A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 pm on July 14, 2011, in the Transportation Services Conference Room at One Penn Plaza at Pennsylvania Station.
The following members were present:
• Ira Greenberg
• Sheila Carpenter
• Matthew Kessler
• Mark Epstein
• Larry Rubinstein
• Owen Costello
Via Phone:
• Maureen Michaels
The following member was absent:
• Gerard P. Bringmann
In addition, the following persons were present:
• William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
• Janice Wells -PCAC Associate Director
• Hector Garcia -LIRR
• Randy Glucksman -MNRCC
• Larry Kiss -Concerned citizen
• Joseph M. Clift -Concerned citizen
• George Haikalis -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the July 14, 2011 meeting was approved. The minutes of the May 12, 2011 meeting were approved with an addition noting that Nassau County Executive Mangano met with Ms. Michaels and Mr. Henderson in 2010 to discuss the Council.
Chair’s Report
Mark Epstein gave the Chair’s Report. A copy of the written report is attached to these minutes.
Mr. Epstein discussed his view of the Council’s priorities for the next year. He said that there are many important issues that need to be addressed and that the funding of capital projects is a major issue. He also noted that he is working to arrange for the Council to have space in the LIRR’s Train Talk seat drop. Mr. Epstein noted that he is working with staff to finalize posters that will be displayed in stations and that this effort is in support of a larger public awareness push that he is planning.
Mr. Epstein said that he will be submitting op-ed pieces on the second track issue and on other issues to Newsday and is working to coordinate with other groups to support the LIRRCC’s efforts in these areas.
Mr. Epstein asked for volunteers to look at alternative locations for MTA public hearings in their Counties or Boroughs. Maureen Michaels noted that the Council had made recommendations of alternative locations during the cycle of public hearings that were held in 2009 and suggested that they be revisited. Sheila Carpenter said that the most important factor in her mind is that the locations be close to public transportation.
Mr. Epstein said that another issue that he would like to address is the open hours of station facilities and the level of security that is needed to provide for their operation. He added that some riders are concerned about the security of stations in off hours. Ms. Carpenter commented that there are many riders who need access to shelter at stations outside of the relatively limited open hours in place at some stations. She said that the work that the Council does on this issue must involve consideration of the needs of persons with disabilities. Mr. Epstein said that he has discussed the issue of a pilot program for extending station open hours and wants Ms. Carpenter to be involved.
Owen Costello said that he would like to revisit the issue of announcing trains before they are at their platforms and prepared for boarding. He said that he would like to see evidence that calling trains earlier leads to the trains being loaded faster. Mr. Costello said that when the trains are called before they are at their platforms, the platforms become packed and in some case dangerous. This is especially true on Track 17, which has a more confined space than other platforms. Mr. Epstein said that the Council will send a letter stating its concerns and asking for the procedures that are used with regard to announcing trains being ready for boarding.
Ms. Carpenter said that she does not believe that calling of trains in advance of their being ready for boarding is very common. Larry Rubinstein said that the LIRR’s initiative to post notice of trains that are short cars from their normal length is speeding loading, as passengers now move to places where are sure that they can board.
Mr. Epstein said that another area that he wants to address is the LIRR’s preparation for and response to winter weather. He said that he has asked Bill Henderson to arrange for the LIRR to give a presentation at the October LIRRCC meeting on its planning and procedures for winter weather. Ira Greenberg said that he has asked about the alternate schedules that the LIRR is developing for use during winter weather and that the response he received was very vague as to what the schedules are and when they will be used. Mr. Henderson said that the LIRR has already said that these alternate schedules will not be published.
Ms. Michaels said that her view is that during snowstorms the Rail Road can’t reliably keep any schedule so that the better approach is to give better information to riders about when the next train is coming. She said that the problem is a lack of information. Randy Glucksman noted that Virginia Railway Express has a published schedule that designates “snow trains” with an “S.” The trains that are marked with an “S” are those that will run in severe weather. Mr. Epstein asked the Council members to read the material that was distributed on the LIRR’s winter storm performance report and to have questions ready for the October meeting.
Board Report
Mr. Greenberg said that an agreement between the LIRR and the Transportation Communications Union that would add flexibility to station cleaning and ticket booth operations and save jobs was announced at the Long Island Rail Road/Metro-North Railroad Committee meeting. He said that he had congratulated the Rail Road and the Union on this agreement.
Mr. Greenberg noted the appointment of two new members, Jonathan Ballan of Westchester County and Fernando Ferrer of the Bronx, to the MTA Board. He also said that the recent performance of the LIRR diesel fleet was the best that he has ever seen and that the LIRR may meet its performance goals with this equipment, although these goals have been reduced considerably from their original levels.
Mr. Greenberg also commented on the procurement for consulting services from the Oliver Wyman Company for assistance in developing a rolling stock strategy, which was approved at the last MTA Board meeting. He said that he has a recurring question of why the MTA has so many sole source contracts with respect to rolling stock replacement parts.
Staff Report
Mr. Henderson encouraged the members to review the materials that they had been provided about capital projects important to LIRR riders. He said that the coming months would be critical in securing funding for the last three years of the existing capital program and laying the groundwork for the next five year program. Ms. Michaels said that it is critical that the Council define its aims but that we need to support our case with data. She said that the LIRRCC needs to make a strong case to decision makers and noted that the present, with low property values, would be an opportune time to purchase any property needed for the Main Line Corridor Improvement project. Mr. Epstein said that there is a need for documentation of the economic impact of the LIRR on Long Island to emphasize the importance of LIRR service.
Old Business
Mr. Epstein asked that Hector Garcia discuss the LIRR’s actions with regard to the issue of intrusions on the LIRR’s Port Washington branch right-of-way that the Council had raised. Mr. Garcia said that the MTA Real Estate Department has informed neighboring property owners that the MTA is obtaining a survey of the right-of-way. He said that the Rail Road is having a meeting next month with the Town’s planning department personnel. He stated that the MTA Real Estate Department will take action to compel neighboring property owners to remove encroachments on the right of way once the survey is available to see where those encroachments are.
New Business
Mr. Epstein asked the members whether they had heard about the August 2-4 disruption on the Montauk branch. The disruption is for the purpose of replacing a bridge damaged when it was struck by a truck.
Mr. Glucksman noted that some capital projects require a long period of time to be accomplished. He said that property acquisition for the Montclair connection in New Jersey had taken 80 years.
Joe Clift requested that he be allowed to join in the Council’s future discussions on the Capital Program.
Matthew Kessler said that he had been contacted by Lew Simon, a community leader in the Rockaways, who wants to revitalize the rail line that once ran from the Rockaways to Rego Park. This effort could be bolstered by demand for travel to the casino facility opening at Aqueduct race track later this year. Mr. Kessler said that he would like the Council to examine the issue with an aim of taking a position on it. Mr. Greenberg said that there are issues with this line and that its right-of-way has been put to other uses, such as parking. Nonetheless, this would be a way of serving additional customers.
George Haikalis distributed a handout on restoring this line that was produced by the Regional Rail Working Group in 2009. Joe Clift noted that Amtrak is interested in serving JFK Airport and had explored reaching it via tunnels under 31st Street. Ms. Michaels noted that there are many other needs on the LIRR and that she hopes that issues such as poor diesel service in Suffolk County are addressed before expansion plans such as this. Mr. Rubinstein said that he had recently noted that there is no cellular telephone service in the tunnels between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica and that he was surprised that this service was not yet available.
Mr. Rubinstein asked whether the Council had received a response about the issue of trash on the right-of-way between Freeport and Merrick that it had raised. Mr. Epstein said that he has been told that the LIRR is looking into the issue.
Ms. Carpenter said that the LIRR was having an ADA committee meeting the next Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. and that she would like to raise the issue of reduced fare eligibility on the LIRR for persons with disabilities and the application process to be approved for reduced fare. Ms. Carpenter said that although she is unable to drive safely, she does not meet the LIRR’s criteria for a reduced fare.
Larry Kiss thanked the Council for it help in getting the LIRR to convert a Riverhead to Ronkonkoma train from a deadhead run to revenue service. He said that there were gaps in service on Long Island’s South Shore and that he had developed a proposal to add service at no cost to the Rail Road. He distributed paper copies of the proposal.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director
Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council
Chair’s Report
July 14, 2011
We didn’t have a Council meeting last month because of the quarterly PCAC meeting, but we did join the Long Island Rail Road to wrap up this season’s schedule of Meet the Manager events on June 28. The LIRRCC once again had a table where Matt, Bill, and Jan spoke with commuters and provided information on the Council and its activities. Thanks to all of the members who attended any of the Meet the Managers events; it was valuable for us to show the riders that we are there working on their behalf. I also want to thank the LIRR for inviting us to be a part of the Meet the Manager sessions; participating in them has been a good way of hearing from our fellow commuters and generating interest in the Council. We haven’t heard from the LIRR about their plans for future Meet the Manager events, but based on our experiences with them we’d be pleased to be involved with them in the future.
We are making progress on getting new members appointed to the LIRRCC. As you know we have three vacancies in Nassau County and one vacancy in Suffolk County. About two months ago, Bill Henderson sent an email to individuals who had previously expressed interest in Council membership to inform them of the open positions and suggest that, if interested, they contact their respective County Executives to pursue LIRRCC membership. Staff received a number of telephone calls in response to the email and many of those contacted sent letters to their County Executive stating their interest in becoming an LIRRCC member. Nassau County Executive Mangano’s office has followed up on a commitment to appoint new members that Mr. Mangano made to Larry Rubinstein and has submitted three recommendations to the Governor’s Appointment’s Office, which is reviewing them for appointment. In addition, a recommendation of an individual to fill the LIRRCC’s Suffolk County vacancy was submitted to the Governor by County Executive Levy. Now that the spring legislative session is over, it seems likely that Albany will move forward to have new members formally appointed to the Council by Governor Cuomo.
Since our last meeting, I have sent several letters to LIRR management concerning both old and new issues that we have discussed over the LIRRCC GoogleGroup. I sent one letter to Helena Williams to follow up on our continuing concern with right of way encroachments from properties on Haven Avenue along the Port Washington Branch. I sent a second letter to Ms. Williams noting LIRRCC members’ observations of deterioration in the cleanliness of LIRR rights of way and requesting information on the Rail Road’s plans for cleaning up trouble spots that it had announced in the Spring. These letters were sent in June and we have not yet received a response to them from the LIRR.
I also sent a letter to Joe Calderone highlighting the comments that we have been receiving from other commuters about the LIRR’s timeliness and responsiveness in replying to their questions, comments, and complaints. The final straw in this area was the story that Larry shared about the commuter who asked a simple question if his joint monthly ticket/MetroCard could be priced to give him an even number of NYC Transit fares. It took this commuter almost five months to receive a reply from the LIRR that did not respond to the question asked and included an incorrect telephone number to contact Mail and Ride personnel.
This last letter leads me into one of our continuing issues with the Rail Road: communication. Over the last several weeks it has been clear that the LIRR is not where they need to be in terms of communicating with the riders, particularly when there is a need to inform commuters of problems with service. In the past, LIRRCC members have kept diaries as the basis for reports focusing on customer courtesy or on board communications and we may want to look at capturing our experiences during service diversions and looking at the email and text messages sent in response as a way for us to evaluate the LIRR’s communication with the riders. We can discuss this further in the business portion of the meeting.
Finally, I want to discuss with you briefly some of the goals that I have as Chair of the LIRRCC . . . .