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Meeting Minutes February 12, 2015

LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL

MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 12, 2015

A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on February 12, 2015 in conference room A on the 16th floor at 2 Broadway,  New York City.

The following members were present:

Gerard P. Bringmann          Michael Godino

Sheila Carpenter                   Ira Greenberg

Owen Costello                       Maureen Michaels

Mark Epstein                        Bryan Peranzo

Larry Rubinstein

The following member was on the phone:

Matthew Kessler

The following member was absent:

Raymond Pagano

In addition, the following persons were present:

William Henderson            -PCAC Executive Director

Ellyn Shannon                     -PCAC Associate Director

Hector Garcia                       -LIRR

Richard E. Holdener           -Village of Freeport

Richard Schulman              -Concerned citizen

Stephen Quigley                  -Concerned citizen

Approval of Agenda and Minutes

The agenda for the February 12, 2015 meeting was approved.  The minutes of the January 8, 2015 meeting were approved.

Chair’s Report

The Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.

Mark Epstein reviewed the materials that were provided to the members.

Board Report

Ira Greenberg gave the Board report.   He said that the MTA Board LIRR Committee has had a lot of discussion on the subject of on-time performance (OTP) and the mean distance between failures (MDBF) statistics for the LIRR are also being revised. Issues that are also being raised at the committee level are testing operating personnel for sleep apnea and the confidential close call reporting system that the Rail Road is attempting to set up.  Another issue that has received more emphasis lately is grade crossing safety.  He said that the Board’s Safety Committee will discuss this issue and there may be discussion about grade crossings in the individual committees.

Sheila Carpenter commented that there was a discussion on her train that the movement of train causes back problems among riders.

Staff Report

William Henderson and Ellyn Shannon discussed the Keeping New York on Track launch event that had occurred the day before. They said that there is a need for business and civic leaders to discuss with their elected representatives the importance of funding the MTA Capital Program.

Member Reports

Mike Godino stated that he forwarded to the LIRR a complaint about platform under the desk in Penn Station where the usher sits, as it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act..

Ms. Carpenter said that she was asked to join the Ronkonkoma Rotary Club.

Owen Costello noted that he has heard complaints about difficulties boarding trains.

Larry Rubinstein commented that Legislator David Denenberg has resigned his seat following his guilty plea to criminal charges and that a special election is being held for his seat in which Town of Hempstead Councilman Gary Hudes is running unopposed.

Old Business

The Council discussed the Port Washington branch track encroachments that have been raised earlier.  Mr. Costello suggested that what the council should be doing is pushing back and said that overhanging vegetation hurts the train and the wall near it is deteriorating.  He said that he would like to send a letter on the topic and that he wants evidence that the encroaching building extension have been required and a schedule for removal of vegetation that scrapes the trains.  Mr. Costello also said that the Council should ask the LIRR to look at crowding on platform 17 and that there should be more action taken.  Mr. Epstein said the Council would write a letter.

Mr. Epstein noted that there was a last minute extension of higher limits for pre-tax transit benefits but because it was passed at the end of the year it had minimal impact on commuters.  He also noted that at the escalator to 7th Avenue near Madison Square Garden there is no signage informing people of alternative exits when the escalator is out of service.

Mr. Godino commented that on Track 16 the escalators are not turned on in the morning. Hector Garcia said that he would raise the issue with Penn Station personnel.

Mr. Epstein asked Mr. Garcia about the status of the Hicksville station doors, many of which are out of service.  Mr. Garcia responded that the door manufacturer went out of business and that the LIRR cannot obtain replacement parts. Mr. Epstein said that the LIRR should tell riders why they cannot repair the doors. Bryan Peranzo commented that people think that the doors are not being fixed because a new station is coming.

New Business

Mark Epstein discussed the Mineola office opening.  It will take place on March 28 at 10:30 am at One West Street.  The list of invitees is pending and Mr. Epstein requested council members give names of individuals who should be invited.  He also said that the members would have to assist with follow-up phone calls after the invitations are sent.

Mr. Epstein stated that he would like to for the LIRRCC to speak with LIRR about it issues with the alerts and that he would like to form a subcommittee to meet with the LIRR on this subject.

Maureen Michaels stated that she received 44 alerts within a few hours, but that the alerts generally do not give needed information.

Mr. Epstein commented that at the Farmingdale Station, the positioning of the ticket machine and office is not friendly to the riders.  He noted that both the ticket machines and the office are on the eastbound side where there are fewer riders who want to use them. Ms. Carpenter commented that there are many stations that are similarly arranged.

Mr. Epstein asked Mr. Garcia whether a ticket machine can be added on the westbound side of the station.  Mr. Garcia noted that the ticket machines will be replaced in six years and that the LIRR will not add more units because the technology will soon be obsolete.

Ms. Michaels stated that she had a complaint about the Hunterspoint Avenue sidewalk not being plowed.  She asked whether the LIRR could work on this.  Mr. Garcia replied that the clearing of the sidewalk is the City of New York’s responsibility.

Ms. Michaels said that at the Cold Spring Harbor station the cleaning crew once used mops to clean toilets, and now they are squegeeing water from the bathrooms into the waiting room and using paper towels to clean the station.  She said that the riders are going to report the practices to the to health department.  She also said that the M3 cars that have been assigned to the Port Jefferson Branch have had

Ms. Michaels stated that the M3 cars that we have had on Port Jefferson branch have had very bad seating.

Gerry Bringmann commented that there has always been problems at the Hunterspoint station with NYCDOT especially in terms of the clearing of walkways and safety of pedestrians.

Mr. Epstein said that he would like to prepare an op-ed column to give the Council an opportunity to communicate with riders. He asked the members to send ideas about what should be covered in the column to himself and Mr. Henderson

Mr. Peranzo and Ms. Michaels discussed their observations of focus groups on the M9 cars.  Mr. Peranzo said that he is disappointed with the selection of participants.  He stated that people were geographically clumped and there were not many participants who had been riding the train a long time.  Few of the participants were from Suffolk County.

When the facilitator raised the issue of digital screens at the focus group, they received mixed to negative reactions from the group.Ms. Michaels said that she was concerned about flickering and brightness from the screens. Mr. Peranzo said that when bathrooms were raise as an issue, participants generally did not even use bathrooms on the trains. Ms. Michaels said that there is a real disconnect between designers and users on location of the bathrooms and there are few changes from the M7 cars.  The location of the bathrooms is a real issue and the placement of the bathrooms should be pushed back away from passengers.  She said that the coaches have a better design.

Mr. Peranzo said that it was noted that they could not change much about the bathroom doors and that he found out that bathrooms are not required.

Mr. Peranzo said that most participants seemed to like current seating arrangements and said that he does not like the facing seats.  He said that if it is necessary to have seats face each other, they should be put at the end of the cars.

The outlets were brought up and the idea that outlets would be on the wall and not in the seats was addressed.  Lighting was also discussed and in large part participants did not want bright LEDs lighting the cars.

Mr. Peranzo said that people wanted to discuss the tinting of windows, baggage storage and wall colors. Ms. Carpenter agreed that luggage is a big issue on the cars. Ms. Michaels said that the organizers of the focus groups seemed to have a specific agenda and that she thought the groups were mainly about upholstery color.  There was not much openness to the thoughts of the participants outside of the questions that were asked.

Mr. Bringmann said that he was at a focus group for the double decker coaches.  He stated that he and most of focus group objected to the colors they were shown but they were told that the LIRR had hired a psychologist who said that the colors presented were calming.

Mr. Epstein said that there should be a follow up letter stating that the Council is not comfortable with the design process.

It was noted that at Freeport, there is bank building going up and in the process some parking is being lost.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

William Henderson

Executive Director