The more I read about Jay Walder, the more I feel as though he gets it. After his comments about increasing and improving bus service earlier this week, Walder spoke to the Citizens Budget Commission yesterday about the the fate of the MTA’s big projects. With the CBC criticizing the MTA’s capital construction efforts for constant delays and cost overruns, Walder believes the MTA must focus on its current projects and not add new ones.
“I don’t really think this is the time for grand plans. We have enough on our plate already,” Walder said. “I think we have to focus this organization right now on execution and delivery.”
For those of us who dream of the TriboroRX or the numerous other pie-in-the-sky subway expansion plans, we’ll have to suffer. But on the whole, Walder’s vision is the right one. The MTA should work toward completing projects currently under construction before taking on new ones. They should continue to work on the Fulton St. Transit Center; they should pick up the pace along Second Ave.; they should continue apace with the East Side Access project.
Yet, although I think Walder’s priorities are in the right place, he should consider looking ahead to a time when these projects are finished. He should think about planning for Phase II of the Second Ave. Subway simply because much of the tunnel is already in place. He should think about ways to improve service that don’t cost billions of dollars per mile.
At the same time, he has a perception problem to battle as well. As a part of the Daily News article covering his speech, the paper’s website presents a poll asking readers which project should be the first one tackled by Walder. The vast plurality of voters chose “Better service. Too many subway and bus lines have been cut.”
The reality is that no subway lines have been cut, and bus service hasn’t been reduced to a point where anyone should notice. Generally, a bunch of buses that carried few people were eliminated from the schedules, and no routes were axed. Could service be better? Sure. But most the improvements would come from the other proposed solutions — station renovations, mechanized trains lines with arrival boards, etc.
This poll simply highlights the disconnect between people’s knowledge of the subway and reality under ground. During the Doomsday talks last winter, the MTA said it would cut service, and the Straphangers held highly publicized funerals for the W and Z. Yet, in the end, Albany stepped, and these trains were not cut. Riders, however, are unaware of this fact.
So far, Walder has talked a good game, but he has to convince Albany that he is for a real and an ignorant public that he is looking out for riders’ interests. He’s had the job for all of 17 days now. In two and a half months, he plans to a report with goals and timetables for MTA projects. Then, we’ll see just how well he plans to handle a demanding job.
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