on June 9th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
A week ago today, the MTA issued a press release announcing the appointment of a new MTA Police Chief. Here is the full press release courtesy of the MTA:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander had appointed Michael R. Coan to be Chief of the MTA Police Department, effective today.
Chief Coan is a 26-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, where he rose through the ranks from Patrol Officer to senior-level positions including Commanding Officer at two precincts, Inspector/Counter Terrorism Coordinator in Brooklyn South, and Commanding Officer for Public Information Services and Executive Officer of Manhattan South. His most recent position was Deputy Chief/Executive Officer of the NYPD Detective Bureau composed of more than 3,500 detectives and supervisors citywide.
Deputy Chief Ronald J. Masciana had been serving as Acting Chief of Police since the departure of Chief Kevin McConville in October 2007. Chief Coan will report to MTA Deputy Executive Director and Director of Security William A. Morange.
“Michael’s experience and leadership skills in policing strategies, crisis management, risk and security assessment will build on the success and strengths of the MTA Police Department and further enhance our security efforts,” said Sander, who has prioritized security as one of the MTA’s top areas of focus. “I also want to thank Deputy Chief Masciana for ably serving the MTA as Acting Chief of Police for the past seven months.”
Chief Coan said: “I look forward to the challenge of providing safety and security to the customers and crew members of the region’s railroads and I appreciate the opportunity to lead such a professional organization.”
Chief Coan graduated from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice.
The MTA Police Department patrols the stations, trains and right-of-way of the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Staten Island Railway.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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on June 9th, 2008 at 11:51 am
6 days ago the Metro-North issued a press release to announce the recipient of the 2007 MTA Chairman’s Group Achievement In Safety Award. Here is the full release courtesy of the MTA:
The 450 men and women who work in the Maintenance of Equipment Department at the Harmon Shop & Yard and in Poughkeepsie have been awarded the 2007 MTA Chairman′s Group Achievement in Safety Award.
From 2000 to 2007, these employees have reduced injuries of all kinds by a whopping 78%. When you look only at injuries that resulted in “lost time,” meaning the employee had to be off work to recuperate, the reduction was even greater – 92% during the same eight-year period. Last year there were only 3 lost-time injuries, compared to 38 in 2000.
“We are committed to making all our facilities injury-free,” said MTA Chairman Elliot Sander. “And it gives me great pleasure and pride to recognize this exceptional team effort at the Harmon Shop.”
John Militano, of Carmel, NY, who manages the sprawling, century-old Harmon shop, said that a concerted effort began in 2001 to reduce injuries.
“We started to work on resetting employees′ attitudes about working safely every day,” said Militano, the M of E Facilities Director. “We had to make sure people had the right tools, we revamped work processes, and made safety routines a consistent part of daily activities,” Militano said. They began a safety slogan contest and the witty reminders hang all over the shop.
“People appreciate being told �good job.’ So we started to recognize their safety achievements on a regular basis too – and that simple recognition really helped to heighten everyone′s awareness of maintaining a safe workplace.” This award is hard-earned and well-deserved.
MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger presented the award Wednesday at the MTA Chairman’s Excellence in Safety a ceremony in Grand Central Terminal.
“I believe that safety is the MTA’s highest priority. Certainly the work MTA employees do day in and day out – providing more than 2.5 billion safe annual rides to the public – proves that,” Hemmerdinger said.
I would like to take this moment to congratulate the fine men & women for excelling at their positions. Transit Blogger is very proud!
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on June 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Last October, I wrote about a huge billing snafu that occurred when the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) doubled billed approximately 2000 individuals who purchased tickets at a ticket machine with a credit or debit card. Unfortunately another huge billing snafu took place 6 days ago as once again thousands of customers were at the risk of or were charged for tickets they did not purchase. Steve Ritea of Newsday has more in this report:
For the third time since October, the Long Island Rail Road has improperly charged customers for tickets they didn’t buy, officials said yesterday, with fewer than 22,800 customers affected by the current mistake.
LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone said a worker testing a computer software upgrade Friday mistakenly sent a file with credit and debit card information for 22,800 riders to an outside firm that charges the cards. Not all were charged, but Calderone said the LIRR had not yet determined how many were.
After complaints over the weekend, the LIRR began reversing all of the charges yesterday, he said.
“Unbelievable,” said Gerard Bringmann, president of the LIRR Commuters’ Council. “I mean, yeah, it could happen once, even twice, but a third time? … Heads should roll.”
“This is inexcusable and we intend to get to the bottom of it,” said LIRR president Helena Williams. She has suspended testing of software upgrades until the problem is identified.
To try to curry good will among the frustrated, Calderone said the LIRR will honor May monthly passes during today’s morning rush hour for customers who tell conductors they were affected by the problem.
In October, a software glitch caused roughly 20,000 riders who used debit or credit cards to be double-billed. The LIRR quickly reversed the charges and fixed the computer problem.
Then in late November, 423 transactions were processed through the LIRR computer system though no tickets were issued. A railroad manager made a computer error that caused the problem, officials said. They said the file would be “locked” to protect against it happening again.
Calderone said the latest error was caused during a software upgrade, whereas the November incident happened during normal operations. The November fix was unrelated to the part of the system where the latest problem occurred, he said.
“While these were three separate and unrelated episodes, the LIRR understands our customers’ frustrations and is doing everything it can to prevent a recurrence by upgrading our hardware and software capabilities,” Calderone said.
For more information, customers can call 1-877-547-7876.
Now that I am dealing with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) again, I need to remind myself not to use my card unless absolutely necessary!
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on June 9th, 2008 at 11:35 am
In all honesty this story qualified for the end of my historic entry but I forgot to include it. Instead of ignoring the story, I will give it its own entry. I first heard about this story while watching News 12 Long Island within the last 7-10 days. The story is about transit employee & Iraq veteran Timothy Sample who blames the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) for ruining his health. The story goes back to the morning of April 28th when Mr. Sample fell victim to the gap epidemic which continues to plague the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). Here is an article with more details courtesy of Newsday
When National Guardsman Timothy Sample returned home to Hempstead in 2005 after surviving two tours of duty in Iraq without injury, he felt fortunate. Little did he realize danger still lay ahead — or that it would be on a Long Island Rail Road platform.
The 46-year-old city transit employee fell in the gap at the Hempstead LIRR station on April 28, and his health continues to suffer as a result, he said.
Sample, filed a notice of claim against the MTA and Long Island Rail Road Wednesday, charging the agencies with carelessness, recklessness and negligence, said Sample’s attorney, Kenneth Mollins, of Melville. The claim, the first step in filing a lawsuit, also charges the agencies with the “intentional disregard of the dangerous condition that existed and continues to exist for a protracted period of time.”
“He was injured as a direct result of neglect by the railroad,” Mollins said.
Long Island Rail Road spokeswoman Susan McGowan said last night that the LIRR is spending more than $40 million to reduce gaps systemwide and is also promoting safety through its Be TrainSmart campaign.
Sample, who cleans subway stations, was on his way into Manhattan for a conductor certification program on April 28 just before 8 a.m.
As he attempted to board the train at the Hempstead station, his left foot fell into the “huge” gap. A passenger and conductor helped him, he said, and an MTA officer later came and offered assistance. His left leg was bruised and bleeding, Sample said, but he worried about being late for his class, so he didn’t seek further medical treatment.
“I didn’t think that much of it at that point,” he said.
But days later, Sample, who has served in the military for 13 years, found himself unable to get off the couch and delusional with fever. “I couldn’t even get out of my living room, this thing was so bad,” he said.
Sample’s fall in the gap resulted in a potentially fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis, Mollins said. The condition causes muscle fibers to break down and frequently results in kidney damage, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s Web site.
Sample, a married father of four, is being treated but can’t work. His kidneys were damaged and he suffers from fevers and severe fatigue, he said.
The LIRR began looking at the danger of wide gaps after a Minnesota teenager died at the Woodside station in August 2006. A Newsday investigation found gaps as wide as 15 inches at some LIRR stations.
Sample said he is upset and frustrated that he can no longer complete tasks as simple as taking out the garbage.
“I’m appalled,” he said. “Here’s a guy who’s been to Iraq … spent several years with the military with no problems, and then I come back and have some freak accident that to me could have been avoided if the Long Island Rail Road took out the right precautions.”
Who knows how much this incident will cost the MTA if Mr. Sample wins his lawsuit. One thing is for sure, they can not get this gap issue fixed fast enough!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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on June 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Last Monday, the MTA’s Metro-North issued a press release to announce an increase in seating capacity on multiple Port Jervis line trains. Here is the full press release with details courtesy of the MTA:
MTA Metro-North Railroad is adding cars to six Port Jervis Line trains, three in the AM peak and three in the PM peak, beginning Monday June 2 to provide additional seating capacity.
Coincidentally these service improvements mimic contingency plans implemented last week because of a strike by Short Line bus drivers, when eight to 10 trains each day had extra cars to handle people who usually take a bus to work.
Beginning the Tuesday after Memorial Day, when the full impact of the bus drivers strike was felt, Metro-North and NJ TRANSIT began lengthening trains as cars became available to accommodate new customers. Some of those changes are being made permanent as of today.
In the morning the 5:37 a.m. out of Port Jervis will go from six to seven cars, the first time ever that the Port Jervis Line has had a seven-car train.
“This is a testament to the continuing ridership growth on the Port Jervis line, which in the first three months of 2008 grew 5% to over 5800 weekday customers,” said Metro-North President Peter A. Cannito. “These improvements are in response to customer comments, surveys and focus groups and will make our customers more comfortable.”
The 5:05 a.m. out of Port Jervis is being lengthened from five to six cars and the 6:07 a.m., which also makes stop Mahwah and Ramsey in New Jersey, is being lengthened from six to seven cars.
In the afternoon, the 4:47 p.m. out of Hoboken will go from six to seven cars and the biggest train in the evening, the 5:40 p.m. out of Hoboken, is going from six to seven. Finally the 6:27 p.m. out of Hoboken is going from five to six train cars.
Metro-North has a “loading standard” of 92% for West of Hudson trains and although no train has reached that average occupancy–and in fact the highest occupancy train was 89%–the railroad decided to add capacity because of persistent customer requests and the fact that most people on the line have long trips, some over two hours. With the addition of these longer trains, the loading factor on all peak trains will be below 80%.
The railroad has taken seriously the results of its most recent customer satisfaction survey, which showed a drop in satisfaction. In addition, Metro-North has sufficient cars as a result of the purchase of an entirely new fleet of 65 Comet V coaches. NJT, which operates the service for MTA Metro-North Railroad, also is expanding its fleet with a new generation of bi-level coaches now being delivered.
The cost of the new service will be calculated according to the service agreement between Metro-North and NJ TRANSIT and is expected to be less than $200,000 a year.
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