A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on October 14, 2010 in the Transportation Conference Room, Penn Station, New York.
The following members were present:
• Gerard P. Bringmann
• Ira R. Greenberg
• Sheila Carpenter
• Matthew Kessler
• Owen Costello
• Maureen Michaels
• Mark Epstein
• Larry Rubinstein
The following member was absent:
In addition, the following persons were present:
• William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
• Jan Wells -PCAC Associate Director
• Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Transportation Planner
• Hector Garcia -LIRR
• Randy Glucksman -MNRCC
• Christopher Greif -NYCTRC
• Debra Greif -Concerned citizen
• Larry Kiss -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the October 14, 2010 meeting was approved and the minutes of the August 12, 2010 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.
Maureen Michaels reported that since the Council’s last meeting in July, a number of events have greatly impacted the reliability of the LIRR. She said that the Council should be looking for places where old and unreliable equipment exists and be demanding that its replacement be included in capital funding. She said that she would like for the LIRRCC to work to find out where other 100 year old circuits and other equipment exist and to work to get the funding to support their replacement.
Ms. Michaels noted that Patrick Foye was the only Long Island MTA Board member to vote against the fare increase. She said that the fare increase is very punishing especially in view of so much money being lost on tickets that are not collected. She said that she would like to have a clarification on the policy followed by conductors when a passenger does not have enough money to pay for a ticket to his or her destination. Ms. Michaels noted that she has heard that riders who do not have enough money for their tickets are being thrown off the train. Mr. Garcia indicated that the LIRR intends to rewrite the policy to provide for more flexibility by the conductors in these situations.
Ms. Michaels assessed that the work the Council had done this year was not successful in that the Council was not able to stop the fare increase or the service cuts. She suggested that the members need to rethink their approach to issues.
Ms. Michaels suggested that there should be a blog site for commuters to communicate. She also encouraged PCAC staff to step up the advocacy effort. Ms. Michaels also said there should be a blog where riders can voice their outrage, as there needs to be a better way to communicate with riders.
Ms. Michaels noted that because of the impending elections, there is not much to do with the politicians, but the Council needs to think about what they want to do once the election is over. Ms. Michaels asked Mark Epstein to guide the members on who they should be talking to.
Bill Henderson reported that information about LIRR and MNR delayed trains was now available on the website. He noted that the information is very detailed and it is a giant step for the railroads to share such detailed information. Ms. Michaels said the next step is to figure out what we want to do with this information.
Ms. Michaels said they should take a sample survey. Mr. Henderson noted that would not be necessary since all late and cancelled trains are listed on the report. She suggested that staff should think about a plan on how the LIRRCC should analyze the newly available data.
Gerry Bringmann expressed frustration that PCAC had to submit a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for the Accenture reports. Mr. Henderson said he was told that there were no reports, but he subsequently heard from an NYCTRC member that reports did exist. At that point Mr. Henderson put in a FOIL request and received several essentially useless pages from a PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Michaels will bring the issue up at next week’s PCAC Executive Committee meeting.
Ms. Michaels noted that the TOD forum was in her opinion divorced from reality and did not provide a platform for commuters to communicate their needs.
Board Report
Ira Greenberg spoke about the cause of the Hall tower fire. He said the short circuit started in the third rail cable. As a result, the LIRR will go from a five to a three year inspection and replacement cycle for these cables when they are installed in sensitive areas. Mr. Greenberg said that he had asked what happens to other critical components when they require replacement. He said that part of the response that he received is that Amtrak replaces these components on an “as needed” basis, or in other words, after they break.
The Council discussed former LIRR Engineer Ronald Cabrera’s plea agreement with the Nassau County District Attorney on charges that he had allowed an unqualified person to operate his train. It was noted that in news accounts that Joe Calderone said he was fired because he was in violation of the Rail Road’s rules and that the LIRR stands by this determination.
Mr. Greenberg noted that the legislature took away $160 million from the MTA’s dedicated funding but the MTA ultimately gets blamed by the public for its financial problems.
Old Business
Bill Henderson reported on the status of the Moynihan Station project. He informed the members of the upcoming Moynihan Station groundbreaking. Mr. Greenberg noted that this event coincided with the 100th anniversary celebration of the original Penn Station. Mr. Henderson said that after the fall elections are completed, it will be important to reestablish contacts with elected officials, as there is much that remains to be done through the legislative process.
Ms. Michaels asked the members to report on the work being done by their various committees.
Owen Costello reported about the cleaning supplies that were being left on the Port Washington platform. He met with Mike Villano who said he would correct the situation and Mr. Costello said the situation is good so far. In terms of the right of way cleanup, Mr. Costello said Mr. Villano was not sure who was responsible. Ms. Michaels said she was told the Council could meet with the ROW people.
Mr. Costello said right of way encroachment has become a big issue and Council should follow up on this issue as some businesses have built up a wall on the right of way. He cited 100 Haven Avenue in Port Washington as a particular example of this, but said that it was common practice among landscaping businesses and auto body shops on the west side of the street to encroach on the right of way. He also raised the issue of adjoining residents who use the right of way. Mr. Garcia said that some residents have agreements with the LIRR allowing them to use the right of way for gardens. Ms. Michaels said that the Council needs to develop a plan to deal with this issue.
Mr. Costello said that the pigeons are still an issue. He said the netting is up in the Port Washington station but there are still some unprotected areas. He also said that the spikes that have been installed are not working. Ms. Michaels asked Mr. Garcia to follow up to see if Port Washington is on the list of stations to be addressed under the recently approved pigeon protection contract.
Sheila Carpenter said that over the last six weeks she has visited a number of station houses to see which were open and closed and cleaned or not cleaned. She said at Ronkonkoma was closed at 7:30 pm and Brentwood is closed at 6:00 pm. She said Manhasset closes at 9:00 pm. She said none of the station houses were messy, even at closing time. She said the Ronkonkoma trains are worse than the stations, although cleanliness is used as a justification for closing the stations. Ms. Michaels asked what cuts were made on overtime that might affect cleaning of the stations. Staff will work with Sheila to develop a short list of stations that are candidates for later closing times. Ms. Michaels suggested that Sheila look at hub stations for bus service as candidates for this list. She also suggested that an alternative to keeping stations open could be a heated shelter. Ms. Michaels asked if Hector Garcia could get a list of stations that are served by several major bus lines.
Ms. Michaels said the lights in the overpass at Cold Spring Harbor are not working. She said at the Syosset station, there is lots of debris underneath the platforms.
Larry Rubinstein noted that at the Bellmore station during a recent incident involving a person on the tracks emergency responders couldn’t find the proper individual to contact to turn the third rail power off. Ms. Michaels suggested that the Council get an incident report on the situation and investigate why first responders were not aware of the process for disconnecting third rail power. Mr. Rubinstein also reported that there seems to be a big increase in the number of trains with mechanical problems in recent months.
It was agreed that Mr. Rubinstein would meet with Mr. Garcia on the use of Penn Station platform signage to indicate the presence and extent of short trains.
Matt Kessler said that he has been noticing a number of mechanical problems as well. He questioned whether there are patterns to the breakdowns that are occurring and whether they indicate underlying issues.
Mark Epstein reported there are bulletin boards at Penn Station and other major stations. He said people in stations waiting for trains are looking for stuff to read and that the Council should seek to have its material included on the bulletin boards. He asked if there are going to be advertising on the sides of trains systemwide and asked that the Council receive a briefing on this program. Mr. Epstein said that his pet peeve is that the gates are closed at Penn Station when there are service problems and that he is concerned about who is responsible for communication at Penn Station.
Ms. Michaels reported that she will be having lunch with President Williams and Joe Calderone next Tuesday and will talk to them about communication.
Mr. Costello asked what is wrong with the Rail Road informing people that there is a serious problem on the system and telling them that it will take some time to resolve it.
Gerry Bringmann said it is important to monitor the staffing levels of the New York State Public Transportation Safety Board. He said that the already thin staff has been reduced further through retirements. He also said that the Council should continue to monitor the investigation of the LIRR’s conduct with regard to retired employees who later receive Railroad Retirement disability pensions.
New Business
Larry Kiss, a friend of MNRCC member Randy Glucksman, introduced himself. Mr. Kiss said that he is not a regular commuter but is interested in East End service. He made some suggestions about service and schedules including the “jury train” that has been established to take people to the courts in Riverhead. Hector Garcia suggested that he speak with Tim Keller, LIRR Manager – Service Planning about his concerns.
Mr. Kiss also spoke about the 4:30 pm train from Hunters Point to Montauk that has been cut. He said that its replacement is a shuttle train from Babylon to Patchogue that has now been extended to Speonk. This train had formerly skipped the Bellport station to avoid conflicts with the 4:30 train, but even though this train no longer exists, the shuttle still skips Bellport.
Mr. Bringmann asked why there are two trains from Babylon providing a one-seat ride in the morning, but only one of these trains returns in revenue service in the evening.
Ms. Michaels noted that express trains have become local trains following this year’s LIRR service cuts as a result of additional stops included in the schedules of remaining trains.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
PCAC Research Associate