Category: System Fighters

Everyone knows the MTA systems aren’t perfect. Governor Cuomo himself deemed this a problem, stated that “New York City’s transit system are in a ‘state of emergency’.” He also stated that subway “delays are maddening New Yorkers” who are “infuriated by a lack of communication and unreliability”, which we can all agree with. Governor Cuomo even went as far as ordering the MTA to address this issue.

The MTA then made this a priority and has tried to better manage its short-term inspection, repair, and replacement schedule for tracks, signals, and subway cars to avoid unexpected disruptions to the schedules of nearly 6 million daily subway riders. However, their side task was to partially repair the damage done by cutbacks to inspections, maintenance, and repairs made in the wake of the 2008 financial and economic crisis. And even as the MTA’s budget for pensions, health care, and debt continued to grow. The MTA also announced plans to deploy medical crews more quickly to passengers in need of assistance, thus reducing delays due to sick or incapacitated riders.

Every month, the MTA reports information to its board on specific areas of subway performance. This includes the percentage of subway trains that arrive at their stop on time; the average distance, in miles, that a subway car can travel before breaking down; the number of “major incidents” that disrupted service for 50 or more subway trains at once; and the percentage of weekday passengers’ journeys that arrive within five minutes of the scheduled time.

The good news is, however, the MTA has stabilized its operations, and at the same time, stopped the declines in performance. Also, Governor Cuomo wasn’t wrong to note that Lhota had “stabilized the subway system.”

However, the MTA has not regained its performance levels of the early 2010s. Despite  improvements over the past year, nearly three times as many weekday trains experience delays compared with 2011, when Cuomo first took office. Trains are still almost 30% more likely to break down. The MTA hasn’t stopped the decline in ridership that resulted from its recent declining performance. A month after Governor Cuomo’s declaration of emergency in 2017, the MTA launched a “subway action plan,” promising to “deliver improvements within the year.” The MTA would mainly focus on track and signal-system improvements and train-car reliability, deploying hundreds of new workers toward inspecting, repairing, and replacing track segments. On top of that, they will be ensuring that the system’s early-20th-century signal system did not break down as often.

The MTA has also made changed management. In January 2018, Andy Byford, a veteran of mass-transit systems in Toronto and London, joined the MTA as president of New York City Transit, in charge of subways and buses. In late October, Byford told 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker, “I absolutely want New Yorkers to start feeling, by the end of this year, it’s definitely getting better.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p02Yro39Cuo&feature=youtu.be

On June 2017, New York governor Andrew Cuomo declared New York City’s transit system (mainly the city’s subways) to be in a “state of emergency.” Stating that subway “delays are maddening New Yorkers” who are “infuriated by a lack of communication and unreliability,” the governor ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), whose chairperson he nominates and whose board nominations he controls, to reorganize its operations.

Though the long-term goal was for the MTA to modernize its physical assets, including its outdated signal infrastructure, the MTA’s more immediate goal was to better manage its short-term inspection, repair, and replacement schedule for tracks, signals, and subway cars to avoid unexpected disruptions to the schedules of nearly 6 million daily subway riders. The MTA’s task here was partly to repair the damage done by cutbacks to inspections, maintenance, and repairs made in the wake of the 2008 financial and economic crisis—cuts made even as ridership continued to soar as the local economy recovered; and even as the MTA’s budget for pensions, health care, and debt continued to grow. The MTA also announced plans to deploy medical crews more quickly to passengers in need of assistance, thus reducing delays due to sick or incapacitated riders.

Seventeen months into this plan, it is possible to use the MTA’s own performance reports to assess the early results. Each month, the MTA reports information to its board on specific areas of subway performance, including the percentage of subway trains that arrive at their stop on time; the average distance, in miles, that a subway car can travel before breaking down; the number of “major incidents” that disrupted service for 50 or more subway trains at once; and the percentage of weekday passengers’ journeys that arrive within five minutes of the scheduled time. The good news , however, is that over the past three years, the MTA has stabilized its operations, stemming the dramatic declines in performance over the previous half-decade. Cuomo wasn’t wrong to note, upon Joseph Lhota’s departure as MTA chairman in November 2018, that Lhota had “stabilized the subway system.”

Nevertheless, the MTA has not yet regained its performance levels of the early 2010s. Despite modest improvements over the past year, nearly three times as many weekday trains experience delays compared with 2011, when Cuomo first took office. Trains are still nearly 30% more likely to break down. The MTA has not stemmed the decline in ridership that resulted from its recent declining performance. A month after Governor Cuomo’s declaration of emergency in 2017, the MTA, under former chairman Lhota, launched a “subway action plan,” promising to “deliver improvements within the year.” The MTA would primarily focus on track and signal-system improvements and train-car reliability, deploying hundreds of new workers toward inspecting, repairing, and replacing track segments as well as ensuring that the system’s early-20th-century signal system did not break down as often.

The plan had a steep price tag. Though the MTA never promised a finite time frame for the “action plan,” the first phase was to cost $836 million: $456 million in the form of higher labor and other operating costs for expedited repairs and cleaning; and $380 million in the form of higher capital-asset costs for newer and better track, subway cars, and cleaning and inspection equipment. But the subway action plan is not a one-off cost. The MTA expects extra operating expenditures attributed to more aggressive inspection, repair, and maintenance schedules to be ongoing. On top of (a revised) $508 million in operating costs for the first year, the MTA expects to spend another $365 million in 2019 and $365 million annually thereafter, largely to pay the wages and benefits of newly hired union employees who will do much of this in-house work.Between 2017 and 2019, for example, the MTA expects that the workforce for New York City Transit (the MTA’s subway and bus division) will grow by 1,095 workers, to 51,246, largely as a result of the subway action plan.

The MTA has also made management changes to ensure professional implementation of the plan. In January 2018, Andy Byford, a veteran of mass-transit systems in Toronto and London, joined the MTA as president of New York City Transit, in charge of subways and buses. In late October, Byford told 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker, “I absolutely want New Yorkers to start feeling, by the end of this year, it’s definitely getting better.”

                  The MTA is controlled by New York State but it is an independent cooperation. The governor for New York which is Andrew Cuomo stated as recently as the Tuesday we just passed that the problem with MTA is that no one is in charge and if no one is in charge problems will continue to occur. He then tried to put himself in charge which was assumed he already had that position this is not true. The governor is actually who is to be blamed. The MTA board has 14 voting member and their jobs are to review,approve and monitor fundamental financial and business strategies as well as major actions but none of these say anything about improving the health issues or taking the homeless people off the train carts. That is an issue for the people to deal with so it seems. Something that we cannot fix because it’s inevitable and also to public. A lot of the things we want to be able to change involving the MTA will always be black-balled because of its public setting.                       Secondly, the system’s functions that run on our trains today are old and not just 5-10 years old but in fact centuries. This causes trains to slow down, the technology that are used for train systems control the speed  as well as stopping sand starting the subway trains. However the MTA does plan on changing this to a newer system that runs how our world runs today, busy and fast. Red lights, green and yellow are some signal systems that trains use today for blocking and proceeding train routes and all of these are used to increase the consistent train flow underground so train conductors know where they are going as well as best serving subway riders.                                                                                                                                                                   Governor Cuomo says that nobody is in charge of the subway affairs and this is the problem so maybe he should take full responsibility or place it in the hands of someone who can because without someone in charge any change at all will be difficult to see. The MTA board has an impact on most of things surrounding the subways so solutions that are thought out and will help things runs smoothly down there isn’t such a bad idea. If anything someone needs to be the voice to say “hey, someone needs to fix this we can no longer deal with the sudden disruptions anymore” for things to get done. If you plan to leave your house to catch a certain train then timed when that train will arrive at your stop so that you can be on time for work or class, you should be able to follow through with that plan. Trains are public yes! Yet this is no excuse for the quality millions of riders deserve when their taxes are going to it and they pay their fare. They should be organized and on time for the people.