One year in, grading Jay Walder

Nearly one year ago, Jay Walder took over the reins of the MTA from Elliot Sander. The outgoing MTA CEO and Executive Director had been well regarded among transit planners, but when the state agreed to institute its payroll tax plan, Sander’s job was no more. The state reorganized the MTA’s governing structure so that the CEO and board chairman would be one person, and that one person would be Jay Walder.

A year later, the MTA is struggling through more financial problems, and Walder has moved ahead in his rather thankless job. In good times, politicians will use the authority’s bureaucratic bloat to gain political points, and during bad times, those same politicians will blithely rob from the MTA’s revenue streams and then bash the authority for slashing service, raising fares or both. Even as the MTA often deserves a heavy dose of criticism, those in charge are judged and harshly at that.

In The Daily News this weekend, Pete Donohue rounded up some of the city’s transit advocates and business community heads to grade Jay Walder. Somewhat surprisingly, the marks were mostly high, but Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign leveled the harshest criticism. If anything, the judges are almost too generous in their grades.

Donohue asked his panel to grade on five categories: finances/fares, technology, labor relations, efficiency/eliminating waste and service improvement. In a year dominated by service cuts and fare hikes, the MTA’s economic situation and Walder’s handling of it have taken many of the headlines, but these judges, with one exception, gave Walder grades in the A range. “Walder was dealt a bad deal,” Robert Yaro, head of the Regional Plan Association, said. Yaro, who gave Walder an A-, continued, “The State Legislature grabbed money from the budget and payroll taxes are coming in under expectations. He’s facing an unparalleled situation and it is real.”

Others on the panel praised him for opening up the MTA’s finances and “leveling with the public on the need for fare hikes and service cuts .” Yet, Walder was docked marks for not setting a fare policy that, in the words of CBC’s Charles Breacher, “links fares to the cost of a ride.” Gene Russianoff gave him the MTA head a C- but noted that “the economy handed Walder this mess.”

Across the board, the judges praised Walder’s handling of technological innovation. Walder’s relationship with technology is, after all, why Gov. David Paterson tabbed the form Transport for London official. Robert Paaswell, director of the Urban Transportation Research Center at CUNY, gave Walder an A. “This is a strength and changes are being made,” he said, “but he needs to be selling the importance of next generation technology to the public more.” Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City noted that, despite Walder’s expertise, “budget problems have pushed tech investments to the back burner.”

As the report card progressed into the hot-button area of labor relations, the grades grew worse. Russianoff gave Walder and F for his handling of the TWU. “Raw tensions fueled by hundreds of layoffs, management’s mean hit on spit-on bus drivers and personal attacks on Walder” is how he explained the grade. “Riders” — Russianoff’s constituents — “need the warring parties to find common ground.” Brecher, on the other hand, praised him with a B grade for “pushing for changes in overtime and scheduling.”

The panel spoke glowingly of Walder’s attempts at internal restructuring and consolidation, moves that have already saved the MTA approximately $500 million annually. “More than any other chief executive, he’s aggressively taken on combining functions,” Yaro, who gave him an A, said. Scoring Walder an A+ here, Wylde echoed, “Walder has accomplished more in one year than we saw happen in the previous decade.”

Yet, Russianoff, who gave Walder a B+, hit upon the key challenge facing anyone in charge of the MTA. Walder, he says, has “miles to go before public sees MTA’s action as credible.” It’s tough to get the public exciting over the minutiae of bureaucratic reorganization, and until Walder can translate his internal cost savings into better service for the MTA’s riders, New Yorkers will not embrace the notion of a leaner MTA.

Finally, the panel discussed service improvements, an area clearly lacking at the MTA. Russianoff and Wylde were the most critical as the two handed out an F and a D respectively. “Cuts in express bus and other services have been very painful to neighborhoods like Bay Ridge, where I live. Progress on Bus Rapid Transit seems to have slowed,” Wylde said.

Charles Brecher’s C and his assessment seem to capture the reality of the situation best. “The effort to accelerate bus rapid transit services is a plus,” he said, “but still missing is strategic thinking about long-run improvements. …More reliable service on the existing lines requires more attention to state-of-good-repair work.” Without money, though, none of this is possible, and the five critics seemed to offer up a fair assessment of Walder’s strengths and weaknesses over his first year on the job.

Of course, I can’t end a report card piece without chiming in with my own views. So without ado…

Finances/Fares: B. Walder was promised a fully-funded MTA, but two months into his job, a budget gap the size of a small country’s GDP opened up. He’s done what he can to reduce the deficit but hasn’t been able to milk more money out of the state or feds. If anything, Walder’s grade gets docked on his inability to be a political force in state — and federal — budget discussions.

Technology B. Walder inherited many of the MTA’s technological improvements that have been activated on his watch. Long-delayed plans to install countdown clocks and security cameras had been in the works for years, but Walder has shown a willingness to press the technology envelopment. No plans for bringing the clocks to the IND/BMT lines is dismaying.

Labor Relations: D. While Walder gets penalized for the TWU’s obstinacy, he has engaged in a very public battle against the labor union. Riders don’t care about work schedules, vacation houses or anything of they sort. They want labor peace and better service.

Efficiency/Eliminating Waste: B+. From a technocratic perspective, Walder has done a bang-up job consolidating MTA functions that do not impact ridership. He’s streamlined corporate communications and repair shops while tightening regulations concerning overtime. I still think he can better consolidate certain functions especially at the commuter railroads, but he’s on the right path.

Service improvement: Incomplete. I know it’s a cop-out to avoid a grade here, but Walder’s tenure is marked not with service improvement but with service cuts. Faced with a crushing budget deficit, he couldn’t improve service. I’ll reserve judgment until — if — the MTA finances improve enough for him to increase subway service and restore some eliminated bus routes. For now, Walder should commit to avoiding future service cuts at all costs.