LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL
MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2016
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on February 11, 2016 at the LIRR Transportation Services Conference Room at One Penn Plaza, Penn Station, New York City.
The following members were present:
Gerard P. Bringmann Michael Godino
Sheila Carpenter Ira Greenberg
Mark Epstein Maureen Michaels
The following member was on the phone:
Larry Rubinstein
The following members were absent:
Owen Costello Raymond Pagano
Matthew Kessler Bryan Peranzo
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Angela Bellisio -PCAC Transportation Planner
Bob Brennan -LIRR
Mark Young -LIRR
Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Associate Director
Richard Schulman -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the February 11, 2016 meeting was approved. The minutes of the January 14, 2016 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.
Mark Epstein said that the LIRR’s initial outreach for the Main Line Third Track has encounted opposition on the basis of potential disruptions from grade crossing improvement and increased horn noise from additional trains.
Mr. Epstein also noted that the LIRRCC has been receiving email messages about panhandlers on trains at Penn Station. He stated that these complaints have been passed along to the LIRR.
Sheila Carpenter asked whether it would be better to have homeless services staff deal with the issue.
Bob Brennan responded that the MTA has had Services for the Underserved in place as its homeless services contractor since the beginning of the year. They do a good job of working with homeless individuals in LIRR facilities.
Maureen Michaels said that we should separate the issues of panhandling and homelessness, as often panhandlers are not homeless but instead operating scams as a source of income. She said that on the 9:01 AM train out of Huntington there are panhandlers who have the same story over a period of many months.
Board Report
Ira Greenberg presented the Board report and noted that there is to be a report to the Board from the LIRR in this month’s cycle on some of its performance problems this winter. He stated that the quality of information provided to passengers during these events varied.
Ms. Michaels said that she would join the LIRRCC communication committee.
Gerry Bringmann said that he wants to know who made the decision to issue a press release that service would begin at 7:00 AM following the January blizzard. Mr. Greenberg responded that the first decision was to restore service at 5:00 AM, but that the LIRR found that they could not do so on some branches. After this realization, the LIRR announced a 7:00 AM starting time for trains, although they failed to make clear that there were some trains running earlier.
Mr. Epstein noted that the Third Track outreach to affected communities has included an offer to address at grade rail crossings and said that each crossing in the system needs to be reviewed.
Mike Godino recalled that one delay incident involved the LIRR’s control center being evacuated and asked how there could be a situation where a fire alarm shuts down the system.
Mark Young commented that there is a small backup Control Center in Jamaica, but since the evacuation was followed by a return to the building within about 15 minutes, there would not have been sufficient time to transfer functions to the backup control center in this case.
Staff Report
Ms. Carpenter mentioned that she had heard of customers having problems with the Montauk branch service. They have complained that there is not enough service. Some have to drive to Ronkonkoma. Ms. Michaels said that this is a good idea and should be supported. Mr. Bringmann agreed that more Montauk Branch service is needed.
Bob Brennan stated that the LIRR has attempted to provide better service on the East End, but ridership has not responded to the new service. The LIRR added a “jury train” to provide transportation to the courts at Riverhead, and ridership on this train started at about 150 but soon dropped to around 12. Mr. Epstein responded that variable court schedules are a problem for riders of this train, and no one wants to have to wait several hours for a ride home.
Member Reports
Ms. Michaels stated that the Cold Spring Harbor renovation was handled badly. Users of the station were initially told that renovation was to start in January, and then it did not start on time and there was no advance notice of the start of construction. A temporary shelter was installed and there was one day of notice that the permanent station would be closing for construction, as posters were put up one day before the February 1 start of the renovation.
Ms. Michaels said that on the 8:04 AM train out of Huntington no one gets a seat past Mineola and that there has to be a solution. She said that there are hundreds of people standing and tickets are not being collected. Mr. Greenberg said that this is probably a train with program standees. Ms. Michaels said that more people are taking the railroad and that the situation getting worse
Mr. Brennan remarked that the LIRR is in the process of doing construction at Hicksville to allow it to add more trains to provide seats in areas where they are not available.
Ms. Michaels said that there is a need to look at the schedules to evaluate the crowding. Mr. Henderson said that staff could analyze where crowding is occurring.
Larry Rubinstein noted that there was a press conference at Bellmore about the permit parking for Hempstead residents. The Town is reducing parking open to non-residents and charging $10 for a resident permit. As a result there is very limited non-resident parking.
Mr. Godino said that he has noticed that on board announcements are lacking and that trains dead heading through stations are not blowing their horns to alert those on the platforms.
Mr. Greenberg asked what the rule is on sounding horns when running through a station. Mr. Brennan stated that he will look into this.
Ms. Carpenter stated that she hopes that the station houses are left open during the cold weather. Ms. Michaels asked whether temporary stations will be open in the cold weather. Mr. Brennan said that he believes that temporary station will also be kept open in severe weather.
Ms. Carpenter said that the Ronkonkoma the station house is closed at many times when riders need to use it. Mr. Brennan said that he would get the Council an updated list of open hours for the stations.
Mr. Epstein mentioned he would like to set up a group to talk about on-time performance issues. He said that he would not ask for members to commit to be a part of the group today but asked them to consider it.
Old Business
Mr. Brennan said that the Second Track project is progressing. The second track runs parallel to the main track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma and 5.3 of the 18 mile corridor already has two tracks from prior construction of passing sidings. There are two parts of this project. The first phase was a design-build project awarded in 2013, and the second phase is a 5.5 mile section that will be completed under the 2015-2019 Capital Program.
Currently, crews are working through the winter on phase I, while phase II is also a design – build project that is currently out to bid. The project is scheduled for a start in mid-2016, after a March bid opening, with completion in late 2019.
Mr. Brennan said that the LIRR is currently doing community outreach on the 3rd Track project. Ms. Michaels asked whether the LIRR has retained communication consultants to work on the 3rd track project and suggested that they do so. Mr. Brennan stated that the direction on the 3rd Track project is coming from the highest sources and that Hector Garcia is working with John McCarthy, who reports to MTA Chairman.
Ms. Michaels suggested that the Council meet with Director of Corporate Communication for the MTA.
The members asked the details of the proposed grade crossing improvements that would be included in 3rd Track. Mr. Brennan said that he did not know the details and he will get back to the Council.
Mr. Greenberg said that there are many incidents involving unauthorized persons on the tracks and that the MTA Board asked the railroad to look at ways of reducing the number of people on the tracks.
Mr. Epstein suggested that the members need to start talking about the LIRRCC position at the upcoming fare hearings.
Mr. Epstein stated that the customers are filing the same complaints with the LIRR, but the response is slow and riders do not receive substantive responses. Mr. Brennan said that correspondence has a 15 day turn around and emails have a 5 to 10 day turnaround for responses from Public Affairs. Mr. Epstein noted that when Bryan Peranzo complained about graffiti on freight cars through normal channels there was no real response, which he should have received whether or not the railroad could do anything about the graffiti.
Mr. Greenberg said that riders have a number of issues, such as trains off of the platform and that he hopes that train crews are reporting these incidents. Mr. Brennan said that if the LIRR is informed of these incidents they will investigate them and investigate, but the results released to the person reporting the issue will be general. He requested that issues identified by the Council be forwarded to him.
New Business
Ms. Michaels said that the Rail Road’s cancel/combine plan is not working as designed and that there are horrible conditions on the combined trains. When the plan is put in place there are delays due to overcrowding and cascading delays down the line. Mr. Brennan suggested that Charlie McKiernan speak to the Council about this issue.
Mark Young said that mobile ticketing is now on track for a simultaneous rollout at the LIRR and Metro-North. There will be a test of the system in April or May, and the full implementation of the system starts mid-year. The system will be in place by the end of the year and differs from earlier onboard sales pilots. Mr. Epstein asked if mobile ticketing could cover NYC Transit as well. Mr. Young commented that it is possible as NYC Transit is looking at electronic ticketing for the subways.
Mr. Godino said that one issue he sees is riders not buying tickets in hopes that they will not be collected. Mr. Young replied that they did a lot of thinking about this issue and that the ticket will be stored in a Google Wallet but will have to be activated. At that point the ticket will be valid for one and one-half of the scheduled length of time of the trip. In the visual inspection phase of the implementation, the ticket will be distinctive to prevent counterfeiting, but when the technology to scan tickets come, collectors will scan and invalidate tickets. For monthlies, the mobile device would validate tickets on certain days, like punch days with physical tickets.
Mr. Godino stated that the contractor for LIRR mobile ticketing is the same as New Jersey Transit, and he is concerned that the NJT app is not accessible to screen readers. Mr. Young said that in the initial rollout, the app will not be usable with screen readers, but in later phases there may be changes. The system is designed to be customer friendly and to give riders the opportunity to purchase and activate tickets easily.
Mr. Epstein briefly discussed the Meet the Council event.
Ms. Michaels suggested that invitations to meetings and events be circulated to the members.
Ms. Carpenter asked whether there is a number to call to access the MTA’s homeless services contractor. Mr. Brennan said that the number to call would be 511 or the MTA Police. He said that riders with concerns can also speak to LIRR Public Affairs.
Ms. Carpenter asked whether homeless services staff work 24 hours a day. Mr. Henderson responded that he has been told that they have staff to cover overnight hours. Ms. Carpenter asked whether the contractor is connected to County social services. Mr. Brennan said that the contractor is, but there appears to have been growth in the number of homeless persons over the last six months. He noted that Branch Line Manager Pat Gerakaris received an award from Nassau County for his action to help homeless individuals.
Mr. Rubinstein mentioned that at Bellmore station a lady comes to feed the birds and that he had been told that Nassau Police cannot do anything, as she is under the trestle. Mr. Brennan stated that this is not correct and that there are quality of life issues all along the line.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director