Should the next MTA head be a transit expert?

Joseph Lhota may be an MTA frontrunner, but is he the right man for the job?

Over the past few days, rumors have continued to swirl that former Deputy Mayor and current MSG executive Joseph Lhota will be named the next head of the MTA. At the bare minimum, we know that he’s in the running, and interestingly enough, he’s the only candidate whose name has been leaked to the public without any transit experience in his background.

Initially, I wasn’t too concerned with Lhota’s background. After all, both outgoing MTA CEO and Chair Jay Walder and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have said that the MTA’s leader need not be a transit expert. As long as he or she surrounds himself with qualified and knowledgeable executives, the MTA head can focus more on big-picture budgetary and management concerns while the sub-agency heads can immerse themselves in operations. A part of a recent article on Lhota by Transportation Nation’s Jim O’Grady has me reassessing that stance.

Yesterday afternoon, O’Grady summed up the rumors and solicited some feedback from various advocates. He writes:

Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future, a policy think tank, said he didn’t know Lhota well enough to comment specifically. But he said that from a leadership perspective, “It’s important someone be selected who can really make a strong case for transit and can convince legislators that this is so critical to the city’s future and that we’re on the precipice of something bad happening.”

Bowles added that the stakes are enormous: “If there’s one thing Governor Cuomo could do now to boost the city’s economy, it’s shore up the transit system.”

…Sources differed on Lhota’s ability to rise to those challenges. The NY MTA needs someone “who can handle the union relationships, the crisis of money, and Lhota will get it faster than most people,” said one. Another thought the Republican Lhota could help the Democrat Cuomo beat back a Republican-lead push in the state legislature to eliminate the payroll mobility tax.

But a third believed Lhota was the front-runner precisely because he won’t speak up too loudly for the needs of mass transit: “He’s gong to be the person who makes the cuts without making any demands on the state budget. He may even then turn around and say to the city, ‘It’s all your fault.’ He’s going to protect Andrew Cuomo from the hard choices.”

Of these statements, I believe Bowles’ comment and the third anonymous source raise some valid concerns. The MTA is at a point where it needs someone to advocate for a capital funding plan solution. That requires a detailed knowledge of transit operations and construction as well as a thorough understanding of how Albany works. Furthermore, at a time during which the MTA’s finances are in flux, the authority needs someone who will be more than just a Yes Man for Cuomo.

Over the past few years, Walder has taken an aggressive tone in arguing for investment in public transit. If the next MTA head is someone will be more willing to make cuts without pressuring the state for solutions, New York City’s subway system and the millions of riders who depend upon it will suffer. Even without transit experience, the next head must advocate for the system.

With speculation flying, Cuomo has expressed a desire to name a replacement for Walder before he departs next Friday. One way or another, this saga will come to a resolution soon.

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Update (3:24 p.m.): As I was writing this piece, Colby Hamilton at WNYC’s Empire blog offered up his take on the appointment, and he is highly critical of Cuomo’s intentions here. “A Lhota appointment look based on political calculations more than anything else. The Cuomo people are signaling an interest in reducing their exposure to potential political problems, not in solving the agency’s unsustainable financial crisis. This of course was created over the years by politicians worried about their political exposure,” he writes. “If you add in the push-out of Chris Ward at the Port Authority, it’s Cuomo’s top priority is having his people in key, highly-public posts who will put the governor’s political interests first.”