PERMANENT CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE MTA
MINUTES OF JUNE 4, 2015
A meeting of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC) to the MTA was convened at 12:00 noon on June 4, 2015, in the 20th floor Board room at 2 Broadway, New York City.
The following members were present:
Andrew Albert Ira Greenberg
Sheila Carpenter William Guild
Mark Epstein Sharon King Hoge
Mike Godino Trudy Mason
Randy Glucksman Raymond Pagano
Christopher Greif Larry Rubinstein
The following members were on the phone:
Stuart Goldstein Matthew Kessler
The following members were absent:
Francena Amparo Maureen Michaels
Gerard Bringmann Scott Nicholls
Richard Cataggio Bryan Peranzo
Francis Corcoran Edith Prentiss
Owen Costello Michael Sinansky
Rhonda Herman Burton Strauss, Jr.
Marisol Halpern Neal Zuckerman
In addition, the following persons were present:
William A. Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Associate Director
Angela Bellisio -PCAC Transportation Planner
Bradley Brashears -PCAC Transportation Planner
Karyl Berger -PCAC Research Associate
Aluja Hussein -NYCDOE
Yvonne Morrow -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the June 4, 2015 meeting was approved. The minutes of the March 12, 2015 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Reports
Randolph Glucksman gave the PCAC Chair’s Report.
Matthew Kessler asked whether LIRR will be adding Positive Train Control (PTC) to its present Automatic Speed Control system. William Henderson responded that the PTC systems implemented by the MTA’s commuter railroads are overlays on their existing systems.
Mark Epstein said that he will respond to questions regarding his report as it was previously distributed.
Mr. Glucksman said that he would likewise take questions on the MNRCC Chair’s report, but added to the written report that he had been active in the effort to mobilize Rockland County local elected officials against NJ Transit’s decision to discontinue Train 1601, the last northbound Pascack Valley train on the daily schedule. He said that this reduction would have a strongly negative impact on those who must travel to Rockland County in the late night hours and that he has spoken out against the cut before the MTA and NJ Transit Boards.
Chris Greif commented that he is concerned with the status of station upgrades to add ADA accessibility included in the MTA Capital Program that has yet to be approved. He moved that the PCAC send a letter to MTA officials on this issue. Ellyn Shannon outlined the current status of the MTA 2015-2019 Capital Program. Mr. Glucksman said that the PCAC can craft a letter, but it would be reviewed and approved by the PCAC Executive Committee before it is sent.
Andrew Albert said that he would answer any questions on the NYCTRC Chair’s report and pointed out that there is one addition to the written report that was distributed. He said that weekend J train service has finally been extended to Broad Street, and that this is significant as it now provides J train riders with a number of transfer possibilities at the Fulton Street Transit Center. He said that it he could never understand the logic of ending weekend J service one stop short of one of the most active transfer points in the system and that to his knowledge this change will not require any additional trains to be run on weekends.
Old Business
Mr. Glucksman reported the accomplishments of the PCAC over the past year. He said that the new PCAC Website was launched on October 6 and thanked the PCAC staff for their work on the project. Mr. Henderson said that Angela Bellisio deserved much of the credit for the improvements in the PCAC’s web presence, as she is coordinating the website.
Mr. Glucksman said that he as well as a number of the members had testified at the fare hearings in the Fall of 2014. Because the proposed increase was smaller than in prior years, there was not as much interest in these hearings, and as always, the impact of the PCAC testimony is not entirely clear. Nevertheless, presenting the riders’ concerns has a positive impact on the debate over fare increases and for that the effort is valuable for that reason.
In addition, the PCAC Staff has been in a new office at 2 Broadway since November 2014, and this move has provided more space and better facilities for PCAC functions.
Mr. Glucksman reported that the PCAC produced a short Annual Report and was working on reaching agreement on clarifications to the Memorandum of Understanding between the PCAC and MTA that have become necessary. The PCAC is also partnering with the Urban Land Institute to assess the value of capital investment in the MTA system to the region and its people, and Ms. Shannon briefly described the work that has been done.
Elections of PCAC Officers
Mr. Henderson stated that the candidates presented by the Councils for PCAC officers are the incumbent officers, Randolph Glucksman, Matthew Kessler, and William Guild, for Chair, First Vice Chair, and Second Vice Chair, respectively. Mr. Henderson asked if there were any further nominations, and hearing none asked for a motion to elect the nominees. The motion was made and passed with no negative votes.
Mr. Epstein commented that the LIRRCC Mineola office ribbon cutting ceremony would take place the next day and invited any interested members to attend the event.
New Business
Stuart Goldstein requested that a letter be sent asking NYC Transit , the Long Island Rail Road, and MTA Police to redouble their efforts to secure rail systems in light of the recent cable thefts on the A subway line.
Mr. Albert stated that he has asked Carmen Bianco about this situation. Mr. Bianco indicated that the power to trains followed another redundant path, so there were no alarms activated as thefts took place until the circuit was finally broken. Mr. Albert said that he also asked about cameras in the system, to which Mr. Bianco had responded that the proper use of security cameras is an issue throughout the system and also that NYC Transit is looking at alarm systems. Mr. Albert noted that the issue of why train crews did not notice any evidence of the cable thefts is still unresolved.
Mr. Epstein supported Mr. Goldstein’s motion. He said that there should be a transparent investigation into this incident. Ira Greenberg stated that the MTA is looking at motion detection systems and that he believes that the MTA should investigate whether these systems would be applicable to incidents such as the cable theft, although the general reason for these systems is to stop trespassing.
Larry Rubinstein asked whether the call for a transparent investigation is part of the motion. Mr. Henderson said that he did not believe that it was not part of the original position, but that Mr. Goldstein was free to amend his motion to include it. Mr. Goldstein commented that he is open to including this provision and said that his main concern is the security of the system.
Mr. Greenberg wanted to know if we should ask the MTA Inspector General about the incident. Mr. Goldstein stated that he would not object to the Inspector General being involved. Mr. Glucksman suggested that the staff could speak to the Inspector General about this. The question was called and all voting were in favor of sending the letter described.
Introduction of Dr. David Mayer, MTA Chief Safety Officer, to Discuss the State of Safety at the MTA and His Efforts to Improve the Safety Performance of the MTA and Its Operating Agencies.
Dr. Mayer stated that he had a long career at the National Transportation Safety Board prior to coming to the MTA, where he has been for six months. He currently serves as the Chief Safety Officer for the MTA, but he noted that the MTA did not “nationalize” safety by centralizing the function in MTA Headquarters. There are still operating agency safety officers, who are responsible for the safety programs of their respective agencies. He said that his function is to facilitate information interchange and to act in a way similar to the Chief Financial Officer with regard to the agencies by exercising oversight.
Dr. Mayer said that to further coordination he has created a safety council among the agencies chief safety officers.
Mr. Albert mentioned the members’ earlier discussion about the A line copper thefts and noted that security lapses can affect safety. He asked if Dr. Mayer has any interaction with the security personnel. Dr. Mayer responded that he has daily conversations with MTA Director of Security Raymond Diaz.
Mr. Epstein pointed out that there were still concerns about the design of the M9 cars among LIRRCC members, including whether the lessons learned in the Spuyten Duyvil and Philadelphia Amtrak derailments are being heeded in their design. He asked how lessons learned in incidents are incorporated into the procedures and equipment of the operating agencies. Dr. Mayer replied that the structural integrity of the cars was investigated very carefully in the design process for the M9s. He also said that all of the materials from NTSB investigations are available on the agency’s website and that there has been an active engagement with the M9 builder Kawasaki and specific recommendations for specification changes have been made that will be incorporated into the M9s.
Mr. Glucksman stated that he had heard that there are M9 cars being built in Japan and asked if lessons from the Philadelphia Amtrak accident will be incorporated in these cars. Dr. Mayer responded that the design will probably not gain anything specific from the experience in evacuating the Amtrak train, but egress is a long-term issue with regard to train cars.
Mr. Rubinstein noted that investigators of the Amtrak incident have looked into window placement, and it seems that it would have been difficult to exit through the Amtrak car windows. Dr. Mayer replied that there is a delicate balance in window placement, with structural issues and the ease or removal of window among the concerns, as well as the issue of window retention in a crash. Anne Kirsch noted that not all emergency egress is through windows and that the doors are designed for egress in emergencies.
Mr. Greif mentioned the F train derailment that had occurred in 2014 and asked whether anything will be done. Dr. Mayer stated that there is a report from the Office of System Safety of NYC Transit on the incident, with recommendations, and that NYC Transit has an excellent reputation for its incident investigations.
Ira Greenberg commented that there are places on the Long Island Rail Road where Positive Train Control will not be installed even when the system is implemented. For example, while Penn Station has a 15 mph speed limit, PTC will not be there. He asked what would happen in collision at these speeds.
Dr. Mayer commented that one of the things done to mitigate harm to trains in terminals is setting very low speed limits. Also railroads install separator walls to prevent trains from fouling an adjacent track. He noted that crash energy modeling has been extensively done by many agencies.
Ms. Kirsch pointed out the design of cars is most robust in head end of the cars, and that this area would be most at risk in slow speed crashes. Mr. Greenberg wanted to know if this is an acceptable risk. Dr. Mayer said that he believes this situation presents an acceptable risk. Mr. Greenberg said he wondered whether there should be a backup protection system in these situations.
Ray Pagano commented that in the Williamsburg Bridge collision, there were a number of recommendations made, including changing the spacing of trains. Dr. Mayer noted that looking at the organization and culture of NYC Transit at the time of this accident, one can see that it was not the same as it is now. While there were some changes in operating rules, the largest improvement came from a tremendous change in culture.
Bradley Brashears commented that the NTSB made recommendations after the Spuyten Duyvil derailment to install speed signs at curves. Dr. Mayer stated that both Metro North Railroad and Long Island Railroad did engineering work to determine the location and extent of speed reductions on their systems. These changes were implemented by July 2014 for Metro-North and by September 2014 for the LIRR and signage was put in place.
Mr. Brashears asked whether onboard cameras have been installed on Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. Dr. Mayer responded that a contract was signed in Match and that the engineering work has been done. The equipment is now moving toward acceptance testing
Mr. Brashears asked whether the MTA is coordinating with local governments on grade crossing safety and if so what efforts are being made. Dr. Mayer said that even without the issues raised by the Valhalla crash, this is a major effort for railroads. The complexity is that the railroad owns its rail to rail portion of the right-of- way and overhang space, while local authorities control other features that are involved with crossing safety. He said that the MTA worked with many other parties in the Roaring Brook Road grade crossing upgrade, where Chappaqua had responsibility for one side of the tracks and the State was responsible for the other. He said that Metro-North worked with both parties to make both sides of tracks look similar and make the process work in harmony.
Mr. Brashears asked if the MTA is working with Operation Lifesaver. Dr. Mayer responded that he was very involved in the events on the previous day. He mentioned that he would like to work with Operation Lifesaver to craft messages that are not armed at motorists crossing rural freight lines.
Mr. Greif pointed out there are some concerns that he has about safety in subway stations. There are some that are deteriorating, with some having holes on their platforms and steps. He wanted to know if safety issues are double checked in the station. Dr. Mayer responded that he had not checked the stations, but did know of any specific problems. He said he will talk to NYC Transit about the issue.
Karyl Berger asked about the biggest safety challenges presented by subway crowding. Dr. Mayer stated that the most significant issues are platform conditions and vertical circulation control. There are not direct safety issues caused by crowding. The NYC Transit Operations Planning department is working on strategies to reduce crowding and increase safety. There are messages on the subway system aimed at reducing crowding. He stated that he has observed the operation of the A Division and that Train Controllers rerouted trains almost immediately in the case of a problem in a manner that was very impressive.
Mr. Epstein mentioned the one issue he had raised in lack of recordkeeping with regard to the inspection of stations. He asked Dr. Mayer about the idea of having a transparent system of inspection records for stations. Dr. Mayer responded that he is a fan of transparency, but had not heard this issue raised. Ms. Kirsch responded that Metro-North has a robust inspection protocol and she believes the LIRR and NYC Transit have similar procedures.
Mr. Epstein stated that riders do not feel that anyone is regularly inspecting the system. Dr. Mayer said that he feels that this is a perceptual issue and that inspections are more frequent than most people realize.
Mr. Albert added he has seen a lot of broken rails in the NYC Transit system and that the problem seems to be increasing. He asked if there is a reason for this. Dr. Mayer stated that the change of temperature is a major issue in rail breaks. Mr. Albert asked about the safety of elevated structures. Dr. Mayer stated that he believes that there is a frequent inspection schedule for these tracks.
Ms. Shannon stated that she had heard alarming news about the Capital Program. She said that she wanted to know whether he and his safety councils stand on looking at projects from the standpoint of their relationship to safety.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director