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Meeting Minutes Sept 8, 2011

A meeting of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC) to the MTA was convened at 12:00 noon on September 8, 2011, in the 5th floor Board room, at MTA Headquarters, 347 Madison Avenue, New York City. The following members were present:

• Andrew Albert
• Sharon King Hoge
• James F. Blair
• Matthew Kessler
• David Buchwald
• Trudy Mason
• Shirley Genn
• Steve Mayo
• Randy Glucksman
• Maureen Michaels
• Stuart Goldstein
• Edith Prentiss
• Ira Greenberg
• Larry Rubinstein
• Christopher Greif
• Burton Strauss, Jr.
• William K. Guild
• Toya Williford

The following members were absent:

• Gerard Bringmann
• Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas
• Richard Cataggio
• Marisol Halpern
• Sheila Carpenter
• Rhonda Herman
• Francis T. Corcoran
• Thomas Jost
• Owen Costello
• Michael Sinansky
• Mark Epstein
• Neal Zuckerman

In addition, the following persons were present:

• William Henderson – PCAC Executive Director
• Jan Wells – PCAC Associate Director
• Karyl Berger – PCAC Research Associate
• Hye Kyung Yang – PCAC Consultant
• Jim Brennan – NYS Assemblyman
• Hector Garcia – LIRR
• Alan Kritzler – MTA IG
• Matt Shotkin – Concerned citizen
• Yvonne Morrow – Concerned citizen
• Ann Guild – Concerned citizen
• Ken Stewart – Concerned citizen
• Joseph Garber – Concerned citizen
• George Haikalis – Concerned citizen

Approval of Agenda and Minutes

The agenda for the September 8, 2011 meeting was approved. The minutes of the June 2, 2011 meeting were approved.

Chairs’ Reports

The PCAC, LIRRCC, MNRCC and NYCTRC Chairs’ Reports are attached to these minutes.

Ira Greenberg welcomed Steve Mayo, a new member of the NYC Transit Riders Council, to the PCAC. He noted that Mr. Mayo also rides the LIRR and could provide valuable input on LIRR issues. The PCAC members went around the table and introduced themselves.

Mr. Greenberg suggested that the memo about the MTA’s July Financial Plan that Bill Henderson had prepared for the PCAC Executive Committee be circulated to all members. Mr. Henderson said that he would do so.

Trudy Mason stated that one of the MTA’s most serious problems is the amount of debt service that it must pay. She said that PCAC may want to look at proposals for a national infrastructure bank and to recommend that Governor Cuomo get serious about obtaining funding from a national infrastructure bank when it is established. She suggested that the PCAC send a letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to take advantage of a national infrastructure bank even before the proposal passes Congress.

Mr. Greenberg suggested that the PCAC could prepare a public statement in support of the State obtaining financing from a national infrastructure bank. He said that the PCAC should get additional information about what the MTA would need to do to finance its capital projects by this means.

Mr. Greenberg commented that the LIRRCC working together as a Council with the LIRR made the improved loading procedures at the Mets-Willets Point station a reality. Maureen Michaels commented that New Jersey Transit is not making similar accommodations at the Meadowlands during football games and events. Randy Glucksman said that New Jersey Transit is limited in the scheduling of their trains due to their arrangement with AMTRAK and that trips are clustered to create blocks of time when there are no trains on the tracks.

Mr. Greenberg noted that there is a controversy regarding the status of represented workers at Long Island Bus and the changes that can be made to their employment. Andrew Albert said that developments at Long Island Bus could affect the MTA even after the operation is handed back to Nassau County, as many people transfer from Long Island Bus to MTA services.

New Business

Mr. Greenberg opened discussion on a PCAC by law amendment that has been proposed by the Executive Committee. The amendment would allow a Council Chair to designate an individual to represent his or her respective Council on the PCAC Executive Committee in cases where the Chair is unable to attend Executive Committee meetings.

Maureen Michaels said that she opposes the amendment, as she believes that Council Chairs should not be represented by others at Executive Committee meetings. Mr. Buchwald stated that the MNRCC has many good members, but their schedules are such that they often have conflicts making them unable to attend some of the meetings where the Council should be represented. Stuart Goldstein said that the PCAC may want to allow members to attend meetings via conference call and be considered present at the meeting when there is a momentous issue to be considered.

Bill Guild said that despite the perceived problem of instability created through having different individuals representing a Council at the Executive Committee, the positives of the proposal outweigh the negatives.

Mr. Greenberg said that he will move the amendment and that it will be voted upon at the next regular PCAC meeting.

Old Business

No old business was discussed.

Introduction of James Brennan, Member of the NYS Assembly and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions to discuss his approach to oversight of the MTA

Mr. Brennan said that he has been in the State Legislative for 27 years. He has been a member of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions for all of the time that he has served in the Legislature. At the end of the last session, both houses of the Legislature passed a lock box bill that he had sponsored. This bill would not generally prevent the shifting of funds away from the MTA, but, before any shift, the legislation stipulates that an impact statement on the proposed change must be prepared. He said that the bill had not yet been sent to the Governor for his signature.

Mr. Brennan said that in this year’s budget the Legislature made a raid on the region’s transit system, amounting to 2 percent of the MTA’s State funding, which is a small amount in terms of the total State deficit. Mr. Brennan stated that he remains a devoted supporter of transit. He grew up on the lower East Side of Manhattan and has used the system all of his life. In fact, he did not own a car when he entered the Assembly.

The Assemblyman stated that when the MTA proposed cutting service in 2010, he received letters and calls from constituents asking him to speak out against the cuts, but he felt conflicted as the Assembly had acted to cut the MTA’s funding by $140 million, an amount greater than the value of the service cuts. He didn’t want to denounce the MTA when the State government’s funding cuts had created the crisis that led to the service cuts. Mr. Brennan said that the Governor and Legislature make the decisions that drive the MTA and that we should all acknowledge this.

The State’s cut in funding to the MTA was implemented because of the recession and its impacts on the State’s general fund, but the recession also caused shortfalls in other MTA funding. The dedicated taxes collected for the MTA by the State declined by one third. Taxes from real estate transactions dropped from $1.6 billion to $400 million. The Payroll Mobility Tax did not come in as strongly as was expected. The result of all of this was layoffs, fare hikes, and service cuts. Mr. Brennan said that Jay Walder rose to the challenge of making the MTA more efficient and that Mr. Walder’s departure is a wake-up call to the Governor to take ownership of the MTA system. The new Chairperson will be his appointee and he can no longer have a distant relationship to the operation of the MTA.

In the late 1980’s and 1990’s, Mr. Brennan continued, the State provided 15 percent of the MTA’s capital budget, and the City provided 12 percent of the MTA’s capital funding in cash. Governor Pataki zeroed out the State’s contribution, and Mayor Giuliani cut the City’s contribution in half. To make up the shortfall, a program of borrowing has been substituted for this capital funding, and the MTA’s debt service has doubled. Debt service was $600 million 7 years ago and has risen to $2 billion today.

MTA has found it is able to borrow to fund its Capital Program because it still has available cash flow. The State road and bridge capital plan has similar shortfalls, but no independent source of funding. Mr. Brennan stated he will recommend to the Governor that a transportation bond act be put before the voters. This could provide a total of $4 billion, with half of the proceeds going to the MTA and half going to roads and bridges. This would provide some relief to MTA, although it would not be a complete solution. Mr. Brennan also stated that he is very worried that some capital funding proposals currently on the table will fall through, and so we have to look at alternatives. He said that the stakes are high, as 25 percent of the construction employment in the metropolitan area is involved in MTA capital projects.

Ms. Mason asked the Assemblyman’s opinion on congestion pricing and whether it would have a chance of being implemented. Mr. Brennan stated that he had endorsed congestion pricing, and had introduced a bill to implement it in New York City. He said that road pricing is gaining popularity nationally as an approach to financing transportation, but it is not a total solution. He said that 42 percent of the State’s population is located east and south of the East River (Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island). This makes congestion pricing a hard sell. A new MTA Capital Program starts in 2015, however, and the source of its funding is not clear. Even though congestion pricing is opposed by vast majority of legislators east of the East River, it may be a more acceptable alternative than other means of raising money.

Mr. Albert commented that in addition to a full system of congestion pricing, there is also the option to toll the existing free bridges. Mr. Brennan said that he did not disagree, but the Bloomberg administration put considerable effort into road pricing over the course of two years and did not succeed. Mr. Brennan stated that he spent hours in Assembly’s Democratic Conference arguing for some form of road pricing, but there is strong opposition among elected officials. He said that during the congestion pricing debate Joe Bruno couldn’t get his Long Island Senators to budge on their opposition to road pricing. Mr. Brennan said that there may be three “yes” votes for road pricing from twenty-four legislators on Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Edith Prentiss said that even in Washington Heights there was opposition to congestion pricing. Mr. Brennan stated that during the last push for congestion pricing the Governor had supported the concept. At this point Governor Cuomo has not lent his support to efforts to implement congestion pricing and is on record as opposing new taxes. Mr. Brennan said that he is proposing a transportation bond act because he believes that this is a feasible strategy.

Burt Strauss asked whether roads and bridges and transit can be combined in a bond act, and Mr. Brennan answered that they can be combined.

Chris Greif said that Brooklyn is the only neighboring borough with no bus going to Manhattan. The elimination of buses over the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges has people travelling to Long Island City to get a bus to Manhattan. Mr. Brennan stated that he has received lots of comments on this situation.

Jim Blair stated that MTA has righted the ship over the past few years, but people think that the MTA is a sinkhole. He said that we have to think about this perception when we explore various sources of funding. He asked whether the legislature understands the importance of the MTA to the State and region and the need for continued funding in terms of state of good repair and expansion projects, and further how we can convince legislators of the truth of this situation.

Mr. Brennan said that the issue of the Payroll Mobility Tax is an illustration of the challenges that the MTA faces. There is a move to repeal this tax, but the Governor put it in the budget and the Assembly said no to its repeal. The tax is still an issue in the suburbs; in the northern suburbs the alternative to the Payroll Mobility Tax that is emerging is congestion pricing, but congestion pricing won’t fly on Long Island at this point. He said that congestion pricing is a rational approach to funding transportation, but there will be another MTA capital funding shortfall in 2015. Getting anything enacted will be difficult as there is a climate nationally against charging anyone for anything.

Mr. Blair asked where the PCAC should focus its efforts and whether targeting the Governor would be useful. Mr. Brennan answered that initiating contacts with the Governor would be a good direction.

Ms. Michaels stated that on Long Island, Mr. Walder did not improve service. Political and community leaders came to the MTA to talk about service and were treated shabbily by Mr. Walder and former Executive Director Lee Sander.

Sharon King Hoge stated that making transit difficult to use also drives people to use cars and make congestion worse.

Larry Rubinstein asked what we can do to change legislators’ views of the value of improving transit. Mr. Brennan stated that there is no real public sympathy for the MTA, and instead advocates should focus on talking about improving mass transit. Mr. Rubinstein stated that he has not heard the Governor say anything about transit and asked whether legislators understand what the problems are. Mr. Brennan stated that issues of capital shortfalls in transportation are problems for next year. He said that closing the State’s $10 billion deficit was last session’s issue. Now the capital issues will have to be brought to the table, and this is the right time to be talking with legislators.

David Buchwald commented that implementing congestion pricing could be coupled with a reduction in the Payroll Mobility Tax and asked whether there is some middle ground where the Legislature could find a resolution. Mr. Brennan stated that if there isn’t new net revenue from congestion pricing, then changes will not help the MTA Capital Program. He said that going forward the MTA will need additional sources of revenue.

Ms. Mason stated that everyone is talking about infrastructure and asked whether there have been any plans made for MTA and NYC Transit to tap into future federal spending for infrastructure. Mr. Brennan responded that the largest single part of the MTA Capital Program comes from the federal government and that there is a proposal to borrow from a federal program for the completion of East Side Access as well. He said that he expects that the MTA will pursue additional federal funding if new sources become available.

Ms. Mason asked whether Mr. Brennan had any input into the Governor’s committee that he created to advise him in selecting a new MTA Chairperson. Mr. Brennan said that he had not.

Mr. Greenberg asked what would have to be done in order to have a real lockbox for the MTA’s dedicated funding. Mr. Brennan said that it would be necessary to amend the State Constitution and that for this to happen there needs to be approval from both houses of consecutive legislatures before the issue could go to voters for their consideration.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

William Henderson
Executive Director

PCAC
Chair’s Report — Ira R. Greenberg
September 8, 2011

I am pleased to introduce the newest member of the New York City Transit Riders Council, Steven Mayo who is one of the five mayoral appointees. Mr. Mayo hails from Little Neck and is currently the Director of Human Resources for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. I would ask that we take a minute and go around the table and introduce ourselves. Please state your name, where you commute from, and on which Council you serve.

Our region had a close call with Hurricane Irene, but with one major exception all MTA service had been restored as of last Thursday afternoon. This exception is the Port Jervis line, where the level of damage has been described as catastrophic. I hope that you have had an opportunity to see some of the photos of washed out track to get a sense of the situation there. The MTA and its agencies generally received high marks from riders and public officials for the decisions that were made about service and the work that they did to secure the system and restore service. There were some storm impacts beyond the Port Jervis line, particularly on the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road, but things could have been much worse. As is often the case, communication was the key for riders, and there were several points in time where the volume and quality of communication was not what it should have been.

.As you know, Chairman Jay Walder has announced his resignation and will be assuming the position of CEO at MTR in Hong Kong. His last day is slated to be October 21st. While there are certainly some critics of his tenure, he set the MTA on a new course in terms of increased transparency through the use of the internet and of innovation through the use of technology in operations. Unfortunately, Mr. Walder’s watch included fare increases and cuts in service due to a financial shortfall that was not of his making. His departure will not only leave a void in leadership, but it creates uncertainty and apprehension both inside and outside the organization, as the question remains: Who will take on the enormous financial challenges that face the MTA?

To date, there has been speculation about candidates to replace Jay Walder, but no concrete indication of whom Governor Cuomo will choose as the new Chairman. The Governor has appointed a committee, assisted by an executive recruitment consultant, to consider possible candidates, and one of its members is PCAC’s former Executive Director, Beverly Dolinsky. If, as is likely, a successor is not in place when Chairman Walder departs, an interim leader will be installed until a new Chairman is named by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate.

The MTA released its July Financial Plan, including a preliminary budget for 2012. You should have received materials and links to materials on the Plan by email. The budget itself makes few changes from the status quo and follows the patterns established by this year’s budget. The more controversial part of the Plan is how it provides for the funding of the MTA Capital Program.

On June 14, Bill Henderson traveled to Albany with an Empire State Transportation Alliance delegation. The purpose of the visit was to speak with legislators about the lack of funding for the MTA Capital Program beyond the end of this year and the importance of completing the current 2010–2014 Capital Program. At the time the Capital Program faced a funding gap of $10 billion or more between 2012 and 2014. The legislators and staffers were supportive of providing the means to fund the Program, but did not have firm ideas about how to pay for the final three years of the Program. There was some interest in exploring the use of bridge tolls or similar charges on drivers entering Manhattan but also some interest in the MTA financing a substantial part of the gap through additional borrowing. We must be wary of the possibility of more borrowing as increasing debt only puts more pressure on the MTA to raise fares and reduce service.

Bill Henderson met along with other transit advocates with staff members from State Comptroller DiNapoli’s office. The staff made a short presentation on the overall structure of the State debt and the New York State’s spending on transportation programs and projects. They noted that the shifts in State spending from bond proceeds away from transportation and toward expenses not connected with a tangible asset, together with statutory borrowing limits is putting great pressure on funding transportation infrastructure.

The meeting provided some valuable perspective on the decisions reflected in the MTA’s proposed Capital Program financing system, but the Comptroller’s staff displayed great reluctance to issue opinions on the wisdom of the MTA’s capital funding plans, except for analyses of the legal sufficiency of materials and the process involved in issuing of bonds. As an example, they declined to identify a level at which debt service would be an unacceptably high percentage of the MTA’s operating budget.

Bill Henderson also participated in several Empire State Transportation Alliance steering committee meetings over the summer. There is a great deal of discomfort with the plans of the MTA to fund the final three years of the current Capital Program, but general agreement that in the short term there are no viable alternatives to bridge the current funding gap. As a result, ESTA is planning to focus its efforts on issues surrounding longer term funding issues and work to reform the way in which the MTA is funded.

PCAC has been selected to receive a Hunter College Public Service Scholar intern, Ms. Shanni Liang, for the 2011–2012 academic year (September to May) for 20 hours per week. This program, which features exceptional junior and senior undergraduates, is a competitive program for both scholars and agencies. We have applied in the past but we have not been selected until this year. Ms. Liang lives in Brooklyn and travels from Bay Parkway on the N line. She will be preparing a report on the service and station facilities in her Asian community, as well as assisting with other projects that we will be doing throughout the year.

The PCAC has released its annual performance review of the MTA for 2010. You were sent a copy by email and the review is also available on our website. The report is the result of an in-depth look at all aspects of the agency. Included in the report is a “Watch List for 2011” which identifies areas in which we expect to see progress. We will use the watch list in our evaluation of the performance of the MTA at the end of this year.

The PCAC project for this year, three white papers covering the history of the capital program, visualization of information, and the economic value of the MTA system to the region, is moving along. They should all be finished by late fall.

To that end, Jan and Ellyn recently attended a TRB conference in Chicago on the use of visualization in transportation. They were on a public participation panel and spoke about the need for more effective presentation of data at the MTA. They were impressed by how many people are developing applications in this area.