LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL
MINUTES OF APRIL 2, 2015
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on April 2, 2015 at the LIRR East Side Access Readiness conference room at 450 7th Avenue, New York City.
The following members were present:
Gerard Bringmann Michael Godino
Owen Costello Ira Greenberg
Mark Epstein Maureen Michaels
Raymond Pagano
The following member was on the phone:
Larry Rubinstein
The following members were absent:
Sheila Carpenter Matthew Kessler
Bryan Peranzo
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Associate Director
Shawn Chandler -Rochdale 101
Danielle Rouchon -Rochdale 101
David Kubicek -LIRR
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The Agenda for April 2, 2015 meeting and the Minutes of the February 12, 2015 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
A copy of the Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.
Board Report
Ira Greenberg gave the Board Report. Mr. Greenberg said that the past winter featured the worst performance in his memory across all agencies.
Mr. Greenberg said that Amtrak is negotiating with its insurance companies for funds to repair Superstorm Sandy damage to the East River tunnels and that work on these facilities is imminent.
Another significant issue raised at the Board meetings was affordable housing and the MTA’s responsibility to provide for it as a part of development projects in which the Authority is involved. He said that Board members Mitch Pally and Charles Moerdler had argued strongly that the MTA has a responsibility to further affordable housing goals. Maureen Michaels stated that she agreed that the MTA should take action to increase the supply of affordable housing especially in light of the severe lack of affordable units in much of its service area.
Mr. Greenberg noted that ultimately the sale of air rights that sparked the most recent discussion of affordable housing was approved by the Board.
Gerry Bringmann asked whether the station that had been proposed for Queens as part of East Side Access was close to any other transit facilities. Mr. Greenberg said that a Sunnyside station is not currently part of the plans for East Side Access but that there are other transit facilities in the area.
Introduction of Dave Kubicek, LIRR Senior Vice President -Operations
Mark Epstein introduced Mr. Kubicek and began by asking him to provide more information about the recent derailment of a freight train on LIRR tracks that damaged communication and control systems.
Mr. Kubicek stated that the equipment installed to protect the main line tracks from unauthorized trains, known as a derail, worked as it was intended, but the cause of the accident was a human factor error. Ordinarily the impacts of the derailment would have been isolated to the freight train in question, but the derailed car was carrying 40 tons of lumber products and when it derailed it fell and flattened an LIRR signal bungalow. This was the cause of the disruption that followed on the line.
Ms. Michaels asked why the derail was installed at the location where it was placed. Mr Kubicek said that the derail is not designed to tip a car, but due to the factors specific to this case that is what it did. He said that one of his initiatives in assuming responsibility for LIRR operations is to take a closer look at the Rail Road’s derailment experience. He said that there are questions raised by the number of derailments that have occurred on the Rail Road. Mr. Kubicek said that the LIRR owes the MTA Board LIRR Committee a report on the difficulties that occurred the past winter. Mr. Epstein requested a copy of this report and Mr. Kubicek said he would provide one to the Council.
Ms. Michaels stated that during March, 75 percent of her trips were on time using the 5:59 standard, but only 44 percent arrived within two minutes of schedule. Total delays on the trains she rode totalled 191 minutes for 39 trips.
Mr. Epstein pointed out that the LIRRCC recently sent LIRR President Nowakowski a letter about on-time performance. Using Mr. Bringmann’s commute as an example, he noted that there are often missed connections in the commute even when trains are technically on-time. Mr. Epstein asked if Mr. Kubicek he would commit to working with the Council to develop standards that better reflect the rider experience.
Mr. Kubicek stated that he has seen the letter. He said that he has been tasked with improving on-time performance and addressing problematic branches. Mr. Kubicek said that his team has profiled a number of lines that perform particularly well or poorly. He said that the LIRR has a lot of transfers and that this is an issue for riders. Mr. Kubicek noted that he is also a LIRR rider, and recently raised an issue in Huntington about broken steps at the station.
Mr. Kubicek said that with the reorganization of LIRR management there is now a stations group. He said that he is particularly interested in Hicksville and the customer experience there, starting with how the rider approaches the station.
Mr. Epstein requested a schedule of station rehabilitations. Mr. Kubicek stated he did not have this and that this lies more in Bruce Polhot’s area of responsibility. He said that he is nevertheless looking at the issue as he is responsible for stations.
Ms. Michaels said that reported a restroom faucet leak at Cold Spring Harbor that was not addressed. Mr. Kubicek replied that the leak was created on purpose to prevent pipes from freezing.
Shawn Chandler from Locust Manor introduced himself. He related his concerns about that station, which services the Rochdale Village housing development. He said that the station is a mess and that there are holes in the fence. The LIRR has fixed some of the holes in the fence, but tells people in the community that they are not agreed about the improvements that are needed.
Mr. Epstein said that the Council will request that the LIRR deal with the issues at the station.
Owen Costello stated that there is a similar problem with Port Washington station clock. It goes off the correct time whenever the power goes out. He said that he received a pro forma response from the LIRR about the Station Manager monitoring the clock, but shortly after this response the clock was off its correct time for two weeks the next time power went out. He said that he also wants to know what is being done about the pigeons.
Mr. Kubicek stated that he has one and a half million dollars a year for a pigeon abatement program. One problem is that a station worker will cut the pigeon netting to perform a repair and that no one will follow up and repair the netting. This is one example of the reasons that stations were put under operations.
Mr. Kubicek said that he had also moved things around at Penn Station to improve customer flow and wondered if the Council members had noticed. He said that he is working with Amtrak to improve flow in the station and has been thanked by police working in the Station for these efforts.
Mr. Epstein asked, when there is a complaint filed, how long it takes to get to someone to take corrective action. Mr. Kubicek replied that it depends on the type and source of the complaint.
Ms. Michaels asked if Mr. Kubicek is familiar with Boston’s approach to complaints.
Raymond Pagano asked if complaints about station facilities go to the Station Manager first. Mr. Kubicek commented that he is trying to set up a structure for response to complaints. He said that he is looking at LIRR practices such as maintenance schedules.
Ms. Michaels asked if we could get New York Avenue crosswalk near Huntington Station on the agenda with Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone. Mr. Kubicek said he will be going out to talk to municipalities on Long Island to determine the lines of responsibility for facilities around stations. He said that deteriorated stairs in Huntington are in the process of being fixed, but to determine the responsible parties, Huntington brought in lots of lawyers.
Mr. Epstein said that the Council will be compiling a list of problems in stations and will forward them to the LIRR.
Larry Rubinstein suggested that there needs to be a discussion about ways of reporting problems. He stated that there should be a button on the website for riders to report problems without going through as many layers as are currently required.
Michael Godino asked whether Mr. Kubicek is responsible for the raising of the counter of the information booth at Penn Station. Mr. Kubicek said that he did not direct the action but that it was done because of problems with people lurching over the counter to get to the staff person working there. He said that he would look into the overall requirement for accessibility of the facility, but that the change was made for the safety of the employees.
Mr. Epstein mentioned that he wanted to note some dates for the Mineola Office grand opening and Meet the Council. The office opening is scheduled for Friday May 8 and the next Meet the Council is scheduled for May 19.
Staff Report
Bill Henderson reported on rider contacts with the LIRRCC since the last meeting in February.
Member Report
Mr. Rubinstein mentioned that he is waiting for Bob Brennan to set up a meeting on announcements.
Mr. Bringmann said that in the past few months a number of elected officials have called for electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch, and then two weeks later they came to Long Island’s South Shore and called for electrification of the Montauk Branch to Speonk. He said that instead of electrification all riders really need is more dual mode equipment.
Old Business
Danielle Rouchon stated that when she compares Laurelton to Locust Manor it is a right and left hand situation. There are still problems during snow at Laurelton and lighting sometimes does not work. There is more traffic on the 225th Street side of the Laurelton station. At Locust Manor, the LIRR has installed two new sheds for protection from the elements on the west bound tracks, but there is no shelter on east bound side. Mr. Epstein asked that she create a list of problems at the stations and provide it to the Council.
Shawn Chandler commented that there is a lot of lost ridership at Locust Manor because people cannot easily get to the platforms. He said that the accessibility of the platforms is a problem.
Mr. Bringmann stated that there are many important issues about larger capital projects, but maintenance is still extremely important in the rider experience.
Mr. Kubicek stated that he is addressing issues one at a time. Conditions during the peak are important, but so are conditions during off-peak hours. He said that there are more than 400 events at Manhattan and Brooklyn venues each year that require service in off peak hours. He said that there are between 14,000 and 15,000 train stops per day and this large number of individual operations involved in each of these stops makes up the work of the LIRR each day.
Mr. Costello noted that crowding on Penn Station tracks 15, 16, and 17 is a problem when trains are running late. He asked why the LIRR does not wait to call trains until they are ready for boarding.
Mr. Kubicek stated has questions about this practice and that he wants to reduce the amount of time that riders have to spend underground waiting. He said that the other public areas of Penn Station are better equipped to accommodate passengers than the platforms.
Mr. Costello said that there are other issues about Track 17 in that the trains serving this platform do not stop in a location that is convenient to passengers.
Mr. Kubicek asked whether members are advocating consistent berthing, where trains pull to the same point every time they service a station, or whether the trains should be centered in the same place, even though the location of their ends may vary with the length of the train. He said that the LIRR will be looking at consist length and trying to minimized changes in consist size, as it takes a great deal of effort to change the number of cars in consists.
Mr. Kubicek also noted that there are issues with connections of trains with differing lengths. He said that it may be better to have the head cars of connecting trains at the same points so that transfers are easier for some riders.
New Business
No New Business was discussed.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director