Earlier this week, I ran a story about some troubles with Access-A-Ride. My story focused on a FOX 5 report about people abusing the system and a driver literally asleep behind the wheel of an idling van.
Unfortunately, some of the FOX story — and thus my report — contained some incorrect information, and the MTA has issued a statement with a correction. Although a sleeping driver in an idling van is against regulations, this driver was not shirking other duties. Says Transit:
The driver took a scheduled lunch break between 8:45 and 9:45 a.m. Last minute changes were made to this driver’s after lunch route by the contractor’s dispatcher because of the traffic alert in Manhattan due to the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The changes resulted in the unusual occurrence of a further 45 minutes of elapsed time before his next scheduled pick up. In this case, there were no other routes in the vicinity that required assistance.
MTA NYC Transit in no way condones excessive engine idling or sleeping while on duty. We have and will continue to direct the private transportation carriers to enforce the prohibition on engine idling. Maggies will proceed to discipline the driver for conduct unbecoming (sleeping in the vehicle), unsafe operation of the vehicle and arrival to the pick- up location earlier than five minutes prior to the scheduled pick up time.
In the end, the problems with Access-A-Ride stem from its mandate and purpose. It is a federally-required program, but it is also an unfunded mandate. The city and state have to pay for it without any assistance from the federal government, and they have to do so while meeting some stringent ADA requirements. The total cost this year is estimated to be $451 million.
In a way, then, we can take a lesson from this program and apply to the feds’ desires for more oversight over local transit safety. If that effort ends up as another federally unfunded mandate, transit agencies and local governments may have to foot some pretty expensive bills at a time when they can least afford to do so.
5 comments
Which level of government foots the bill is not so much my concern as whether it is the best use (or even a good use) of the tiny amount of money the American public is willing to spend on rail in general. (It all goes into that dreadful, misleading per-passenger subsidy figure.) As pointed out so well in the first post on this topic, it’s absurd for a government that is responsible for our comparative bloodbath of a highway system to be preoccupied with the safety of railroads.
“some of the FOX story … contained some incorrect information”
you don’t say!
Tipical for Fox 5, do you expect anything else from tabloid news?
just can’t trust that liberal media
Well, Fox 5 better get back to the drawing board, or, alternatively, keep ****ing that chicken. 🙂