A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 12:15 p.m. on January 8, 2009, in the 5th floor Board Room, MTA Headquarters, 347 Madison Avenue, New York City. The following members were present via telephone:
Ira Greenberg
James L. McGovern
Gerard P. Bringmann
Maureen Michaels
The following members were absent:
Gary Babyatzky
Ronald Breuer
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
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the January 8, 2009 meeting was approved. The minutes of the November 6, 2008 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
This week I sent a letter to Douglas Sussman, the MTA’s Director of Community Affairs, in response to the MTA’s choice of a site for its Long Island fare hearing. I feel that in view of the MTA’s financial state and the huge fare increases that are proposed the decision to hold the hearing at the Garden City Hotel, which is a luxurious facility, showed real insensitivity to the rider and sent entirely the wrong message to the public. In addition, while this location is across the street from the Garden City station on the Hempstead Branch, it is not very convenient for most riders. I suggested that the space that we used for our President’s Forum at Jamaica Station would have been a much better choice of location for this fare hearing.
We received a response to our letter to Amtrak about the appearance of rats in the Long Island concourse of Penn Station. A copy has been given to you today. We sent the letter to Amtrak’s interim leader, Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie, because shortly after our November meeting Amtrak President Alex Kummant resigned. This may have accounted for the rather slow response to our letter.
At the December 2008 MTA/LIRR committee meeting Bill Henderson read 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. Now the fun begins as we head into fare hearings later this month. The testimony that we will give will be the focus of this meeting.
Bill called the Nassau and Suffolk County Executives as well as the Brooklyn Borough President’s office. Nassau County is transmitting a recommendation for a new member to the Governor this week and is in the process of reviewing other résumés that have been received to make additional recommendations. Suffolk County has a candidate who has been approved by the County Executive and is generating a recommendation letter to the Governor. The Brooklyn Borough President will have recommendations for the Governor by the end of the month.
Staff has been working on a few fronts to develop stronger relationships with our representatives in Albany. The PCAC sent a letter to members of the NY State Senate and Assembly to alert them to the severe fare increases and service cuts that are contained in the MTA’s 2009 budget. The letter calls upon Senate and Assembly members to take action on proposals to provide additional resources to the MTA. At this point, additional funding is the only thing that will prevent the huge fare increases and service reductions in the budget from going forward.
During the month of December 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 Lavine (D) in Glen Cove. Assemblyman Lavine said that many members are generally supportive of transit and are in favor of the third track project, but that there is no strong champion in the Assembly for transit on Long Island and no organized group of members that could be expected to push for improvements to the area’s transit resources. Personally, he is most interested in improving service on the Oyster Bay branch, which serves his district.
Jan’s group met with Assemblyman Rob Walker (R) in Hicksville who understood and supported LIRR track and station improvements. His familiarity with and support for TOD in his district, as well as his embrace of a growth agenda, was a welcome surprise. There seemed to be no aspect of TOD, transit expansion and growth that he disagreed with. However, he noted that many of his constituents do not trust the MTA (LIRR) because of an ongoing issue of a local freight rail yard. Apparently, MTA is refusing to put in writing their intentions with the property with regard to freight. As a result, the Ravitch Commission findings and the budget issues of MTA are clouded in voters’ minds by this backyard problem. Walker also mentioned that he is on the RemaiNY Task Force formed this year with two other Assembly colleagues. This group has traveled the State talking with young professionals, educational leaders, business owners and students in attempt to provide new initiatives that will lead to economic growth and a prosperous future for all New Yorkers. The Task Force is particularly focused on reviving the economy in distressed areas of upstate New York and Long Island. He indicated that there will be a Long Island Task Force hearing in March. When pressed, Walker, too, admitted that among legislators the leadership and a coalition for public transportation on LI aren’t there.
Ellyn and other coalition members met with Assemblymen Tom McKevitt (R) in Garden City who spoke about his support for the third track project up until the LIRR made the decision to not release the DEIS which is now negatively impacting many more homes in the area than he feels is necessary. Ellyn also met with Assembly member Steve Engelbright (D) in East Setauket who said he was very interested in supporting the LIRR capital program. He also mentioned that there is a good site for a new rail yard near between the Stony Brook and St. James stations. He asked us to speak with Helena about the possibility. The project would also then require electrification on the Port Jefferson line out to Stony Brook.
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. Staff is following up with Helena Williams on the issues raised by the assembly members. We can discuss this topic further under New Business.
Board Report
Due to the early meeting date, no Board Report was given.
Old Business
The members discussed the content of the testimony for the upcoming MTA fare hearings. Maureen Michaels said she had a list of issues that she is extremely concerned about and said that the testimony should be making demands upon the LIRR to focus on quality of life issues. She said the list is not is not in any priority order:
Parking lot vandalism—Ms. Michaels said this has become a huge issue at Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington. She noted that the towns are responsible for the parking lots but wondered if the LIRR has any influence on this issue. Jim McGovern said that the MTA Police are responsible for trains and stations.
Parking lot ticketing—Ms. Michaels has gotten lots of complaints that commuters feel like sitting ducks for the Suffolk County police. They feel they are being disproportionately targeted with tickets.
On-board train ticket collection practices—Ms. Michaels said that the LIRR is losing considerable revenue because of ticket collection practices. She noted that on express trains, the ticket collectors do not go through the trains to collect tickets until they have passed the last express stop, and she noted that sometimes the tickets aren’t taken until after they leave Jamaica. Mr. McGovern noted that it would be important to know how many people have monthly tickets on these trains. Ms. Michaels said there are people who get a monthly ticket in a closer zone than their home station because they know the tickets won’t be checked until long after boarding. Ira Greenberg said that he has lots of tickets that don’t get punched.
Another issue related to ticket collection that Ms. Michaels raised is whether tickets can be marked in such a way that riders only have to show the tickets once on a trip.
Climate Control on trains—Ms. Michaels said the Council should call for an audit of the HVAC systems on trains. She said her trains have had the air-conditioning on in the past few weeks. She said when she asked a ticket collector about the air conditioning, he said it was needed for ventilation purposes.
Ticket Vending Machines at stations—Ms. Michaels noted that if more station houses/ticket offices are being closed, it is imperative that the LIRR place more ticket vending machines on platforms. She said that Cold Spring Harbor needs more machines She said that a lot of people miss trains because of long lines at the machines, especially at the beginning of each month.
Police action monthly report—Ms. Michaels asked if the Council could obtain a copy of the monthly report of police actions. She said that often police activity is given as a reason for a delayed train. She would like to see statistics broken down by lines and time of day and type of activity.
Improved access to restrooms—Ms. Michaels said that many people take the train to Deer Park, which is the closest station to access the Suffolk County and Federal Courts, and said that it unacceptable that there is no access to restrooms at this station. She asked if staff could find out about the restroom facilities at other hub stations on other transportation facilities.
Use of AirTrain by LIRR customers—Ms. Michaels expressed concern that train delays have caused AirTrain customers to miss their flights at JFK.
Ms. Michaels noted that she usually is on at least one train a week that is delayed. She said that the LIRR’s on-time performance statistics don’t accurately reflect the experiences of the rider.
Mr. McGovern said he would speak to Vincent Tessitore, the representative of LIRR workers on the MTA Board, about some of the issues involving on-board personnel.
Ms. Michaels said we should not expect the LIRR to come up with solutions.
Mr. Greenberg said that it would be helpful to see the monthly board books. Mr. Henderson said he would send the members copies of the January LIRR committee books.
Gerry Bringmann said the testimony must stress that the financial help the Rail Road needs must come from the State Legislature. He said the quality of service must not be compromised. He said it would be a double hit for riders to have a fare increase along with service reductions. Ms. Michaels said the LIRR must deliver a much better product.
Mr. Bringmann said the LIRR has to become more efficient and a reduction in service is unacceptable. He said that the argument must be made to the Legislature as well as the MTA Board and that riders must contact State legislators about the fare increases and service reductions.
Mr. Bringmann said the LIRR needs to do an audit of its whole organization.
Ms. Michaels said that commuters are resigned to the fact that the fare will be increased but are very angry about the quality of service.
Mr. Bringmann said there remains a list of issues that Holli Dunayer has not addressed and he intends to send her a list of unresolved items.
New Business
No new business was discussed.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
Research Associate
Chair’s Report
This week I sent a letter to Douglas Sussman, the MTA’s Director of Community Affairs, in response to the MTA’s choice of a site for its Long Island fare hearing. I feel that in view of the MTA’s financial state and the huge fare increases that are proposed the decision to hold the hearing at the Garden City Hotel, which is a luxurious facility, showed real insensitivity to the rider and sent entirely the wrong message to the public. In addition, while this location is across the street from the Garden City station on the Hempstead Branch, it is not very convenient for most riders. I suggested that the space that we used for our President’s Forum at Jamaica Station would have been a much better choice of location for this fare hearing.
We received a response to our letter to Amtrak about the appearance of rats in the Long Island concourse of Penn Station. A copy has been given to you today. We sent the letter to Amtrak’s interim leader, Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie, because shortly after our November meeting Amtrak President Alex Kummant resigned. This may have accounted for the rather slow response to our letter.
At the December 2008 MTA/LIRR committee meeting Bill Henderson read 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. Now the fun begins as we head into fare hearings later this month. The testimony that we will give will be the focus of this meeting.
Bill called the Nassau and Suffolk County Executives as well as the Brooklyn Borough President’s office. Nassau County is transmitting a recommendation for a new member to the Governor this week and is in the process of reviewing other résumés that have been received to make additional recommendations. Suffolk County has a candidate who has been approved by the County Executive and is generating a recommendation letter to the Governor. The Brooklyn Borough President will have recommendations for the Governor by the end of the month.
Staff has been working on a few fronts to develop stronger relationships with our representatives in Albany. The PCAC sent a letter to members of the NY State Senate and Assembly to alert them to the severe fare increases and service cuts that are contained in the MTA’s 2009 budget. The letter calls upon Senate and Assembly members to take action on proposals to provide additional resources to the MTA. At this point, additional funding is the only thing that will prevent the huge fare increases and service reductions in the budget from going forward.
During the month of December 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 Lavine (D) in Glen Cove. Assemblyman Lavine said that many members are generally supportive of transit and are in favor of the third track project, but that there is no strong champion in the Assembly for transit on Long Island and no organized group of members that could be expected to push for improvements to the area’s transit resources. Personally, he is most interested in improving service on the Oyster Bay branch, which serves his district.
Jan’s group met with Assemblyman Rob Walker (R) in Hicksville who understood and supported LIRR track and station improvements. His familiarity with and support for TOD in his district, as well as his embrace of a growth agenda, was a welcome surprise. There seemed to be no aspect of TOD, transit expansion and growth that he disagreed with. However, he noted that many of his constituents do not trust the MTA (LIRR) because of an ongoing issue of a local freight rail yard. Apparently, MTA is refusing to put in writing their intentions with the property with regard to freight. As a result, the Ravitch Commission findings and the budget issues of MTA are clouded in voters’ minds by this backyard problem. Walker also mentioned that he is on the RemaiNY Task Force formed this year with two other Assembly colleagues. This group has traveled the State talking with young professionals, educational leaders, business owners and students in attempt to provide new initiatives that will lead to economic growth and a prosperous future for all New Yorkers. The Task Force is particularly focused on reviving the economy in distressed areas of upstate New York and Long Island. He indicated that there will be a Long Island Task Force hearing in March. When pressed, Walker, too, admitted that among legislators the leadership and a coalition for public transportation on LI aren’t there.
Ellyn and other coalition members met with Assemblymen Tom McKevitt (R) in Garden City who spoke about his support for the third track project up until the LIRR made the decision to not release the DEIS which is now negatively impacting many more homes in the area than he feels is necessary. Ellyn also met with Assembly member Steve Engelbright (D) in East Setauket who said he was very interested in supporting the LIRR capital program. He also mentioned that there is a good site for a new rail yard near between the Stony Brook and St. James stations. He asked us to speak with Helena about the possibility. The project would also then require electrification on the Port Jefferson line out to Stony Brook.
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. Staff is following up with Helena Williams on the issues raised by the assembly members. We can discuss this topic further under New Business.