MTA

When the Senate finally voted to approve an MTA rescue package, it was clear that the beleaguered transit agency had lost at least one battle. While millions of New Yorkers rely on the MTA every day, people just did not have faith in the agency, and at a time when transit advocates needed the authority to win the public relations war, it did not.

Apparently, though, deep-rooted mistrust of the MTA runs deeper than a PR battle over the agency’s short-term financial fate. According to a recent telephone poll conducted by Barcuh College Survey Research on behalf of NY1 News, most New Yorkers simply do not trust the MTA and many more do not understand the sources of the MTA’s financial woes. Bobby Cuza had more:

A combined 61 percent of those polled said they trust little or nothing the MTA says. Twenty four percent said they trust some, and just eight percent trust most of what the MTA says…”They kind of echo the governor’s sentiment in thinking that you can’t believe a whole lot of what the MTA says,” said NY1 pollster Mickey Blum.

In fact, much of the MTA’s problems stem from billions of dollars of debt it was forced to take on because the state cut funding to the agency. But New Yorkers don’t see Albany as the problem; 47 percent say the MTA is at fault for the current economic crisis. Just 22 percent blame state lawmakers, and 17 percent blame the governor, with 14 percent unsure.

Meanwhile, subway and bus fares will go up about 10 percent next month. Then, unless the economy gets significantly worse, the MTA says it won’t have to raise fares again until 2011. But skeptical New Yorkers don’t buy it. Almost two-thirds — 65 percent — think there will be another fare hike within a year. Only 23 percent think this will be the only fare hike this year.

Over the last few years, the MTA has become one of the more publicly accountable governing agencies in New York City. They broadcast all of their Board meetings and make just about every financial document readily accessible. Yet people do not trust them because the politicians in Albany and not the transit policy wonks at the MTA are running the publicity campaigns.

For now, this is a concern that can turn into a problem. The MTA should take heed of these findings and work on a public image campaign. I’ve met with and spoken to numerous MTA officials, and they truly want to help the public. They don’t like being viewed as an agency that can’t finish anything on time or on budget and can’t control its deficit. While perception and reality often align, the MTA must work on its perception if it wants to gain the trust of the public in needs to push for money for a true modernization and expansion program.

Updated 5:36 p.m.: Tomorrow marks current MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander’s last day on the job, and MTA Chair Dale Hemmerdinger has named Helena Williams, current president of the Long Island Rail Road, as the interim replacement.

Sander, who announced his resignation on May 7, is leaving at the firm request of David Paterson. The New York Governor used the recent MTA rescue package as leverage to exert more control over the financially beleaguered transit agency, and Sander, a Spitzer appointee but probably the most qualified authority head in its 41-year history, lost his job. Williams will assume the interim title on Monday, following MTA Board approval.

In taking on the job, Williams will also keep her duties as head of the LIRR. She is, however, looking forward to the challenge of leading the agency. “I am honored to be asked to step in temporarily – pending approval of the MTA Board – to serve in this position while continuing my duties as President of the LIRR,” Williams said via press release this afternoon. “As we all know, the subway, bus, bridge, tunnel and commuter rail systems are the lifeblood of our city and of the entire New York metropolitan region. I’ve spent much of my career at the MTA, so this will be an exciting challenge.

Williams, a labor lawyer with a degree from St. John’s, has been at the MTA for 15 years and has served as the head of both the Long Island Bus and LIRR. She also worked as the deputy county executive to Tom Suozzi in Nassau County. As the press release notes, the LIRR has flourished under her leadership with record on-time performance figures and better customer communications.

“This is a time of transition at the MTA, but it is critical that we continue to serve our customers without missing a beat,” H. Dale Hemmerdinger, current chairman of the MTA Board, said. “Helena Williams is doing a terrific job at the Long Island Rail Road and will be an excellent steward for the entire transit system until a new Chairman and CEO is appointed.”

Williams was the first female named to head to LIRR, and by assuming this new position, I believe she is the first lead the MTA as well. When Paterson names a successor, she will keep her job as president of the Long Island Rail Road.

Meanwhile, gov. Paterson is expected to name a permanent successor in the near future. Time is, however, of the essence. As The Times’ William Neuman reports, the Senate adjourns for the summer on June 22. If Paterson has not named a replacement by then, he will either have to summon the legislatures back for a special session or live with Williams as the interim head for a few months. His office declined to comment on the search, saying simply that they are looking for a candidate with “a mandate, a philosophy and a record of complete transparency and accountability to taxpayers.”

When the MTA Board passed a new fare structure earlier this week, the leaders of the transit agency stressed the fact that the so-called cuts to the public — fewer trains, less frequent service — would be voted down soon as well. The officials though also made clear that numerous positions within the MTA would not be filled. The station agent program, in particular, is slated for termination, and with it comes the elimination of over 800 jobs.

While many of these spots will be flat-out eliminated, a good number of MTA positions will be eliminated through attrition. As workers retire, the positions will remain vacant, not to be filled until and unless the MTA finds a sound financial footing.

This is an interesting way to eliminate jobs, but there is seemingly more at work than simply a reduction in workforce. Some MTA watchers believe this reduction-by-attrition method says more about the MTA’s future pensive obligations than anything else.

Nicole Gelinas is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an editor at City Journal. For the last few months, she — and few other transit watchers — has tackled the uncomfortable issue of the labor unions’ relationships with the MTA. Gelinas feels that much of the MTA’s supposed Doomsday could have been avoided had the transportation authority been willing to take a harder line in negotiations with its workers.

Most recently, Gelinas tackled just that topic in a Wall Street Journal column. She wrote:

The blunt truth is that New York City and state spent the good years giving its public employees generous raises, without asking for benefits concessions in return. City benefits costs, too, have piled up to an unsustainable $13 billion annually. That’s a third of the city’s tax revenue. Political leaders did nothing about it. When the transit union went on strike nearly four years ago to protect its pension benefits, Gov. George Pataki caved in and kept the status quo.

Gov. David Paterson and Gov. Pataki before him (let’s just leave out the farce of Eliot Spitzer) didn’t even need the unions’ cooperation to reduce pensions costs for new workers. Lawmakers could have passed legislation that would have cut benefits and increased contributions without union input. They didn’t.

Instead the state expanded its Medicaid program, which now costs the city $5.6 billion a year, up 44% over the past seven years. The city, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, similarly ramped up education spending by 70% to nearly $21 billion. Education spending has shot up 42% faster than spending on the MTA, even though public-school enrollment shrank while MTA ridership soared.

This April column is but the tip of the iceberg. In December, Gelinas called upon transit unions to sacrifice some of the financial upper hand. She wants the union workers to contribute more to their pension and health care plans and believes that a wage freeze would not be inappropriate. In March, she wrote about runaway pension costs.

The real issue here is one of a political cognitive dissonance. New Yorkers are, by and large, pro-labor, pro-union Democrats. Gelinas raises issues that don’t fit that bill, but they are ones transit advocates should consider. At a time when everyone else is being asked to shoulder the costs of our transit system, shouldn’t the unions contribute as well?

Per an e-mail from the MTA, Gov. David Paterson has accepted Elliot Sander’s resignation as the transportation authority’s CEO and executive director. Sander had tendered his resignation to Paterson earlier this year once it became clear that any MTA funding package would join the chairman and CEO positions at the MTA.

Sander commenced his CEO-ship on January 1, 2007 and, through no fault of his own, has overseen some of the rockier financial moments in the MTA’s history. His resignation is effective May 22, 2009. In a statement e-mailed this afternoon, he said:

“It has been a great honor to lead the 70,000 hard-working men and women who run the world’s greatest public transportation system. I am tremendously proud of our accomplishments making the MTA a leaner, more efficient and effective organization. Each of the MTA’s agencies is performing at peak levels, the relationship with our employees is dramatically improved and we communicate more frequently with our customers. The integration of the MTA’s three bus companies, the merging of back office functions across 7 agencies and the introduction of line general managers on the subway system will save the MTA millions and improve the agency’s performance. New innovations like rider report cards, text message alerts and Select Bus Service have improved the customer experience.

There is more work to be done, but I leave confident knowing the MTA is headed in the right direction. I am grateful to Governor Paterson and Governor Spitzer for this wonderful opportunity. I wish Governor Paterson the best of luck in choosing a successor who will build on the progress the MTA has made over the past two and a half years.”

News of this resignation came just a few hours after the Senate approved a bill merging the MTA leadership. In March, The Post speculated that Marc Shaw could take over the top spot.

Under the new state-mandated leadership structure, the CEO and Chairman will be the leader, and he or she can appoint an executive director to help guide the seven-agency behemoth.

Much will be said about Sander’s rocky term in the upcoming days and weeks, but in the end, I believe he did as good a job as he could have done considering the circumstances.

The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA released its annual performance review of the beleaguered transit agency. NY1 cited the report for giving high marks to the MTA while The Post believes the PCAC “blasted” the authority. The truth, of course, lies somewhere in the middle.

This year’s report is notable for its release date. Generally, the PCAC publishes its annual findings earlier in the room. But they pushed back the drop date on it this year to ensure the document would not impact “the vigorous debate over MTA fares, service, and funding.” While that debate is far from over and proponents and opponents alike could find ammunition in this report, this document offers up a nuanced look at the MTA.

The top line summary is what we would expect. The report praises the various agency heads for increased transparency — take that, Senator Lanza — but slams the capital construction crew for inexplicably missing deadlines.

The full report is available here as a PDF. I’ll summarize as I did last year the parts concerning the MTA overall and and New York City Transit. What follows are the MTA-centric aspects. I’ll publish the New York City Transit analysis at noon.

PCAC is generally pleased with MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander. They praise him for his forward-looking state of the MTA address but fault for him failing to meeting anticipated levels of interaction with advocacy groups.

More damning is the committee’s critique of organizational structure. The corporate structure, they say, “still lacks rationale.” Important divisions are understaffed; unimportant positions are overstaffed. The committee would like to see an internal personnel audit.

The PCAC report is very critical of the state of the MTA’s capital projects. While praising the tunnel-boring progress of the East Side Access plan, the committee writes,”It is not clear, however, what the prognosis is for an on-time, on budget delivery of a completed station.”

Similarly, PCAC faults the MTA for its standstill with the city over funding for the 7 Line Extension stop at 41st St. and 10th Ave. This latter shortfall, the committee says, “is particularly disappointed and ironic since the main goal of extension is to provide subway service for development projects at the West Side Hudson Yards, which are now on hold due to the poor economy.” Without the second station, this project is truly in danger of becoming the Subway to Nowhere.

The PCAC reserves its wrath for the Fulton St. mess. “This project has been a disaster from the start,” says the report, “and represents a monument to ineptness on the part of the MTA and the other largely uncoordinated agencies involved in this urgently needed project.” While the PCAC recognizes that stimulus funds may be required to jump start this program, they fear that the money “will again be wasted if the work is not properly coordinated and closely supervised.”

The South Ferry station too draws the ire of the advisory committee. PCAC found “no acceptable explanation for the 11th hour platform gap problem” and notes that “there has been no visible evidence that anyone at Capital Construction of NYCT has been held accountable for errors in design and the resulting delays.” Construction, it seems, is not the MTA’s forte.

In the realm of technology and security, PCAC finds the MTA lacking as well. They fault “the slow pace” of installation of a security system and question why the MTA is delaying for three years a SmartCard fare payment system already in place throughout the world. “This [delay] is extremely unfortunate and puts the MTA significantly behind other large transit systems such as CTA, WMATA, MARTA, MBTA, etc. where riders travel easily using a ‘Touch and Go’ card linked to a credit card,” they say. “We consider the failure to move forward based on NYCT’s program very shortsighted.”

It’s hard to quibble with this assessment, and public subway watchdogs should find themselves nodding in agreement. Unfortunately, the MTA’s fiscal woes aren’t going to improve this situation any time soon. With funding up in the air, technology implementation projects remain tenuous, and big-ticket items are no sure thing. The MTA is doing as good as it can considering the circumstances, but PCAC doesn’t think that’s quite good enough.

The new sexual harassment PSA comes in both Spanish and English. (Click for the enlarged bilingual version.)

Just a few weeks after debuting its first anti-groping PSA campaign, the MTA is set to expand their efforts at combating sexual harassment underground.

“After much thought and discussion on the subject, we have come up with a message that we feel sets the right tone and provides customers with the information they need to respond to this type of criminal behavior,” New York City Transit President Howard Roberts said.

The new campaign features the bilingual ad shown above and a brochure that MTA employees and NYPD officers will distribute in the system beginning on Monday. The brochure contains a clear and concise set of instructions reminding people to be aware of their surroundings and to assume that, if they feel they are being touched, then they probably are being touched. The MTA also urges potential victims to seek out the nearest police officer or MTA employee to report the problem.

“NYPD officers assigned to the subways have helped drive crime down to record lows in recent years with the help of the riding public,” NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. “The Police Department is determined to continue crime suppression, including sexual-related crime and misconduct, with the public’s continued cooperation and with the aid of NYC Transit’s important informational campaign.”