As the scandal over falsified signal inspection reports gains steam, the MTA Inspector General has found multiple violations concerning inspection measures. As The Daily News reports today, the IG raided crew rooms at Times Square and found copies of signal bar codes in various lockers and desks. It is, as Pete Donohue reported, against MTA regulations for workers to possess these materials. “This is a serious infraction,” Transit head Thomas Prendergast said. “We’ve ratcheted up our effort to make sure people are complying with the rules and regulations.”
Donohue notes that these findings could lead to the first dismissals over the falsified signal reports, and with an ongoing criminal investigation, more current and former MTA workers could still find themselves in trouble. Whether the inquiries will reach to former Transit presidents remains to be seen, but the MTA and the IG’s office says they are taking these allegations very seriously. “It is outrageous and alarming that in the midst of an ongoing investigation, and given the recent close public scrutiny regarding falsification of signal inspections, our investigators and officials of NYC Transit found unauthorized bar codes in signal maintainers’ lockers and even in plain view just a few days ago,” Barry Kluger, the Inspector General, said.
3 comments
I’m only getting to this issue, but I wonder how much of this is a factor of reduction in staffing but not being allowed to show that safety has reduced. And now that people have figured out the game, it’s a matter of passing the buck.
Article saysThe MTA inspector general’s office warned NYC Transit brass in 2000 and 2006 that Signals Division reports were being faked.
So it only took ten years before they started looking into it. Awesome.
upper management commands lower management to “make it so”. lower management forces front line workers to do illegal things in order to “make it so”. the common denominator is………MANAGEMENT!