
Jay Walder is the center of attention during an April ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Benjamin Kabak/Second Ave. Sagas)
Now that I’ve had an opportunity to run my complete interview with MTA CEO and Chair Jay Walder, I wanted to wrap up the series with my thoughts on the leadership at the MTA. The authority, routinely under fire by straphangers, politicians and everyone in between, has faced some rocky times, and the next legislative session could, as Streetsblog’s Noah Kazis detailed today, lead to more reappropriated and stolen transit funds. It’s not been an easy few years for the MTA.
Yet, despite tough economic times, the agency is currently growing its transit network. Within the next six to eight years, we’ll see part of a new subway line open along Second Ave. We’ll see Long Island Rail Road service into and out of Grand Central. We’ll see the 7 line reach the Far West Side and the Javits Center.
Beyond the expansion of service, we’ve also seen new customer-focused initiatives. Countdown clocks now tell riders exactly how long they must wait for trains, and commutes are less stressful because of it. A better website delivers real-time information about bus locations and service outages. New York City Transit even has its own Twitter account to amuse and inform its 10,000 followers. This is an MTA that has, sometimes kicking and screaming, entered a better era.
That isn’t to say that the authority is problem-free. As funds are tight, services have been eliminated even as capital spending is steady. We lost the V and W trains earlier this year and saw countless bus lines eliminated. We wait longer for off-hours trains and suffer through dirtier platforms that are in desperate need of rehab and renovation. For all of this, we’re getting a fare hike in four weeks. To make matters worse, even the major capital projects are hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars overbudget and years behind schedule.
All of which leads to two questions: How has Jay Walder performed as the first leader to act as both Chair and CEO of the MTA? Is he the right person for the job?
By and large, Walder has worked well with what he has, and what he has is not much. Walder came back from London with the promise of a fully funded MTA and a request or even a mandate to modernize the system. Only half of that vision has come to fruition, and his tenure is very much a work in progress. He is still, for instance, amidst an effort to overhaul and discard the MetroCard.
What drives many of Walder’s recent initiatives, even as service is scaled back and fares go up, is the need to, as he puts, make every dollar count. It’s important to replace the MetroCard with something more efficient because those are easy cost savings. By improving fare collection by just a few cents on the dollar, the MTA can generate upwards of a $100 million in added revenue every year. It shouldn’t take an economic crisis to address such an easily solvable problem, but change does not come easy to the MTA’s bureaucracy.
Where Walder has fallen short has been with labor. Right now, labor relations between the MTA and its workers are at a low point. The authority begrudgingly assented to an arbitration award for the TWU that required 11 percent in raises over three years, and Walder has overseen a drastic reduction in the number of personnel staffing stations. Even as modern technology can create a safer environment than a lone agent in his or her station, the appearance of a person can be a strong deterrent.
Soon the labor battle will rear its head again as the TWU’s contract comes due after 2011. Management at the MTA is expected to take a tough stance. It is there goal to maintain the labor spending levels, and that either means far fewer employees or no raises. No matter which path the authority chooses, Walder will have to convince a reluctant union to sacrifice, and if he cannot do that, then costs will continue to climb and climb and climb. Making friends with the workers will be of paramount importance.
Today, we know Walder, as we knew his predecessor Lee Sander, as a politically responsible choice to head a transit agency. His expertise lies in running a transit system and not in operating a real estate empire. He’s learned a lot during his first 14 months on the job, and he’ll be the first to tell you that. As we near the reign of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Walder’s job could be in danger, but if Cuomo were an astute politician, he would keep Walder on. Flaws and all, he’s one of the stronger allies the MTA has right now.