Federal Agents Raid Railroad Retirement Board Office
Over the last couple of days I have blogged about the LIRR being looked into for possible benefits manipulation. The drama continues to unfold as federal agents raided the Long Island office of the federal Railroad Retirement Board. Walt Bogdanich & Duff Wilson of the New York Times filed this report which will appear in today’s print edition:
Federal agents raided the Long Island office of the federal Railroad Retirement Board on Tuesday amid an intensifying investigation into the legitimacy of disability payments to thousands of former employees — including white-collar managers — of the Long Island Rail Road.
s former rail workers were arriving to file new disability claims, investigators showed up and closed the office in Westbury, eventually carting out nine file boxes and five personal computers.
The raid came two days after The New York Times reported that nearly all career employees of the railroad — from 93 percent to 97 percent of retirees every year since 2000 — retire early and soon after begin getting disability payments from the federal agency. The retirement board almost never turns down a claim, and since 2000 has paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars in disability checks to former Long Island Rail Road workers, The Times found.
Responding to the findings, Gov. David A. Paterson immediately directed the state attorney general to begin a wide-ranging inquiry into disability claims at the railroad. On Tuesday, he called on Congress to aid in that investigation.
Click here for the complete report.
More on this story as it unfolds…
xoxo Transit Blogger
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New York City Transit Requests Bus Fuel Contract Review
On Monday morning I blogged about the MTA getting price gouged on their bus fuel contract extension. The new contract extension with long running supplier Sprague Energy Corporation saw the costs to the MTA rise approximately $26 million dollars which is triple what it payed last year. Now on the heels of this news getting out, New York City Transit has asked the MTA’s Inspector General to review the extension. William Neuman of the New York Times has more in this report which will appear in today’s print edition:
New York City Transit has asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s inspector general to review a highly unusual contract that has added millions of dollars to the cost of buying diesel fuel for city buses, officials said on Tuesday.
The transit agency had to negotiate a one-year contract in late August under what it described as onerous terms as it faced the possibility of running out of fuel for its buses.
The transit agency rushed into its agreement, with Sprague Energy, after it had received no bids on a proposed contract to deliver the custom-made diesel fuel it uses, which is designed to minimize pollution.
Bids from Sprague and another company were due Aug. 21, just over three weeks before the previous contract, also with Sprague, was set to expire.
That gave the transit agency little time to find an alternative source, so it chose to negotiate a one-year extension with Sprague — at highly unfavorable terms — according to materials prepared for the authority’s board.
Barry L. Kluger, the authority’s inspector general, said on Tuesday that he had discussed the agency’s concerns about the contract last week with Howard H. Roberts, president of New York City Transit.
Click here for the complete report.
My opinions were posted in the initial entry which I linked to in the first paragraph.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Finally, Google Transit Is Here
Thirteen months ago, I wrote about Google’s plans to team up with the MTA & other regional transportation agencies to create the tri-state area version of Google Transit. The wait is now over as the tri-state area version of Google Transit has launched. Here is the official press release from the MTA:
Google Transit to Provide Seamless Trip-Planning Across MTA Region and Beyond, Encourage Transit Use and Promote Tourism
Governor David A. Paterson today joined Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger, MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander, Port Authority of NY and NJ Executive Director Christopher O. Ward, New York City Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler, Google Vice President Marissa Mayer, and Google Director of Maps & Earth John Hanke to announce the launch of Google TransitTM in New York.
Google Transit, a feature of the Google MapsTM online mapping service, provides point-to-point public transit trip planning that will now include transit services throughout the MTA service territory – New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, MTA Bus, Long Island Bus and Staten Island Railway – as well as other regional connecting services participating in the initiative, such as New Jersey Transit, the Port Authority’s AirTrain and Staten Island Ferry. For the first time, travelers can access streamlined, regional trip-planning based on up-to-date schedule data across the subway, bus and rail systems. The application even includes walking directions for the beginning or end of the trip.
Governor David A. Paterson said: “Google Maps for Transit is a truly innovative marriage of information and infrastructure. It is a perfect example of how the public and private sectors can partner together to benefit us all — and it didn’t cost New York taxpayers a penny. I applaud my colleagues at the MTA and Port Authority for making this a priority, and our friends at Google for continuing to make the world an easier place to navigate.”
MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger said: “At a time when the MTA is facing mounting fiscal challenges, we are thrilled to be able to offer this service to our customers at no cost to taxpayers. Google Transit will encourage ridership and underscores the importance of the MTA to the region’s economy and environment.”
MTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Elliot G. Sander said: “The MTA is delighted to partner with Google to provide our customers with this cutting-edge tool for getting around our 5,000 square-mile territory. Customer service is a top priority, and this is just the latest example of how the MTA is pursuing innovative ideas to serve our riders.”
Port Authority of NY/NJ Executive Director Christopher O. Ward said: “Our challenge at the Port Authority is to move people faster and more efficiently. Google’s new technology will help us meet that challenge by giving travelers better information so they can move from JFK to any point in the city as seamlessly as possible.”
New York City Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler said: “We are excited to welcome Google Maps for Transit to New York City. One of the keys to increasing mass transit usage is making it easier for people to understand how to use the system. This partnership between Google and the MTA does exactly that. It harnesses the power of Google’s innovative search technologies to allow residents and visitors to more easily understand how mass transit will get them to where they need to go”
John Hanke, Director of Google Maps & Earth said: “We are extremely pleased to join forces with the MTA to provide information about their vast transit system in Google Maps. By being able to access station and schedule data for the largest public transit system in the United States via Google Maps, users are exposed to the availability and convenience of public transportation and are better equipped to take advantage of all that the New York metropolitan region has to offer.”
The program provides users with more valuable trip information; generates useful local information from Google Maps; and creates opportunities for MTA to reach out to car commuters who may not realize the availability, cost-effectiveness and convenience of public transit. Key benefits of Google Transit trip planner include:
Point-to-point trip planning using the familiar Google Maps format
In-depth information about a destination:
subway, train or bus stops serving the destination
next scheduled departures from the station or stop
search of nearby businesses, restaurants, attractions, and amenities (e.g. “delicatessens near City Hall Station”)
Unique, user-friendly features:
360-degree street-level views of the destination with Google Maps Street View, which can be rotated by the user with their computer mouse
“My Location” feature triangulates the user’s approximate cell-phone position on Google Maps for mobile and indicates distance from the destination
Still photo entries for popular destinations
Icons for Wikipedia entries for places of interest at stations
Trip planning also accessible via many portable devices
Helpful links:
Ability to instantly share a trip plan with friends via email
A link on the Google Transit page will take visitors back to www.mta.info to access additional MTA information each time MTA data is shown on Google Maps
At no cost to the MTA, Google and the MTA collaborated on the development of Google Transit for the New York region, joining other major public transit providers who had launched similar services with Google, such as Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), NJ Transit, San Francisco (BART), Atlanta (MARTA), and internationally, Moscow and Tokyo.
The project involved consolidating and reworking disparate MTA schedule and station location data into a format that would enable the service for the New York region. This information will be made available to other developers to enable development of new customer-focused services in the future. Google Transit complements existing MTA trip planning services, including Trip Planner and Trips 123, by providing another way for riders to discover the wealth of services that the MTA offers.
Google, Google Maps, and Google Transit are registered trademarks of Google Inc.
Sewell Chan of the New York Times City Room Blog also filed a report about the new service as well as focusing on how Google had to parse the large volume of data. Here is his report:
A number of public officials and the founders of Google assembled at Grand Central Terminal this morning to announce the start of New York’s version of Google Transit, an online feature that they said would transform the experience of navigating New York City’s transit system, the nation’s busiest.
“It is a very complicated transit system, and it just got less complicated today with the advent of Google Maps for transit,” Gov. David A. Paterson said, noting that the subway system opened with 9.1 miles of lines in 1904, and that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority now serves a territory of 5,000 square miles.
The array of public officials present reflected Google’s economic might, particularly at a time when Wall Street’s convulsions have left the city and state economy reeling. Not only did the governor and leaders of the M.T.A. attend the Grand Central news conference, but so did Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler, representing the Bloomberg administration, and officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and of New Jersey Transit.
“It just gives me great personal pleasure to be able to help even in a tiny way this fantastic public transportation system,” Sergey Brin, one of Google’s founders, said at the news conference. The company’s other founder, Larry Page, said he even hoped the tool would “help congestion, help the economy over all.”
Google has already presented online maps for several transit systems around the world, and several New York companies have provided similar services, like Hopstop.com, but the new Google tool has support from public officials. (The M.T.A. even posted a link to Google Transit on its Web site, along with a Google training video. And the M.T.A. allowed Google to install 10 demonstration kiosks where users can try out the new tool, until 5 p.m. today.)
Click here for the complete report.
I am glad to finally this project come to fruition as it will be a valuable asset to the millions who will end up using it at some point. Score one for Google & the tri-state area transportation agencies.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA Financial Contingency Plan Could Turn Hypothetical Service Cuts Into Reality
We all know how the story has gone so far. For years the MTA’s path to financial ruin has been aided by bad decisions & public officials who felt properly funding the agency was not a priority. For years this road has been covered up by black ice due to a windfall of profit from real estate among other areas. However we all know black ice while not visible is quite the slippery slope & this has played out exactly like one would expect. The good times have hit a snag & the MTA or more accurately the riding public is left in the middle of the wreck.
The wreck is the current budget deficit which seems to grow by the day with no end in sight. This road is filled with so many potholes that it has led the MTA to find ways to cut expenses by 4.5 percent. So you might be asking yourself, what exactly is new about this story? Well the new part is one I like others hate to have to report. If the MTA can not trim enough management level expenses, a logical candidate to make up the difference will be service cuts. William Neuman of the New York Times has more in this report which will appear in today’s print edition:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun exploring possible cuts in subway, bus and commuter rail service to shore up its budget in the face of a projected deficit next year of nearly $900 million, officials said on Monday.
The cuts could be necessary if the authority does not receive enough additional money from the state and city or if the economic crisis deepens significantly, the officials said. They cautioned, however, that any service cuts were purely theoretical at this point.
The authority has already proposed fare and toll increases that would go into effect next July, although it has not said how big those increases might be.
Gary J. Dellaverson, the authority’s chief financial officer, said that he had directed the heads of the agencies that make up the authority — including New York City Transit, which runs the subway and buses, Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road — to come up with alternative budgets “in the event either the economy is worse than predicted, which is possible, or assistance from government partners in its entirety is not forthcoming.”
Jeremy Soffin, a spokesman for the authority, said that the agencies were told to explain how they would make cuts of 4.5 percent or so in their expenses. He declined to say how much that would amount to, but a 4.5 percent reduction of the total authority-wide budget projected to be $9.7 billion next year would equal $437 million.
“This is an exercise in case of a hypothetical situation,” Mr. Soffin said. “It’s very preliminary.”
The cuts are supposed to target management-level expenses first and then expenses that directly affect operations. That could include cuts to train and bus service, Mr. Dellaverson said.
“I think it’s fair to say that it will be difficult for agencies to find that much savings without affecting the service package,” he said.
Click here for the complete report.
New York Daily News Transit Reporter Pete Donohue also filed a report on this topic:
Doomsday plans that could include bus and subway service cuts are being drafted in case the MTA’s financial troubles worsen even more, officials said Monday.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters recently told its divisions to detail ways to cut spending by about 4.5% in the event the economy deteriorates beyond the MTA’s latest budget projections – or if city and state funding isn’t increased to levels sought by the MTA, Chief Financial Officer Gary Dellaverson said.
The MTA wouldn’t say how much money in savings is being sought in this latest budget directive, but using the authority’s preliminary 2009 budget, the sum can be estimated at more than $400 million.
“I don’t know what the outcome is going to be but I think it’s fair to say that it will be difficult for the agencies to find that much savings without affecting the service package …,” Dellaverson said after an authority finance committee meeting.
The savings are on top of more than $200 million in belt-tightening actions for 2008 and 2009 previously outlined by the MTA, including a limited hiring freeze.
Click here for the complete report.
Although the proposed service cuts (which have not reached the detailed stage) are hypothetical, it should strike fear into riders in the tri-state area. “Service Cuts” are the two words that will make any mass transit commuter cringe & who could blame them. This seriously needs to be a wake up call to any & everyone who depends on, is involved with, or both with mass transit in our region.
If the economy continues to spiral downwards & our elected officials don’t come through with the money the MTA & its riding public deserves, we will get hit with a double whammy like none other. We will not only have to deal with potentially multiple fare hikes, but service cuts on top of that. This could truly turn into a case of paying more for less & that is never a good thing.
So in the end will our elected officials like Richard Brodsky come through & help with funding or is it more of the same spin to look good while hanging the riding public out to dry? Time will tell but if you ask me, it is not looking promising for the good guys…
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Temporary Subway Platforms Don’t Get The Job Done
If you might recall, 9 months ago a 14 year old named Avi Katz fell to the trackbed after stepping on a platform edge to see if a 
was on its way. The incident helped fuel a co-sponsored report by State Assemblyman Dov Hikind & Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer which highlighted the horrific condition of a high percentage of subway platforms. The MTA attempted to address the situation by spending almost half a million dollars on temporary fixes. Unfortunately according to most riders, these repairs are not enough & a permanent solution needs to present itself fast. Marlene Naanes of AMNY has more in this report:
Temporary repairs to the most rickety subway platform edges are almost complete, though many of them remain splintered and wobbly — or worse, continue to pose a hazard — straphangers said.
“I had a few incidents where I tripped on them,” Januvis Ayala, 27, said of the wooden planks placed over the dangerous platform edges at the Kings Highway F train station.
“It’s basically just a band-aid,” she said. “If the train wasn’t there, [her kids] could fall onto the tracks.”
After a Brooklyn teenager fell through a rickety wooden subway platform edge about nine months ago, New York City Transit launched a systemwide survey of all 1,122 platforms in the system and placed a priority on repairing 134 of the edges found to be in “poor” condition. Those edges will all have wooden boards covering them by the end of next month, according to transit officials. Permanent repairs, which include replacement of the edge and its supports, is not expected to be complete until December 2009.
Click here for the complete report.
Well I know the first thing many would say is no one should be standing on the platform edge. Yes, you are 100% correct in saying that. However this does not change the fact that the MTA seriously needs to address this issue asap! The next person involved in such an incident might not be as lucky as Avi Katz & none of us want to hear or write about that story taking place.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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