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Meeting Minutes Nov 15, 2012

NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT RIDERS COUNCIL

MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 15, 2012

A meeting of the New York City Transit Riders Council (NYCTRC) was convened at 12:00 noon, November 15, 2012, in the fifth floor Board room, 347 Madison Avenue, New York City.  The following members were present:

Andrew Albert                       Sharon King Hoge

Stuart Goldstein                   Trudy L. Mason

Christopher Greif                 Steve Mayo

William Guild                     Michael Sinansky

Marisol Halpern                    Burton Strauss, Jr.

Toya Williford

The following members were absent:

Jessica G. Rojas                  Thomas Jost

Edith Prentiss

In addition, the following persons were present:

William Henderson              -PCAC Executive Director

Jan Wells                              -PCAC Associate Director

Ellyn Shannon                     -PCAC Transportation Planner

Karyl Berger                          -PCAC Research Associate

Yvonne Morrow                    -Concerned citizen

Ann Guild                              -Concerned citizen

Matt Shotkin                          -Concerned Citizen

Marsha Whitehead              -Concerned citizen

Approval of Agenda and Minutes

The agenda for the November 15, 2012 meeting was approved.  The October 15, 2012 minutes were approved as amended.

Marisol Halpern commented about tolls.  She stated that those in the Bronx have their own concerns about the effects of tolls on our people.  She said that she cannot support tolling of the Bronx River bridges.

Chair’s Report

The Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.

Chris Greif wanted to thank the bus drivers for their work in establishing the shuttle bus bridges.

Mike Sinansky wanted to know if there is a schedule for restoration of Rockaway subway service.  Andrew Albert stated that he had not yet heard a firm schedule and that he would ask Carmen Bianco.  He said that while service may take some time to restore, there are things that you can do with buses and shuttles to accommodate Rockaway residents.  Mr. Albert said that the Council would discuss this issue during its business session.

Mr. Albert said that on a personal note this will be Jan Wells’ last NYCTRC meeting. He thanked her for her work and the members concurred with applause.

Board Report

Mr. Albert said that the Staten Island and Farmingdale hearings will be rescheduled.  He said that he had left the Brooklyn hearing with Judy Walker, Bill Wheeler, Robert Bickford and Gene Russianoff and that they had discussed why so few people attended the public hearing.  The conclusion that the group reached is that people are beaten down by hearings every two years.  Many speakers seemed to believe that a fare increase was an inevitable conclusion every two years.  Another factor may have been that the proposals were limited and may not have matched what some riders wanted.  They also noted that the MTA was being widely praised for its performance during Sandy and that this may have blunted some of the riders’ anger.  Finally, the weather on that evening was bad and may have kept some away.

Mr. Albert said that in any case it is distressing that two hearings are being held on the same evening in many cases. Trudy Mason commented that there are people in the community, including elected officials, who are saying why bother with the hearings.  They feel that there is always an outlandish initial proposal, then a compromise.  People feel that the hearing process is a sham and lose interest.

Mr. Albert said that he believes it is an outrage that time-based MetroCard users are not being compensated for the time that they lost.  He said that it would be a good faith gesture for customers to add three to four days to the time based cards.

Burt Strauss pointed out that if programing fare equipment is easy, there is no reason not to extend the cards.  Mr. Albert commented that this was done after the last transit strike.  Mr. Greif asked what the members could do to get the MTA to extend the cards.  Mr. Albert replied he would like members to talk to elected officials about this.  He noted some speakers at hearings bought up the possibility of a class action suit about refunds.

Ms. Mason suggested that the Council pass a resolution on the issue.  The resolution would state that the NYCTRC supports the position of its Chair and representative on the MTA Board, Andrew Albert, with regard to compensating time-based MetroCard holders for time that was lost when service was suspended in the storm.  It is the sense of the Council that riders who have time-based MetroCards and can be confirmed to have lost time should be compensated.

Ms. Mason suggested that the length of time for which riders should be compensated should be from Monday to Friday.  Mr. Albert said that it would be better to give people three extra days.

Sharon King Hoge commented that this is a complicated issue and that acts of God are not fair.  She noted that the loss of a few days of MetroCard use might be a sacrifice that people are willing to make under the circumstances.

Ms. Mason suggested amending the resolution to say that there should be three days of credit given to everyone using the system.  Mr. Albert responded that it is necessary to target the benefit.  Ms. Mason said that there are information technology people who can figure out how to make this refund work.  The Resolution passed 8-1, with Ms. Hoge voting no.

Mr. Albert noted that at the Brooklyn hearing the specific fare options weren’t brought up.  Some of the speakers at Manhattan did so, however.   Mr. Albert asked Mr. Greif if anyone brought the specific proposals up at the Bronx hearings.  Mr. Greif replied that approximately eight people did so.

Mr. Albert commented that some people have mentioned that they face a double increase because they use both commuter rail and NYC Transit service. He said that one thing that has been discussed is lowering the buy-in point where a bonus is available to two round trips.  This could mean that two rides could be purchased for $4.75 with a single ride price of $2.50.

Mr. Sinansky asked what might be adjusted to compensate for this change and still raise the additional revenue required.  Mr. Henderson responded that the only thing that could be used is the pricing of time-based cards, assuming that the base fare amount is fixed at $2.50.

Marisol Halpern said that the bonus is misleading, as many people end up with different small amounts of credit on MetroCards that they will never use.

Marsha Whitehead stated that she is at wits end over changes to the reduced fare and wanted to know what would happen to the reduced fare.  Mr. Albert said that if the base fare remains $2.25 it would stay at $1.10, but it would go to $1.25 if the base fare is raised to $2.50.  Ms. Whitehead also said that there is a bus on the Q5, #9250, that is an old express bus and should be taken out of service.  She also said that the dispatchers are not monitoring the drivers and that she resents the scheduling of more than one fare hearing on the same night.

Mr. Albert asked those who had work to do on the hump project to please complete their surveying.

Old Business

Mr. Greif wanted to know if we received updates on FASTRACK and the Parkside Avenue station rehabilitation.  Mr. Henderson said that we have not.

Ms. Mason asked if we received any response on the Council’s 34th Street SBS complaints. Mr. Albert noted that they would be having a meeting with Darryl Irick and could discuss these issues then.  Ms. Mason said that she would like to meet with both Mr. Irick and Ted Orosz on this topic.

Stuart Goldstein pointed out the signage on the F and G trains have not been changed to reflect the stops that they make.  Also, the on-board displays do not reflect the new Broadway/Lafayette transfers.

Mr. Albert suggested that a future meeting have as a guest a NYC Transit staff member responsible for fare collection.

Mr. Greif pointed out that the displays on Q and N trains do not show Barclay Center on the onboard displays.  He also noted that the M trains do not show the new transfer at Broadway/Lafayette.

Ken Stewart stated that he received an email response from Anthony McKenzie, Director of Customer Information and that he seemed interested in the onboard announcements.  Mr. Stewart suggested that he may be a good speaker.

Ms. Mason said that there has to be accountability in responses to the Council’s concerns and questions.  She said that the responses to contacts with NYC Transit should be included in the Chair’s Report and the report should include matters brought up at last meeting, what was done, and what response the Council received.

Mr. Sinansky suggested that some sort of a tickler file should be used so that the staff can follow up on unresolved items.

Ms. Mason request a list of letters sent be in the Chair’s Report.  Mr. Albert said that this will be done.

Mr. Goldstein suggested that a spreadsheet of the issues and responses be sent to members. Ellyn Shannon asked whether we want to look at how long it takes to get a response.

Mr. Greif requested that he be present at the upcoming meeting with Darryl Irick.  He stated that his mother had to wait three hours for the B3 bus.  Mr. Albert said that he couldn’t add issues and people to the meeting but that we are working to have Mr. Irick come to an NYCTRC meeting.

Mr. Greif commented that Edith Prentiss stated that 45 percent of elevators and escalators are out of service.  Mr. Albert said that we can find out why these stations are not posted and when they will come back.

Mr. Goldstein pointed out that there was a piece in the Daily News about the Riders Alliance.  Mr. Henderson responded that this is a different sort of organization from the NYCTRC, as it has a greater focus on local issues involving a particular neighborhood or station. Ms. Mason said that this is an organization started by the TWU and Elected Officials.

Mr. Goldstein remarked that we should communicate with the Daily News Editorial Board if Pete Donahue continues to ignore the Council and Mr. Albert.

Matt Shotkin stated that he has forwarded complaints to Ms. Shannon about an escalator at Grand Central station.  Mr. Albert asked which escalator is causing the problem, but Mr. Shotkin stated he was not sure of its number or location.

New Business

The Council reviewed a set of images of destruction from Superstorm Sandy.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

William Henderson

Executive Director