Comments on: With money tight, MTA gears up for ‘hypothetical’ cuts

By: Nathanael Nerode

Nathanael Nerode — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:43:37 +0000

It’s critical not to cut maintenance, or capital programs which are designed for replacement and repair. (Also critical is the 2nd Avenue Subway.) Deferred maintenance is a complete disaster.

Perhaps they will finally have a chance at merging the LIRR and Metro-North now that the LIRR union has been completely discredited? The LIRR union was one of the main reasons the very obvious money-saving merger was killed earlier.

By: ScottE

ScottE — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:11:24 +0000

You may be right, and if so, I stand corrected. I look at the massive costs of these mega-projects, and find it hard to believe that this isn’t the first place that cuts would come from.

Then again, the MTA’s web site says that MTACC manages these projects, but they don’t necessarily fund them. I’m confused.

By: eric

eric — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:30:05 +0000

It’s time to break up the MTA!!! They are a rogue agency that answers to nobody.

The NYCT branch brings in the majority of revenue for the agency from the subways and buses but they get short changed supplementing the LIRR and Metro North.

By: Marc Shepherd

Marc Shepherd — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:01:50 +0000

Strangely, MTA Capital Construction was not mentioned in the article. They don’t provide service, per se, but they probably gobble up the most money.

Are you kidding? MTACC isn’t even 1% of the MTA budget. Look it up.

By: Scott E

Scott E — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:20:08 +0000

Good point Eric. Step One is to reduce management costs, and the way they try to accomplish that is to delegate that responsibility directly to those redundant managers. MTA, the parent agency, needs to tackle some of this rather than pass the buck on to the subordinates.

Strangely, MTA Capital Construction was not mentioned in the article. They don’t provide service, per se, but they probably gobble up the most money. Are East Side Access, Second Ave Subway, 7 Line Extension, and Fulton Street Transit Center all supposed to chop 5% across the board? I wouldn’t bet on that happening.

On a different, but related note, I wonder how much the MTA pays out in lawsuits, and how that number compares to “deferred maintenance”. We saw a scathing article yesterday in amNY about the sad state of platform edges, we’re all to familiar with passengers being swallowed by the gap on LIRR (or at best, passengers losing their pants to the armrests).

By: eric

eric — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:23:16 +0000

The way the MTA is structured wihtin they have tons of waste. The MTA acts as separate companies under one name. NYCT, Metro North, LIRR, LI Bus, Staten Island RR, and Bridges & Tunnels all act independently.

The MTA could save millions of dollars by combining the duplicate jobs like human resources for example. They could also save by ordering there uniforms and office supplies as ONE but they don’t because LIRR and Metro North feel that they are above using the same quality items as Transit instead use much better quality uniforms and supplies!!!