impending, but they do not want to see any diminution of service at the same time.
We sent a letter to President Roberts to ask for his assistance in solving the noise and crowding problems at the Times Square station. Enforcement of noise and crowding regulations are practically nonexistent at this station. Staff has visited the station regularly over the last two months and spoken to several transit workers, police officers, and passengers. All seem to be in agreement that the problems are escalating and need to be solved.
In the letter, we asked President Roberts to create a Station Manager position whose sole responsibility is the Times Square station. Presently, the Times Square Station Supervisor is also responsible for several stations to the north and south. We are asking that President Roberts empower the newly created position with the ability to write protocols as needed, work in partnership with the NYPD Transit Bureau, and communicate regularly with MTA’s Music Under New York program staff to inform them of any issues that arise from the program. The Council would like to see order restored to the station so that riders can hear announcements and transit workers can be heard in their radio transmissions. While we are focusing on the Times Square station because we have the most information on the problems there, we are also asking that the Times Square station be used as a pilot program and that this approach be expanded to other stations.
In January, Karyl Berger attended a hearing of the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions. The focus of the hearing was “to obtain information on the status of the plans and timetable for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site and surrounding structures”. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver chaired the meeting. He was joined by Assembly members Brodsky, Brennan, Millman, Glick, and Cavanaugh. Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority, Elliot Sander, Executive Director of the MTA, and developer Larry Silverstein provided testimony. Mr. Sander focused his remarks on the status of the Fulton Street Transit Center and the South Ferry station projects.
As the hearing testimony was by invitation only, we provided a written statement for the record. Our remarks highlighted the need for the State legislature to step up and provide the necessary funding so the MTA does not have to impose the proposed fare increases and service cuts as they will severely impact riders in Lower Manhattan.
Also in January, Bill Henderson attended City Council hearing on NYC Transit Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) project. At the hearing Robert Walsh and Sassan Davoodi of the NYC Transit Department of Buses said the system that NYC Transit had been pilot testing did not perform acceptably and that Transit would not move forward with existing contracts for development of the AVL system. NYC Council Committee on Transportation Chairman John Liu expressed frustrations that after almost two decades of discussion and planning the project was essentially back on the drawing board. Mr. Walsh said that the problems with the system had to do with the software required to model the speed and direction of buses and that Transit was assessing its options. After some prodding by Council members, Mr. Walsh agreed to examine the City’s recently developed AVL system to see if it could provide the functionality that Transit is seeking.
In December we did not have guest speaker so that we could discuss our fare hearing testimony. In January, William Goodrich, the project manager for the Second Avenue Subway project updated us on the work being done. In February, Jerry Gold, Program Manager for Carter and Burgess, the MTA’s independent engineer, was our guest. He gave an overview about the status of the MTA capital projects such as the Second Avenue subway, Fulton Street Transit Center, South Ferry and East Side Access. He unfortunately is leaving his job as a new company has been hired by the MTA to perform this function.