LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL
MINUTES OF JANUARY 8, 2015
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on January 8, 2014, in the LIRR East Side Access Readiness Conference Room at 450 7th Avenue, 20th Floor, New York City.
The following members were present:
Sheila Carpenter Ira Greenberg
Mark Epstein Raymond Pagano
Michael Godino Bryan Peranzo
The following members participated in the meeting via Phone:
Matthew Kessler Maureen Michaels
Larry Rubinstein
The following members were absent:
Gerard P. Bringmann Owen Costello
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Associate Director
Hector Garcia -LIRR
Scott Schneider -LIRR
Anthony Kamanes -LIRR
Bob Dolencia -LIRR
Jim Allen -LIRR
Ed Dumas -LIRR
Yannis Takos -LIRR
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the January 8, 2015 meeting was approved. The minutes of the November 20, 2014 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
Mr. Epstein noted that new LIRR Vice President of Market Development and Public Affairs would be joining the Council later in the meeting.
Board Report
Ira Greenberg delivered the Board report. He noted that the MTA Board had adopted its 2015 Budget, which includes increased revenue from a fare increase. Mr. Greenberg said that Board members Cappelli and Pally once again asked that service enhancements be incorporated into the budget, but the resolution of this request is that the service enhancements would be considered when midyear financial forecasts became available.
Mr. Greenberg said that there was a low turnout at the recent fare hearings. This lack of attendance was seen by some as acceptance of the proposed fare increases and by others as resignation that statements made at fare hearings will not do anything. He said that there was no real issue of fare structure raised at the fare hearings.
Mark Epstein asked how many people submitted video testimony. Hector Garcia stated that, off hand, he believed that about twenty people gave video testimony at Ronkonkoma. Bryan Peranzo suggested that social media should be used to solicit comments. Allowing people to record comments using their own cameras or cellphones would be one way to expand input from riders.
Staff Report
Bill Henderson reviewed the contacts that staff has had with riders since the last meeting. Maureen Michaels asked about the problem that a rider had noted at Montauk. Mr. Henderson said that the comments that were received concerned the maintenance of the station area. He said that the LIRRCC has received comments about the condition of the station in the past, but that the conditions at the station are severe and usage in the winter months is light. Hector Garcia said that during the off-season in the area, the amount of maintenance is reduced and that there are issues with wastepaper blowing onto the station grounds.
Member Reports
Mike Godino stated that he attending a meeting of the LIRR’s ADA Task force and that the group is working on some policy issues with Peter Albert.
Introduction of Edward Dumas, LIRR VP – Market Development and Public Affairs to Discuss M9 Focus Groups
Mr. Dumas stated that he started his career as journalist and served as an e Editor of newspapers on Long Island in the Suffolk News organization. He then worked with the Suffolk Youth Connection organization, teaching journalism to youth. This organization closed when member items became controversial in the State legislature and the group could not procure funding. He then went into the housing field, managing public housing in a private firm. During this time he also went to law school at St. Johns University.
He went to work as a Press Secretary for Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy in his first term. From there he moved to the Long Island Power Authority, serving as its Public Affairs Chief. While at LIPA he was asked to return to Suffolk County government as Chief Deputy County Executive and when Mr. Levy did not run for reelection he took a few years out of the workforce to raise his children. Recently, he took a position with MTA Headquarters and from there moved to the LIRR. His position differs somewhat from that held by his predecessor Joseph Calderone, in that Mr. Dumas is not responsible for customer service functions. Mr. Garcia noted that stations personnel now report to the new Senior Vice President of Engineering position.
Mr. Dumas said that he understood the importance of the LIRRCC and that he appreciated its input. He also noted that he has experience dealing with the LIRR from the outside, as he has interacted with the Rail Road while he was at LIPA, which supplied traction power to the LIRR.
Ms. Michaels said that it is great that Mr. Dumas has experience as a commuter and understands the toll that the daily commute takes on those who do it.
Ellyn Shannon pointed out that PCAC is undertaking a project and website to help people understand the value of the MTA system. She asked if there was anything being disseminated out of his office on the capital program. Mr. Dumas responded that the LIRR and MTA are working on similar messages to demonstrate the value of the Capital Program and invited Ms. Shannon to speak with him offline. He said that he will not be available in mid to late January as he will be having surgery on January 16. During this time, Susan McGowan will be acting in his place.
Mr. Dumas introduced the LIRR staff who accompanied him to describe the next steps in the development of the M9 cars. It was noted that the contract for the M9 cars was awarded in September 2013 and at this point the effort is about 50 percent through preliminary design reviews. Most of this work has been done in relation to the Kawasaki-built items that make up the structure of the cars, and the remaining work includes the finishes for the cars.
Jim Allen noted that the cars will have a number of upgrades relative to previous cars operated on the MTA’s commuter railroads. He said that the M9 armrest will be a closed loop similar to that used on M8 cars and that the cars will have electrically operated end doors, similar to those used on Amtrak. As a result of design work, these cars will have eight more seats per pair compared with the M7 cars.
The LIRR has produced mockups of possible designs that it will present to focus groups and showed them to the members of the LIRRCC. There has been an effort to orient seating toward the media screens that will be installed in each car. The cars will also include two regulated outlets on the wall in each row of seats, the same as with the M8 cars. The on-board restrooms will include hooks for bags and coats and designers are working on including graffiti-proof mirrors.
Ms. Michaels said that most women do not go near on-board restrooms and that most women will not sit in seats across from the restrooms. Mr. Allen commented that the design team is working very hard on the restroom, which is a challenge. It must meet ADA requirements but still function well. The key to the design of the door is the locking mechanism, which will build on Amtrak’s design, where it is obvious when the door is not locked. Ms. Michaels suggested that the design team look at Acela cars.
Larry Rubinstein asked whether the volume of air exhausted from the restrooms could be increased. Sheila Carpenter pointed out that on-board restrooms are acceptable when they are serviced, but not all riders are neat and their condition rapidly deteriorates. She said that the riders dispose of beer cans in the restrooms because there are no other trash receptacles.
Mr. Epstein asked if anything can be done about the problem of sun glare in the cars. Mr. Allen responded that the tint the design team is proposing to use is 23 percent, which is the industry standard. They do not want to increase the tint further because if they do it may be difficult for those inside the cars to see signage when coming into stations.
Ms. Michaels stated that there are issues with uneven temperatures in cars, largely because of the sun heating one side. Mr. Allen replied that it is very difficult to balance heating and cooling side to side in a car.
Mr. Allen stated that they are looking at Gorilla Glass to prevent the spotting of windows in the cars, but are concerned with its thermodynamic impact and high cost. Bryan Peranzo asked whether a sacrificial film such as that used to fight graffiti can be put on the windows and peeled off when the sun impacts the exterior of the glass.
Mike Godino asked whether the design team is looking at induction loops for hearing impaired persons in the new cars. Mr. Allen replied that the system they have been looking at has a limited zone where loops work. He said that BART is testing a car with induction loops and the design team is looking at their results. Mr. Allen said that if anything, induction loops will be deployed in a hotspot approach. Ms. Carpenter noted that induction loop technology is being more widely used.
The Council members asked whether the new cars will have Wi-Fi capabilities. Yannis Takos said that the MTA and LIRR have been looking at Wi-Fi for five years now and that the Chairman has asked the operating agencies to hold off on making any decisions. The MTA has hired Mr. McKinsey as a consultant to explore whether adding Wi-Fi is the right way to proceed. In their work, McKinsey is researching people’s use of data plans. The hesitancy to add Wi-Fi is because the railroads are afraid that they will have the same problems as Amtrak’s Acela, where many riders are unsatisfied with the quality of data connections. Mr. Takos said that the bottom line is that MTA Headquarters has asked us to hold off on making a decision and we are waiting for their direction, but the cars will be set up for some kind of mobile data access.
Mr. Allen showed the LIRRCC members a sample of the cup holder that Virginia Railway Express is using. He said that the design team has heard people ask for a cup holder but is very concerned with the issues that having cup holders raises, such as increased litter, the units hooking people’s clothing, and riders leaving empty or half empty cups in the holders. He said that the design team believes that riders will not take their cups with them and will leave them in the cupholders. The members generally agreed with this assessment.
Mr. Takos said that focus groups to be held on the 14th and 15th will provide specific responses to some of the questions that the design team is working with. He said that the groups will represent a mixture of commuters on the LIRR’s electric branches and that the Rail Road has retained a consultant to moderate groups of 8 to 10 customers per group detected using standard methods.
Mr. Takos said that the groups will address the color of interiors, among other issues. There will be six sessions for LIRR riders and six for Metro-North riders, with three groups made up of occasional riders and three of regular commuters. The groups will be mixed by age, income, and branch and the selection of their members is about complete. Mr. Allen said that the design team is looking at color schemes of light blue, a darker blue and grey.
Ms. Michaels said that the groups should be skewed toward younger people since they will be the Rail Road’s future customers.
Mr. Takos stated they will take age into consideration in forming the groups. He said that another issue they will address is seat configurations, which have been changed to reduce the number of seats facing each other.
Ms. Carpenter noted that she has noticed that route signage is off in many cars. Mr. Allen responded that this is probably a crew issue, rather than an equipment issue.
Ms. Michaels stated that she noticed there are not grab bars on the exterior of the train. She said that they may want to talk about this with the focus groups.
New Business
No New Business was discussed.
Old Business
No Old Business was discussed.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director