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Labor

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https://books.google.com/books?id=XUMdAQAAMAAJ&q=%22harris+klein%22+%22transit+authority%22&dq=%22harris+klein%22+%22transit+authority%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip74656ceIAxXOwvACHTTQFIIQ6AF6BAgLEAI

https://books.google.com/books?id=zEwdAQAAMAAJ&q=%22harris+klein%22+%22transit+authority%22&dq=%22harris+klein%22+%22transit+authority%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip74656ceIAxXOwvACHTTQFIIQ6AF6BAgHEAI

Original sin? five-cent fare, driving IRT/BRT deferred maintenance

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Start of deferred maintenance in the 1920s, inflation post-WWI, turned five cent fare from profitable to much too low

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0096144219896578

Clifton Hood

1950s and 1960s

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Creation of the NYCTA

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  • The New York State Legislature enacted Title 15 of the Public Authorities Law creating the New York City Transit Authority, allowing it to lease all rapid transit and surface lines from the New York City Board of Transportation and to maintain and operate them at a fare level sufficient to cover operating costs, exclusive of depreciation. The city would continue to pay capital costs. The NYCTA was required by the legislation to set or adjust the fare rate to provide enough revenue to cover the cost of operations and maintain it on a self-sustaining basis. The NYCTA said it would not raise the fare without first studying and considering the operations, finances and revenues of these transit facilities. (p.226)
  • 1955, subsidized fare 15 cents, subsidized mass transit to the extent of $2,335,000,000, and will contribute $95-100 million a year
  • Without the subsidy, the fare would be at least 23.5 cents (p. 219)

1956 https://www.nytimes.com/1956/06/08/archives/transit-surplus-nears-10000000-15c-fare-to-stay-passenger-revenue.html?searchResultPosition=2

- Ended with operating surplus of $10 million, no fare increase to 15 cents,

- Major belt-tightening program-efficiency measures, more economical use of manpower/materials

- $5 million set aside for a program of deferred maintenance- "aimed at improving, repairing and modernizing the transit system"

Ridership/demand

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https://www.proquest.com/docview/302777319/C63CA06D2E9A4456PQ/96?accountid=7287

Subway governance

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https://www.jstor.org/stable/27892740?casa_token=ZPJ00ZJK2L4AAAAA%3AWignVnssA2RAEAQyqdm-gtgHndzlC0CA0QlcHjt8gEI39ELtfQFPmjCBEeeo1dT4RAt9Aw-w7gvZ2Y8NNDQOnomueFPg2G23rhPB_uJdls9DeMnlFw&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Impact of attractiveness of private car/highways

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Robert Moses/funding from transit to roads

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Fiscal crisis

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Fare evasion

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Governance—NYCBOT vs. NYCTA vs. MTA umbrella, and its impact

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Deferred maintenance

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State of good repair

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Agency culture—Experience of workforce/brain drain, i.e. post-1966 transit strike

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Institutional knowledge lost from pre-unification years

Agency grew more insular/conservative, less understanding to its own history/other systems do

Brain drain 70s and 80s,

Ability to attract talent (look at pay/benefits, etc.)

Transit's perception as an important issue on the mind of voters/public

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Austerity/relationship to other declines in NYC

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https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/03/weekinreview/the-region-new-york-city-tallies-the-human-costs-of-its-1970-s-cutbacks.html?searchResultPosition=53

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/04/nyregion/new-york-paying-a-price-for-delaying-repairs.html?searchResultPosition=22

Deferred maintenance program

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"In addition to the repair and rehabilitation work being done on the tran- sit facilities under the Deferred Maintenance Program of not less than $75,000,000 to be expended at a rate of $15,000,000 per year (a $15,000,000 accrual to "Reserved for Deferred Maintenance" was included in operating expenses for the year ended June 30, 1954), the Authority contemplates the expenditure for new construction, modernization of plant and structures and re- placement of equipment during the next five years of the remainder of the tran- sit funds exempt from the City's debt limits, some $387,000,000 in addition to allocation of $40,000,000 of non-exempt funds per year. Since the Authority does not accumulate depreciation funds out of operating revenue, it must rely on the City to provide capital funds for replacement of obsolete and out-dated equipment. The amount of $40,000,000 per year is the amount estimated as the requirement for such purpose.

This program will require the issuance of $117,400,000 of securities per year for capital expenditures only." (p.229)

"Among other things , deferred maintenance has been responsible for derailments and breakdowns on the subway system . Two conclusions are apparent . Additional funds are needed to support mass transportation systems and fares can not be allowed to rise."[1] [2]

MTA bureaucracy

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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0491.1995.tb00198.x

Politics

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Role of Rockefeller, Carey, Cuomo

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Rockefeller - https://www.jstor.org/stable/1173221?casa_token=D2DUwHWIhjEAAAAA%3ARENvPGpvU3ZI6xaVpRvaXLck9ImbWn2yh1RxGGztGn9yWTk202gn9MOsVQQFqTzKBdVmGtoDtAj6BTs4uDjg4VylTsurNEuJvVWZ0hBRxcYQ-Ik8zA&seq=11#metadata_info_tab_contents

Role of Koch

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78609652/ 1984 — Give management the tools they need

Expansion vs. maintenance

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78610014/daily-news/ 63rd Street Tunnel connection approved; four fires in the system 1984

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/07/opinion/l-new-york-subway-system-needs-rehabilitation-not-extension-533088.html?searchResultPosition=48

Audits

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IG report OT 1984 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78613549/

Federal funding

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78615104/ Nov 1984

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78615174/

https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/soulr6&div=7&id=&page=

State funding

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https://www.jstor.org/stable/20052679?casa_token=GJoVEIi5pccAAAAA%3AsbF_Q8_yN_dXoA0OIx9HpirZM67eD4JvUMczaIkyZ3t7Yx_XIQWkV4WnlsiPDX46fLWHSZRcwNhqejTZIA5_8Lm4kAKonzoJ2kC0aiHOWL_x_NbiUQ&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1171413?casa_token=MXA7W55rfRMAAAAA%3A5t9HpJiwx28Q3DNqyuAWBmIVkaIkcJi5wZJeC9I1-1I6OUzIDDUgCdD9yVjLIiMk4VYwph0F-lsUmXR29NlUuOgJLxvzfpjbv2Jc3a-Hxcp8XKqI_w&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1790&context=jpt

Efforts to attract ridership

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https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/11/opinion/more-sub-than-way.html?searchResultPosition=24

Gunn philosophy

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Labor productivity

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https://www.jstor.org/stable/3380359?casa_token=_8kAjzGRzZoAAAAA%3AyLtZNPTVoSkX7gpiu7vOjxOL3tyGbLpPhKHlnpuoDSHXl6fQQojvIuXxEE7S37hJy3ykmeYEBfqe5MQ8BfERAWeiouDBj_3hQkw6cq1Eo_g_Wfmwlw&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Ideas floated

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Privatization/personalization

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1174100?casa_token=CD5x0YnxnF0AAAAA%3Awe6mcB758QUP4oI9lEusji0fu0JjzxQDi6g96cbu02bYylA5ruFxFlnVKiH2X-62aSwHkwr0rf6Tf_1kDYCLliv0ci7VG0c8RRlrEqJWYtJCz5z47Q&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/catoj5&div=15&id=&page=

https://www.proquest.com/docview/218584938?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

Transit strikes

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1980 - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-009-8162-1_9

1966 - https://www.jstor.org/stable/3116861?casa_token=5cWUFxRLNOwAAAAA%3AoYjlHVtZoyMycazLoqwjp31utUG91F2zETSCbtvuNsOf9TBuFyZpSSwY-7GSr-yXi4Pifm5EFV3d3ypflGOTKcnq_c2PtInHT_cgAbGegwwEKrJ9SQ&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Safety

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NEW YORK METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY SAFETY INVESTIGATION

Graffiti

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https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/default/files/171-sloan-howitt_kelling-subway_graffiti_in_new_york_city_.pdf

The Extraction of Subway Graffiti: The Late 1960s to 1989

https://trid.trb.org/view/312718

https://www.proquest.com/docview/220114495?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

https://www.proquest.com/docview/304260150?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

https://www.proquest.com/docview/60626938/C63CA06D2E9A4456PQ/187?accountid=7287

Crime

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https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.218.4536&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=31

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/016059760002400411?casa_token=jmiZG9r7fgAAAAAA:DxoOanG-jLi04Mw1PpAgTQiRjGVonD1FRNKUP7cGLgOxhYMsiYcrvlFFKmDG4zUYJVD49cRyG9s

https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/default/files/library/crimeprevention/volume_06/07_clarke.pdf

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Community_Justice/bC-OgMXvjl4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=subway+transit+authority+crisis&pg=PA233&printsec=frontcover

Capital Program approaches/priorities

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Consultants — https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/24/opinion/l-subway-consultants-do-engineers-jobs-071812.html?searchResultPosition=19

Progress on Capital Program Implementation

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Role of transit advocates, i.e. Straphangers, Dobrow's group

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79047321/ Stephen Dobrow

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79043320/

Planned shrinkage-proposals to close lines, i.e. Franklin Ave. Shuttle, Intervale Avenue

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Union relations

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/048661349002200402?casa_token=qEmlMW_9P_oAAAAA:a8eVzZwmQWw1uNvg938TJkWdRLQuh0nsKKCY7YCLktaAaS-7cqZdsuGQvT7bXMuFpoawOx9OaFs

https://www.proquest.com/docview/59367753/C63CA06D2E9A4456PQ/86?accountid=7287

TWU https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78611162/

Advertisements Subway-Surface Supervisors Association

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78611046/daily-news/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001979395801100403

https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jle9&div=20&id=&page=

Overhaul of work rules

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78615214/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78661323/

Effects of the poor service

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"Deferred maintenance is an appealing tactic since there may be no immediate reduction of service"[3]

Fire safety

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Rider reactions

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https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/31/magazine/subway-odyssey.html?searchResultPosition=21

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1206331203262591?casa_token=7KNg-SepLYUAAAAA:jme1C1QnPv0jQeupEOUCO-hvviXqqjn4DZiyU4V3C2sbm7M_j4SDj85Kd7LxuE_3cF9Il21RXOM

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/009614429602200302?casa_token=CAElKXDfX0wAAAAA:8Cy8MQrOUioRXlPqGLudsDm9vVg84yyJREoTEJ4TO4DQPXsjW4eF3ScI-Re8HrC0FWFTdVNl4J8

Miscellaneous

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Vibration Brighton Line

1979 noise assessment

Impact on the city's/state's economy

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Incidents

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Prioritization of Capital/Operating budgets

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Flashy new tech vs. basics needed for operation

Looking inward vs. outward for thoughts on how to improve service, productivity, etc.

Kiley/Gunn/Ravitch

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Evaluate their hires

Priorities—funding/how to change the organization

Their theories of change

How they interacted with electeds

Interactions with labor

Their later reflections on their work, failures, shortcomings

Gunn - https://www.proquest.com/docview/206661588/C63CA06D2E9A4456PQ/212?accountid=7287

Kiley -https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/robert-kiley-transportation-executive-in-new-york-london-and-boston-dies-at-80/2016/08/11/805fca2a-5f07-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bob-kiley-ex-cia-agent-cleaned-up-subways-and-made-them-reliable-1471622257

https://www.wnyc.org/story/robert-kiley-underground-movements-new-yorks-subways/

https://secondavenuesagas.com/2016/08/10/robert-kiley-dies-at-80/

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/nyregion/robert-kiley-mass-transit-dead.html

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-0001-4_13

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED396024.pdf#page=176

Ravitch

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Tapped by Governor Carey to succeed Harold Fisher to be MTA Chairman in October 1979

Ravitch impressed Carey with his administrative ability

Ravitch said he would ride the subway, but use MTA limos for MTA business

Ravitch listed three major problems: "the short-term system deficit, the TWU negotiations and the need to maintain the transit system's physical plant."

Signs that his confirmation would not be automatic. The counsel to Senator John D. Cammerer, the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee said "we know nothing of Ravitch's philosophy on transportation matters."

Ravitch was not in it for the money-according to most sources, in it to help Carey

Confirmed on November 1, 1979-agreed to serve without pay. During hearings earlier in the week, he couldn't guarantee the 50 cent bus and subway fare or that commuter fares would not increase

Knew he had a lot to learn


Perception of 1989 run for Mayor — https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/01/nyregion/outsider-ravitch-runs-as-exactly-that.html?searchResultPosition=50

Argument: what saved the subway?

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Was it reductions in crime? https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-gotham-saved-its-subways-14610.html

Was it the Capital Program? https://www.pcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Road-Back.pdf

https://wagner.nyu.edu/files/news/rescue.pdf

Argument: what led to the decline?

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Lack of capital investment https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/004208168802300305?casa_token=YWUZaUxPWLoAAAAA:aGuyNrhnMBzlaHO7FVfmR1miphyLL3m7rpmtRJtCu2KCzNR1dnXPu5wXlANKhA4ucahjleXbTNw Capital Investment and the Decline of Mass Transit in New York City, 1945-1981

People

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John G. deRoos, senior TA executive officer

Sidney Bringham

John Gilhooley

Timeline

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January 1978

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February 1978

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March 1978

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April 1978

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May 1978

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  • Senate bill, increased transit funding
  • New strike threat
  • New Yorkers expect less than mass transit riders
    • "But he acknowledged that of the $600 million authorized in a controversial 1967 bond issue for major construction and modernization, less than half has been spent to date. Federal grants, too, sit waiting for bureaucratic contract procedures to be completed."
    • “We have a great number of projects and not all of them can be built at the same time,” Mr. de Roos said. “There's “a limitation on the number of contractors available and there are so many approvals necessary.”
    • "As a result of such trade‐offs, the total subway system now runs about 4,900 cars during the morning rush hour, compared with 5,025 last year and 5,557 in 1974, or a reduction of nearly 12 percent."
  • 63rd Street Line delayed
  • 50-cent fare projection a guess
    • "Questioned about the $800 million in mostly Federal aid Mr. Carey promised in exchange for Mayor Koch's approval of the Westway, Mr. Plavin said the state was hoping Congress would pass a bigger appropriation for the Urban Mass Transit Administration."
    • "In a survey by the Tristate Regional Planning Commission, 37 percent of the surveyed companies cited “poor” mass transit as a major transportation problem for New York business. The most important improvements that could be made, in their view, are not those having to do with better parking, highway access or and loading zones, but better subway and bus service."
    • "Still more criticism has come out of the offices of the City Council President and various elected officials. Carol Bellamy, the Council President, issued a paper recently pointing out that the Transit Authority received about $300 million in capital money to spend each year. But, the said, even “this level of expenditures...barely keeps pace with year‐to‐year deterioration of an antiquated physical plant.”"
    • "At the same time, the state has hired Booz, Allen & Hamilton, a consulting firm, to make a one‐year, $1 million study (mostly financed by the Federal Government) of the M.T.A. management starting this spring. Among other things the consultants will try to find out how to make the subway management more productive, to reduce overtime, to attract talented newcomers to the authority staff and to make the trains perform better."
    • "But some transportation analysts, such as Mr. Schoenhrod, who is also on the Citizens Advisory Board, believe that the problem lies with the state. “The state has stacked the deck against transit by short‐changing the bus and subway system on managerial help and maintenance, while spending $17 million packaging the Westway,” he said. “The main bottleneck” to a brighter, smoother subway future, he concluded are “the same city and state bureaucratic procedures that have held up numerous major projects in every area for years.”"
  • TWU vote postponed

June 1978

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July 1978

[edit]
  • Transit pact approval blocked; unclear, more
  • Dissidents
  • Ratified
  • NY plan Clean Air Act compliance; more
    • "One proposal — to put tolls on the Harlem and East River Bridges as a way reduce automobile traffic into the city had been resisted by many city officials, and an amendment added to the Clean Air Act last year by Representative Elizabeth Holtzman of Brooklyn relieved the city of having to impose the tolls. Instead, the amendment gave the Governor one year to come up with a revised masstransit plan complying with Federal clean‐air standards. The plan, called the “New York State Air Quality Implementation Plan,” was prepared by the State Departments of Environmental Conservation and Transportation."
    • "The plan was immediately criticized as “fluff” by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group that had pressed the court fight against the proposal to raise bridge tolls. “This is supposed to be the most important part of the state's transportation improvement program, and they're trying to sneak it past the public,” said David Schoenbrod of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The document has a June 1978 date on it, but copies apparently were not printed until this month.""
    • But the increases, according to the document, depend on “feasibility studies,” which are not defined in detail, as well as increased Federal aid to the subway system.
    • "Instead, Mr. Sandler said, the the new proposals “dust off the old application” the Federal Urban Mass Transit Administration, which finances many of New York's capital transit projects for Federal funds and adds to that application hoped‐for new Federal subsidies.” He was referring to subsidies Governor Carey expects to get from the Federal Government as part of the Westway agreement with Mayor Koch."
  • Federal grants benefit NY the most
  • BP Stein said TA OTP stats were manipulated
  • Sea Beach repairs
  • Ratification; upheld

August 1978

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September 1978

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November 1978

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December 1978

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  • Andrew Stein MTA investments
  • Comptroller Goldin failure to open to competitive bidding
  • Bellamy- repairwork delays
  • Bellamy-charged-NYCTA-not able to spend half $1.7 billion received since 1971-$350 million-approved before 1978-not awarded-17 separate agencies must approve projects-160 projects-7/1978-43% delayed over 5 months, 14% a year
  • MTA issues expense-account guide
  • 15 token booths reopen, new LIRR management structure; booths
  • Safety laxity denied by TA
    • "John G. deRoos, senior executive officer of the authority, conceded that periodic maintenance inspections had been lengthened from every 7,500 to every 10,000 miles for cars of the type involved in the Dec. 12 .derailment. But he and Steven K. Kauffman, manager of the subway system, insisted that the inspection schedule was fully consistent with safety standards."
  • City requests LIE fund trade-in
    • "The move was seen as an effort to placate opponents of the Westway, who have called for a mass‐transit trade‐in of the $1.2 billion that is to be spent on the West Side superhighway, as well as a realization that shifting Federal priorities make it unlikely that the Long Island Expressway improvements will be built. The money was to be spent either on widening the expressway or on building a second deck over part of it to alleviate traffic congestion."
    • "A press release prepared after The New York Times began inquiring about the trade‐in noted that it would be the first time in the city's history that Federal highway funds would be transferred to mass transit."
  • Trade-in opinion piece
    • "This trade‐in seems sound. Widening the expressway from six lanes to eight offers no new or lasting benefit. If traffic were temporarily speeded, the good news would soon attract enough vehicles to restore the present jams. There is no comparison with the Westway project, which offers the best available relief and the fewest adverse consequences for a situation that cannot be allowed to continue: the flooding of local streets with trucks and cars."
    • "Local officials insist that the swap is legal, though no other local government has ever voluntarily given ue federally funded improvements on an existing interstate highway. They maintain that, with inflation, the Federal contribution of $200 million for widening the Long Island Expressway would reach $270 million, and that amount can legally be used for other transportation improvements. However, Federal regulations are changing. In February, new procedures might reduce the $200 million instead of increasing it, so they urge that the trade‐in be expedited."
  • Trade-in criticized
  • LIRR projects $845 million
  • CPC report: spend more on subway repairs
    • "The report, by the City Planning Commission, recommended a $5.5 billion 10year program. At the end, said Robert F. Wagner Jr., the commission chairman, the 700‐mile subway system would be refurbished into “a modern metro”."
    • "In part, said one of the report's authors, David Schoenbrod, the very existence of the massive new document might help attract money. “The lack for many years of any kind of plan to show how the system can be rebuilt has had an impact on the funding level,” he said. Although the new report differed considerably from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's own priority list, was praised by Harold L. Fisher, the M.T.A. chairman, who said his staff would study it and report back to the Planning Commission."
    • "Overall, the report called for “a shift in emphasis from constructing new mutes to rehabilitation of the existing subway and bus systems . . . with less emphasis on modernization of signal and power systems and‐more emphasis on improvements in passenger conditions, tunnels, elevated structures and other line structures and tunnel ventilation.”
    • "He noted that the current transit capital program has a 55‐45 ratio between rehabilitation and new construction and accepted the report's recommendation that the rehabilitation share should grow to 65 or 70 percent."
  • Opinion piece respond report, crime
  • Daily News series-$1.7 billion-6 years
  • Biggest improvement program 75 year history-Westway/transit-both-"Mass transit doesn't need Westway's dollars."-Daily News opinion piece
  • TWU probe-TA apathetic about maintenance
  • DCP study; more; continued

January 1979

[edit]
  • Berger/Bellamy nominations; more; more
  • Rumors about replacement of Fischer
  • LIE trade-in projects
  • Newsday DCP op-ed
  • Stephen Berger expected to replace Fisher by politicians-just appointed to restructured MTA Board
  • Plan increase money improve subway $145 million/year to $266 million/year 6 years
  • $34.16 million operating aid MTA-$4.16 million cover part of $11.1 million commuter line deficit, $30 million save 50-cent fare-rest money-federal aid
  • MTA released projects funded LIE trade-in 11 station repairs-$13 million
  • Manhattan BP: MTA violate law failing to report several serious accidents-study-systematic cover-up-only releasing half of derailments-last 2 years-only 4 of 9 serious accidents reported to NTSB
  • Stanley Fink-PA sitting on $120 million-could be used local matching funds-$800 million-fix transit
  • Assembly committee reported bill $41 million state aid, $120 million PA, $644 million US
  • Operation Facelift
  • TA forecasted deficits of $19.2 million FY1980, $55.3 million FY1981, $78.1 million FY1982, closer cooperation City and MTA-new focus deficiencies of system-Koch accepted A New Direction in Transit, Carey signaled consideration of Berger, appointed Berger, Bellamy-City Council President, City Planning Commission Chairman Robert F. Wagner, Jr. MTA Board-CPC report-seen most significant governmental development-all set out with a set of practical priorities-10-year program-$555 million annual spending-close to three times being spent now, only half the MTA's request earlier report
    • “This report recommends a shift in emphasis from constructing new routes to rehabilitation of the existing subway and bus systems. It also recommends a shift within the rehabilitation program with less emphasis on modernization signal and power systems and more emphasis on improvements in passenger conditions, tunnels, elevated strictures and other line structures, and ventilation.
    • “This report concludes that the Transit Authority should no longer aim for a 55/45 split between rehabilitation and construction of new routes. We recommend that, rather, at current levels of funding, rehabilitation should receive from 65 to 70 percent of available capital funds.”

February 1979

[edit]
  • Bill appoint strong chief operating officer, would expand the MTA Board to bring more suburban representatives-members from 11 to 17, terms cut from 8 to 6 years
  • $35 million Long Island
  • Change plan-initially bulk LIRR money station modernization-change repair/maintenance facilities trains, communication equipment
  • Bill expand board, shorten terms to 6 years; guarantee regions reps
  • Bill $805 million state/Federal mass transportation assistance, $725 million extensive subway rehab + 500 new buses, was first offered Koch's acquiescence to Westway, $161 million 6 years state/Port Authority money, matched $644 million Federal funds-trouble special session December-John D. Caemmerer-objected timing/some specifics suburban aid-pushed for passage-suburban aid first 3 years of 6 year program, $80 million bus/rail improvements suburbs-$35 million-Nassau/Suffolk; $40 million Westchester/Rockland/Dutchess/Orange, PA $120 million buses/develop bus facilities-$41 million-subway/rail improvements; $161 million trigger 4-to-1 matching basis-Federal money-money subway modernization, security improvements, noise abatement, sign installation, new equipment-an additional $20 million Conrail, $20 million LIRR
    • Commuter rail $40 million
      • Total $20 million
        • Conrail Lines $12.91 million
        • Harlem Line 3.89 million
        • Hudson Line 1.10 million
        • New Haven Line 2.10 million
        • Suffern‐Port Jervis Line 2.10 million
      • Long Island Rail Road $20 million
    • Suburban Bus Projects $40 million
      • Westchester County $16 million
      • Rockland County 2 million
      • Orange County 1 million
      • Dutchess County 1 million
      • Nassau County 10 million
      • Suffolk County 5 million
      • Yet to be determined 5 million
    • New York City Projects $725 million
      • Rapid Transit System Improvements $610 million
        • Rehabilitation of line structure, track and line equipment $39.5 million
        • Signals and Communication 194.8 million
        • Power equipment and substations 72 million
        • Station improvements 226.2 million
        • Rapid transit car retrofit 122 million
        • Rehabilitation and modernization of shops, yards and maintenance facilities $45.5 million
      • Bus projects $115 million
        • New buses and bus maintenance; maintenance and storage facilities
  • New Federal program $200 million finance transit
  • Slash LIE aid
  • LIRR's first comprehensive capital needs budget "The Long Island Rail Road Short Term Needs" $2.3 billion next 10 years-extend electrification, improve tracks, build repair/maintenance shops-no specific request funding-other than $500,000 plan WSY-$100 million WSY-100 cars $100 million 3 years-424 cars-10 years-new repair shops $326.4 million
    • Fisher said-no objection LIRR strike out on its own for more money-"I don't have the money. If you can get it, go ahead."
    • December-asked Governor-Gabreski-$27.7 million 1979 short-term capital projects-only allocated $3.9 million governor's budget message-another $8 million-unlikely event Amtrak provided matching funds
  • Albany response to LIRR
  • Assembly added $2.1 million request commuter lines

March 1979

[edit]
  • $1.4 billion package signed-$805 million New York-Fisher-hoped to take application subway program to Washington-normal lead time Federal approval, project design-first work begin in a year-PA-agreed to speed authorization $18 million part of money-increase size MTA bus contract-came in at a good price
    • Anthony R. Ameruso, the New York City transportation administrator, said the end of the six years should see a “dramatic” improvement in the appearance and operation of city subways.
    • Alan R. Sagner, the port agency chairman, said the bill‐signing represented a “historic” cooperative effort to improve mass transit in the two‐state area.
  • Sharp increase in violence; more
  • Federal-cut-city expect only get 14% total $1.6 billion Feds instead of 20% usual-30% cut-$107 million reduction-each year-was major part $805 million plan-even no change capital funds NY gets-plan jeopardy-state counting on paying for it with new money-slim Carter-proposed spending same amount nationwide next year-more applicants for it-Carey/NJ Gov signedlegislation approved mass transit improvement application
  • Test surveillance cameras
  • Diamond Jubilee
    • The New York City ,subway system took a ride into history yesterday; and, for a brief while, it was possible to forget the crime, graffiti, inoperative doors and other travails that distress so many of today's riders.
  • Public hearing $32 Fed money, $8 million PA station renovations
  • New formula-$3 million more Federal subsidies NY
  • Tri-State Planning $5.4 billion FY1980-1984 $418 million new subway cars/improve old ones, $334 million 700 buses, $320 million subway station improvements, $58 million ferry improvements-plan approved
  • R46 settlement claim
  • 10-STATION spruce up
  • DCP made public-plans modernize subway stations-$384 million available stations next 5 years-TA selecting architectural concerns to redesign stations-first year program-do away with a barrier confront people with disabilities-role private sector
    • “Subway stations redesigned along the guidelines set forth by the planners will be free of most obstructions to security surveillance,” Robert F. Wagner Jr., chairman of the City Planning Commission, said in Issuing the prototype plans. “Areas that are hidden from view and difficult to patrol will be eliminated. Closed‐circuit television monitors and better lighting will discourage crime.”
    • Three levels of improvement are contemplated. The most far‐reaching is of the kind recently completed at the Bowling Green station of the 1RT where, at a cost of $16 million, platforms and tracks were realigned, new passageways and stairs were built and other major alterations were made.
    • A lesser‐level improvement was required for the BMT station at 49th Street and Broadway, where walls, floors and ceilings were renovated, new lighting was put in and noise‐reducing treatment was applied, at a total cost of $1.8 million.
    • At the IRT 86th Street station on Lexington Avenue, the most basic level of renovation, costing $405,000, was accomplished when Gimbels opened a major store there and joined with the Transit Authority in fixing up the entrances, stairways, walls, floors, lighting, token booths and turnstiles.
  • Start second contract A/C 600 cars
  • Police to ride all trains overnight-$7.5 million FY1979, addition plan $500,000 OT pay transit police, free transit passage officers, Koch subway safety program
  • Ire LI officials/BP Queens-divert most $270 million Federal funds from major LIE improvements-all but $80 million
    • As a result of Mr. Adams's decision, extensive proposed work on the overcrowded expressway, which has been the bane of Long Island commuters for years, will go by the board.
    • The total $270 million was earmarked for use either to double‐deck 3.5 miles of the expressway between Maurice Avenue and Grand Central Parkway or to provide two or four more traffic lanes to ease congestion. The $80 million remainder will go for resurfacing, putting in shoulders and building new speed ramps to facilitate exits from the highway.
    • Keith Tarr‐Whelan, assistant commissioner for public affairs in the State Department of Transportation, pointed out in an interview that the Federal Government re‐evaluates and recosts all the Interstate programs still pending, with the Queens portion of the exprossway scheduled to go through this re‐evaluation next month by the Federal Highway Administration.
    • “It is almost certain that the Federal Government would have changed the cost allocation next month and reduced it to about $80 million,” Mr. TarrWhelan said. “It would have disallowed double‐decking and additional lanes.”
    • Therefore, it would appear that the trade‐in was propitious in its timing and that funds are now available for minor safety and upgrading improvements on the expressway. There is also $100 million available for long needed repairs of highways and bridges in New York City as well as $90 million for as yet‐unspecified mass‐transit projects in the city.
    • Work on exit ramps will be a major step to help alleviate congestion on the Queens portion of the expressway which a Department of Transportation survey in 1974 showed had a daily traffic volume of 150,000 cars both ways between the Grand Central Parkway and the Brooklyn‐Queens Expressway.
    • Instead of having exit ramps perhaps 200 to 300 feet long, which tend to tie up traffic, so‐called speed ramps will be installed. They will be about a quarter of a mile long and will allow cars to move off the highway onto the ramp at a speed of 50 miles an hour, according to Mr. Tarr‐Whelan.
  • Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA-subway fares should be reduced to 25 cents, commuter rail fare cut-20%, new taxes; more-sought to reduce the MTA's $700 million deficit
    • To raise $415 million, which could be used to cut fares, the report proposed a regional transportation tax on all income earned in the city, with rates scaled from $125 to $250 a year; a regional automobile tax on 2.5 percent of the vehicle's value, replacing the current registration fee, and a gasoline tax calculated as a percentage of price rather than as a flat per gallon sum.
  • Koch — perception of crime is real, war on crime begins
    • Mayor Koch, who asserted last week that no expense would be spared to protect subway riders
  • Subway felony data
  • Midtown driver survey
  • Study Queens options-Queens Bypass-$395,000-Federal
  • Council 12 recommendations-shakeup MTA-management
  • Subway wheel problem-derailments study

April 1979

[edit]
  • LIRR program seek advice from riders, M1 breakdowns blamed for LIRR problems
  • Bribes lighting
  • Head TWU threatened slowdown unless subway/bus workers given more protection against crime
  • Defective R46
  • MTA ask Legislature for a bond issue pay for 500 new subway/commuter rail cars, rebuilt 550 others; anywhere $110 million to $550 million-depending on availability Federal matching funds
    • If the issue won approval, he said, “we'd probably go back for another issue a year later.”A spokesman for Governor Carey said in Albany that a transportation “package” would be submitted to the Legislature in 30 to 60 days, with a bond proposal included that would almost certainly contain elements for all parts of the state, not just the New York metropolitan area.
    • Mr. Fisher clashed repeatedly with Assemblyman Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the subcommittee on public authorities, over Mr. Nadler's assertions that the state could not reasonably hope to make available $805 million, most of it in Federal money. to sustain and expand New York City's subway and bus operations in the next six years — a promise made by Governor Carey a year ago as the price for gaining Mayor Koch's support of the Westway project.
    • Congress, Mr. Fisher said, has repeatedly come through with supplemental appropriations and other last‐minute actions that have given New York City most of what it has wanted — “although we can never get enough money for mass transit.”
    • His sanguine view was not shared by two new members of the authority: City Council President Carol Bellamy and Robert F. Wagner Jr., chairman of the City Planning Commission.
    • “Despite the equity and reasonableness of our claim for increased capital assistance to the New York region,” Miss Bellamy said at the hearing, “the prospect is exceedingly unlikely.”
    • Mr. Wagner urged that the state and city face the “reality” that a dramatic increase in Federal outlays will not be forthcoming.
  • Agreement reorganize MTA-executive directorship established-temporary 35-member citizens advisory group-expand MTA board
  • BP Stein-irregular/suspicious deals R46s-MTA not apply federal funds cut commuting costs-25%
  • TA boss concern safety R46s rejected DeRoos
  • Fisher-not satisfied settlement R46s
  • Operation Facelift
    • Lou Collins, a Transit Authority spokesman, called the effort “the most comprehensive station‐restoration project ever undertaken” in the subway system.
    • When the program, known as Operation Facelift, is completed this summer, 84 of the city's 460 subway stations ‐some of which have not been painted in more than 20 years — will get a new look. Lighting will be improved, .tile and masonry repaired and concrete walls painted in colors that have been selected by the Transit Authority's first “esthetic consultant.”
    • “We selected a bouquet of colors that we hope will make the subway feel warm,” said the consultant, Phyllis Cerf Wagner, who is also a writer and editor and the wife of former Mayor Robert F. Wagner.
    • “When you are in a place that is warm and well‐lit, you are not as terrified as when you are in a dark alley,” said Mrs. Wagner, who has undertaken the job without pay.
    • The stations — including some of the busiest in the system — are now being adorned in “antique satin” (off white), “eldorado” (rust), “beechnut” (tan), “chili sauce” (dark red) and “Permsyl- vania green.” The colors in each siation have been chosen to complement the long‐neglected and now irreplaceable tiling. Operation Facelift will cost $10 million, according to the Transit Authority, with the money coming from its regular maintenance budget and from a rise in revenues that stemmed from a 4 percent increase in the number of riders in 1978.
    • According to Herman Lerner, the Transit Authority's chief painting inspector, the stations are routinely painted in 20‐year cycles. He said the last mass painting of subway stations was undertaken in 1972, before the city's fiscal difficulties; when 50 stations were painted.
    • Transit Authority officials are so pleased with the program that they are seeking to extend the operation to 50 more stations, a Transit Authority spokesman said.
  • Wagner sees fare rise by 1982

May 1979

[edit]
  • MTA revamp approved
  • Doolittle-Kiley-finalists-executive director, new board members
  • Bus breakdowns
  • Facelift-opinion
    • For once, however, money is available, at least to do something about the stations. A combination of Federal grants and Port Authority funds has created a kitty of almost $500 million, with a chance of $300 million more in the next few months.
    • Much of this money is earmarked for “station modification,” meaning anything from partial rehabilitation to total modernization. The first year's work is scheduled for 14 stations, including Herald Square, Grand Central and 42d Street at Eighth Avenue.
  • National Resources Defense Council-five quick ways improve transit; more; more
  • Ronan-opinion piece-Operation Facelift
  • MTA Board expected soon select new executive director
    • And then, of course, there was the everyday service. Some consumer advocates expressed hope this week that the survey and the bid for nostalgia and affection that the old train represented plus the appointment of a new executive director of the M.T.A. might signal a better deal for the ordinary rider, but they were not betting on it.
  • T/Os, road inspectors frequently fail to follow procedures-prevent derailments
  • Derailments
    • At the hearing, before the National Transportation Safety Board, Daniel F. Salvia, the Transit Authority's chief of car‐maintenance operations, testified that the authority had shifted last September into a cycle of a full inspection of cars every 10,000 miles, or once every 120 days, whichever occurs sooner. This replaced a former cycle of an inspection every 7,500 miles with no option in terms of days.
    • The Federal board reported that it had already made two “urgent” recommendations to the authority last Jan. 19. One called for the immediate inspection of all subway‐car wheels and the removal of any that showed heating damage. The other called for “a positive indicator” on all cars so that a motorman could determine if a hand brake had been applied or fully released.
    • Steven K. Kauffman, the authority's executive officer for rapid transit, told a reporter that the agency was now inspecting wheels fully once a month, a rate faster than the old 7.500‐mile cycle.
    • Only the newer cars — 1,000 R‐44's and R‐46's — of the 6,200‐car fleet now have such indicators, he said, but equipment for the rest is on order.
    • In a separate action, Mr. Stein filed a suit in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn to get Transit Authority reports on 20 subway accidents from Nov. 2, 1976, through last Sept. 7. He asserted that only two of these had been reported as required by Federal law, and charged that the authority was “covering up the cause, severity and number” of accidents.
  • Gas prices higher, increased ridership
  • TA Board approve $1.08 financial plan 1980-almost certain wage increase-April-create deficit final quarter-a year from now-fall off cliff, Berger+3 new members prevent approval of hangar at Republic Airport; more
    • The authority cut back on requests by the transit system's managers to increase spending for such programs as station cleanup and car cleaning, and rejected the start of a major car‐overhaul effort.
    • None of the cuts would affect the safety of trains or buses, authority members said, but there could be shifts of manpower and equipment from less‐used routes to those more heavily patronized. Another probable casualty is a plan to increase the length of non‐rush‐hour trains.
    • While the spending plan for fiscal year 1980, which begins July 1, is technically in. balance with income‐thanks in part to a bookkeeping device that counts two years’ anticipated Federal assistance totaling $66 million in a single year thé authority was warned by its audit committee that new sources of revenue would be essential to avoid a severe deficit in the following fiscal year. The new budget is up 9.9 percent from the 1979 figure of $992 million.
    • Although the state provides subsidies that will amount to $118 million for the Transit Authority in the 1980 fiscal year, and the city pays for the transit police and reduced fares for schoolchildren and the elderly, there is no continuing stream of revenue that can be used to upgrade transit facilities or improve service.
    • Mr. Berger's audit committee, whose report was accepted unanimously by the directors, warned of a $150 million deficit developing for the 1981 fiscal year.
    • Assuming that increased labor cost could be held to 7.5 percent annually in keeping with President Carter's national wage guidelines, Mr. Berger said, $75 million additional would have to be found. The audit committee estimates that another $75 million will be needed for maintenance and other programs deferred. from the 1980 fiscal year.
    • One possible avenue for fiscal relief,Mr. Berger said, is in getting a number of capital expenditures shifted from the authority's operating budget to the New York City capital budget. Among these are the $30 million major overhaul program and‐assumption of payment for laying of new track.
  • Comptroller Goldin-city had no inventory of its capital plant, age, condition, replacement costs, 338-page report; need more than $40 billion 1980s; $2.6 billion needed replace 2,050 subway cars, $1 billion 5,275 buses; $442 million refurbish 114 subway substations
  • Carey proposal $100M WSY
  • Assembly-GOP minority leader-proposed $1.25 billion bond issue
  • Carey proposed $797 million upgrade subway/commuter/freight rail, new $350 million state bond issue
    • Under the Governor's plan, which he called the “Railroad Energy Conservation Package,” New York City would get $325.5 million, mostly for the subway improvements. A total of $263 million more would go for railroad improvements on Long Island and in the lower Hudson Valley, including Westchester County, largely for commuter lines. In addition, $208.5 million would be spent upstate.
    • Besides the $350 million in state bond funds, the Carey plan would involve $300 million in new borrowing by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority which can float bonds without voter approval — plus the spending of Federal funds, income from railways, from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other sources.
    • Some of’ the projects included in the. new plan were in the earlier proposal, but are cunning short.oi.tuttds., Others Were. parried over from a•proposed $375 million economic‐0evelopmentbond issue, which was defeated by the voters two years ago.
    • The State Transportation Commissioner, William C. Hennessy, who announced the plan with the Governor, said that it included funds for 530 new and rehabilitated subway cars by 1983, and that the city would benefit from the extra allocations to suburban commuter lines, which he said would help keep automobiles “ out of Manhattan.” Mr. Hennessy and other supporters of the plan also said that although the subway money would not become immediately available, the state would be committed to paying it out this year. This would allow the city to order subway cars in bulk now, and save considerable money.
    • But a New York City Assemblyman, who was briefed by Mr. Hennessy on the plan today, complained that about twothirds of the funds for New York City subways would come not from the bond issue, but from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. The authority has already reached its borrowing limit, and would not be able to borrow new funds until 1983, when some of its obligations expire. This in turn would postpone much of the New York City oroeram until then_
    • The suburban part of the plan calls for 100 new cars and 15 diesel‐powered cars for the Long Island Rail Road, Conrail and the New Haven division. It also provides for construction to relieve congestion and delays at Pennylvania Station in New York City. And it would provide a connection between Penn Station and the West Side freight"line to serve the new convention center that is to be built.
    • The bond issue would not be related either to plans for the Westway — the proposed highway along part of the Hudson River shore of Manhattan —or to the $805 million mass‐transportation bill signed by the Governor in February.
  • Figures-millions-State column figures-from $350 million bond issue
State Other Total
New York City
Subways $92.5 $188.0 $280.5
Freight $25.0 $20.0 $45.0
Total $117.5 $208.0 $325.5
Hudson Valley-Long Island
Commuter $130.0 $112.0 $242.0
Freight $9.0 $12.0 $21.0
Total $139.0 $124.0 $263.0
Upstate
Passenger $26.0 $14.0 $40.0
Freight $67.5 $101.0 $168.5
Total $93.5 $115.0 $208.5
Total $350.0 $447.0 $797.0
  • Bus study Brooklyn $650,000-entrance closures-looked at
  • MTA announced plans expand weekend service-"strictly experimental"-response to possible gas shortage
    • In what an M.T.A. spokesman described as a “strictly experimental,” program, the authority said it would increase the length of most subway trains on the two weekends, cut headways on some runs, add more than 100 buses, primarily on beach routes, and have standby crews and equipment ready to press into service on suburban rail lines.
    • Noting that weekend trains and buses are rarely full, the spokesman said that this excess capacity coupled with the extra service would enable the M.T.A. to carry about 50 percent more passengers than it usually did.
    • The M.T.A. said that 125 buses would be added, that all subway trains except those on the AA and M lines would be operated at full weekday length and that extra trains would cut headways. on the B, D, F and N lines serving Coney Island. In addition, the authority said extra trains would be operated on the No. 7 Flushing line on Memorial Day, Monday, because of the Mets game that day.
  • Carey proposal-$350 million bond issue voters and legislative approval; $447 million borrowed TBTA-package-doubts-$250 million commuter rail-mainly LIRR-$90 million state bond-TA-Federal matching funds $4 for $1-produce investment $450 million, $190 million would become available TBTA, available Federal matching funds-mainly recondition/replace cars, explanation needed proposal relates to $805 million transit bill
    • When he asks the Triborough Authority to borrow additional sums as soon as its present obligations are paid off, he is resorting to moral‐obligation financing without explicit state backing, as provided for the Convention Center in recent law. The borrowing might well endanger the surplus that the authority now pays annually as a subway subsidy.
  • Caemmerer-would expand $797 million to $1.227 billion-add $195 million roads/park-and-ride centers, $115 million subway, LIRR, Conrail, $45 million buses, $15 million ports, $60 million bridges
  • $19.9 million aid request Brooklyn-citywide total $26.6 million-75% feds-$12.6 million-26 stations,

June 1979

[edit]
  • Berger proposal abolish weekend half-fare, rejected
    • Mr. Berger said yesterday that he had become convinced that the half‐fare program was costing money that could be better spent on improvements for all riders. He said the weekend reductions cost the authority $10 million to $12 million a year.
    • Governor Carey had toyed with the idea of dropping Mr. Fisher earlier this year, then decided against it. Then, according to politicians in a position to know, he revived the plan last week.
    • But Mr. Fisher is said to be safe again, and the “search committee” headed by Robert F. Wagner Jr., chairman of the City Planning Commission, can resume its discussions.
    • One of the two finalists, John Doolittle, a management consultant, is said to have delayed acceptance pending resolution of the dispute in the Governor's office. The other, Robert Kiley, a staff member at the Kennedy Center at Harvard, is said to have withdrawn.
    • Off‐peak reduced fares were continued, in a unanimous vote, on the Long Island Rail Road and Conrail's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines.
    • The board abolished, on the ground that they had not worked out, the midManhattan shopper's bus ticket and the Manhattan nightcoach ticket.
  • Leading contenders-executive director-Kiley, John Doolittle, airport ouster, extension half-fare
  • $947 million accord-including $500 million bond issue-larger than initial $797 million proposal-accommodates part "of the $1.2 billion counterproposal made by the head of the Transportation Committee of the Republican‐led Senate"; additional funds $100 million highway safety improvements, slightly more for commuter rail
    • In addition to the state bond issue, the agreed‐upon bill would authorize $300 million in bonds to be issued by the Triborougli Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which would not need voter approval. The remaining money would come from Federal matching funds, from the railways and from other sources.
    • The package slightly increases the amount available for improvements to New York City subways — to $288 million from $280.5 million — with the additional money coming from the state bond issue. This was apparently to help assuage the complaints of legislators who said that most of the city money would be from the Triborough Authority and for financing reasons would not be available until 1983.
    • In all, the city will get $333 million from the plan, with the rest to be used for freight‐rail improvements. The Long Island‐Hudson Valley commuter rail lines will get $282 million, most of it to be used for the purchase of new cars for Conrail and the Long Island Rail Road, and the rest to be used for track work and right‐of‐way improvements.
  • Worse Conrail service
    • Allegations of poor maintenance led to the appointment of a high‐level committee by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that oversees commuter railroads as well as New York City subways and buses, and last week it was preparing its recommendations. Meanwhile, Conrail, under prodding, has already begun to step up its maintenance forts, according to M.T.A. officials.
    • The proposed railroad‐improvement package, combining Federal aid with a $500 million state bond issue and a $300 million bond issue by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, includes $82 million for 75 new Conrail cars and $10 million for Conrail shop improvements.
    • According to a report issued last September by the Assembly Republican Task Force on Commuter Rail Safety and Service, headed by Assemblyman Peter M. Sullivan of White Plains, both the Long Island Rail Road and Conrail services were hampered by inadequate maintenance facilities and lack of funds.
    • The report was particularly critical of inspection procedures, pointing out that State Department of Transportation inspectors, from January 1977 to January 1978, found defects in 34.6 percent of Conrail's cars and locomotives. It complained that subsequent reinspections had turned up many of the same defects in coaches and locomotives even after Conrail had assured the state that the defects had been corrected.
    • Last January, the State Department of Transportation reassigned many of its rail‐safety inspectors to Amtrak trains and discontinued the agency's inspections on Conrail rolling stock. In March, with the approval of the M.T.A., the state agreed to conduct a “onetime” safety inspection of the Upper Harlem service requested by a commuter organization.
    • The inspection turned up defects serious enough to warrant immediate removal from service of two passenger cars and two locomotives, as well as 262 lesser defects. Although the inspection focused on the Upper Harlem Line, Assemblyman Sullivan says that “the problem, in my judgment, based on the investigation we made, is systemwide.”
  • $947 million transit plan approval expected-$500 million bond issue, $300 million TBTA bond issue, $147 million fed/local matching-program boosted $150 million-GOP Senate requests-highway, suburban rail improvements
  • Transit bribes Pullman
  • Operation Facelift cut from next year's TA budget-of 84 scheduled under $10 million project-45 painted, work progress another 15-plans further 50 abandoned-Stephen Berger-argued better spent adding cars to short trains, improved security-
  • MTA Board rejects R46 repair plan
  • Not harsh enough Pullman
    • Critics, including Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin and Borough President Andrew J. Stein of Manhattan have accused the Transit Authority of letting Pullman off too lightly — by agreeing to a latedelivery penalty of only a fraction of its potential size, and to a repair proposal that they say would at best provide a temporary solution to serious safety problems.
    • When the Transit Authority purchased the air‐conditioned subway cars from Pullman, it “deviated” from its “standard rule” in not first buying a few samples of the equipment to test on its system, according to John G. deRoos, executive officer of the authority.
    • The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose chairman at that time was Dr. William J. Ronan, waived its normal policy, a spokesman said, because of “pressure to get new equipment on the line.”
    • But a study by the Manhattan Borough President cites evidence that it says “strongly suggests” that the city did not receive the equipment it ordered initially. In 1972, the report says, quoting Transit Authority documents, the authority told Mayor John V. Lindsay that it had persuaded Pullman to reduce its price by $27 million, strictly in exchange for a oneyear reduction in the guarantee.
    • Engineering studies have determined that the cars —equipped with supposedly lightweight trucks, or undercarriages, that differed radically from any others used here before — operated under stress forces three times greater than those they were designed to handle. The trucks, built for Pullman by the Rockwell International Corporation, have developed cracks that engineers say could lead to serious derailments if undetected.
  • U.S. investigation bribes
  • Ronan okayed R46s
  • Manufacturer misinterpreted tests equipment
  • Executive officers TA rapid transit division said terms agreement repairs could worsen safety hazards
  • 109 R46s taken out of service, city filed $112.3 million lawsuit breach of contract/warranty-15% of equipment affected lines, 2% cars entire system
  • TA executive rejected call to refuse flawed cars
  • Bond; MTA board change approved
  • Rockwell blames maintenance
  • Finding 1977 crash omitted-failure new cars
  • Half cars return to service; more; more
  • Head Citizens Advisory Council to MTA, Gerrard, CBT Dobrow thoughts
    • Dobrow-He noted that when the transit authority was created in 1953, the intent was to take the system out of politics. He thinks that the move did blunt political influence at lower levels, but entrenched it at those points where gubernatorial political appointments determine who makes high policy decisions.
    • ‘Here, lawyers and politicians tend to get the appointments which, in the European systems that function better, go to transportation professionals,” Dr. Dobrow said.
    • Mr. Gerrard argues that the system has been beset with weak leadership that has left it with less than its appropriate share of nubile resources.
    • “Maybe the R‐46 problem will wake us all up,” he said. “The guts of the system has been ignored for so long, it's a wonder more things haven't collapsed. There's been a long history of undermaintenance.”
    • He cited proposed budget cutbacks such as the dropping of routine maintenance on the new train control system, the elimination of a program to repair vent gratings and a partial reduction of the painting schedule of outside structures such as those supporting elevated tracks, all of which he argued were “clearly safety related.”
    • These are the kinds of issues that seem to set Mr. Berger's blood racing.
    • “The corruption in the R‐46 problem is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said in an interview. “The prosecutors can root out the corruption, but I'm worried about the decision‐making process all up and down the line. That's been terrible.”
  • Bellamy, Berger called for ouster of deRoos; more
  • Issues R46s, crack detected earlier
  • Warranty terms altered 1972
  • PCAC-review-NYCTA budget-figures grimmer than Berger's analysis
    • In its review of the transit authority's preliminary 1980‐1983 financial plan, the citizens group projects a deficit possibly as high as $25.7 million in the next fiscal year, as against a $14.5 figure estimated by the authority. For the following year, the citizens group forsees a deficit in the neighborhood of Mr. Berger's $150 million estimate.
    • “When you figure that the normal business rule is to reinvest 5 per cent of capital plant value each year for upkeep, we ought to be putting in a billion a year,” Steven Polan, a transit expert in Miss Bellamy's office said in an interview. “Short of that, we surely should be spending the $550 million on plant upkeep that the City Planning Commission recommended last year.”
    • When he talks about capital needs, Mr. Polan points to expenditures such as the program to overhaul subway cars completely every 180,000 miles that was eliminated in 1975, the failure to upgrade what he calls “an archaic” per supply system or to replace elements in the signal system promptly. And, echoing complaint, made by Michel Gerrard, chairmen of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, Mr. Polan argued that a regular program was needed to paint the strictures that support elevated railways “so they don't rust and fall apart.”
    • The deficiencies in the current capital program are due only in part to management deficiencies, the experts say. The main problem is a lack of money. The Federal Gcrrerarnent has provided about $200 million a year for such purposes over the last four years, a sum the experts find entirely inadequate.
  • DeRoos legal work outside
  • TWU-more cars unsafe
  • DeRoos stubborn-resignation; more-nominate John Simpson-serve executive director-new position-oversee day to day operations; more
  • Carey rejects R46 probe
  • Sought scrapping of subway trucks 1976
  • Inspections cut for redecorating
    • Subway‐car inspections were cut back and millions of dollars were diverted from system maintenance last year to pay for a $6.8 million beautification program at 84 subway stations, according to a report issued yesterday by group of official citizen‐advisers to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • According to the report, the interval between subway‐car inspections was increased from 7,500 miles to 10,000 miles, and 171 full‐time Transit Authority employees, including skilled mechanics, were lost to the redecoration program, called Operation Facelift.
    • A spokesman for the M.T.A. disputed the findings of the committee, saying that the interval between inspections had been changed before the start of the remodeling project. It had been determined that inspections were more useful after 10,000 miles, he said, because problems not detectable at 7,500 miles became more noticeable with added use.
    • He also said that the projected 1980 budget of $1.4 billion for buses and subways did not include a renewal of the project. The redecoration program — headed by Phyllis Cerf Wagner, who was appointed by Harold L. Fisher, the M.T.A. chairman — represented a significant increase over the normal decorating budget of $300,000 a year, according to the report. It said that $2.6 million of the extra expenses went for the reassignment of the 171 employees “who had previously worked inspecting and repairing the system's 6,200 subway cars.”
    • An additional $1.2 million was “diverted from caring for rusting girders and other structures in the subway system, many of which have not been painted for more than 20 years.” Also, $2.7 million went “to hiring additional painting contractors during a period when many N.Y.C.T.A. maintenance programs were being reduced or eliminated,” the report maintained. It charged that there had been “an alarming increase” in derailments during the same period of time.
    • In support of that contention, Mr. Gerrard said yesterday in an interview that while wheel failures on subway cars had caused two or three derailments year through 1978, the number increased to six for the first three months of 1979.
    • The citizens’ study also questioned why 56 percent of the 84 subway stations chosen for beautification were in Manhat; tan, while the borough contains only 30 percent of the city's 461 subway stations.
    • The report charged that “certain officials” of the M.T.A. had tried to mislead the committee about where money for the project had been obtained. And yesterday, Mr. Gerrard also accused the agency of suddenly “manufacturing” a reason for having changed the carinspection schedule — something he said he had vainly asked officials to explain many times in the past.
    • “Operation Facelift,” he said, “along with the problems with the R‐46 subway cars, demonstrates that the M.T.A. pays insufficient attention to the safety of equipment.”
  • MTA-no more trains/bus left to relieve overcrowding
  • A $40 million program to repave the streets that carry New York City buses was announced yesterday by Mayor Koch.

July 1979

[edit]
  • Management
    • But some of the management is not very good. To a first‐time visitor at an authority board meeting, the impression left by the management people who pop up here and there to answer board questions is one of frequent expertise, little coordination and occasional stunning unawareness. (A subway ftinctionary insisted, for instance, to the astonishment of those in the audience who actually ride the subways, that route maps were posted outside the turnstiles at most stations.)
    • “The cliché that people always use,” said one official, “is that the place is run like a candy store. Actually it's run like a bunch of candy stores. Each bus barn is a separate operation. There are different work rules on the IRT, the IND and the BMT subway lines left over from the days when they were separate companies.”
  • Final action trade in $200 million of $291 million federal money-for LIE
    • It will provide $100 million to improve the subway system and other mass‐transit facilities and $100 million to rehabilitate 91 bridges and overpasses in Queens, Brooklyn and five sections of perimeter drives in Manhattan.
    • A list of the mass‐transit projects to benefit from the trade‐in is being compiled by the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
  • Longer trains
  • 50-cent fare jeopardy-MTA board members/public officials
  • Koch declines to support $500 million bond issue-until finds out projects/share city get-Carey signed, approved $300 million TBTA issue
    • $92 million that the bond issue would provide for new cars and maintenance equipment in Westchester.
  • City countersued by Pullman; more
  • Administration Federal transit funding roadblock; same 1979 level
  • High cost accessibility upgrades
  • Money Harlem Line upgrade
  • DeRoos denies fault
  • NYC faulted bus breakdowns
  • Questions management, R46
  • New R46 problem
  • City awarded 837 buses, despite defects discovered
  • Chief city buses leaving
  • Test Grumman
  • Transit official-Hyman Feldman-to retire
  • New problems subway cars-steel wearing away
  • Sandler/Schoenbrod opinion piece-Cash and Carry
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board should increase the fare to 55 cents rather than cut essential service and maintenance from the subway and bus budget, as it now plans. Governor Carey promised the money needed to hold the fare at 50 cents until Jan. 1, 1982, but his lack of performance means that passengers will encounter less reliable service and dirtier subways in the months ahead—and a fare increase to 70 cents in 1980 or 1951. Riders will end up paying more for worse service unless the board exercises its independent authority to stop the political flimflam.
    • Officials traditionally promise to save the fare but duck the less‐popular question of how to raise the money by urging Congress to pay. The inevitable deficits are hidden by cutting service and maintenance until it's politically crease, such as the 42 percent hike in 1970 and the 44 percent hike in 1975. This is the worst kind of fare policy for family budgets and maintenance of transit service.
    • Past M.T.A. boards, appointed by the Governor, have cooperated in this sham despite their statutory duty to safeguard the system. Board meetings were short, sweet and unanimous. Now, however, with new faces on the board, disagreements and budget problems have begun to come out. But the board has far to go.
    • The board recently acknowledged $10 million gap for the fiscal year that started July 1. But the gap in the funding needed for decent service is actually closer to $70 million. The M.T.A.'s budget cuts out $13.3 million in bus runs, bus cleaning and summer subway service although the city recommended more service to relieve overcrowding even before the gasoline crunch.
    • The budget also omits $9.2 million needed to wash subway cars more often than every seven weeks and continue periodic repainting of stations and elevated structures.
    • Most serious of all, the budget denies the transit engineers’ request for a $17.8 million program to overhaul subway cars every 180,000 miles that was “temporarily” stopped several years ago. Failure to do routine maintenance will mean fewer cars to carry people and more trains that get stuck in the tunnels.
    • The gap will worsen when the labor contracts expires next March. The projected inflation in wages and other costs means that the deficit will increase to about $225 million in the year beginning July 1, 1980, and go higher still the next year. By contrast, the flap over the weekend half‐fare involved only $10 million in annual savings.
    • Fulfilling the Governor's promise to hold the fare until 1982 requires an extraordinary effort, but state officials have done little except call for Congress to pay. The Governor also relies on Washington to fund 80 percent of the $800 million capital program to repair the damage done by inadequate maintenance in the past. For over a year, he has taken personal credit for getting that money, but has yet to produce a Federal dollar.
    • With its obvious economic problems, the M.T.A. board can follow through on its call for decent transit and fiscal integrity only by taking actions that will be unpopular with the Governor and can at best win grudging acceptance from the public.
    • First, it should immediately present the Governor with the bill for his promise. The M.T.A.'s fiscal plans now understate maintenance needs and ignore the inevitable wage increase.
    • Second, if the money is not forthcoming, the board should begin to increase the fare in small steps, with inflation, to fund adequate maintenance and service.
    • Third, the board should work to keep down the total cost of the new labor contract by seeking substantial improvements in work rules.
    • Fourth, the board must press for permanent state revenue measure to fund its operating and capital deficits.
    • No M.T.A. board has ever dared to take such initiatives, but all of them are necessary and today is a time of particular opportunity. Transit ridership has increased in the last two years and people now recognize that. inadequate transit has played a substantial role in the exodus of jobs from the city.

August 1979

[edit]

September 1979

[edit]
  • TWU seeks 30% pay rise
  • New crime strategy, unification police, more
  • Queens Plaza subway complex $170 million-completion 1985-80% funds Feds; more
    • The state will provide 15 percent of the funds from a 1967 transportation bond issue and the remaining 5 percent will come from the city. No further approvals are required, Mr. Wagner said, adding that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had begun design work.
  • Removal chief of police-transit
  • 56% increase subway fires-
  • Carey-fares go up unless bond issue approved
    • “But if the Transit Authority is unable to make critically needed capital improvements, then ridership will be expected to decline and that would imperil the fare,”
  • Nadler-foe-bond issue-scare tactics-needed 50-cent fare-had put out a report
  • Koch disputed fare tied to bond issue
    • Under the formula locked into the law, the city would get $288 million to purchase 260 new subway cars and refurbish 280 others. It would also get money to enable freight trains to have better access to the city; to rehabilitate the Fulton, Red Hook and Atlantic terminals, and to make “unspecified” improvements to yards, shops and tracks. In all, the city would get $333 million of the $947 million proceeds — just over a third.
    • In addition, $100 million of the bond proceeds would be used to create a Long Island Rail Road storage yard in the 30's on Manhattan's West Side, a move intended to save money and electricity by allowing trains to remain in the city rather than forcing them to return to Long Island empty.
    • Long Island and the Hudson Valley would get a large part of the proceeds of the issue — money for 70 electric cars for the Long Island Rail Road and 75 new cars (60 electric and 15 diesel) for Conrail, along with yard, shop, track and freight improvements. These would total $303 million, including the money for the West Side yards.
  • Carey never formally applied Federal share $805 million mass transit plan offered Koch April 1978-Carey said $644 million-80% Fed share unavailable-no promise-promise/plan led to February $161 million 6 years state/PA money-local 20%-$80 million suburban projects enabled-first 3 years-subway/bus $725 million of plan-NJ efforts-win funds-Feds-assured dollar-for-dollar trade-in would be possible-Feds-UMTA-budget $1.25 billion-capital-not possible provide all money-discretionary
  • Panel of 17 current/former government officials, academics, business leaders-call abandon Westway, develop community projects
  • NJ getting funding-NYS-$765 million-application-$612M federal share-submitted-only pending-bus improvements suburbs $40 million-$32M feds
  • State officials charged-doutbtful Metro area get $644 million federal transit aid-MTA officials insist filed with federal encouragement March under new Accelerated Transit Program-key transportation aid Carey-said Congress never funded the program at the projected level-Carter Administration-had not apportioned existing transportation funds to the state at a rate comparable to past levels
  • $805 million transit plan-key element revised air quality plan-NY
    • Mr. Polan said that as ëarly as December 1978, Miss Bellamy— along with Representatives Elizabeth Holtzman of Brooklyn and Theodore Weiss of Manhattan and the Bronx — had said publicly that the six‐year, $805 million transit plan was “a public‐relations fiction” because “Federal funds needed to pay for it were not included in this year's Congressional appropriation.”
    • Mr. Nadler, chairman of the Assembly subcommittee that held hearings a year later on transit financing, also charged yesterday that state transportation officials had “lied” in testifying then that they still expected the Federal funds.
    • “By then, they knew the whole plan was up in smoke,” Mr. Nadler said. “This whole thing is a giant deception to fool the public into thinking we don't have to trade in Westway funds for mass transportation.”
    • The $805 million transit plan, when it was presented by Mr. Carey in April 1978, was seen as an alternative to trading in the highway money for bus and subway improvements, as opponents of the Westway had advocated.
    • The Federal Government was to provide $644 million, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey allotting $120 million, and the state $41 million. The legislature passed a bill last February providing $161 million in state and Port Authority funds for the 20 percent local share of the plan's financing, to be matched by the 80 percent Federal share.
    • The officials all said that New Jersey, unlike New York, had repeatedly sought a commitment for a similar mass‐transit package that also relied on money from the Port Authority to make up the local share of its plan.
    • Mr. Kirschenbaum, the aide to Mr. Carter, said yesterday that New Jersey had won extra money because New Jersey officials “came down and negotiated and negotiated and fought for it with transportation officials.”
  • Carey-fare not tied to bond
  • Carter called for major increase transit investment; submitted on time-in general meets all government requirements for aid-Carey confident $60 million/year 6 years pay for $644 million plan-Federal officials-said-located NY's missing transportation application-unclear how much filled-had been submitted to proper federal office in NYC-never forwarded to Washington HQ-unclear why application-stalled district office-Goldschmidt-promised not less than $280 million/year-next year
  • Carey said WH promised him-extra-$60 million/year transit aid-enough-insure-$805 million-WH later said-had not explicitly-promised another $60 million-just inconceivable to think NY get less than in past years-average $220 million a year-state-not promised extra-$60 million over previous year-if windfAll profits tax passed-adequate money-transit plans, including NY-Carey critics-relying on ephemeral promises-administration-might not be able to see them through-$360 million-$60 million/year, not give $644 million counting on for $805 million-Carey later admitted-probably take longer than 6 years projected-more
  • Analysis-city/state officials-gap over $300 million 5 years-likely from Washington-$200 million/year, $1 billion-seems secure-at issue-balance-$644 million special funds-Accelerate Transit Program-funds program-serious question-Carter administration-cannot commit program-time period involved, lack money-Carey claim accelerated transit program-persuade Koch-Fisher-insisted state/city get all funds ATP, stretched $644 million from 5 to 7 years-come from new transit funds in the works-without dipping anything spun off by Carter admin proposed windfall profits tax oil companies-Carter official-only way get near its projections-windfall profits levy-official still doubts $644 million-Carey said-sees NY getting all funds-growth mass transit funds-claim NY-having received 20% mass transit funds-pass-will get it again-only happened once-1976/1977
  • Albany asks city help maintain 50-cent fare-concern deficit 1981 operating budget
    • Last year the city's contributions to the authority's $1.43 billion annual operating budget amounted to $445 million. City and state officials interpreted the agreement to mean that the city would not have to help finance any increases likely to be result of a 1980 wage settlement with the Transit Workers Union.
    • However, officials on both sides say that Robert J. Morgado, the Governor's secretary, told the Mayor and some of his top advisers as recently as last Tuesday that the commitment might not be met and that the city might have to increase its contribution to Maintain the fare.
    • Interviews with city, state and legislative sources indicated that the Transit Authority had so far estimated it faced possible deficit of $150 million to $175 million in the coming year. The chairman of the City Planning Commission, Robert F. Wagner Jr., is one of the officials aware of the estimate. His department is preparing a report on financing of the transit system and the estimate assumes a 7 percent increase in salaries as a result of the upcoming labor negotiations.
    • Others familiar with the estimates said that possible wage increases accounted for $65 million to $70 million of the shortfall. Also, $33 million of that shortfall grows out of the Transit Authority's decision to use both its 1979 and 1980 Federal aid under a special urban rail program in the current year.
    • As a result, only half of a total of $66 million from the aid program used this year will be available in the next fiscal year. The rest of the estimated deficit results from increases in pension contributions and fuel costs and other effects of inflation.
    • The state now contributes $118 million to the Transit Authority for subway and bus operating funds, and Federal operating subsidies total $119.5 million. These subsidies, combined with the city's current subsidy and nearly $700 million in fare revenues account for all Transit Authority revenue.

October 1979

[edit]
  • Suit-fails to provide for disabled
  • Fisher resigns-effective November 16-shortly after was reappointed--Nadler critical Fisher-political flack; more
    • It is known that Mr. Carey has thought about replacing Mr. Fisher for more than a year. While he did not say so publicly yesterday, Mr. Carey had become dissatisfied with the operation of the M.T.A., which makes policy for transit systems in the city and its suburbs in New York State. The Governor believed that the financially strapped agency needed more forceful leadership to help it meet impending labor and budget problems.
    • Mr. Fisher had said that he wanted to remain in charge of the M.T.A. through its “Diamond Jubilee” this year, while celebrated the 75th anniversary of the opening of the city's subways.
    • More fundamentally, however, it was known at the M.T.A. that Mr. Fisher was not entirely pleased with the restructuring of its board. New board members including City Council President Carol Bellamy, Planning Commissioner Robert F. Wagner Jr., former Dew Mayor David Brown and Stephen ft , former director of the city's Financial Control Board - had taken a more vocal interest in what was happening and did not hesitate to disagree with him.
    • Members of the M.T.A. suggested privately that Mr. Fisher wanted to leave “before the storm” that labor negotiations are expected to bring and that he had been exhausted last week during dispute between the Governor and the Federal government. In that dispute, the Governor asserted that he had applied for the necessary Federal financing for improvements to the mass‐transit systems in the state, but Government officials said he had never made the application.
  • LIRR study-$325,000-alternatives-running Oyster Bay, Far Rockaway, West Hempstead; study-improve coordinations-MSBA, Suffolk bus, subway
  • Riders refuse to leave
  • Franklin Avenue Shuttle
  • Officers not in uniform no more free rides
  • Ravitch named
    • Mr. Ravitch may be rare among public officials: he uses the subway.
    • “I take the subway at least twice a day, to get to my office and to get home, and when I have to travel north or south to get to business appointments,” he said. “I use it regularly.” Mr. Ravitch said he rode the Lexington Avenue line from 86th Street to 51st Street.
    • Mr. Ravitch will take over the $15,000a‐year “part time” chairmanship of the M.T.A. as it faces what are expected to be difficult labor negotiations that could set the tone — and establish the pay increase guidelines — for New York City's talks with municipal employee unions later in the year.
    • “The immediate problem is obviously the financial problem,” Mr. Ravitch said. “The long‐term problem is, as we all know, to improve the physical infrastructure of the entire metropolitan area commuter lines, subway lines, bus lines.”
  • Ravitch take subway
  • Congressman persuades state add two trains-divert money from highway repair-MTA Board had rejected an LIRR request to add 4 trains
  • Committee for Better Transit-hastily thrown-together jumble ofprojects-exercise in piecemeal expediency-took money from state's farebox-
  • Opposition-not far enough, too much highways

November 1979

[edit]
  • The MTA was considering drastic cutbacks to address a $178 million deficit, with a guarantee to save the 50 cent fare until 1982, a 20 percent increased in costs, and the agency's worst deficits. There would be similarly drastic costs for the commuter rail lines. The plan released would be for the event in which no additional operating assistance was provided from the State and Federal governments. AA and CC service would be cut to save $4.6 million, the shuttle would be closed, 75 stops would close to save $9 million, the half-fare program would be eliminated to save $500,000, nearly 6,000 transit jobs would be cut, 80 administrative jobs would be cut to save $2.6 million, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle would be cut to save $1.6 million, Dyre Avenue service would be cut to save $1.9 million, platform conductors would be cut to save $6.9 million, hundreds of bus runs would be cut to save up to $60 million, Lexington Avenue express service would be cut to save $4.1 million, and maintenance would be cut in proportion with the cuts.; more
  • Escalator Grand Central-wouldn't work-despite $430,000 overhaul prior year
  • LIRR-17 unions-tough stances-rejected arbitration
  • 142 R46s out
  • Ravitch would continue as chairman of his real estate firm, with day-to-day operations in the hands of an executive director; tapped due to his success turning around the Urban Development Corporation
  • House panel approved trade-in $75 million transit
    • At the same time, New Jersey was given permission to take $40 million of a $53 million package that had been intended for improvement to the approaches to the Lincoln Tunnel and apply it instead to mass transit.
    • According to the office of another com mittee member, Representative James J. Howard, Democrat of Wall Township, N.J., the $53 million earmarked for New Jersey would have gone ‐toward the reconstruction and widening of Interstate 495, the main road leading to the Lincoln Tunnel.
    • Instead, $13 million would go toward the improvement of non‐interstate high ways and the rest to other projects.
    • The city had asked for a grant for highways and transit totaling $280 million, but Mayor Koch told the committee he was willing to compromise at $229.6 million, with one‐third going to transit.
    • The bill had been blocked in the House committee by members concerned over the precedent that such a trade‐in of highway funds for mass transit would establish.
    • These representatives, led by William H. Harsha, Republican of Ohio, and Bud Sinister, Republican of Pennsylvania, dropped their opposition after a provision was added declaring Congress’ intent never to allow it to be done again.
    • The deadlock was broken by pressure from 24 states whose own highway‐repair funds were being held up by the New York trade‐in bill.
    • The bill calls for the $229.6 million to be augmented by $40 million in state funds and divided into three parts — one third for repairs to the expressway, one third for mass transit and one third for capital projects, including bridge repairs and highway safety construction.
  • House trade-in approval-$27 million shaved off-addition $40 million state funds-; more
  • Project listing
    • New York Projects
      • S.I. ferry improvements $8,500,000
      • TV, Roosevelt Ave. Station 700,000
      • Yard security 2,000,000
      • Signs, 75 stations 3,000,000
      • TV surveillance, 145th St.Eighth Ave. 700,000
      • Welded rail, I RT to Hunts Point5,000,000
      • Welded rail, IND to Broadway Nassau 5,000,000
      • Signal modernization, New Lots to Sutter Ave. 13,200,000
      • 240th St. Barn rehabilitation 500,000
      • Substation enclosure, IRT‐BMT Empire Blvd., Brooklyn 700,000
      • Substation enclosure IRT concourse, 144th St., Bronx 1,700,000
      • Loop track, car wash, Coney Island 9,000,000
      • Substation equipment modernization,IRT Concourse, Bronx 2,700,000
      • Substation equipment modernization,IRT‐BMT, Flatbush‐Empire Blvd. 2,900,000
      • Radio data location system, buses 3,000,000
      • Engineering 9,800,000
      • Station modernization
        • Main St.‐Flushing 6,400,000
        • 179th Si‐Queens Blvd. 5,300,000
        • DeKalb Ave., Brooklyn 3,300,000
        • Pelham Bay Park, Bronx 3,800,000
        • 74th St.‐Roosevelt Ave., Queens 4,500;000
    • New Jersey Projects
      • Locomotive repairs, Raritan Valleyline $15,000,000
      • Track rehabilitation, North Jersey 11,000,000
      • New cars, Pascack rail line 3,700,000
      • Engineering, Newark subway improvement 2,000,000
      • Engineering and land acquisition, rail car Repair shops 4,000,000
      • Engineering, improved railroad stations and Commuter lines 2,000,000
  • Argument trade-in
    • Trade‐in means that Federal funds earmarked for Westway, the $1.4 billion superhighway and development project for Manhattan's Hudson River waterfront, can be shifted almost in toto to rejuvenation of New York's tottering bus and subway systems. Trade‐in would also allow for complete pier and highway rehabilitation that new plan only now emerging from the drawing boards would accomplish, but at a fraction of Westway's time and cost and without Westway's environmental damage.
    • Several cities including Boston, Philadelphia and Portland, Ore., have already benefited from such trade‐ins of Federal funds. Portland's former Mayor, Neil Goldschmidt, now Secretary of Transportation, is reportedly receptive to a similar request from New York. But, as he recently pointed out, a trade‐in for Westway “is not in front of us” because Mayor and Governor have not asked for it.
    • The new bond issue would eventually provide only 540 new or rehabilitated subway cars for New York City's lines. The City Planning Commission estimates that within the next decade, no fewer than 1,600 — three times as many — will be needed, and that 2,150 more will have to be rehabilitated.
    • The bond issue will generate no funds at all for buses; the Planning Commission says that at least $20 million annually for the next 10 years is essential for bus replacement.
    • “A New Direction in Transit,” a detailed study prepared by the Commission and Ross Sandler and David Schoenbrod of the Natural Resources Defense Council, is the definitive work on the city's mass‐transit problems. It sets an investment of $555 million annually for the next decade as “essential for rehabilitating the existing system” — three times current allocations.
    • Westway is also in deep trouble on another front. If the state's clean‐air plan, now being examined by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, is not approved — and the financing for it under the Governor's proposal is tenuous at best — the E.P.A. will have to cut off all Federal highway funds for New York, including Westway.
  • Extension half-fare to end of January-end helicopter surveillance commuter tracks-fund additional commuter service; also other discounts
  • State audit-save $1.575 end ticket sales at 60% of stations
  • TWU opposed closing booths at night
  • MTA fare warning expected
  • Deficit might kill 50-cent fare
  • Ravitch said that the over $200 million deficit through July 1981 might kill the 50-cent fare earlier than 1981-Governor Carey had promised to freeze the fare through 1981. Ravitch was expected to say that the budget gap could only be closed by a fare hike of at least 10 cents, new outside air, or taxes on gas and car purchases, cuts in service, or a combination of these measures. The operating deficit included an increase in spending of at least $40 million for needed maintenance on the bus and subway systems. The budget did not include funding for new labor contracts for the commuter railroads, the subway, and buses, which could increase the deficit by another $100 million. He made this announcement less than a week after taking control of the MTA. The MTA would have to make up $70 million in increased operational costs, with $40 million more needed to restore crucial maintenance programs cut during the financial crisis in 1974. For each 1 percent won by the TWU in its labor settlement in spring 1980, the deficit would increase by $10 million. Labor talks for the LIRR was underway, and would cost $4.5 million for each 1% increase. The Executive Director of the MTA, John Simpson had ordered the NYCTA, and the commuter rail divisions to prepare lists of services to be cut if the fare was frozen until January 1982, if funding remained at 1979 levels. However, cuts were expected to be less drastic. Ravitch said that reducing service by that much would "cripple the city" and that "there's no way productivity could take care of the deficit." Ravitch said that the only options would be a fare increase and a new tax dedicated for transit levied on private motorists, through an increased gas tax, a value-added tax on new cars, or an auto use tax.
  • The press conference held by Ravitch was expected to possible create a dilemma for Governor Carey, who promised maintaining the 50-cent fare through 1980 to get Mayor Ed Koch to support the Westway project. Koch had said in July 1979 that if the Carey would renege on his commitment and raise fares, there would be no Westway project. Carey also said any new taxes would have consequences on inflation. A spokesperson for the Governor had said that they had not heard of what Ravitch would speak about.
  • Governor Carey, following the press conference, said that the fare would remain at 50 cents through 1981, despite what Ravitch said. Ravitch ruled out any major cuts in service. Governor Carey had not yet decided whether the MTA's budget gap would be filled with increased state aid, new taxes on gas or car purchases, or other funding. Ravitch said that he would be willing to "take a strike before I put the entire burden on the users of the system" if there was an impasse in negotiations with the Transport Workers Union. Ravitch suggested a public debate in the coming two months before the MTA charted what it would do in terms of fares in January.
  • Governor-said fare remain at 50-cents-firm-
  • A Daily News editorial board piece on November 23 said that Ravitch, in his press conference, "was telling it like it is"
  • Opinion piece
    • Mr. Ravitch is taking full advantage of his honeymoon in office by asking himself and the public the right question: How shall the authority's perennial, growing operating deficit be eliminated?
    • Mr. Ravitch recognizes that his problem is not just meeting that deficit but matching the authority's income to its costs over a long period of years. The authority, under pressure to hold city fares to 50 cents, has been giving priority to finding one‐time infusions of cash. Such a policy for avoiding bankruptcy is itself bankrupt. Until operating costs are covered regularly by revenues and recurring subsidies, the M.T.A. cannot plan the modernization its surface and underground lines need so badly, or systematically replace its aging bus fleet.
    • The new chairman rightly distinguishes between his responsibility to diagnose the problems his agency faces and the public's duty to choose how it will pay solve them.
  • TWU head-Ravitch sought to provoke strike
  • LIRR fare hike suggested-Ravitch-last hike 1975-20% hike-commuter rail-$40 million-generate-
  • LIRR ridership
  • Bill-$270 million-save 50-cent fare-2% hike gas tax, diversion existing state taxes motor fuels, excess oil company profits

December 1979

[edit]
  • Ravitch said that there were four ways to address the deficit-increased subsidies from tax revenues, higher fares, service cuts, and increased productivity. He said that changes in productivity would not be nearly enough to have a significant impact on the deficit, noting that labor costs accounted for 85 percent of the MTA's operating budget. Ravitch said that increasing fares was "not an appropriate strategy", but a 10-cent increase could get the MTA $100 million, while a 20% fare hike on the commuter rail lines would get $40 million, increasing TBTA tolls from 75 cents to $1 would get $57 million, while adding tolls on the Harlem River and East River Bridges could double that amount. Ravitch said that keeping fares down encouraged ridership and helped employers and businesses. He also noted that the cost of transportation was a key part of the Consumer Price Index in New York, and that increases would fuel inflation and increase the cost of labor contracts that had cost-of-living allowances.
  • Talks resumed on December 3 to try to avoid a strike on the LIRR on December 8. The agreements between 17 unions and the LIRR expired on January 1, 1979. The LIRR did not move past a 2%-a-year increase in wages. The unions were split into two groups, with some demands as high as a 21% increase in one year.
  • The LIRR released a list of service cuts on December 3 to dramatize the effect of wage hikes if no additional money was found to pay for them. It included cuts of up to 23% of rush hour trains, and 58 daily trains to cover a 7% increase in wages, with 11 trains cut on the Babylon Branch, 7 on the Port Washington Branch, and 6 each on the Huntington and Long Beach Branches. The LIRR projected a $50 million deficit in 1980, not accounting for any wage increases. The MTA said it could pay for a 2%-a-year hike without additional subsidies or increasing fares by eliminating Sunday and off-peak half-fare programs, except for the handicapped and elderly. A 4.5% increase would require a reduction in car cleaning service and a 2.7% cut in service.; more
  • High cost accessibility
  • TWU boss-meet or exceed LIRR pact
  • 5 City Council members and 11 community groups created a coalition to save the 50-cent fare and prevent cuts in subway and bus service. They urged trading in funding allocated for Westway for mass transit, which could be up to $800 million.
  • TWU President John Lawe said he would try to mach or outdo the wage increases the LIRR would give to its workers.
  • Wage talks
  • The LIRR struck on December 8. The final offer from management was a three-year deal with a $1,250 lump sum in the first year, a 5% increase in the second year, and a 6% increase in the third.
  • Strike declared
  • Senator John D. Caemmerer said that the strike "could be a politically expedient scenario for the governor to allow this to happen to get him out of a difficult situation", referring his pledge to not increase fares through 1981.
  • Carter refusal mediation tied to subway talks
  • Unions different demands
  • Large price tag-LIRR-$33 million-2 years-last-minute settlement-if applied TWU-$210 million
  • UTU head quits rail talks
  • On December 14, President Carter ordered the LIRR's striking employees to head back to work for a 60-day cooling-off period following a 7-day strike. 10 unions representing LIRR employees had reached new 3-year contracts. The contracts had a me-too clause entitling them to additional concessions won by the other unionized employees, but the MTA said that this offer was at the margin of what it could afford. The increase over three years was 24.5%. The operating unions sought 34% over three years. That deal would add $65 million to MTA expenses.; more; continued
  • Chief TA operating officer endorsed CPC recommendation free bus-subway transfers Coney Island-prepared ask MTA board demonstration project if federal funds still available
  • Carter order
  • Tough labor talks
  • Bus system worst in country
  • Expert study-4 years-$1.2 million-transit delays often due to poor quality cars/buses
  • 100 R16s rejoin fleet

January 1980

[edit]
  • The MTA agreed to study the possibility of reducing the Cross Bay Bridge toll and improve subway service to the Rockaways.
  • The State Legislature would have to increase state aid by 38 percent to hold transit fares in the city and state at existing levels, and that was based on optimistic assumptions. $10 million was needed for the fiscal year ending March 31, with the statewide transit subsidy for the following year to be $204 million, up from $147 million. Funds would be distributed as part of a 60-40 match, so that the city would have to pay $90 million for NYC's $135 million in state aid.
  • The MTA held a series of public forums to discuss possible new taxes to balance its budget. Ravitch emphasized the need for a dedicated funding source for the agency instead of requiring on annual appropriations. MTA chairmen had sought this for a decade without any success. Governor Carey said that the MTA was a major problem in his State of the State address and expected to provide proposals to deal with the issue in February.
  • NYSDOT urged $10 million-avoid fare hike-immediate aid-minimum $58 million next fiscal year-state-matched $32 million local government
  • The MTA planned to hold a public hearing in February as it considered modifying, discontinuing, or making permanent reduced fare programs, including 24 hour half-fares for the elderly and handicapped, UniTicket, off-peak one-way fares and Sunday round-trip fares.
  • Hearing $20 million projects
  • The Federal panel recommended a 25% increase, which Ravitch said was too expensive-it was more than the $67 million offer that was on the table in December, but less than the $90.5 million they demanded.
  • Mayor Koch said that scare stories of subway crime waves were inaccurate.
  • Overcrowding-people leaving earlier-economic consequences-employers-
  • Buy bridges East River $1, tolls-save 50-cent fare-new bridge approaches-toll booths-cost $50-75 million
  • Civic leaders opposed car tax
  • NYPA exempted-MTA rate increase-force other customers subsidize-$18 million-city share $12 million
  • LIRR settlement issue-implication city/transit negotiations
  • Carter-$14.75 million aid 12.2% more-TA
  • Worst service in a decade-worse MDBF starting 1974-deferred maintenance-NYCTA-maintenance staff cut-1979-Bellamy measure at MTA Board-reinstitute regular maintenance program-$35 million-City OMB yet to approve

February 1980

[edit]
  • MTA lost on lease
  • In 1979, the frequency of subway breakdowns increased 21 percent, the worst in a decade. A NYCTA spokesman attributed it to five years of a deferred maintenance program by the city. The number of miles between delays decreased from 13,583 in 1977 to 12,439 in 1978, and 9,735 in 1979. The number of maintenance workers decreased even before the start of deferred maintenance. Staff dropped 32.7 percent, from 5,800 to 3,900 between 1971 and 1979.
  • Union calls urgent transit repairs; more
  • Joint talks called LIRR-CBC urge 10% gas tax, fare increase-MTA deficit-$250 million a year-60-65 cents-raise to-$100-150 million a year
  • MTA wants LIRR under Taylor Law
  • TWU leadership said that it would be very hard to avoid a strike on April 1. On February 4, 1980, they presented their opening demand for a 30 percent wage hike, greater than the 15 percent a year John Law, TWU Local 100 president, had said he would seek in the previous fall. It would cost the MTA $300 million a year. There would also be thirty other general demands. Ravitch had said that he would seek concessions on work rules and fringe issues to help cover the cost of the contract. Ravitch was holding public hearings to hear ideas for dealing with the transit deficits, and Governor Carey promised a "special message" to the State Legislature on how to fund mass transit.; more
  • Ravitch called the 30% figure "laughable". Ravitch said that if the MTA's revenue remained constant and depending on the results of labor talks, the subway and bus fare might have to rise over 50 percent.
  • Union demands
  • He also called the demands "grossly irresponsible". The TWU also demanded protection against cost-of-living rises, health, pension, and welfare improvements for current and retired workers in their pensions, a new holiday to celebrate the birthday of Michael J. Quill, the union's founding president. The TWU wanted the benefits included in a 21-month contract instead of a 2-year one. Lawe had said that the 30% increase was his "bottom line"
  • The MTA Board voted to make the LIRR a public-benefit corporation to prevent its employees from striking as they would be publicly employees and would be subject to the state's Taylor Law. Ravitch said legal steps to make the change would begin.; more
  • On February 6, Ravitch said that the MTA expected to decide whether it would raise fares within 60 to 90 days. Ravitch also said the MTA could no longer be held to the governor's commitment to electrify the upper Harlem Line due to the agency's large deficit. Recent MTA estimates for the cost of the project showed an increase from $45 million to $75 million. A decision on electrification would be reached by February 15. Ravitch said that the legislature gave the "MTA the responsibility to make the decisions", even though "the governor's opinion [was] a very important factor."
  • Fare decision within 60 days
  • Negotiations between union leaders representing LIRR workers and the MTA resumed to try to avoid a strike. Ravitch said that he could not go past a three-year deal of 7% a year, which had already been accepted by 10 nonoperating unions. The unions had a $90 million deal on the table, but privately said they were $3 million apart on a deal.
  • A Daily News editorial piece said that Ravitch, unlike his predecessor, was looking "for real solutions, not political escape hatches" The MTA was facing strikes on the LIRR and on the subways, deteriorating subway service, dangerous conditions due to deferred replacement of trackbeds and train cars, delayed capital spending, and a more than $200 million operating deficit.
  • LIRR unions optimistic
  • Carey aide predicts fare hike-
  • Brooklyn bus study
  • Contract talks for the LIRR went past the expiration date. They had a one-week strike in December, and a 60-day cool-off order pushed talks into February. The contract for LIRR workers in their old contract was much higher than city contracts. 2,000 LIRR workers who settled for a new contract with a 24.5 percent increase over three years. Mayor Koch said the city would not increase funding to the subway and buses to fund a higher contract with the unions. If 4,200 LIRR workers decided to strike, it could lead to ripple effects, impacting negotiations for the TWU contract, especially if it was not offered as much.
  • Lawe pressure-first 100 president without majority support--need to deal with inadequate contracts
  • Koch recommendations graffiti-free fares overnight
  • Ripple effect LIRR strike; more
  • On February 11, a federal mediator said progress was made on work-rule and fringe benefit issues in an attempt to avoid a LIRR strike.
  • LIRR talks resumed
  • The MTA, on February 11, demanded that subway and bus workers lose their paid lunch breaks, that night and weekend pay differentials be eliminated, and having drivers sweep out their own buses, among 41 demands of the TWU in a contract. John Lawe said that the changes would send the TWU's workers back to the dark ages, and said there would be no givebacks.
  • The MTA also demanded the ability to hire as many part-time employees as it saw fit, and combine the work of various job classifications. It also wanted to continue its attrition program to reduce the size of its work force, eliminate paid holidays on Lincoln and Washington's birthdays, and to provide no retirement benefits for employees who worked for the MTA for less than 30 years.
  • MTA counterdemands
  • MTA propose part-time workers-measures close $1 billion-
  • Court blocks strike
  • Hope on LIRR talks
  • Ravitch eased his position on February 14 on the $67 million package, but was worried about the ripple effect on the TWU contract. after a state judge signed an order temporarily blocking LIRR workers from striking.
  • The unions asked for a 26% increase over three years. Ravitch rejected that proposal, and the MTA increased its offer, leaving a $2.2 million gap. The offer was
  • Protest disabled; more
  • Strike issue returns to court; more
  • A nonprofit business group, the Economic Development Council of NYC found that TA employees lost more spending power over the previous 4 years, but that their raises were far greater than the rate of inflation since 1965. Between 1965 and 1979, compensation including retirement costs, wages, and fringe benefits, increased 204 percent for TA employees while the consumer price index increased 127 percent.
  • The 10 discounted fare programs were scheduled to expire on April 30. Eliminating the programs were estimated to save more than $25 million a year.
  • National president of the TWU William Lindler said it was a foregone conclusion that the 50-cent fare would go. Some of Governor Carey's advisers said they saw no way to balance the MTA's budget without increasing fares as part of a bailout plan.
  • Ravitch, on February 17, said he couldn't afford to give 35,000 transit workers a raise comparable to that won by the LIRR unions, saying that some subway and bus employees, such as token clerks, were overpaid.
  • Governor Carey planned on informing legislators that major tax increases would be needed to save the 50 cent fare.; more
  • On February 20, Governor Carey proposed a financing plan for transit, including a 2 percent tax on oil company sales of products except residential heating fuel, raising the gas tax from 8 cents a gallon to 8 percent, an additional two percent gas tax in the NYC metropolitan area, and local measures, including bridge and toll hikes, reduced discounts, and higher LIRR fares. He insisted that the 50 cent fare would be preserved. When the chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Commission noted that the Governor's the program would not come close to meeting the MTA's needs, Ravitch said that that was correct. The head of the State Transportation Committee, John Cammerer said the proposal was anti-suburban, and would require drivers to pay more to subsidize transit for city residents who did not drive. Carey's proposal for an oil company tax was inserted at the last minute in place of a one-year car registration surcharge, followed by an annual tax on vehicles. The oil tax would get $160 million, the change in the gas tax would get $46 million in the first year, the gas tax for the NYC region would get $62 million, and there would be a $22 million budget reserve for transit. This would leave the MTA $110 short of its request for $331 million ($79 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, and $252 million for the following year). The Governor's plan would produce $290 million, of which $221 million would go to the MTA. The remainder would require local initiatives, including toll hikes, and imposing tolls on free East River Bridges, which could disqualify them from major federal rehabilitation aid, but would yield $40 million. A 25 cent hike on all TBTA tolls except the Verrazano Bridge would yield $40 million. Eliminating fare discounts would get $40 million. An aide to Carey said the state could save $30 million through changes in work rules during ongoing contract negotiations. An increase in fares would be another option to fill in the gap-Governor Carey was open to increasing LIRR fares. The proposal was unpopular for increasing taxes when the state was cutting them, as it did not spell out how the MTA deficit would be dealt with, it hit suburban residents the hardest, and avoided fare increases in New York City.; more; continued
  • Ravitch-difficult decisions ahead-yearly $1 billion investment needed-more than $250 million currently spent
  • Opposition plan-not enough save fare; MTA taxes not enough
  • Windfall tax profits oil companies-Congress-shortchanging transit-15%-$34 billion-transit-Moynihan agued for 20%-subsidies systems already in operation-
  • Board members forecasted rise fair-10-25 cents-from 50 cents-20-50%-commuter railroads-4 months-neglect-increase operating costs-unknown fate-transportation tax package-Carey-elimination special fares-save $40 million-raise TBTA tolls-25 cents-$50 million-raise commuter rail 20%-add $45 million
  • The estimated increase in the 1980 deficit from $200 million to $331 was attributed to a wage settlement with some LIRR unions and increased maintenance and fuel costs.
  • The MTA said it would need a new revenue source by May. The Legislature was reluctant to increase taxes in an election year.; more
  • "Fisher is a wonderfully skillful pol, which is to say he is more chiropractor than orthopedist. Fisher gave massages, making the pain go away for a day. Ravitch, who is less political, seeks fundamental cures."
  • On February 25, the LIRR won a legal battle to bring its 6,200 workers under the Taylor Law, preventing them from going on strike. The dispute was sent back to state Supreme Court.; more
  • Ready to pick mediators
  • Unrealistic planning/poor economic forecasting-failure new routes program-Controller-didn't anticipate same failures 1979 bond failure-
  • TA behind on purchase/design 540 new/rebuilt cars-Regan audit-inexact cost estimates, internal disputes feasibility rehab program-timing differences receipt new cars-first cars arrive summer 1982-280-rebuilit B Division cars-still stickling first delivery July 1982-January 1980-TA not decided perform modernization own shops/hire outside contractor-one authority official-questioned whether rehabilitation feasible-TA committee recommended new cars, not rebuild-TA officials declined recommendation-$10 million set aside from state Capital Construction Fund start design work-moment bond issue passed-project already 3 months delayed

March 1980

[edit]
  • Mediators named
  • Tough bargaining
  • Police, sanitation workers, and NYCTA workers all threatened to go on strike in June
  • Closing the Rockaway Line was on the MTA's hit list
  • In March 1980, legislative leaders from both parties said it was a political necessity to postpone action to address the MTA's deficit until after Election Day in November. Ravitch said the system would run out of cash within a few months. A Federal Judge ruled that LIRR trainmen are not covered by the state's Taylor Law. He enjoined the UTU from striking while the MTA appealed his decision. The Senate Majority Leader's spokesperson suggested that the Legislature come up with a $72 million stopgap appropriation to cover a few months.
  • Opinion-Times-courageous Carey-fair and reasonable-NYC area-special 2% surcharge- gas and diesel-change 8-cent statewide gas tax to 8%-keep up with inflation-replace unproductive franchise tax on oil company operation with a 2% levy-more revenue as receipts increase-more than 2/3 revenue MTA-more than $200 first year, toll increase, fare increase the rest-criticizes legislature
  • Ravitch said that the package was not enough to stop a fare hike.
  • Ravitch was disappointed that the Federal government did not absorb some of the deficit-the Feds agreed to change a formula to adjust for the number of miles that transit vehicles cover instead of based on population, which would help the MTA in 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985. He said he was considering the possible trade in of Westway funds.
  • On March 7, Mayor Koch said he would withdraw his support for Westway if Governor Carey did not use state funds to keep the 50 cent fare.
  • New federal aid formula-more NY-$35 million more-notforthcoming until budget year starts 10/1/1981-not as much as was hoped
  • TWU-pushed to strike
  • Door problems
  • Top negotiators warn strike
  • Assemblymember lease-financing opinion suggestion
  • US Transportation Secretary Neil Goldschmidt was taken on a tour of the subway and bus systems at the invitation of Ravitch. He had not expected the find the yard, with sinking tracks and a falling roof, in such bad shape. NYCT served 35 percent of the country's transit riders, but the MTA only received 8 percent of Federal aid.
  • Governor Carey said that his ability to keep the fare at 50 cents was contingent on finding new ways to pay for the transit system.
  • On March 10, the national president of the TWU said that the MTA should settle it contract with bus and subway workers and find the money to pay for it later.
  • Carey denounced Senate piecemeal solution; more-rap at Carey-Goldschmidt-50-cent fare
  • Federal cuts could affect transit-NYC
  • Agreement temporary solution-Assembly/Senate $110 million-temporary-$105 million MTA--possibility-later agreement fund deferred maintenance
  • At the MTA Board meeting on March 14, the MTA took its first step towards a fare increase. Ravitch said that any financing plan had to enough money to properly maintain the system, meaning no more delays to maintenance. The MTA Board voted to eliminate most discount fares on March 30, including weekend half-fare rides and morning rush hour discounts for senior citizens. It also announced that the MTA would study imposing tolls on toll-free bridges in the metropolitan area, and would hold public hearings for fare increases from 10 to 50 percent for subways, buses, and the LIRR in May, and in April to raise tolls by 25 cents on all bridges except the Verrazanno. The MTA planned to budget up to $100 million for postponed subway and bus maintenance. Ravitch said that the cuts in discounts would increase revenues by $42 million annually, while the toll hikes would add $40 million. A 10-cent subway fare hike would add $100 million, while a 20 percent fare increase on commuter lines. Ravitch said that since it took time to set up toll or fare increases, it made sense to start the process. Ravitch said "We decided to go this route because this board does not want and will not accept service reductions and continued deferred maintenance." The $100 million for improvements would cover a speed-up of the track repair and rail welding program, overhauling of switching and signal systems, improved maintenance practices in bus depots, and the rehabilitation of subway cars and the fleet.
  • Voted cut half fare-start $100 million deferred maintenance--order date public hearing toll increase, study toll-free bridges, start EIS fare increase-"refusing to order hearings-service cutbacks-"We wanted to let everyone know we mean what we say and we say what we mean....It has become abundantly clear to us that the problems of the M.T.A. system are real and have been ducked for too long."-$100 million preventative maintenance-key component $331 million deficit-elimination of off-peak hour one-way reduced fares $13 million, commuter RR half-fares $2 million, Sunday half-fares $21 million, half-fare elderly $6 million-ordered preventative maintenance-despite realization funds might not actually be present-believed appropriate level-3 categories preventative maintenance-reconditioning of buses, rehabilitation of subway cars, removal of graffiti from subway cars and repainting with graffiti-proof paint, improvements of other facilities, including maintenance
  • On March 19, Theodore Kheel warned that a citywide bus and subway strike was inevitable on April 1.; more
  • LIRR pact advised by April 1
  • TWU usually bargain secret-laid case 30% raise to press-how far behind transit workers-than LIRR/other cities, -TA senior executive officer said other cities cited had blundered-agreeing to increase directly tied to cost of living
  • Ravitch sent letters warning workers that they would face major penalties and could lose their jobs if they went on strike, in violation of the Taylor Law.
  • Strike would be long-longer than 12 days
  • The MTA was on the verge of missing March 20th's payroll until Mayor Koch's administration agreed to provide $20 million due to the NYCTA's precarious finances. The State Legislature failed to act on an additional $15.5 million from the state budget to cover the year's deficit. The NYCTA first missed an electric bill to the State Power Authority, but later paid the money plus an $100,000 penalty. Koch's budget director agreed to advance a $20 million payment that usually would not have been due until June to cover the MTA's $2.2 million a day payroll-the payroll needs were estimated to come up to $12.2 million.
  • The LIRR car maintainers union voted to strike if an acceptable contract was not reached.
  • On March 24, negotiators at NYCTA said that workers would have to give up some of their fringe benefits if they wanted wage increases. Koch endorsed a 2.5% tax on the value of motor vehicles to raise $130 million to fill the gap in the governor's plan. Ravitch said that with the legislative package being stalled, money for wage increases would have to come out of increased productivity and work rule changes.
  • $20M bailout mayor approves -meet payroll
  • High OT bus workers
  • Modest increases could be covered by eliminating onerous work rules, increased productivity-industrial engineering study-productive time employees spent on work as low as 42-46 % of contractually available time in two major shops-car maintenance department at 207th Street shop-29%-2 hours a day
  • Walkout, fare increase likely
  • Stepped up labor talks
  • Some progress transit talks
  • Factors more than doubled NYCTA deficit- last quarter TA present fiscal year ending June 30-personnel costs-mostly unanticipated OT-rise more than $10 million; outside purchases-mostly fuel/energy-up $15 million; cash-flow adjustments rise $8 million over January predictions-next fiscal year-personnel costs rise $40 million before any union settlement-outside purchases rise $90 million-projections January-two months earlier-fuel/power costs relatively stable 1966-1980-8% operating costs, expected to rise to 11% next fiscal year-shut down Indian Point nuclear generating plant-unanticipated extra power bill-$19 million-price of copper almost doubled two years-deficit expected to be $24.4 million current fiscal year instead of $11 million projected in January-$194.8 million FY ending June 30, 1981 instead of $87.2 million-aside any contract settlement-still-without knowing funding source-MTA Board reinstituted preventative maintenance-between January and March-OT caused by the need to inspect carriage cracks on defective R46s and increased breakdowns of buses and subway cars added $10.2 million deficit-expected increase $39.2 million FY1981
  • Transit workers shout strike approval
  • MTA gets court order forbidding a strike
  • LIRR talks held up over work rules
  • Talks stepped up; wage offer may be less than 30%
  • Criticism end fare discounts
  • MTA's offer 3.5% annual increase-far below union
  • LIRR wage negotiations to start

April 1980

[edit]
  • LIRR strike would be legal
  • January-study released-operating performance lowest-level decade-breakdowns increased 21% in 1979-MDBF decline-NYCTA-cited deferred maintenance since 1974-
  • Leaders both parties State Senate-might postpone-sensitive decision-raise money MTA-instead of larger action proposed-Carey-Carey cited $331 million deficit previous month-new taxes-gas/petroleum; Ravitch-temporary solution could endanger 50-cent fare-said Governor's plan also didn't guarantee fares-Senate leader-temporary $94 million-until November-cannot plan long term-delay surprise Assembly-
  • Prepared major bargaining effort-signs subtle progress
  • Productivity main issue-82% cost salaries, wages, fringe benefits-authority believed 60-75% good productive figure
  • TWU Board-demand cut 15%
  • LIRR unions said to stay on job
  • LIRR union bid rejected
  • Direct talks
  • Progress LIRR talks
  • Mediator hopeful transit pact
  • Cracks increase more subway car trucks-almost doubled last year-1,700 cracks-889 by February 1979-cost $200,000 restored 100 older R16s, expenditure $250,000 design work replacement trucks
  • Tentative strike agreement, Koch objects to 20% raise LIRR pact; 17%-with COLA-20% raise-9% first year, 8% second-$270 million 2 years-productivity/cost savings offset $90 million of that
  • Koch-city deserved a better settlement
  • Ravitch sees fare increase 10-15 cents without state action
  • How pact won
  • Foot in the door-productivity improvements-1978 little serious discussion-givebacks-ineffectual series of union-management productivity committees-by 180-103 different changes demanded by MTA-only a handful in final agreement-skilled workers idle-wait start their specific task-overnight work
  • Calculations savings bus/subway schedules
  • Senate majority leader Anderson-said possible legislative hearings on effects of transit settlement-transit problem-generally agreed-wait until budget situation resolved
  • Draft Federal report-potential safety problems R46-in response NYCTA-cut use of cars nearly in half
  • Dissident's writ new TWU vote
  • No new early productivity saving-Ravitch-previous week had said savings $40 million previous week-cannot measure with precision-PCAC report-% of subway cars operating behind schedule increased 47.4% in 1979 over 1978-number of trains abandoned en route increased 23.4%-from 14,230 to 17,560 trains-trains delayed maintenance productivity-up 35%-16,000 in 1978 to 21,000 1979
  • Agree would be savings-deficit MTA $331 million
  • Riders confused about settlement
  • MTA Board refused TBTA union contract, deferred contract-MSBA-lack of productivity improvements
  • Ravitch-prediction-75 cent fare without action by July-union rejected board LIRR-settlement-Carey-package-2% gas tax-MTA region-at least hold fare through end fo year-Ravitch-doubt hold fare even if entire $290 million package adopted-Ravitch-some legislative leaders-believed 10-cent increase proposed to coax the Legislature to act
  • Carey-heat Washington-$35 million operating subsidies-not appropriated-but appropved
  • Dissidents trying to defeat TWU pact
  • Higher LIRR fares-end discounts May 1
  • MTA proposes 5 to 25 cent increase subway/bus fares-monthly bus ticket studied-10 to 50% increase Conrail, LIRR-elimination/modification transfer discounts, permission free transfers-fares restructured mileage-Simpson favored elimination JFK Express-deficit more than $2 million/year-experimental program $1.3 million-transfers subways/buses; more

May 1980

[edit]
  • 50% fare rise-lose as many as 225.8 million fares a year-1.39% increase car use-summary EIS-summary warned any service cutback would lead to an even sharper ridership decrease-need at least $398 million state aid-50% increase fares, as much as $345.85 million revenue-10% increase-5-cent increase transit fare-as much as $79.1 million; more
  • MTA-fare rise vital for commuter- rail service-comparison Contrail/LIRR fares-deficit $57.5 million rail lines-most money-improved service
  • Elders anger end fare discount
  • Key legislators predict fare increase
  • Commuters return old habits-after strike
  • NJ turn in 35 miles Interstate highways-rail construction projects, existing highways-$378 million, had turned in I-495 Hudson County-$61.7 million
  • Times opinion-trade-in iffy
  • Strike summary
  • Bellamy-citing large increase breakdowns subway-immediate restoration of subway overhaul program-repairs-lengthen average lives 35-43 years-capital investment-could be raised bond sales-30 maintenance programs eliminated since 1975-proposal overhauls every 180,000 miles, about every 4 years
  • Ravitch warned fare rise-25 cents July 1, another 25 cents early next year-1981-$450 million deficit
  • Carey-fare plan keeps 50 cents-only one year; Carey revises estimate fares-due to indication-Legislature-wanted to deal one year at a time-Fink said lie-Anderson opposition new taxes-two-year deficit $930 million-Carey wanted a surcharge on car registration-dropped resistance Democratic legislative leaders-Fink revised plan-change calculate gas tax-continuing instead corporate franchise tax on oil companies-same amount-state prepared to forgive $79 million gave the MTA station maintenance-one-time; NYC's $43 million contribution capital needs-not certain past following year-planned increase tolls-might be used pay off bonds MTA capital program-unavailable help ease operating deficit
  • PCAC-A late runs increased 254% 1978-1980, lateness subway increased 61%, OTP dropped 97.2% to 95.5%
  • Bridge tolls-increased to as much as $1-from 75 cents-major bridges-except Verrazano-Narrows-already $1, 50 to 75 cents-Cross Bay and Marine Parkway, 50 to 60 cents-Henry Hudson Bridge-generate $33 million/year-toward reducing deficit-Board permanent status JFK Express-overruled Simpson-$2.5 million deficit-established reduced toll program Rockaway/Broad Channel residents; more
  • Criticism Hudson hike
  • Penalty strike stand
  • Hikes tolls approved
  • Revised figure-deficit current fiscal year $388.6 million-$57 million higher February-includes cost transit strike and station maintenance expenses, and new tolls, elimination half fares-increasing deficits $449 million, $632 million, $770 million-next 3 years
  • Federal report subway car defects-could be fatal-4 dangerous conditions-already cost $11 million temporary repairs-once design work new undercarriage begin-take 36 months receive them whole fleet
  • 25-cent transit increase, 20% rails-increase car/taxi use CBD-12%-PCAC
  • Times opinion-higher fares and taxes
  • Night patrols reduced-cutbacks
  • Aid or 75-cent fare

June 1980

[edit]
  • Grumman buses-defects-UMTA
  • No progress sway-Anderson-act address MTA-prepared to adjourn without transit money
  • Carey weighing 60-cent fare-overcome legislature's objection taxes-didn't want to make concession unless sure Senate accept part of plan-only part might accept-legislators-2% tax gross receipts of oil companies-$235 million; more
  • GOP rejects Carey plan-Anderson not accept any of plan-GOP set announce own subsidy plan-increase MTA's financing from existing revenue-forgive $100 million MTA owed state-require fare increase-GOP aides-acceptance fare increase condition Senate consider-oil company tax increase-GOP said no new taxes-Ravitch-$100 million-only used for commuter lines-rejection-caught Carey administration by surprise; more
  • Carey willing to take blame fare hike
  • JFK Express-$2.5 million-yearly deficit-board members-needed-link airport
  • GOP proposal-so many conditions-no program at all-Dems-included 2% tax oil company receipts, tax contingent change Federal regulations-prohibit tax pass along to consumers and self-destruct if courts struck it down-Anderson-$90 million more state subsidies around the state, forgiveness MTA debts to state-$86-100 million-Carey not enough money for that-chance change Federal regulation slim-shift blame fare increase to Washington-shift Anderson position-other GOP Senators-don't want to be blamed fare increase-Ravitch-mixed reaction-good Senate-realizes should be separate revenue stream, bad not sure preconditions can be fulfilled
  • MTA Finance committee recommends end student half fares-save $18 million annually; more
  • Governor-lot to lose fare increase, little tax package-legislators-up reelection-neither party wanted additional taxes drivers-soaring gas prices-election-suburban district reps MTA-hard time swallowing package-perceived primarily saving NYC transit fares-GOP Republicans-most session-insist Carey-hundreds millions-surplus cash-focus self-preservation-politics of transit fares
  • Congress-measure allow fast transit JFK-airport trust funds
  • New Democratic proposal-negotiations-Senate-passed own version tax oil companies-unaccceptable-Dems-hopeful agreement-Carey-special session if not resolved before Senate recesses-Carey offered new Democratic plan limit possibility oil tax passed consumers-GOP wanted written assurance Feds-could not be passed-Dems-allow tax go into effect, repeal automatically if beyond state's power-criticized GOP
  • Status-June 11-bill
  • Deal near
  • Oil tax pushed
  • Passes Senate
  • Tentative MTA aid pact-fare rise to 60 cents-$235 million-tax oil companies-not passed to riders-$200 million for MTA-revision-GOP demanded tax not go into effect until assurance Feds could not be passed onto consumers; more
  • Deal reached
  • Legislative approval-hold fare for a year-small surplus-LIRR-total package $357.1 million state transportation, mostly MTA-10-cent increase, 20% commuter rail-allow maintenance, improvements-held hostage for 10-cents-GOP-no deal unless acknowledged increase-Ravitch-would refuse any plan force defer maintenance longer-Koch-increase regrettable-$200 oil tax MTA, $100 million forgiveness loan, $15.5 million-state's share 1978 NYCTA labor settlement, $1.6 million LIRR freight service, $5 million private bus lines and upstate transportation, Legislature limited contribution local governments had to make to the MTA to 1977 levels-cost it $14.6 million
  • Anti-noise
  • Monthly bus tickets looked at-another fare hike-Carey insisted-tax package enough if subway/bus maintenance still deferred
  • Operating budget restores $67 million critical inspection/repair programs
  • Ravitch endorses 60-cent fare, free transfers all buses, $25 monthly bus pass, 7-45% increase commuter rail, sufficient gap deficit-10-cent increase $110 million-table of fare increases
  • Carey signs transit bill-hopes 60 cent fare through July 1981
  • 60-cent fare a few days ahead of schedule-additional $650,000 revenue
  • Vote student half-fare
  • Carol Bellamy-op-ed monthly passes
  • EPA likely block state Clean Air Plan-could affect road subsidies-$805 million 6-year plan Carey proposed-integral part plan not carried out-Federal money-transportation-element clean air plant-criticized state not consider trade-in Westway-plan submitted NY-Governor/Mayor committed 50-cent fare-state only received $8 million Federal aid toward $805 million-plan called for Feds to come up with $106 million-first year
  • Senate authorized $24.8 billion Federal aid urban transit-estimated $1.7 billion NYC
  • State Air Plan blocked-City allocated $107 million transit capital FY1981 up $68 million-existing budget-Regional EPA administrator Warren-real capital needs public transit 9-county metro area closer to $800 million/year than $427 million estimated state air quality plan submitted May 1979-acceptable program submitted to Mayor by DCP December 1978 saw annual need $553 million NYC-inflation raise $721 million-MTA estimating $800 million needed-Warren-money could from trade-in-1973 EPA approved NY plan East River/Harlem River tolls-state withdrew plan 1977-allowed delay from 1982 to 1987-achieving air quality standards transportation-more rapid replacement subway cars, signals, buses, AC, increased safety-not adequately addressed state report-Carey said concern mass transit demonstrated programs past 2 years-more than $1.6 billion to public transit over 6 years; more
  • Fare increase, reconstruction section Lenox-begin fall-2.5 years-invert-$24.4 million Federal grant; more
  • Fare increase approved-first since 1975-complete revision commuter rail fares-unlimited pass city buses approved in principle-concern-counterfeited-plan to MTA Board-requirement NY-CT fares ICC-much lower fares until August-buy fares to Greenwich; more
  • Statements 50-cent fare
  • Rationalize transit fares-innovative-combine first monthly passes-express buses-return free bus transfers-restructuring commuter rail fares-conservative NYC-compared other areas-computerized-some MTA officials believed free bus-subway transfers/monthly fare card cost system-revenue without any real ridership increase to offset loss-first effort treat entire MTA system as one network-Ravitch-for years-system added only chaos to inefficiency-some transit officials-more changes-one or other curtailed/eliminated-bus/subways prallels-bus routes-wipe out congestion heavily trafficked areas, end elevated lines outer boroughs-coordinated with bus-subway transfers monthly fare card
  • Debate bus passes
  • Old/new commuter fares

July 1980

[edit]
  • Money from LIE trade-in not in yet-MTA yet to spend $1 billion authorized capital funds
  • Unless new revenue-fares have to increase from 60 to 75 cents-commuter rail fares-20-25 percent or more-exact depth of problems-unclear-complexity/unreliability revenue sources-first revenues-oil tax-not until October-interim state advance MTA estimates of revenues-tax revenues could suffer if the recession deepened, if gas prices increased/gas use declined; MTA budget had been increasing 7-10% each year-new programs preventative maintenance-faster than in past 5-10 years-growth-oil tax-only 10% of MTA income-have to grow 70-100% cover next year's budget increases-none new maintenance programs begun-true impact-labor costs-not evaluated-productivity gains-unclear-MTA officials-ways fill gap-state tax reflect increase inflation rate-car registration tax-Carey-might be easier after November elections-new national formula considered Congress mass transit-job market uncertainty
  • Feds-$118.5 million Federal awards-city-229 new Grumman buses-$30.5 million-expected grant-$72.9 million-rehab maintenance facilities, power substations, communications equipment, maintenance facilities, $15.2 million-design/engineering costs future improvements-most funding-maintaining existing facilities, as requested by Koch administration-Secretary Goldschmidt-criticized earlier city administrations-gone after sexy stuff while allowing existing facilities to deteriorate; more
  • No progress-productivity-despite contract-blame each other-no gains at least 2 months-subway/bus conditions continue to deteriorate-MTA-traced to a legacy of inefficiency-TA-per Lawe-failed to put into effect many of productivity changes entitled to impose without union's agreements, like bus/subway workers' schedules-sides turn binding arbitrator-if no agreement within a month-$30 million of year's $40 million savings-employees' making productive use of 20 minutes of time-later MTA Board said only $15 this year-TA officials said-condition system continued decline-since new agreement-MDBF-from May 1979 to May 1980-from 6,305 to 4,332-trains taken out height of rush hour-Monday-174 scheduled trains unable to leave terminals-service problems, 117 others abandoned en route-no recent improvement-riders complain-retrofitted A/C-more and more disabled abandoned buses
  • TA dump toxicwaste city waters; more
  • EPA regional administrator-letter to editor-NYS plan-$427 million/year vs. CPC/MTA estimate $800 million-EPA point out discrepancies state to explain them-NY not singled out
  • Begin painting insides subway cars-graffiti-205 recently hired cleaners-$5.1 million-next year; more
  • Monthly bus pass; deferred-cost too high
  • A/C not working
  • Work break cut without Union agreement-20 minutes-many schedule changes-decision made-weeks talks failed to produce agreement where 20 minutes found-eliminate schedule changes, washup times, coffee-break times, more extensive changes September-bus/subway schedule changes-riders-no results cut-officials-hope-especially afterSeptember-no bus/subway train fail leave terminal for lack of driver/train operator-turnaround/reporting time cut substantially-maintenance workers affected as well-discussions-unions contended-intended changes only shop and maintenance workers-not surface transit workers-attorney ATU-predicted slowdown-expected union request binding arbitration-Union-hard positions on every MTA proposal

August 1980

[edit]
  • MTA tells union-how work breaks cut-come from lunches-20 minutes of 30 minute lunches-considered unpaid, not productive time-maintenance workers-coffee breaks-cut by 5 minutes, pre-launch washup by 5 minutes, end of tour washup 10 minutes, some workers-schedules change turn period into productive work time-take effect August 18-TWU stung successful refusal all municipal unions give back benefits in their labor talks
  • Alternatives to SIRTOA considered-Berger-questioned wisdom running it-parallel bus service-both lose money-survey AC-refuted TA contention 90% AC cars cool-only 59% survey-Carol Greitzer
  • Firemen denied subway car keys-R44s/R46s-fear hands of vandals fires increased 300 June 1977 to 653 June 1980-most track fires;
  • Fewer commuter rail inspections-take advantage more lenient Federal rules-free passes managerial employees/families
  • MTA board vote seek $300,000 federal funds-test subway fare system-monthly pass cards; more
  • TWU criticism-rule change-break time
  • Ravitch-op-ed Daily News-transit essential- economy-most dissatisfied service-transit suffer neglect-stopped spending money-capital equipment-disrepair-by time government inherited them-further neglect-fiscal crisis-municipal freeze hiring-limited the TA's ability to obtain skilled personnel-intolerably long procedures-capital expenditures-often-single purchase-approval-state, city, and federal agencies-additional time-negotiate-minority business groups, own employees, environmental groups-initial idea-prevent profligate expenditures-public funds-projects taking 1-2 years longer than they should-MTA-underfinanced-never received resources for the hob-decline of NYC's private economy, public's preference for car, preoccupation of governmental agencies in the field of health/welfare-very little constituency for needs of mass transit-riding public vents at MTA instead of joining with MTA-get more federal funds-reasons optimism-transportation bond issue-federal grants-greater past, still inadequate, city again using capital budgets help restore system-decisions take months/years to be realized-improvements-3 years rolling stock-before seen on tracks-pendulum swinging back-increasing support transit-asking public support
  • July 1-reinstituted policy-routine maintenance, trackmen again inspecting and replacing track-before serious problems set in-decision-made last spring-part of routine program-127 people hired-begin training August 25-largest group hired since 1974-join 1,476 force of trackmen-work 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.-reduced trash collection schedules recent years-trash allowed to pile up-increased number of fires-TA said refuse collection was increased-1 TA trackman, at least one employee hired by a contractor killed this year-lesser hazards-324 reported injuries 1979-statistics fatalities/injuries of contractors' employees-5% of work force-not tabulated, or illnesses from steel dust
  • Way detecting overheating
  • TA admits oil drains
  • New formula-Congress-Federal operating assistance-could mean $60 million-NYC area-Senate-no change House-from population density to number of bus/rail routes maintained-MTA-currently received 14% all mass-transit operating subsidies-still only receive 20%-undetermined MTA portion of $59 million-small-$400 million deficit next fiscal year-John Simpson-oppose formula-cap how much money NY allocated-no transit system could receive more than 45% of subway fund authorization no matter service-based formula might suggest-only one system-NY has more than 45% of rail revenue miles-political-otherwise be NYC bailout package
  • Koch calls dogs graffiti
  • City no more funding-transit; Ravitch-said ask Legislature-increase bonding power TBTA-similar request-died last session-Koch-new funds-rehab, not new routes-system-large increase capital funds-$290 million-last year-$858 million-much transportation bondissue-$40 million extra city-$500 million rehab; $358 million construction new lines-next year-fall back $361 million-no more than city's $106 million
  • Student half-fares restored
  • Moynihan Westway clean air fight

September 1980

[edit]

October 1980

[edit]

November 1980

[edit]
  • Westchester bus/rail fare cuts
  • NYCTA announcement-called subway service state-a crisis-fewer off-peak trains and far reaches system-cope equipment shortage-in case of breakdowns-2-3 trains each line-recently reserve-used heaviest ridership sections-stop-gap-described a series of operational problems-meeting-lack of skilled maintenance workers, vandalism outbreak, two most pressing issues-shortage skilled personnel, lack maintenance shop facilities-aggravated more intense inspections/repairs for the R46s-175 road car inspectors-created to trouble-shoot repairs overnight-completed training-125 assigned IRT-TA-insufficient address more serious maintenance problems-years of postponed maintenance-effects deferral critical past three months-operating 55 trains short of 600 for full service-gap train program-plan completed net week-expected worsen winter conditions-maintenance more difficult-longer-range solution-new equipment into service-realistically 3 years before improvements-July-revived routine inspections subway tracks, hired 127 trackmen; won't get better for at least 3 years-20,000 hours OT a week-keep system going-nearly 1/3 city's cars out of service every day-short 79 trains a day-6-page memo--precipitous decline-especially-peak hours-OTP rush hour rom 94% 1978 to 80%-dead motor problems doubled since 1977-1978-NYCTA reduced voltage system save energy-burned out manymotors-will return full voltage-changeover take 4 months
  • TA Operating committee-specifications approved 300 R62s
  • Coney Island transfer
  • MTA Board approved purchase 300 new cars $190 million-paid TBTA bonds-first additions to IRT fleet since 1964-won't enter service until January 1984-board tabled approval TA $885 million 1981 budget-request $84 million replace-R46s-uncertainty suitover R46s, budget approval put off a month-approve $245,000 continue crack inspection program through January 16,1981
  • Wait make final plans R62 interiors-14 fewer seats-currentcars-go ahead contract specifications-not delay-plan get in service September 1982
  • Simpson-named TA head; shift of power to agencies
  • Ravitch subway tour-reporter/photographer-nothing surprising-poor state
  • Survey-riders-most concerned about being on time
  • Month-long slowdown with Subway-Surface Supervisors Association ended-agreement-3,200 workers-22-month contract-essentially same package TWU; more
  • The Tunnel to Nowhere-Ravitch-no devil here-different time-unspoken assumption-world full of unlimited resources-new subways, new universities-began to lose population-mistake-hindsight-losing private jobs-should have realized impact use of services
  • Story-people giving up on subway
  • Koch-Westway-Deputy Mayor Wagner report
  • Trial defective R46s; lemons
  • RPA report-more than $1.4 billion available subway/bus not used poor public policy decisions-bureaucratic delays-pointed out administrative weaknesses-MTA-misleading-much of money-committed projects still in progress-other funds held up anticipating matching Federal funds-another report-Carol Bellamy-criticized cost overruns projects funded $500 million state transportation bond issue-particular WSY LIRR, improvement Harmon maintenance yard-Conrail-60 and 105%-calls into question basis original estimates-voters-RPA report-1967 transportation bond issue-initial schedule followed $600 million new subways-completed SAS, Queens lines -3 years ago-recommendations-making NYCTA independent of NYC-city government-currently had to approve all construction/rehabilitation projects-report-agency would require decade-$5 billion rehabilitation, $4 billion-new construction; $600 million bought 1967-now cost $1.7 billion-$200 million 1967 unspent-$427 million-uncommitted rehabilitation; $179 million-uncommitted construction-$600 million-committed, unspent-rehab and construction
  • 21-page RPA study; Ronan testimony R46s
  • City officials angry-report-RPA-Carol Bellamy-did not account reforms made spending process last year-ignored devastating shortfall-funds available to the system-none of money could be used for subway cars/station improvements; report-even if Westway sacrificed by a transfer of highway funds-money probably dissolve-MTA board member-MTA's capacity to spend-not an issue; hailed imminment abolition of city's capital budget expenditure review process-mere formality-induces monthslong delays
  • Lift-compromise-$50 million
  • Third derailment in a week-Lawe call inspection entire Grumman fleet-metal support beam crack-subway cars required minor inspections-every 10,000 miles; major after 30,000-reduction from 7,500 mile schedule changed 1978-improve productivity per transit officials-NYCTA-backlogs maintenance shops/officials conceded- difficulty keeping pace-even with less-frequent schedule
  • Newsday-editorial-$606 million uncommitted capital funds-$800 million-marked, not spent-steadily weakened-inflation-$1.4 billion-lot 1967 transportation bond
  • 21,096 IRT subway wheels inspected weekend following derailment- number of derailments risen above level held true prior to 1975-year-27-11 involved passengers-year-by time previous year-24, 9 with passengers-Simpson-accidents legacy of cuts spending fiscal crisis-some steps taken restore/improve repair procedures-report earlier month-equipment troubles-doubled 3 key areas since 1977-cars down from 14,000 MDBF to 6,000-dead car motors, broken/malfunctioning doors, vandalism-many problems exist without R46s-none of other cars-received major overhaul-IRT fleet-particularly sharp rise unexpected breakdowns-some problems-only resolved large outlays of money-daed motors responsible for much of the rise in inoperable cars-motor mechanisms poorly designed for handling large peak crowds-better mechanism ordered-take 18 months to begin making replacements-units-$60,000 each-money not solve all problems-cars have to be taken out of service-repairs-shops so clogged-stop other repair to do it-Kauffman-head TA-said authority lacked planning and technical skills-Edwin H. Weidman-the NYCTA car maintenance supervisor-difficulty-decline quality of supervisors-lost 103 supervisors of all titles out of 900-last 3 years-replacements lacked experience-4,600 car maintenance workers-TA new measures-one series of minor overhauls-similar to gas/oil check for a car-every 5,000 track miles-currently-first maintenance checks after 10,000-NYCTA counting mainly major overhauls/reconstruction start next spring-estimated cost $35-60 million a year over a decade
  • State Transportation Commissioner-state considering proposal to take commuter lines out of MTA-own initiative-commuter rail lines not receiving adequate attention-Ravitch-disingenous to expect administration change produce any results-unless it addressed the root cause of difficulties-underfunding and poor condition of equipment and system
  • Page 7-coverage Ravitch plan-sees collapse of transit system-won't be a subway in 10 years without replacing subway cars, buses, shops, depots-first available funds 1,000 subway, 400 commuter cars
  • IND bypass unlikely-Ravitch plan-page 3 Newsday-
  • Ravitch-Metropolitan section-page 3-24th page overall-broad set of proposals obtain funds to correct increasing physical decline-permit MTA issue own bonds-fare-backed-least desirable-one may be necessary-inch-thick report staff assessment capital programs needed to restore transit system to an acceptable state-second bond proposal-expand borrowing capacity $500 million TBTA-question had remaining capacity to secure new bonds-MTA expected to break even revenues/expenditures current fiscal year-commitment Port Authority-$240 million-new buses-twice present authorization-PA balked at releasing-change Federal tax laws extend benefits of 10 percent investment tax credit beyond private sector to public transit agencies, contract arrangement USDOT specific annual financing level-$2-2.5 billion next few years, speeding processes for Government capital budget expenditures-capitalization proposals expected to require a massive lobbying effort by the MTA to show lawmakers the merits of legislative changes
  • Bellamy/Berger support financing plan
  • Page 20-$14 billion-plan-BP Stein criticized it-not including trade-in; Carey-worth study
  • Cost accessibility

December 1980

[edit]
  • $104 million power next year, $78 million this year
  • Lower NHL fares
  • City Department of Investigation seized 19 subway car motors believed to have been prematurely sent for scrap from an SI scrap dealership in an inquiry into TA's retirement of older equipment-some was in working condition-company obtained them exchange other parts, transportation of shipment of subway car undercarriages-done 30 years
  • As many as 20% scheduled B Division trains cancelled-trimmed more-colder weather-
  • Ravitch-entertain any plan-effectively deal MTA's long-term financial problems-Regan predicted bleak future-charged-chronically mismanaged-proposed crisis team experts-
  • Bill cost savings handicapped access
  • House approves $22 billion transit aid-current law operating assistance $236 million NYS, $207.9 NYC year begin October 1-law state increase $286 million FY1982, $376.7 FY1983, $406.9 million FY1984, $440 million FY1985 -NYC-$259 million-FY1982, $347 million FY1983, $375 million 1984, $404.7 million FY1985-also major increases capital spending/bus purchases
  • Opinion-Times-Ravitch dared tell board/public $14 billion new capital needed-MTA little hope finding it-strength survey-ingenuity proposal-raising funds-financing would incur serious opposition-public transit danger-$8 billion-proposals-firm basis reconstruction-support-December 5
  • TWU criticize more maintenance work given to contractors-4%-$174 million maintenance budget-agreed joint effort improve procedures/increase morale; Lawe charged management failing to keep sufficient inventories parts/tools workers do job-TA conceded problem-attributed to neglect of maintenance-TA officials-counter veteran maintenance workers hampered effectiveness of new group of mechanics inspectors-perform emergency work-only recently-TA officials say-have senior workers permitted them into yards-Lawe-not totally true-complaints-didn't have necessary qualifications
  • TA/Grumman discuss bus repairs
  • Bipartisan legislative commission recommended that 1/2 of all state motor-fuel taxes-$343 million-this year-should be used for highway/transit improvements-first report-Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices-puts most blame lack federal aid; 53% from MTA region-a similar percentage-or -$181.1 million should go to MTA/local transit operators-Perfall-delighted agree-Ravitch was saying
  • Number trains pulled service morning rush-more than doubled-107 trains-one day last week-day-average-80 trains pulled-last year-40-spokesman-period of neglect-started 1975-end preventative maintenance program-reinstituted July-with fare increase-residual problems-likely felt into next spring-probably summer-shortage spare parts-long time to catch up-motor burns out-can take 11-12 months for a new part to bedelivered-more time to install
  • Grumman buses taken out again-emergency inspection-MTA Board-vote discounted $75 monthly fare express bus fare-most controversial-left reduced-fare program public school students and approved purchase of 100 new subway cars $98 million-funds originally for rehabilitation of 280 R16 cars-considered most reliable-but 30 years old-purchase new cars-disclosure-rehabilitation cost $529,000 per car instead of $350,000 as originally estimated-proceeds 1979 bond issue-purchase 100 new cars-about $1 million each; more
  • All Grumman buses out-increased cracking; more
  • Bus delays weeks
  • Grummans out, old buses in
  • Begin subway dog patrols; more
  • Queens survey-81% surveyed-service worse than in spring-88% conditions-reached crisis proportions
  • Koch step back support Westway-put forward less expensive highway-worried about subways-renewed commitment aid transit from Governor-seek actual money instead of fare-use levaerage-funds-transit
  • Carey insistent Westway-Koch jockeying-support Westway-terms-state absorb all future mass transit deficits on city's contributions to MTA-city currently contributed $310 million-agency operating budget $1.2 billion-no case fare rise faster than Consumer Price Index, other terms
  • City postpones decision next Flxible order
  • Proposal correct R46 trucks deRoos
  • Testimony R46 suit completed
  • Grumman problem
  • State officials/lawmakers indicated MTA and problems could become an important political issue in months ahead-plan take Conrail lines out of MTA hands-DelBello-Ravitch-press $14 billion capital improvements-measurable improvements cannot be made without increasing spending-State Comptroller Edward V. Regan-basic management procedures at MTA seem more flawed than any other public agency in state-attributed to long-term shortage of capital investment, management failure-poorly spent funds, inefficient union contracts, political leaders who for years "abused and meddled with" mass transit fares-urged Carey/Koch intervene prevent collapse; horse-trading public-Westway
  • Buses rented-Grumman-replace
  • Koch-Boulevard proposal Westway
  • Authority hopes borrowed buses put into service
  • Bus suit
  • R46 suit
  • City wins $72 million subway car defects; more
  • "Governor Carey said yesterday that he had "taken over responsibility" for New York City's transit problems, but that he expected Mayor Koch to provide some money in the city budget for improvements"-
  • Goldin-opposed deal-MTA-Grumman-force city make full payment Grumman
  • Ross Sandler-opinion piece-News-hard to say something positive-Ravitch's capital revitalization plan from November 25 showed, item by item, that the transit system could be rehabilitated, transit has a future in the city-steep fare increases-1970, 1972, 1975-with reduced maintenance/service-hid for a time-steady deterioration system-CPC-attempted to reverse downward spiral-major study-worked on-A New Direction in Transit-December 1978-realistic goal-$700 million/year 1980$ 10-years-MTA had no plan to rehabilitate system-followed pattern-asking federal government-more money than appropriated, reducing expenditures, deferring maintenance, hiding decay another day-Ravitch-report signals an end-Ravitch-warns without program to achieve a state of good repair-worsen-$1.1 billion/year, state able to produce less than $300 million/year-service worsen-report-yard stick to measure government actions-know-given $1.1 billion annual need-Port Authority-allotment-$120 million/6 years-inconsequential-same for 1979 bond issue-$100 million'/year for 6 years-shows that Carey/Harold Fisher's repeated assertions that the state could put most of its federal/state money into Westway, still have enough money to rebuild system-false-major implication-drastic changes are coming-fare no longer the key issue-survival of systemat stake-untouched items-late night service, ancient/underutilized bus routes, sacroscanct but counterproductive work rules, fare levels-reexamined produce state of good repair, report-time bomb-unpredictable fallout

January 1981

[edit]
  • Committee determine who has authority shut off power emergency
  • Guidance move out city-deteriorating transit systems
  • Reagan-criticizes MTA-terms Grumman
  • MTA pay Grumman in full buses-for repairs
  • "During the coming weeks, I shall present a series of recommendations to create the necessary revenue support for public transportation. In particular, we will provide and propose a wideranging program to begin the immediate redevelopment of the M.T.A.'s capital facilities and to rebuild New York City's mass-transit system - the nation's largest and oldest. For this purpose, we expect this year $275 million of Federal money, and $300 million from the T.B.T.A.'s 1979 bond authorization. In addition, I am proposing a $1.1 billion capital-improvement program. It will include $500 million in new T.B.T.A. bonds, $200 million for station improvements, $120 million of state appropriations, $270 million from the 1979 bond, and $60 million in the final phase of the Port Authority's bus-purchase program. We shall proceed with the purchase of 270 new subway cars, 130 new commuter rail cars and rehabilitation of tracks and train yards for both subway and commuter lines."
  • $1.15 billion rehab subway/LIRR shops/stations, 270 subway cars-130 commuter rail cars-$500 million bond issue TBTA
  • Grumman buses idled
  • Vandalism arrests
  • Ravitch-Carey transit plan encouraging-optimistic view not shared by other transit officials-acknowledge Governor proposals-presented in some of MTA's language of need-only had $45 million new capital funds included state appropriation $120 million-far short $170 million asked-capital plan-$1.4 billion a year needed-Carey-270 new cars subway, 130 commuter cars-state bond issue, TBTA issue 1979-program recognition said capital plan-recognize not end of MTA responsibility-Carey only endorsed one of Ravitch's five major proposals raising capital funds-$500 new TBTA bonds-serious problems enactment-debt service reduce TBTA money contributed to operating subsidies-help maintain fare levels-Carey-$200 million-real estate-i.e. candy stores, record shops-finance station improvements-currently went into MTA general operating funds-reduce $1 billion pool operating funds $20 million/year over 10 years-omitted MTA plan fare-backed bonds-harshest comments Bellamy
  • 6-month extension alternative plan accessibility; more
  • June Eisland-called for volunteers count ghost 1 trains-TA asserted 5-min headway-complaints regularly-demanded statistics-
  • Bellamy-demanded firing-chief of subway car maintenance-to save system from collapse-dismissal of Edwin Weidman-almost no subway car repair workdone-despite infusion of $36 million-1980-car rehabilitation-as such-subway car equipment-deterioration-crisis stage-the TA needed to declare a state of emergency-cut red tape-Simpson-shocked by her call
  • Bellamy-pace of preventative maintenance program-very disappointing-revived July-4,900 cars should have been checked by January 1-only 307 had been-importance cited Citizens Budget Commission-urged short-term program keep system going until larger improvements possible
  • Derailment-strain transit system-divert buses-shortage-carry subway riders-108 trains stalled subway yards mechanical failures-1/5 daily quota 567 trains rush hour-increased problems service/maintenance increased-TA said extra maintenance called in last weekend-expanding already fully manned shops so repairs could continue 7 days a week through March-new schedule adopted after talks with TWU-agreed 4,434 car maintenance workers-go 6-day workweek-also asked forgo vacations same period-repair work hindered lack of spare parts-TA asked suppliers to speed parts delivery-Bellamy-called for resignation of Edwin H. Weidman, car maintenance superintendent-called emergency-temporary suspension many rules-including competitive bidding-speed hiring consultants deal with critical situations like maintenance-rush hour OTP slipped 91.7% December 1979 to 83.4% December 1980-number of scheduled trains removed from service-breakdowns-never out of yards-doubled from 5,764 to 10,209
  • Koch expected expand transit police-$13.4 million-end 12-year tradition leaving transit police funding to city
  • Ravitch-declared subway state of emergency-delays-freeze
  • John Simpson to take over NYCTA-operating agencies complained they had to clear so many routine matters with Simpson as executive director-their effectiveness impaired-56-page draft report operation/maintenance of subway system-expected submitted City Council approval-next month-approval-21 recommendations-council asked to consider-report-derided Stern-did not address labor costs, proposed 5-cent fare hike
  • Governor-press within a few weeks-legislative approval-scaled-down version $14 billion-plan fare hike-key part-Carey opposed five-cent fare hike for police
  • Police train Guardian Angels-city plan
  • Gabreski pressure
  • Carey-plans to propose-within 3 weeks-capital financing program-fare-backed bond-not mentioned in State of the State-Governor's office-more likely city, state, federal governments-feel pressured by bond issues to provide money to save-fare-had been reluctant-Ravitch-privately-Bellamy-publicly-had expressed dissatisfaction-Governor's State of the State message-$1.15 billion program MTA-did not include direct MTA fund-raising ability-message just said: "Further efforts to capitalize MTA's own revenue will be considered when a satisfactory plan is approved by the MTA, the localities, and the state."-Ravitch met with governor/legislative leaders-lobby ability to issue MTA bonds-Governor-said not a change in position-Governor-supported concept-wanted to make sure city/state would not have to back up bonds with their own funds-Assembly support expected-Senate-less certain-Cammerer-critical of Carey's more limited proposal as it would authorize-$500 billion TBTA bonds
  • Manhattan BP study-Stein-unscheduled service interruptions weekdays increased 308% first 7 workdays 1981-compared with 1977-Koch-not preclude a fare increase tied to inflation-fare hike at least 10 cents needed allow MTA issue bonds-backed by revenue-weekend breakdowns-increased 350%-abandoned/cancelled 500 scheduled train trips-average weekday-compared 119 1977-statistics obtained from TA's daily summary sheets-subway cars often leave shops certified as repaired-when-in fact-they were often hasty or improper-subway-without a full-time general manager since the resignation of Steven Kauffman in November
  • Fare increase to 75 cents seen-package-increase, state subsidies, bonds issued; Carey/Ravitch-no decision-how many billions aimed for capital repairs-Governor would not endorse high $14 billion-figure-Ravitch-fare hike inevitable-pay bonds-Anderson-not ready to commit until details seen-Horwitz-committee-subway on the brink of collapse-results of 15,000 subway riders-65% regularly late, 70% don't see transit police
  • Department chiefs-receive additional decision-making-powers-put power/authority-hand operating chiefs, not MTAHQ-MTA moving to assert greater control over passenger lines on Conrail-
  • Sharp ridership decrease-concern more load fare-higher fare-operating money-support capital-Mayor Koch expected announce $68.5 million for subway car maintenance double amount anticipated
    • On the heels of a declaration by Mr. Ravitch that the subway system was ''in a state of emergency'' because of weather, equipment failures and vandalism, an internal report by the City Transit Authority attributes most subway delays to poor maintenance of the cars. According to the report, poor car maintenance is responsible for more than half of the late trains, which increased by 40 percent over a year.
    • A copy of the Transit Authority report on train delays was obtained by The New York Times. Among other findings, it said: - The number of train delays of 10 minutes or longer rose from 1,589 in November 1979 to 2,607 last November. - Of as many as 15 possible reasons for the delays - including passenger conduct or police activity - car maintenance was blamed for 57 percent of them. - The delays caused a total of 35,604 minutes in lost time to subway riders -the equivalent of 600 hours or 25 days for the 170,418 trains operated in the month. - Vandalism, although on the increase, was responsible for only 14 percent of the delays, and 10 percent were blamed on such actions by ''the public'' as holding doors open. Mr. Perfall said the car maintenance department, headed by Edwin H. Weidman as superintendent, was ''paying the price of four or five years when we weren't doing routine maintenance.'' An M.T.A. board member, Carol Bellamy, the City Council President, has called for Mr. Weidman's resignation.
    • In a related development, sources close to the authority said that John D. Simpson, its executive director, was expected to be appointed permanently to head the Transit Authority, leaving the M.T.A. post vacant.
    • Mr. Simpson has indicated he would take the Transit Authority post if key powers of the executive director were shifted to it. These would include those of hiring and dismissal and of final approval on some contracts. Such a move would require either the abolishment of the executive director's post by the Legislature, which created it 18 months ago, or, according to some board sources, leaving the job vacant and creating a weakened ''coordinator'' for M.T.A agencies.
  • Simpson named NYCTA head-
    • John D. Simpson, named yesterday to head the New York City Transit Authority, said subway service had deteriorated to the point that ''there are safety hazards'' because of rush-hour crowding on some platforms and trains.
    • In appointing Mr. Simpson full time to the transit post, technically a demotion for him, the board also gave him powers over personnel decisions and the awarding of some contracts that were formerly held by the executive director.
    • Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, said the move was also a first step toward transferring more autonomy to the heads of Conrail, the Long Island Rail Road and the other M.T.A. agencies. ''The general sense has been that the best way to run the system is to put the operating talent out on the lines,'' Mr. Ravitch said.
    • The shortage of trains in recent days caused by equipment breakdowns has affected as much as 25 percent of the fleet, Mr. Simpson said. As a result, frustrated riders waiting for trains have been jamming platforms to the danger point. ''You quite literally could get pushed off the platform,'' Mr. Simpson said. Even as he acknowledged how bad conditions are - ''If things get any worse than today, I can't imagine how people are going to get to work,'' he said - Mr. Simpson warned that subway and bus service would deteriorate into March or April because of the continued cold.
  • Koch-$25 million subway repairs-budget-help fix 700 defective cars
  • Simpson-a clear state of crisis-shortage of trains-especially intolerable-Queens-lack of car parts chronic, supervision maintenance force poor, "The ever-increasing pressure to get cars in service may be increasing the risk of incidents on the system. During the past two months there have been five main-line passenger train derailments [and 14 others in the preceding 34 months]... We must not tolerate any relaxation of safety standards regardless of the pressure to [improve] service."; ridership plunge 79.2 million-November-lowest in 2.5 years-delays of at least 10 minutes-increased from 1,589 to 2,607-November 1980-deferred maintenance-train shortage-grew progressively worse 1980 vs. 1975-1979; by October-subway system-an average of 60 trains short-morning rush-up to 65 December/first half January;
    • Emergency measures:
    • Cancellation of all vacations in subway car maintenance department until March 15-with TWU approval
    • Shake-up of managerial and supervisory personnel-to provide for maximum coverage of shops/barns during our current crisis
    • Deferral of some less essential maintenance jobs, such as a car-painting program-make more space available in yards for car repairs
    • Establishment of teams to maximize the flow of cars into/out of repair shops and weekly audits of the Coney Island and 207th Street shops
  • Crash maintenance program launched; real improvement-several years off-report mayor's staff-destressing but unavoidable conclusion-no quick fix solutions-regardless of available funding-city pledged another $35 million into the TA over two years-help rehabilitate fleet-to maintain basic rush hour service-80% subway system's 6,400 cars must be in good condition-only 72% cars-currently pass muster-superior service-85% cars must be in good condition
  • 75 cent fare seen-Horowitz report-recommends-bonds not trigger fare increase
  • 2,000 Lexington Avenue Line riders-refused to leave-fifth such revolt riders in two weeks
  • LIRR study-heating problem-repairs complete-delayed due to lack of organization-panel Grummans
  • TWU head blasts fare hike to help rehabilitate the system-
  • The security costs of closing the subway system down late at night would far outweigh the savings that could be realized from such a move, Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said yesterday. He also rejected the notion of closing the deficit-ridden system on Sundays -a step that Boston took recently to save money. ''Can you imagine New York without subways on Sunday?'' he asked.
  • Assembly Speaker Fink-lack of plan to help subway-black hole Governor's budget-hard to make tough money decisions until transit plans formalized-Carey promised a special message on transit funding-next month-close advisers-said-would endorse Ravitch plan-transit bonds
  • "An efficient transportation system must also deal with the problems facing our mass transit facilities. To provide this necessary service, we must make large investments in our mass transit facilities, particularly in urban areas. Of the 1979 Bond Act funds, $400 million will be used for rail and rapid transit projects throughout the state. During 1981-82, bids, expected to total $228 million, will be received for the purchase or renovation of subway cars for the New York Transit Authority. I am also recommending $157 million in operating aid to local mass transit authorities from the Local Assistance Fund and $225 million from the proceeds of the 2 percent tax on the gross receipts of oil companies." We must continue to commit the necessary resources to protect our investment in highways. For 1981-82 I am recommending $228 million in state funds to claim over $500 million in Federal funds for improvement of our highway systems. Since local transportation networks are also important for economic growth, a major portion of the $100 million provided through the Energy Conservation through Improved Transportation Bond Act of 1979 will be made available to local governments for streets and bridges.
  • State/MTA could not raise anything close to $14 billion-ten years-top aide-Governor-only $2-3 billion program all state/MTA could afford/handle-governor said support some version-if Ravitch provided a specific list-priorities-Carey said-not yet moved on issue of capital funds transit-awaiting-outcome challenge to the state tax on oil-company gross receipts-
  • Carey-$2.5 billion transportation budget-if unchanged-would result in a 74% increase railroad maintenance fees-$383 million allocation-mass transit operating assistance statewide-not adjusted for inflation--Caemmerer-proposal did not begin to address financial needs MTA/highways-$1.4 billion-earmarked for MTA/commuter rail-only $45 million new state appropriations-remainder federal government, reappropriations-unspent state funds, bond issues-1978-state capped amount money localities-railroad/subway station maintenance- Caemmerer thwarted attempt raise cap-1980
  • Save Our Subways-first piece-one Tuesday January 1/3 cars out of service-lack of parts-last few months-TA ordered tearing out of costly automation equipment-2-Lenox service cut-diversion; sharp service cutbacks look-TA seeks to concentrate rolling stock-service hit lits-mulled-unannounced cuts every night occur-Ravitch-conceded-some outlying areas may be denied service-one day-30 derailments 1980-3,000 broken trains dumped riders mid-route, unscheduled service interruptions-tripled since 1977-500/day first two weeks-January-infrastructure-not routinely inspected-cars borrowed from one line to another-cars with dead motors woven into trains-often gamble doesn't pay off-drag full trains to a halt-mid-route-car shortage-cancel 8% trips daily-full service-rush-hour can only be sustained-40 minutes-been like this way since 1977-however fewer rush hour cars available-graffiti/stuck doors-annoyance-not major problem-mass transportation consultant-emergency repairs-infrastructure-have not begun-R10/R16 cars forced to run-R47 debacle-trains spontaneously rerouted-avoid stalled trains/alleviate overcrowding-Ds often become Fs mid-route-Edwin Weidman-maintenance chief-began tear out electronic guts R44s-desophistication program-cost, excluding labor, per car $10,000-anticipation fully automated-delicate electronic system-malfunctions-controls-R44s/R46s-25% of B Division's 4,178 cars
    • Daily average cancelled trips
      • 1977-86
      • 1978-103
      • 1979-156
      • 1980-300+
    • DaIly average cars out of service
      • 1977-600+
      • 1980-2141
    • MDBF
      • 1977/1978 13,900
      • 1979 9,735
      • 1980 6,000
    • Derailments
      • 1977 7
      • 1978 37
      • 1979 31
      • 1980 30
    • Fires
      • 1977 2,243
      • 1978 2,849
      • 1979 3,766
      • 1980 4,908
  • LIRR problems-criticism-Gabreski
    • Michael J. DelGiudice, a top aide to Governor Carey, said that within two weeks the Governor will introduce enabling legislation so that the M.T.A. can issue fare-backed revenue bonds. Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman who requested the authority, acknowledged that this could result in higher fares. However, he believes it is the only way the agency can raise enough money to carry out a much-needed capital improvements program.
  • Save Our Subways-blame-1/3 managers-eligible for retirement-all executives system's departments of Transportation and Stations, all but 1 in Power Department, half managers in car maintenanceTA managers run as a business-as-usual-way-vital short-term issues-replacement of defective R46 undercarriages virtually ignored-3 years return full service; much of NYCTA's planned improvements bogged down-including $36 million car overhaul program-labor force-struggling meet-subway physical structure-not thoroughly inspected since 1975-only 122 people walk the tracks, employee productivity not yet improved-$20,000/week TA overtime-just keep trains running-$25 million yearly for new construction-substituted for state's 15% matching share federal aid-ongoing patchup projects-TA-spending hundreds of thousands-federal dollars-study status of future improvements-even as projects themselves-eaten away-money diverted-another request federal Section 8 mass transit funds study Queens bypass route-made 1980-NYCTA-large credibility problem-$500 million bond issue-Carey pledged 260 new R62s, 280 rebuilt IND/BMT cars-$10 million allocated advance-car design-planning stages completed-all new cars rolling by July 1983-superintendent of rapid transit-Charles Kalkhof-design stage not completed-no American firms-interested-building them-January 14-Ravitch-large portion car money might be traded temporarily pay R46 trucks-MTA had won $72 million-was being appealed-TA balked feds' order ground R46 fleet safety reasons-feds-delayed permission buy replacement trucks sole source manufacturer-knew only 1 manufacturer available-had to search whole world-took a year-contract truck's steel casing let-one of the most visible immediate action programs-$36 million CORE-Car Overhaul Reconstruction and Enhancement-year ago-Edwin Weidman-chief car maintenance ordered apply funds repair projects suspended since 1975-Bellamy January 11, 1981-demanded ouster-office found virtually no work done under CORE-Of $23 million to be spent- only $11 million has-almost nothing to show for it-by end 1981-300 cars to receive new lighting-70 by January 1, 1981-so far only 2 repaired-of 500 cars to get new brakes, only 154 by January 1, none repaired-Kalkhof's managers-constantly thwarted-board's political ends clash sound railroading-power struggles-1979-MTA persuaded Legislature to create executive director position maintain day-to-day operations-Simpson took job-StevenKauffman-succeeded DeRoos-planned to take active control subway-ran head-on Simpson, who tried to run TA operations from MTAHQ-Kauffman resigned summer-
  • Opinion poll transit
  • TA-put all maintenance crews on a 6-day week-suspended vacations next three months-employed help-Economic Development Council-find way correct system's critical parts shortage-men supervised-ensure adequate work was done-many repairs neglected-certain parts unavailable-important work to do-Simpson-organize a team-help critical parts shortage-short as many 100 trains morning rush-25% needed service-morning-substantial improvements-3 to 5 years
  • Subway delays/crowding
    • As the shortage of trains on the subway system and the delays caused by breakdowns grow, competition is keener for space on the trains that are left. More and more subway riders now see themselves as reaching the limit of inconvenience and dislocation that even New Yorkers are said to tolerate.
    • One way commuters have responded to tardiness caused by the subways is indicated in a dramatic increase in requests to the New York City Transit Authority for telephone verification of train delays: oral ''tardy slips'' used by workers coping with angry employers. Riders made 17,200 such requests of the travel information bureau last year, along with an unknown number of requests for written ones. But for the first two weeks of this year alone, the number shot up to 2,000, the Transit Authority said. There were 4,600 in all of 1976.
    • The head of the Transit Authority, John D. Simpson, has conceded that a number of subway platforms in the city are dangerously overcrowded, and Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A.'s chairman, estimated that 300,000 people were made late to work by subway delays on a single morning two weeks ago.
    • Acknowledging the seriousness of the lateness problem, the Transit Authority recently set up a desk in the lobby of its headquarters at 370 Jay Street in Brooklyn, where delays can be verified and written notices handed out on the spot, according to Reese Stone, the authority's spokesman.
  • Study analysis-Westway-Bellamy, PCAC
    • The new analysis, prepared by two critics of the Westway project, found that the state would have to be ready to spend $868 million on Westway costs not covered by the Federal Government and an additional $1 billion on mass-transit subsidies to meet the Mayor's terms.
    • As spelled out in a letter that the Mayor sent to the Governor last month, Mr. Koch would support the Westway if the state would assume the costs that were not paid by the Federal Government and would provide sufficient operating subsidies so that the subway fare would not rise faster than inflation.
  • Subway car R62 mock-up $660,000 each-basicmotors, brakes, unsophisticated electrical controls, old-fashioned one-piece, cast-steel undercarriages with steel suspension springs; 3-4 Japanese firms interested-decline subway breadkowns-as many as 150 trains-winter-down to 30; bill introduce payroll tax-hold subway fare 60 cents
  • Cost accommodating disabled
    • As the transportation regulations are now worded, all key subway stations and all surface public transportation must be accessible to the handicapped within 30 years. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority put together a plan to do this that would cost, it said, at least $1.5 billion, and then voted last September not to comply with the Federal regulations - a move that could have cost it its Federal transportation funds. The M.T.A. submitted the plan in January, requesting a six-month delay to put together a new and more modest proposal. It was a move that the chairman of the city's Advisory Committee for the Handicapped, Terry Moakley, called a ''mockery.'' His committee put together a more limited proposal, with fewer of the expensive subway conversions, that he said would cost only $330 million.
  • Koch-no fare increase until improvements seen
  • Save Our Subways-Subway flooding-1976-TA began multimillion program-install pumps-lower water table-several put in, many on drawing board-NYCTA's 255 plumbers-work long-hard-not enough to properly maintain system-clear catch basins-shortage of funds-TA lost 13% of plumbers-last few years-attrition-things leveling off-don't see immediate danger
  • Save Our Subways-Doors opening train in service-twice last two weeks-doors major problem-TA-spokesman-traced to vandals tampered with on-board mechanisms-deferred maintenance/low priority given to door repairs, overcrowding-contributes to door failure-John Simpson-acknowledged-there was a reset procedure-simple-get more doors working-deferred to keep as many cars rolling-more often than not-cars with bad doors allowed to enter service-many broken doors-aren't-simple reset button-solve a lot of problems-TA admits-buttons sometimes hidden behind panels/under seats-don't get promptly pushed-technical manager-doors should be inspected /serviced every 3 months-lights supposed to indicate when doors are closed broken-train personnel unaware-doors not working/train moving with open door-Salvia-said routine inspections did continue-doors on 800 of 6,400 cars repaired in past three years-most cars with automatic doors-resetting cars-requires a trip to shop-out of preferable out doors-than fewer trains-Simpson-priority-motors, compressors, resistors, brakes-TA policy prevents trains moving if light indicates door open
  • Some employees charged reassignment subway cars along the D political-nose complaints
    • John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, confirmed in an interview that Mr. Horwitz had ''requested some time ago that the R-44's and 46's not be put on the D line.'' He said that the request was made before he took over as head of the Transit Authority, and that it ''did not influence the decision I made'' this month for a second shift of the fleets.
    • Mr. Simpson added that he had ordered this month's reassignment to correct the scattering of maintenance parts and manpower that resulted from the August transfers.
    • He said ''I'm trying to get the fleets consolidated, which makes for more efficient handling'' of maintenance work. However, a group of Transit Authority mechanics, whose job assignments are jeopardized in the shift, asserted that the reassignment of the fleets was ordered under pressure from Mr. Horwitz, to improve service in his district in an election year.
    • Now, with the latest shift, the R-44's also have been moved off the D route and replaced with older but more reliable cars. Despite Mr. Simpson's remarks about improving maintenance, members of a crack mechanics team at the Coney Island maintenance shop, who had been working on the transferred R-44 cars, contend that the shift will decrease maintenance productivity instead of increasing it, because of a threatened dismantling of their team.
    • The mechanics have met with George McDonald, vice president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union. The team, known as Gang 5-A, has been described by the Transit Authority as a concept it wanted to expand because each mechanic is capable of doing several different jobs.
    • Mr. Simpson said that discussions were under way with the union on the future of the team, but that no decision had been made. ''We're considering how best to readjust the whole personnel requirement,'' he said.
  • Subway crime up 17%
  • Save our Subways-70 tons of garbage dumped into system-up from 50 tons/day 1978; agency's ability to cope with trash-declined-26 flat cars-bought from 1927 to 1950-not able to keep up demand-December-NYCTA accepted bid 27 new cars-could hold 33% more trash-fist car to be delivered August 1982-rest 6 a month afterwards
  • June Eisland-call discounted transit pass
  • Proposals break up MTA

February 1981

[edit]
  • Ravitch interview
    • Question. You recently completed your first year as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. What have you accomplished?
      • Answer. I believe that it's been a tumultuous year. It began with problems of a substantial operating deficit, a labor strike, controversy in the Legislature over the enactment of a substantial increase in the operating subsidies for the system.
      • About a month after I assumed this office, I made a public statement to try and explain that there were only two possible ways in which the cost of this system could be absorbed: One was through the fare box and the other through governmental subsidies. At the same time I made it abundantly clear that it was, as I saw it, M.T.A.'s job to try to provide the best service that we could, under the circumstances that prevailed. And to the extent that subsidies were not available, the M.T.A. board had no choice but to raise fares in order to meet the costs of running the system.
      • I am pleased with the fact that we stopped the practice of deferring maintenance on the system and that we restored an adequate maintenance budget to the operating agencies of this authority.
    • Q. In recent weeks as many as 25 percent of New York City's subway cars have been out of service for mechanical reasons, meaning costly delays and dangerous overcrowding. What is being done about it?
      • A. Well, I think first you have to understand the causes - and there are many causes for the problems. The extraordinary number of cars that were not functional during the peak hours in the last few weeks was due in large part to the unusually cold weather. As the weather improved, the number of trains out of service in the peak hours has dropped substantially.
      • Those levels are totally unsatisfactory to us and the reason that we have as much unreliability in the service as we have has been for the reasons that I have stated often: We don't have enough functional rolling stock, the deterioration of the system, the cumulative impact of the long-term neglect, the disinvestment policy that I have strongly urged be changed.
    • Q. Governor Carey's capital budget includes only $45 million in new funds for the M.T.A. You said you will need $1.4 billion from various sources for the coming year. How do you intend to get it?
      • A. Well, first of all, as I understand the $45 million in the Governor's budget is not just for the Transit Authority - most of that will actually be for the commuter lines. What is needed to restore this system to a state of good repair is $14 billion over the next 10 years. And I have suggested ways of increasing the amount of capital available to us. One, increase the authorization to use the toll revenues of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to back additional bonding. Two, use fare box revenues to back additional borrowings. Three, seek changes in the Federal law that would enable us to leverage the Federal commitments. Four, seek changes in the tax law so that we could take advantage of the leverage provided by the investment tax credits through sale-lease back transactions.
    • Q. You've been in talks with the Governor's staff this week on that plan. What did you come away with?
      • A. Well, I think that we're making very real progress. I think it probably will be appropriate to comment when there is some consensus and I hope that there will be within the next couple of weeks.
    • Q. A 1967 bond issue that was supposed to buy new subway cars instead got spent in dribs and drabs. The same thing seems to be happening with the 1979 bond issue.
      • A. No, with all respect, I don't think that's true. The 1967 bond issue did not spell out the uses to which that money was to be put. And the state has been using it in recent years largely to meet its obligation to put up its 15 percent share of every Federal grant for capital purposes for the transportation systems.
      • The 1979 bond issue has specific, designated uses spelled out in the statute and all of those objectives are in the process of being met. We are buying new cars for the commuter lines, new cars for the subways, designing a layup yard for the Long Island Railroad, improving the Harmon shop (a Conrail maintenance facility). So the objectives of the bond issue are being realized in precisely the terms intended.
    • Q. New York's subway riders already pay the highest proportion of the cost of their ride of any transit system in the country and the service that they get is arguably the worst. How can you justify raising the fare any further?
      • A. I understand very well the feeling that people have about not wanting to pay more for a service that is not improving - in fact is probably getting worse. Unfortunately, as I said to you in the very beginning, there are only two possible ways of dealing with the problem: one is by increasing fares and two is by increasing public subsidies.
      • The increases of subsidies for our operating budget are governmental decisions - they're not M.T.A. decisions. And to the extent that government doesn't provide increased subsidy, M.T.A. has no choice but to raise the fare.
      • Let me say that I have not proposed any increase in fare, per se. We are currently reviewing our budgets for the forthcoming fiscal year. We're waiting to see what the Federal and state governments do, what the courts do with respect to the gross receipts tax, and if there is a gap between our proposed revenues and our expenditures, then in fact we will have no choice but to raise the fare.
    • Q. Subway derailments increased last year and some riders think it's only a matter of time before there's an accident with a significant loss of life. Do you share that worry?
      • A. The record of the Transit Authority on safety is extraordinary - unparalleled by the transit systems around the world. One of the reasons that there are so many dysfunctional parts of the system - doors that don't operate, the lights that don't work, the airconditioners don't work - is that during the recent years of decline and austerity, the major preoccupation of the professional people of the Transit Authority was with safety.
      • I can understand how people can feel that the problem is a serious one, but I believe that all that can humanly be done on the safety thing is being done.
  • Save our subways-previous two weeks-reduced number of out of service cars-push for car availability-raised question-rider safety compromised-Daily News survey-Pitkin Yard-evidence maintenance 930 cars neglected-TA officials denied safety sacrificed-subway mechanics complained-better service-bought cost of increased hazards-brake shoes not replaced-until point of destruction-examination of discarded ones-showed not only brake linings completely worn away, some steel bake shows disintegrated-some had been fused to cars; NTSB-cited intense heat generated by worn brake shoes-cause cracked subway wheels-caused derailments-contact shoes-discarded-worn beyond limits safe operation-manufacturer specification-R44 should be inspected every 7,500 miles-TA standard-10,000 miles-first 9 of 21 inspected one day-traveled further-5 more than 11,000-one 14,194 miles; chief of operations TA's southern division-Daniel Salvia-denied maintenance undercut-demand available cars-instead-workers placed on OT, vacations cancelled-wartime footing-guaranteed work 6 days a week-2,100 of 6,424 cars out of service given day-first two weeks of January-cold weather did not have much to do with it-unavailable cars reduced to 1,400-Simpson in charge-Salvia-attributed increased productivity, reassignment of 754 underperforming R46s-had been dispersed among several yards, including Pitkin-Milton Carter, TA chief of rapid transit transportation-strategy attempted to spread misery of R46s-R46s consolidated-free yard space elsewhere; yard sources-different explanation-veteran car inspector-inspectors used to have control-had right to hold car until 100% safe-management took away-send cars without proper repairs-flagging-Salvia-disputed-acknowledged-cars allowed to go into service normal operating conditions-with defects that would sideline them during normal inspections
  • John Simpson-hearing-last he/staff attending-We've got a railroad to run-repeatedly called by Council-at least 10 top managers-summoned CityHall-deliver public explanations subway mess-morale TA damaged press/investigations
  • Save Our Subways-Poor condition-stations-design-TA relied on in-house architects, few consultants-design
  • Anderson-predicted state aid MTA
  • Daily News editorial-don't blame John Simpson drawing the line-further performances transit monitors, City Council; dragging Simpson, top lieutenants-endless hearings disrupts efforts-deal with urgent problems-unproductive/unnecessary-score political hit-give chance to do jobs
  • TA to crack down on pension abuse-bus supervisors-discipline-who assigned disproportionate OT work to employees nearing retirement-allowing them to fatten pension-report Deputy State Comptroller Sidney Schwartz-164 MaBSTOA-employees retired 1980-increased final year pay 64% through excessive overtime-attributed high incidence abuses to pattern set predecessor-Fifth Avenue Coach
  • All R46s E/F
  • Carey ride Tokyo subway; hoped to leave agreement build subway/buses
  • Koch might support fare increase-if used for capital improvements-not if higher percentage of fare revenues-operating expenses-criticized Carey-refusal give more appointments board
    • At the same time, Mr. Koch assailed John D. Simpson, the president of the New York City Transit Authority, accusing him an an "arrogance that would not be tolerated" by stating that he would not return to testify before the New York City Council Committee on Transportation. Mr. Simpson, who testified before the committee on Monday, acknowledged today that he had told members of his staff not to appear before the Council again, but instead to "focus their attention" on the day-to-day operations of the authority. Mr. Simpson said, however, that he had indicated that he would "make himself available" for furthur questionning.
    • Sources on the M.T.A. board said privately that the directive concerning appearances before the Council came from Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman.
  • State Comptroller-Regan-would back fare hikes-for transit bonds-stopped shortbacking Capital Plan-MTA yet to demonstrate an ability to spend its money wisely
  • Ravitch-late to important meetings-takes subways-"Yes, I have been getting to important meetings late. Not only that but I'm taking a lot of flak. It's amazing how often I go to parties and people walk up and tell mea problem they've had. I get it everywhere I go. But I know personally what it's like to be late for an important meeting because of a late train."
  • Gabreski-blames infighting-asked to resign by Simpson 10 times-accused Simpson-undermining him-blocking filling of many top railroad jobs-criticized for failingto hire competent operating executives
  • Stein-survey-numbers-said NYCTA should suspend 33-car JFK express-use cars-on other lines-TA spokesman-not make much of a difference
  • Subway service-worst on record
    • Service on the New York City subway system deteriorated last month to what appears to be the lowest level on record. More than three times as many trains either failed to leave their terminals or broke down en route this January as in January 1977, according to Transit Authority data.
    • The new figures show that systemwide train shortages forced the cancellation of a daily average of 430 train trips, or about 7 percent of the 6,500 trips on the Transit Authority's normal daily schedule. This is a 260 percent increase over the January 1977 figure of 120.
    • By 1979, the number of cancellations had crept up to 153, but the most dramatic deterioration in service was reported in the last twoyear period, according to the figures.
    • The figures, obtained from the Transit Authority, were released yesterday by Borough President Andrew J. Stein of Manhattan, who conducted a study of transit operations in 1977. A spokesman for Mr. Stein, Glen Richard, said, ''As far as we can tell, service during the month of January was the worst it's ever been.'
    • In response, the president of the Transit Authority, John D. Simpson, did not deny that service on average in January had reached an all-time low, but said there had been improvement late in the month.
    • Mr. Simpson said Mr. Stein was giving train abandonments undue significance as one of several measures of system performance. However, figures on abandonments and train shortages have been cited frequently in recent months by Mr. Simpson and other transit officials to describe the urgency of the system's problems. Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, used such a reference last month in declaring the system ''in a state of emergency.''
    • The data on train shortages over the month charts a picture of aborted performance worse than the most dismal account presented so far by transit officials.
    • Mr. Ravitch reported on Jan. 14 that a shortage of 168 trains during that day's morning rush was the cause of the worst delays in the system's 75-year history. The new data for January include abandonments during off-peak periods as well as both rush hours. picup earlier...in releasing. The Borough President's office said it obtained the figures from the Transit Authority's rapid transit division in a follow-up to a study made by Mr. Stein's staff in 1977.
    • According to the data, train abandonments were greatest on the IRT division, rising from 49 trips in 1977 to 175 in 1981. On the BMT and IND, which are commonly grouped by the authority, in the same period, abandonments increased from 71 to 255. Mr. Richard said a supplemental breakdown of the data showed a daily average of 145 abandonments for the BMT and 110 for the IND. Worst Rate on QB Line
    • Mr. Simpson said in his comments yesterday that several factors moderated the gloomy data on abandonments. He said the authority's implementation last November of ''gap trains'' - that is, trains held out of service so they can be inserted for contingency service where needed - were counted in the abandonment totals. And he said performance on another key indicator - arrival of trains as scheduled at key stations - had improved ''from a percentage average in the low 70's in early January to the mid 80's in the last 10 days or so,'' which was the level achieved last June.
    • Last week, Mr. Simpson reported that the rate of abandonments so far this month had ''shown some improvement.'' Last Thursday, for example, he said the system was short 81 of the 567 trains it needed for the morning rush hour, compared with a shortage of 150 during the worst days in January.
  • DOT Secretary Westway support; Times opinion
  • Creation of Queens Subway Riders Alliance-fed up-month-number grew to 1,500
  • Subway officials-ride Queens subway-improvement-return R46s to Jamaica Yard-permit better coordination-round-the-clock repair work; more; continued
  • Subway window smashing
    • By the end of last year the Transit Authority was spending $30,000 a month to replace broken glass on subways, about a fourfold increase over earlier in the year.
  • Mario Cuomo-Koch should stop asking what the state is doing-ask himself-city should meet responsibility-
  • Koch-criticism-graffiti-
  • Queens Subway Riders Alliance-asked TA improvements
  • Subway vibrations; continued
  • Weprin-bill filed-free fares
  • Save Our Subways-lighting-lack of basic maintenance-ability replace lighting-limited funds, bare-bones lighting force
  • Simpson doubts schedule bus repairs-Reagan proposal-eliminate Federal operating subsidies mass transit by 1984
    • The Transit Authority's share of those subsidies this year is $122 million -equivalent to a 15-cent fare increase if the funds were cut off, Mr. Simpson said.
  • Save our Subways-1 of 5 workers retired-allowed to accumulate additional income to at least 4-% of base pay; more
  • Bellamy called on Governor Carey and state comptroller to release $159 million left from 1967 bond issue to purchase 250 new subway cars-state has used revenue-pay 15% matching share-variety of federally-funded projects; more
  • MDBF FY1979-9,759-1977-13,627
  • Saying that one of every 24 subway cars in New York City's fleet is sidelined indefinitely because of out-of-stock parts, the president of the Transit Authority is seeking broad additional powers to award millions of dollars in contracts not only for replacement parts but also for many other goods and services. In many instances, such awards would be made without competitive bidding and without the prior approval of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board.
    • Mr. Simpson said in an interview that the new powers would speed the purchases needed to restore subway and bus service to an acceptable level.
    • Powers to Be Delegated
    • Among other measures, it would delegate from the 14-member board to the Transit Authority president:
      • Blanket authorization to award noncompetitive maintenance contracts above $2,500 in an ''emergency,'' such as the current maintenance backlog.
      • Power to award noncompetitive consultant contracts for operating and maintenance projects.
      • Power to award noncompetitive consultant contracts for capital projects -for example, for equipment design and inspection of construction.
      • Annual establishment of a list of ''qualified vendors'' recommended by the Transit Authority president, with purchases made only from those vendors and the elimination of formal bidding.
    • Mr. Simpson said one result of the powers he was seeking would be the elimination of public discussion of a number of contracts by the M.T.A. board before they are awarded. He said that ''careful audits'' would be conducted of where the contracts were going and that he would accept responsibility for them. 'Cutting Through Red Tape'
    • ''Where there is a shortage of critical proportions in parts and services that results in overcrowding of both platforms and subway cars to the point the public safety is in danger,'' Mr. Simpson said, ''we have to find a way to cut through red tape and establish a reasonable approach.''
    • The potential for kickbacks and other contract abuses by Transit Authority employees was raised this month by Daniel T. Scannell, a member of the M.T.A. board and former Transit Authority head. ''From time to time,'' he noted, ''a certain cronyism sets in with suppliers.'' But he said that was a risk that had to be ''balanced out with the need to get parts from suppliers.''
    • The proposal to increase the powers of the Transit Authority chief is just one aspect of a broad-based effort by the M.T.A. to eliminate some of the approval and supervision it must obtain to purchase goods and services, ranging from new rail passenger cars to station rehabilitation projects.
    • Mr. Ravitch has complained that the process of making capital purchases ''often requires the involvement of as many as 35 other agencies'' and can consume from six months to several years. Given a current inflation rate of about 1 percent a month, he says, each month of delay on a purchase of 200 new subway cars - a $200 million capital expenditure - means the loss of two cars.
    • In addition to capital purchases, Mr. Ravitch and Mr. Simpson both contend that the ''repair crisis'' crippling subway and bus service will persist unless they can speed procurement of replacement parts. Of the 6,500 cars in the subway fleet, 270 are idle, Mr. Simpson said, because 1,800 items of a $70 million parts inventory of 100,000 items are out of stock. A recent visitor to one of the two main subway repair shops, at Coney Island, saw badly outmoded inventory systems and overcrowded storage areas where expensive new parts were sometimes stacked in a jumble on the floor alongside obsolete parts out of use for years. Mr. Simpson said the poor state of inventory maintenance did not develop overnight. But, he said, the resurrection of older equipment to replace the troubled R-46 subway fleet as well as the Flxible bus fleet had seriously compounded the problem.
    • Some of the proposed additional powers for the Transit Authority president would be temporary. But others are drafted as permanent changes, including some requiring action by the State Legislature.
  • City Council President Carol Bellamy called on the state yesterday to use $159 million left over from a $600-million transit bond issue in 1967 to make immediate improvements in the city's subway system.
    • At a Manhattan news conference, Miss Bellamy said the money had been used to pay the state's 15 percent share on some federally financed projects and had been eroded by inflation.
    • ''Each year we delay,'' she said, ''means the value shrinks even more. Instead of letting its capital dwindle, the state should be putting its money where it will have an immediate benefit.''
    • Miss Bellamy said the money would allow the M.T.A. to purchase about 250 new cars in addition to the 300 IRT cars to be ordered later this year.
  • Save our subways-TA losing OT battle-would get worse first-Grumman/R46 fiasco-1980-$73.8 million spent OT pay-up $4.2 million-43,625 1979 employees TA, 44,679 1980-TA wanted to hire 400 part-time conductors, 400 part-time token booth clerks-clerks-slice $3.2 million OT tab, part-time conductors-cut $2.6 million of $6.5 million-strike issue-70% TA workers covered exitingpensionrules
  • Koch-Reagan transit cuts dumb
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's share of the Federal transit aid is now $168 million, or 7 percent of its annual operating budget.
  • MTA abandons Queens Bypass-$87 million-federal aid for construction of Northern Boulevard station-finish link-MTA Board-reconstruction repair yard Richmond Hill-$20 million, 2 years-approved, first repaired Grummans expected to be back-May-TA President Simpson-given powers to bypass many competitive bidding procedures to speed acquisition of parts/equipment to fix subway cars
  • Emergency declaration
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority invoked a state law yesterday for the first time and declared a 90-day ''emergency'' in subway and bus service. The board's action suspended competitive bidding for the purchase of equipment and maintenance supplies and gave the authority to make those purchases to John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority.
    • The 14-member board approved the emergency resolution unanimously after adding the 90-day time limitation at the urging of one member, Daniel T. Scannell, a former head of the Transit Authority.
    • The action was sought by Mr. Simpson, who told the policy board that ''safety hazards associated with the inability to maintain adequate levels of service'' - particularly overcrowding of subway trains and platforms - would persist unless extraodinary steps were taken to reduce a mass transit maintenance backlog. Speeding Purchase Time
    • After getting the new authority, Mr. Simpson said the time needed to purchase repair parts would be cut ''anywhere from one week to six months,'' depending on the item. But he declined to give an estimate of how soon the action would result in improvements felt by subway and bus riders.
    • In another action at its monthly meeting, the board approved partial completion of the 63d Street subway line
    • This will create a subway link for Roosevelt Island to Queens and Manhattan by early 1984, Mr. Simpson said, but leave ''for a better financial climate'' hopes of an extension to Northern Boulevard in Queens. New Use for Funds
    • Having been forced to curtail plans for new subway construction, the M.T.A. said it would notify the Federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration that $87 million intended for more tracks would be used instead to complete the 63d Street line.
    • Completion of the Archer Avenue line, which has been under construction in Jamaica, Queens, also was given the go-ahead as an ''essential component,'' as Mr. Simpson described it, of that community's bid for economic recovery.
    • In a second move to increase Mr. Simpson's authority to award contracts, the board granted him authority to establish a list of ''qualified'' vendors eligible to sell the materials and equipment to the Transit Authority. Similar to the ''emergency''resolution, this would also eliminate open competitive bidding and permit Mr. Simpson to select from a limited group of sellers. But the board added that it would review the process after a year.
  • LIRR head resigns
  • Lateness excuses requested up 75%, 7% increase ratio city employment to transit riders-drop portion workers using transit-1980-3,756 fires 1979; 5,272 1980-40.3% increase-% of trains scheduled to go through major midtown stations-dropped from 97.3% in 1977 to 86.1% 1980
  • PCAC-report-physical collapse system, not fare hike-responsible declining ridership-28% fewer miles between breakdowns 1980, buses 23% fewer miles-30,422 breakdowns 1977, 46,683 1979, 71,773 1980-delays door problems-6,007-1978, 9,057-1980
  • 15-cent fare increase-virtual certainty-however, Carey advisers insist-rescue plan not require the hike for at least 18 months-if sooner-because of MTA deficits-Carey planned to announce details-plan-next week-complete agreement on plan-down to $5-6 billion
  • Save our subways-riders
  • Gabreski-quits
  • Fare increase 10-15 cents-virtual certainty despite aid to be provided Carey program-presented next week-entirely capital needs-not operating-deficit $100-120 million state fiscal year-by July 1-fare increase/new revenue
    • ''The board has taken a firm position that we're not going to cut service, we're not going to cut back on maintenance programs, and if we don't get the money out of other sources we're going to have to get it out of the fare box,'' Mr. Perfall said.
    • Mr. Carey's plan will detail plans for a five-year infusion of about $5 billion for capital improvements of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system, according to aides to the Governor. About half of that money would be new. It would be raised through authority bonds and other financing mechanisms. The rest is already scheduled to come from Federal, state and local sources under existing plans.
    • The new bond authorization -as much as $1.5 billion - could require additional fare increases later on, but would have no immediate effect on the fare, administration officials said. That is because it generally takes years for new equipment to be delivered, and bonds would not be issued until that equipment had to be paid for.
    • Eventually, however, those bonds would be paid for at least partly from the authority's farebox revenues, diverting additional operating funds.
    • The chairman of the authority, Richard Ravitch, had originally requested a 10-year, $14 billion financing plan. But Carey administration and authority officials said Mr. Ravitch was generally satisfied with the plan that Mr. Carey is expected to present.
    • Nevertheless, a spokesman for Mr. Ravitch said, the Carey plan would not do anything to help the authority's continuing deficit problems - a problem that could be amplified if the state's gross-receipts tax on oil companies was struck down by the courts.
    • The tax, enacted last year, is supposed to produce $235 million for the state's transportation systems, about $200 million of it for the authority.
    • Mr. Perfall, the authority's spokesman, said that to date, the tax was producing less money than expected for the agency, and that if the shortfall continued, that too would have to be covered in next year's budget.
    • Several legislators and aides have expressed concern in recent days that Mr. Carey's plan might meet political resistance, particularly in the Democratic-led Assembly, if it did nothing to prevent a fare increase now and caused a possible need for another one later.
    • Mr. Carey has provided copies of his plan to the Democratic leaders of the legislators, but is expected to brief them and the Republican leaders formally on Monday.
  • City/NYCTA sue Pullman $27.6 million; more
  • MTA aid package-near-expected to be unveiled Albany-within 2 weeks-raise half funds-bonds-Carey planned announce proposals press conference February 19-held back-after Assembly Speaker Fink-strongly suggested governor consult-Assembly/Senate leaders-before presenting such sensitive legislation-legislative officials, Carey's staff-haggling over technical points

March 1981

[edit]
  • Queens Subway Riders Alliance-only a few months old-scheduled meeting with Ravitch-FHJC
  • Transit budget gap understated; more-Perfall-"We have taken the position that we will not cut back on service or maintenance programs."
    • New York City's Transit Authority has underestimated its operating budget deficits ''substantially'' for 1981 through 1984 and the fare on the city's buses and subways may have to rise as high as $1.30 by 1983 to ease the deficit, the State Comptroller's office announced yesterday.
    • In a report reviewing the authority's financial plan for fiscal 1981 through 1984, a special deputy state comptroller, Sidney Schwartz, said the Transit Authority would have to cut costs sharply and find additional revenue sources to prevent the fare from going up.
    • The State Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, said that the city should submit to the Financial Control Board ''a realistic, detailed gapclosing program for the Transit Authority, which would include a timetable for implementation and a monitoring plan to provide early warning of impending shortfalls.''
    • The Transit Authority's financial plan projects no deficit for the current fiscal year, a $155 million gap for 1982; $231 million for 1983, and $310 million for 1984.
    • Mr. Schwartz's report said that the deficits could be much higher because the plan ''provides for only 3 percent annual labor cost increases'' and ''anticipates revenue from a 2 percent tax on the gross receipts of oil companies - a tax whose constitutionality is being challenged in the courts.''
    • A spokesman for the Transit Authority said that although the deficits projected by the Comptroller appeared too high, both the loss of the oil tax and increased labor costs would mean higher fares.
    • However, Mr. Perfall said, historically the state or the Federal Government had helped defray operating costs and that there was no reason to believe that the entire deficit would have to be made up through increased fares.
    • Mr. Regan acknowledged that reductions in Federal operating subsidies for mass transit would not begin until 1984. If the oil tax is struck down by the courts and transit employees receive wage increases in excess of 3 percent and no further Federal aid is forthcoming, the report concludes, the Transit Authority's budget deficits could rise to $159 for this fiscal year; $349 million for 1982; $506 million for 1983; and $589 million for 1984.
    • Should the oil transit tax be declared unconstitutional, the fare would have to rise to 95 cents by next July and to $1.30 by July 1983, the report said.
    • ''Clearly, fare increases alone cannot be relied upon to close the projected gaps,'' the deputy comptroller said. ''We are suggesting that it be done through the elimination of featherbedding and through management flexibility. The key element is management's ability to hire part-timers.''
  • Carey proposes $5 billion improvements emergency basis
    • Governor Carey called today for a $5 billion five-year program of improvements in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system ''on an emergency basis,'' and asked that the agency be excluded from a broad range of regulatory procedures in acquiring land and equipment.
    • But Mr. Carey said he did not plan to provide any new state operating aid for the transit system in this year's budget, although, he said, that was ''not to foreclose'' negotiations on such aid.
    • The chairman of the Transportation Authority, Richard Ravitch, said that without new money, a 10-cent to 15-cent increase in bus and subway fares and a 20 to 25 percent increase in commuter fares would be needed by the end of the year to cover an expected $170 million deficit for the authority.
    • The Governor's plan is less extensive: it would allow the authority to float $2 billion in new bonds, to be secured by the income from fares and concessions at subway stations. That, Mr. Ravitch said, would require an additional fare increase of about 20 cents several years from now, when new equipment was delivered and bonds had to be issued and paid off
    • Another $500 million would come from bonds to be issued by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, and $400 million from a new type of contract that would allow the M.T.A. to rely upon the state for an annual minimum appropriation. An additional $100 million would come from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and would be used to buy more buses for the transit system.
    • In addition to these new sources of revenue, Mr. Carey estimated that the program would use $2 billion from continuing Federal, state and local capital programs.
    • The Governor proposed that the Transportation Authority be exempted for five years from many of what he termed ''burdensome regulations.'' These included several of the state's statutes governing environmental conservation and historic-site preservation.
    • Mr. Carey also proposed suspending the New York City Board of Estimate approval now required before property may be transferred from the city to the Transportation Authority, and excluding the New York City Transit Authority from competitive bidding requirements.
    • ''This can be put together and on my desk in 48 hours,'' Mr. Carey said. ''Direct any further questions upstairs.'' Upstairs in the Capitol, where the Legislature has its quarters, the response was less optimistic. Presented with the Governor's demand for action within two days, the press secretary to Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, the Senate majority leader, laughed. ''If the Assembly passes the bill and sends it to us within 48 hours,'' he said, ''we'll see what we can do.''
    • The Speaker of the Democratic-led Assembly, Stanley Fink, said he concurred with the Governor's basic goals but was critical of his methods.
    • ''I don't understand why we ought to, on an emergency basis, slap a bill with a press release together and get it done in 48 hours,'' said Mr. Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat. ''It may take the heat off some people, if that is the result you want. But I'm trying to accomplish something so the straphangers don't get it in the neck.''
    • Mr. Fink said he wanted the Transportation Authority's needs - for both capital and operating funds - to be part of the negotiations on the state's budget for the 1982 fiscal year, which begins April 1.
  • Koch, Carey, Ravitch, legislative leaders-Albany-hammer agreement-due to Federal cutbacks-package-plans to close gaps-operating budget; Ravitch-seek changes state law-allow MTA to issue fare-backed bond-capital budget TA-$335 million, MTA $450 million-new money needed to prevent collapse-Ravitch envisioned no city capital aid in addition to existing $78 million annually-Anderson-Carey's proposed state takeover of Medicaid-about sopped up all state aid available-something had to give
  • Save our Subways-Car cleaners-no/little supervision-work as few as 3-4 hours a night-fewer than 25 cars a night cleaned-8-hour shift-reporter-moderate pace-3 minutes-55 seconds-sweep a car-time breaks, pace 100 cars per man per shift-conducted with aid of transit employee-lengthy service-so disgusted cleaners' meager output-voluntarily took News on an undercover inspection-10 p.m.-6 a.m. shift workers-often didn't show up until after 11:30 despite reporting 3 minutes away, work not start until after 12:30-work until 5 a.m.-two breaks-poor scheduling-1 hour 20 minute break-time allowed-20-minute break during shift-so 6 hours 40 minutes work-TA considered productivity 685 member cleaning staff poor-
  • Koch-support fare increase if state boosts aid to city to cover operating costs-transit-wanted capital/operating issues dealt same time-not separately-Carey called meeting-undo damage-years of holding fare down-political decisions-Carey not dealt with higher state subsidies-awaiting court challenge oil tax
  • Carey-wanted legislative action 48 hours-$5 billion-5 year plan-lawmakers calling it-martial law, Band-aid approach transit crisis-timeline-impossible-angry-Fink-plan fiat-Anderson-believe sat on bill several months-tried to whip up hysteria-more than half of funding-new bonding authority-$500 million TBTA bonds, $2 billion fare-backed bonds, $400 million MTA bonds secured by $40 million state appropriations, $100 million PA bus purchases, $2 billion-continuing city, state, federal appropriations; streamline procedures MTA follow-project approval-no more environmental impact statements, competitive bidding, submit projects to local planning boards, to Board of Estimate
  • Search LIRR head-not optimistic
  • Koch-demanded meeting-leaders Albany, MTA, Governor-Albany-Nadler opposed to pyramiding of debt
  • $1 by 1986-raise bonds-after 15-cent hike July
  • Times opinion piece-put transit together-critical
    • The big news about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is that it is decaying at an alarming rate. As safety and timely performance decline, so does ridership, imperiling the economies of New York -city, region and state. Governor Carey has now sent a plan for capital improvements to legislative leaders. So far so good - but not far enough. It will not work unless Mayor Koch and officials of suburban counties served by the M.T.A. are also involved.
    • The Governor's proposal for the next five years is based largely on M.T.A. chairman Ravitch's projection of $14 billion in capital needs over the next decade. Mr. Carey would open the way to borrowing about $3 billion; $2 billion more should come in from city, state and Federal grants. Thus, assuming bond buyers go along, the proposal would provide for the first step in reversing the M.T.A.'s slide.
    • In one sense, however, the proposal is illusory. It encourages the idea that local and state governments won't have to pay any more than they have already pledged in capital and operating subsidies, even though the Carey plan involves considerable new borrowing. Two problems face all government leaders whose constituents use the M.T.A.: Who will pay off these new debts? And who will pay for the operating deficits run up by each of the M.T.A.'s services?
    • Years ago, when New York City gave up its subway lines to the Transit Authority, the idea was that the city would pay for all capital expenses, while the fare box would cover operating costs. That formula had to be abandoned because it provided too little money and drove fares too high. Now, State Deputy Comptroller Sidney Schwartz says that the M.T.A.'s operating costs are rising so fast that, without new operating subsidies, the fare will go to $1.30 by 1983 -not counting the dime needed to pay for each $100 million in new borrowing.
    • The present fare of 60 cents is not a magic number. Many riders would probably be willing to pay more for good service. Mr. Carey has to convince the riders that, with adequate financing, the M.T.A. management will indeed give it to them. Then, the state will have to pay more. And finally, the Governor has to persuade Mayor Koch and suburban officials that their local governments must also pay, if they want to keep fares from soaring intolerably.
    • These are not easy tasks. Each level of government will find reasons why the other should pay a larger share. But the M.T.A. problem is not just another exercise in buck-passing. It is a genuine crisis, as mortal as New York City's 1975 financial crisis. Mr. Carey showed then that he could make politicians swallow bitter pills. He should be working now to bring the parties together as he did then.
    • Local leaders, for their part, should start thinking of the new taxes they will need to avoid catastrophic fare increases. Those who benefit indirectly from transit systems seem to be an appropriate source. In New York City, there might be a special tax on office property that would become far less valuable without the transit that brings people to their jobs. Developing a new financing plan for public transit is the most important assignment for 1981 for all governments in the region.
    • There is no guarantee that, even with adequate financing, the M.T.A. will be able to produce better transit service. If not, the blame will fall squarely on the shoulders of the Authority's management. But without such financing, continuing decay is inevitable. The future of the region requires that sound financing, courageous government and effective transit management finally be put together.
  • Federal safety investigation-cause of 2 recent fires-never explained by TA-could be linked to worn out equipment-internal TA inquiry by MTA Board-critical of how subway employees reacted-
  • Study Queens Subway Riders Alliance-supposed to have 14 TPH each E and F-2-week survey-11 or fewer 1/3 of time-12 TPH N-only 10 or fewer-43% of time-6 TPH GG-4 or fewer-20% of time-large delays; more
  • Koch, Carey agreed meeting on transit aid
  • 2 Democratic leaders request exploring trade-in help fund improvement program
    • The move was a shift for the Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, who has generally stood with Governor Carey in his support of the controversial highway project.
    • Mr. Fink called for all sides - the Governor, the Mayor, M.T.A. officials and the leaders - to sit down in a room together and work out an agreeable transportation plan. Governor Carey, meanwhile, scheduled a meeting with Mayor Koch for Thursday to talk about his own proposal.
    • The Mayor went on to assail the performance of the M.T.A., from its ''bureaucratic operation'' to its inability to get ''a stinking fence erected to prevent graffiti'' at the main subway yard.
    • ''My colleagues in the Assembly,'' Mr. Fink said, ''are saying to me, 'Hey, wait a second, you've got a billion available in Westway perhaps, for trade-in, and you're telling me you don't want to use that money and at the same time our regions aren't going to get any interstate money because you're going to use it all for Westway?' '' He said it would be hard to get support for Mr. Carey's program on that basis.
    • Some politicians, including Mr. Fink, say a trade-in could yield as much as $1 billion for mass transportation.
    • The State Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, a Republican, condemned elements of the program that he said resembled so-called ''moral obligation'' financing. He was referring to a part of the Governor's plan under which $400 million of expectation that the Legislature would appropriate money to pay for them.
    • David Rockefeller, leading a group of business executives known as the New York City Partnership in lobbying here, said that ''there must be some kind of visible improvement that comes with the fare increase.'' He suggested that the system try to tackle the graffiti problem to give an appearance of progress while other, more substantive improvements are made to the transit system.
  • Analysis Carey plan
    • ''There are always four factors involved in these types of decisions,'' said Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the M.T.A. ''They are personalities, political interests, geographic and economic interests and substance. In this case, we have an excess of the first three.''
    • There is an acute awareness here, for example, that no single political act is noticed more quickly by more people in the New York City metropolitan area than a fare increase.
    • In addition, there is the approach of the New York City mayoral election, the simmering disputes between Governor Carey and the legislative leaders, the chilliness between Mr. Carey and Mayor Koch and the interest of several leading politicians in running for Governor someday, perhaps as early as next year.
    • All of this has muddied the negotiations and understanding of the Governor's program, whose basic concepts seem to be agreeable to most political leaders here. It would provide the ailing M.T.A. with $5 billion to buy new subway cars and buses and to improve its capital plant over the next five years, and would remove some of the regulatory obstacles in doing so.
    • Two political problems have been raised by the financial aspect of Mr. Carey's plan - one over money that is not in the plan and the other over money that is.
    • First, the plan provides no new operating funds for the system now, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing an expected $170 million deficit in its coming fiscal year. That would force the M.T.A. to raise fares 10 to 15 cents, probably this summer. This increase would come well before any improvements from the Governor's program, and would be likely to deepen the ire of transit riders - an idea that makes politicians here nervous. 'A Catch-22' Situation
    • Second, paying back the bonds to be issued by the M.T.A. would require another 20-cent fare increase later, around 1983 or 1984. That would raise the fare to close to $1 when serious improvements were just beginning to be seen.
    • ''It's a Catch-22,'' said Jim Grossman, special assistant to Assemblyman G. Oliver Koppell, Democrat of the Bronx. ''The service is so bad nobody wants to say give them more money to spend -but if they don't get more money to spend, service will never get better.''
    • With these problems in mind, politicians have staked out three basic positions. On one end is the Governor's plan, which would do nothing to stop a fare increase now, would provide funds to improve the system and would require a fare increase later.
    • On the other end is the plan of Mayor Koch, who will be facing reelection - although apparently not much of a challenge - in November. He wants Mr. Carey to provide funds to prevent the fare from increasing faster than the cost of living now, provide money to improve the system and nevertheless keep the fare from increasing faster than the cost of living later. Mayor Koch says that if he does not get what he wants, he will block the Westway. More Funds for M.T.A. Urged
    • In between are the two Democratic legislative leaders, Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink of Brooklyn and Senator Manfred Ohrenstein of Manhattan, the minority leader. Neither of them is talking about preventing a fare increase now, and both would like to provide new funds for the M.T.A. system. But both would rely less on the farebox to do so.
    • Mr. Ohrenstein would like to trade in the Westway project, which he has long opposed, and use the $1 billion he asserts could be got there to cut the size of the fare increase needed later. Mr. Fink says that should be explored, and if it is not feasible, some additional direct state appropriations should be used to cut the size of the fare increase.
    • The Senate's Republican majority leader, Warren M. Anderson of Binghamton, also expressed concern over using already scarce fare revenues to pay for capital improvements. But he has been relatively quiet on the plan as the Democrats rail loudly at one another.
  • FDNY gives up effort keys subway car doors
  • Koch-want statewide tax MTA, option trade-in without state financing; more
    • ''I am for taxes,'' the Mayor said. ''I have no objection to a special regional tax, a statewide regional tax that would be devoted exclusively to mass transit.'' Mr. Koch made a similar proposal last year.
    • Mr. Koch also said the bus and subway fares should continue to support the same percentage of the system's operating budget as they do now - about 55 percent.
    • ''The balance must be borne by state subsidies,'' he said. Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. mentioned four areas in which he said taxes for mass transit could be sought: a higher gasoline tax, an income tax surcharge, an additional tax on new automobiles or an increase on payroll taxes, divided equally between employer and employee.
    • If the state does not provide a satisfactory level of financing for capital expenditures for the mass transit system, Mr. Koch indicated, he would press for a trade-in of the Westway funds. ''We will opt for the boulevard which costs about $700 million and take a billion dollars and put it into the mass transit system,'' the Mayor said.
    • Senator D'Amato said he could support that decision. ''There comes a time when the leadership of the state and the city have to make a decision,'' he said. ''If the local decision is to go for a trade-in, I would work for it.'' Moynihan Supports Westway
    • In a separate news conference, Mr. Moynihan echoed his Republican colleague's position. ''I think Westway is a good idea, but I intend to support what is wanted in New York City,'' he said.
    • In Albany an aide to the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, contended that, although there was no legislative support for a statewide tax to finance the city's transit system, a request by the city for a local or regional tax could not be ruled out. ''The city could ask for that power and would probably get it if it were a reasonable request.''
  • Koch-fare would rise-unclear when-between 1983 and 1985-did not rule out rise to 75 cents-summer
  • Unable to reach agreement-15-cent fare increase-plan-Fink suggested-reduce increase-25 to 15 cents-transit officials said third 15-cent hike could be needed by 1985 due to reduced federal aid-Governor-no new state money-head off fare hike-Koch/Fink urged trade-in Westway
  • Compromise-originally $2 billion-bonds fare-backed-$400 million-backed $40 million state appropriations-Fink-change-$1.6 billion-fare revenue-$800 million-backed $80 million state appropriations-1983-84 fare increase-nickel less than expected earlier-agreement formula-Koch's call-formula ensure fares increase no more than cost of living, fare cover no more than current 54% of operating costs; Carey opposed income tax surcharge, Koch proposed state/regional tax
  • Newsday editorial-virtue Carey plan-not too much at once-last thing electeds-want to do-more autonomy to MTA-Ravitch-pursuaded Carey old rules don't apply-Carey 48-hour suggestion ridiculous, action needed
  • Anderson-balked at package-deal-piecemeal-good first step-failed to include operating subsidies-delay until money for upstate bridges/roads-deal approved by Koch, Fink, Carey
  • Daily News editorial-get eyes back on ball-haggling fares
  • Westway shouldn't be hostage to transit-Newsday editorial
  • NYCTA-threw out space-age technology-decided purchase buses, subway cars, other equipment-only proven reliability-other cities, small-scale, long-term tests-MTA Board policy-approved-criticized past buying equipment evolved from sophisticated aerospace technology-Grumman/
  • Experts-impact-75-cent fare more psychological-regional commissioner-Bureau of Labor Statistics-RPA-every 10% fare increase-1.2% drop ridership on subway, 1.6% buses-far less than 3% national average
  • Transit speak out; Reagan administration considering proposals by Ravitch convert funding into block grants-save money-billions equipment-help reduce red tape-get approval Federal funds-aided by Rep Jack Kemp-asked Ravitch-draft formal proposal study allow MTA set up private investment buy buses, commuter rail cars, subway cars-believe could buy 2 buses price MTA buys 1-unlikely tax change needed-support changes-nature soon-Reagan focusing on 30% income tax cut
  • Ravitch/Wagner assailed transit speak out-Straphangers Campaign
    • ''Can you guarantee us that the subways are not going to get worse?'' Mr. Ravitch was asked. ''Unless we get the necessary funds to restore badly deteriorated equipment,'' he replied, ''I can't give you any guarantees.'' With that, Mr. Max had his assistant place a ''no'' by Mr. Ravitch's name on the chart. How about announced delays? he was asked. ''We'll give it our best effort,'' he replied. That got him a ''runaround.'' And how about printed subway schedules? ''That's an excellent suggestion, and I think the Transit Authority could accommodate it,'' Mr. Ravitch answered. But he emphasized that it would list only off-hour service.
    • A bill pending in the Legislature would provide $500,000 for offhour transit schedules. Mr. Wagner, pressed to renounce the Westway project in return for Federal trade-in for mass transit funds, repeated Mayor Koch's position that the issue was still under negotiation with the state. His answer drew loud boos.
  • Save our Subways-Slobways-dump-965 trash cans system
  • Transit officials-eye-bring back system reduced-fare transfers-other discounts-when fare increased to 75 cents-
  • Oakes opinion-Westway-wrong way
    • Since trade-in funds for mass transit are at present limited to $600 million a year, New York's share, like everyone else's, would have to be stretched out over several years, just as highway funds are. But to put the state in line for trade-in, Governor Carey first has to ask for it. This he has so far refused to do, though the city's transit system is collapsing.
    • Trade-in has already aided cities throughout the country to revive their dying subway, bus, and commuter lines, including New York's closest big-city neighbors, Boston and Philadelphia. Since the program was started by the Nixon Administration in 1973, no request for trade-in of interstate highway funds for mass transit has ever been rejected.
  • Groups opposed to subway bond program-increased pressure farebox-RPA, CBC, PCAC, ABNY; bonding-only in limited amounts if at all, alternatives-Ravitch said studying two-fare zones; Ravitch surprised opposition
  • MTA finance committee voted fare hearing
  • Top GOP lawmakers joined subway talks-first time-
  • Senate Dems reject Carey plan
    • The Senate's Democratic minority announced today that it had rejected Governor Carey's plan to help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It complained that the plan did ''nothing for the riding public today'' and required substantial fare increases later.
    • In interviews, Democratic Senators also complained that the plan would fail to prevent fare increases this year or next year because of mounting operating deficits in the agency.
    • The Democrats called for ''every possible alternative'' to be explored to finance the Governor's $5 billion, five-year improvement plan, including a trade-in of the Westway superhighway project to finance the M.T.A.'s capital needs.
    • In New York City, meanwhile, a coalition of 24 civic, business, environmental and transportation groups called for the Legislature to increase the size of the $5 billion plan and to enact ''new revenuegenerating mechanisms'' to meet the M.T.A.'s operating needs.
    • The coalition also said the M.T.A. should be allowed to issue bonds ''only as a last resort.'' Under current plans, the authority would raise $1.6 billion in this fashion. The coalition - avoided taking any position on a trade-in of Westway funds, however.
    • The position of the Senate Democratic Conference was intended to give strong backing to efforts by the Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, Democrat of Manhattan. The Senator has been critical of some aspects of a deal struck last week by Governor Carey, Mayor Koch, Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink and the chairman of the M.T.A., Richard Ravitch.
    • Mr. Carey has set Friday as the deadline for coming up with a transportaion program that would include $5 billion of aid to rebuild the M.T.A. system, capital aid for other transportation authorities and a ''fair fare formula'' that would limit future fare increases.
  • Senate Dems/Koch leaning on trade-in; State GOP-repairs commuter lines, roads-angry straphangers 1,000-FHJC-demands-upgrades-
  • Koch-transit plan-shell game
  • Berger-close 50 booths
  • Koch-blasted Carey proposal-cuts business and incometaxes-while new taxes needed to bail out transit system-wanted broad-based tax-hold down future increases
  • Ravich-preparing $5 billion-list Monday-next roundtop-level talks-suburban/upstate lawmakers-demanded see how much would be spent outside NYC-prioritizing
  • MTA Board-go ahead fare hike-Ravitch-empowered on his own start legal machinery-fare hike-meaningless-approved 130 commuter cars-purchase-paid mainly from 1967, 1979 bond issues-$144 million-arrive by September 1983-Conrail, March 1984 LIRR
  • Regan-reopen 1980 bargaining
    • State Comptroller Edward V. Regan said yesterday that wasteful spending resulting largely from an ''amateurish piece of bargaining'' to end the 11-day New York City transit strike last April was costing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as much as $200 million a year.
    • Using the rule of thumb that every 10 cents added to the subway and bus fare covers $100 million in the transit system's costs, Mr. Regan said that ending such spending could preclude the need for a 20-cent fare increase and he called for a reopening of the contract to revise work rules.
    • He said that his staff's estimates were based on auditing procedures and that it was not certain that all of the recommended changes could be implemented. The M.T.A. this week began taking steps toward an increase in the 60-cent fare after June 30. An initial increase of 15 cents is widely expected.
    • Mayor Koch yesterday called on the M.T.A. to reject a committee recommendation for a fare rise when its board meets today.
    • ''It's the assumptions he's drawing on we disagree with,'' Mr. Perfall said. ''Most of those changes are demands we made during the negotiations. The demands on work rules were the cause of the strike.''
    • Mr. Perfall defended the resulting agreement as ''the best we could achieve under the circumstances'' of ''a prolonged strike that was crippling the city.''
    • Alluding to talks that continued in Albany yesterday among legislative leaders trying to come up with a ''fair fare'' formula tied to transit improvements, Mr. Regan said it was ''an insult to the people who ride the subways and buses to threaten them with huge fare increases'' while service deteriorated because of poor management.
    • Mr. Regan blamed the wasteful spending on what he described as lenient work rules that the M.T.A. had failed again to correct in the most recent contract negotiations. He also said there were lax work standards and supervision at work sites.
    • Mr. Regan estimated that half the wasteful practices could be eliminated unilaterally by the M.T.A. and the other half through contract renegotiation. The practices he cited included:
    • Bonus payments to the 15 percent of the 10,000 Transit Authority bus drivers who work ''swing shifts.'' These are primarily drivers on express routes who are paid for free hours between rush-hour periods. If they are called back to work between tours, they are due ''bonus payments'' of time-and-a-half on top of straight-time pay. Mr. Regan said this practice wasted $21 million a year.
    • Using regular employees, when part-timers would save money. Mr. Regan said this cost $25 million a year.
    • Allocating overtime to bus drivers nearing retirement in Manhattan and the Bronx because of what the Transit Authority concedes is cronyism. This has resulted in inflated pension costs of $13 million a year since pensions are based on what an employee receives in his last year.
    • Giving construction flagmen nine and a half hours of pay for eight hours of work because the extra pay was tacked on years ago to cover time for refueling kerosene lamps. The practice continues to cost $1 million, although the lamps are no longer used. $1 million , costing $1 million
  • State Controller-Regan-fare hike-insult to riders-believed to be running for Governor-favored increased productivity, fare hikes, new taxes-should reopen talks 1980 contract-get rid of archaic work rules
  • Koch-fight fare hike-instead new/increased tax-denied political-newstand; NYCTA began hiring 379-employees-most work, road car inspectors, add $10 million operating budget, includes work shifts CIY and 207thStreet
  • Remember the bond issue-Nassau County Exec-1970s
    • The bond issue was supposed to provide $70 million for the purchase of new electric commuter cars and $9 million in rail freight improvements so the L.I.R.R. could provide better service as well as attract new customers. It was also to prepare the way for ''piggyback freight'' on Long Island, which would provide additional income to the railroad and help to stabilize fares. The bond issue was further aimed at construction of the West Side storage yard to increase operating efficiency at Pennsylvania Station by 25 percent so rush-hour service could be provided for an additional 31,000 passengers on the L.I.R.R., thus saving, as promised at the time, 7.3 million gallons of gas per year.
    • The above are just some of the selling points that were made back in 1979 to persuade the voters to approve the $500-million Energy Conservation Transportation Bond Issue.
  • Grumman repair-fails-jeopardizing April delivery-purchase of $144 million 130 commuter cars-approved
  • Step toward fare rise; board approved 8-6; continued-MTA officials upset-Koch-until previous week acknowledged fare hikes needed to save subway-wanted put off-City Hall sources suggested-attitude change-after state officials suggested-after fare hike to 75 cents July-could be held stable-Governor Carey-reelection year-1982-Metro-North division created-event-Conrail-abandon service
    • The M.T.A. has projected an operating deficit of as much as $120 million for the state's new fiscal year, which begins April 1.
    • Mayor Koch has said that he would not support a $5 billion package proposed by Governor Carey for transit improvements unless the state provided more money for the system's operating needs. Mr. Carey does not want the state to increase its share of expenses. A major proposal under discussion is a ''fair fare'' formula that would tie future fare increases to the Consumer Price Index or hold overall fare revenues to their current share - about 56 percent - of the operating and maintenance budgets of the M.T.A and its operating units.
    • On Thursday, Mr. Koch had urged the M.T.A. to reject a finance committee recommendation that the authority initiate an environmental impact study to pave the way for a probable 15-cent - or 25 percent - increase in the 60-cent subway and bus fare on July 1.
    • Mr. Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, said after yesterday's meeting that he had made an offer to Mr. Wagner on Thursday not to have the vote on the environmental study. Mr. Ravitch said it was unnecessary because he had the power to initiate the fare-rise process on his own.
    • ''I can't tell you why some people wanted to have a vote when it wasn't necessary,'' he said. ''I guess people wanted to make political statements.''
    • The motion for a public vote was made by Mr. Berger, who, his voice rising, admonished the board that during every mayoral election year ''We say 'Don't raise the fare.' That lets the system fall apart.'' He said the board had ''made a decision not to do that'' any longer.
    • Mr. Berger's finance committee on Wednesday approved a recommendation that the board authorize the environmental study to begin the 60-day clearance process needed for a fare increase under Federal Clean Air Act rules. Mr. Brown, Mrs. Menschel and Mr. Bailey are members of the committee.
  • 15 days jail graffiti
  • MTA board-moved fare increase-plan-unveiled-Carey-would have increased state share MTA operating costs from 17 to 22%-cut farebox contribution from 66 to 61%-capped% operating assistance from NYC at 16%-changes 26 bus-pass programs school children-strengthen administrative controls, reduce cost of service-one require Grades 3-12 students live over 0.5 mile from school to be eligible for half-fares on buses
  • March board meeting-work-rule concessions-promised to save $32 million-only saved a few million-no new subway cars rails-before October 1982-at earliest-only one bidder new replacement trucks R46s-$14 million above anticipated amount
  • Queens subway riders-group-6-months old-5,000 members strong
  • Subway politics
    • Aides to Mr. Carey met with those of Mayor Koch to define precisely a fair fare and, according to one participant, made very little progress. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority went ahead without them, voting 8 to 6 to begin the 60-day process leading to a probable 15-cent increase in July. Though fiercely contested, the vote was not necessary, since Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, could have initiated the process without it. ''I guess some people wanted to make a political statement,'' he said.
    • When he heard about it, Mr. Koch, who seemed resigned to such an increase only days ago, made a statement of his own: He didn't believe the fare should be increased until July 1982, and then only if there were substantial improvements in service first.
  • Civic groups transit
    • The transit situation in New York has deteriorated so badly that 24 civic groups that often fight each other are getting together to see what they can do. They want to rally behind them an army of outraged and weary subway, bus and rail travelers who will remember the politicians who forget them. Such a coalition is needed. It would be still more useful if it could find a program that holds promise, something its opening statement doesn't quite accomplish.
    • On the sensible side, the as-yet unnamed group will ask New York's Congressional delegation to try to break through the Reagan Administration's resistance to more Federal help for mass transit. It will press Albany and local governments for transit grants. It will look over the shoulder of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, calling attention to mistakes that too often remain hidden in dark tunnels.
    • Yet the coalition seems to know its ends better than its means. It says it will support borrowing by the M.T.A. for capital improvements only as a last resort - a point that was in fact passed long ago. The transit authority needs capital to buy subway cars and buses, repair rights-of-way, improve maintenance shops and clean up public spaces. It cannot find the $5 billion it needs in five years without itself borrowing about $1.5 billion and raising fares higher to service the debt.
  • New rail cars-top of list, followed by upgrading yards/shops-urged lawmakers to approve plan, then settle differences-bound close scrutiny-disclosure MTA misled public spending plan 1979 bond issue-had backed drive-though had ruled out plan cornerstone-modernize hundreds of older cars
  • More than 40%-of $4.7billion-transit-subway cars repair/replace-capital program included money from 1979 bond issue, continuing state/federal aid programs, fare-backed bonds-funding did not permit tackling need additional Queens capacity-interim operations Archer/63rd-rehab subway cars-replace defective wiring/doors 2,600 cars, replacement 1,450 over-age/unreliable cars-23% of fleet, rehab/modernize car-maintenance facilities-keep cars reliable, station modernization, rehab signals, improve bus service-car-repair program-stepped up-fix doors-programs-almost immediately-begin improve reliability-by end of 1983-substantial benefits realized-LIRR-216 new cars, reverse-signaling ERTs-WSY
  • Wall Street project
  • Carey-offered double state subsidies-state share increased from 17% to 22%-state share-Albany contribution from $259 to $496 million-no idea where money come from-indication-Carey-support hike gross receipts tax on oil companies-2 to 3%-plan requires city keep paying 16% share-Koch not supporting-increased subsidies-would not prevent-15-cent fare hike-Ravitch-unveild priority list-legislative leaders-$4.725 billion NYCTA, $634 million LIRR, $416 million Conrail; more; Ohrenstein-supports Koch-had stood firm with Carey-1980-issue increased state revenue-sharing funds
  • LIRR electrification from 10-year not in 5-year
  • Koch proposes taxes
    • Mayor Koch has given Governor Carey a list of new taxes, including increases in the sales tax, the payroll tax, the gasoline tax and automobile registration fees. He asserts they would be better than a 10 to 15 cent increase in New York's 60-cent bus and subway fares.
    • The list, part of the Mayor's contribution to the battle over the transit system, was given to the Carey administration by aides to Mayor Koch on Friday. Few if any of the proposals seemed likely to gain immediate support in the Legislature
    • Carey-stepped up efforts untie transit fare issue from physical improvements
    • Mayor's list-$10 surcharge car registrations, annual car fee based on car value-5-cents a gallon gas tax-2% retail gas tax-.25% sales tax increase-.25% payroll tax increase-increase tax gross receipts oil companies-Governor pick-add up $150 million hold fare 60 cents-Ravitch-shuffled Capitol-brief legislators/aides plan 5 years-$5.85 billion-somewhat larger than Carey had discussed-lack of funds force deferral plans A/C older BMT/IND cars, extend station modernization schedule
  • Koch-at least $150 million new/increased taxes-enough delay fare hike until July 1982-beyond reelection campaign-during Carey's-freze city's capital contributions-.25% boost-sales tax, .25% payrolltax city, $10 surcharge car registration-Carey-double TA subsidies
  • Governor Carey today informally sent legislative leaders a plan for the state to assume a greater share of the cost of operating the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over the next five years. But officials said that despite the plan, a fare of $1.10 on New York City's buses and subways would be needed in 1985.
    • The proposal would increase the state's share of M.T.A. operating and maintenance costs from 171/3 percent to 22 percent over the next five years. In an effort to gain support from Republicans, who control the Senate, Mr. Carey's plan also provides $170 million for roads and bridge improvements upstate.
    • The state's contribution to the M.T.A. would increase from the current $259 million to $496 million, Carey aides said. Without that additional aid, they added, fares could be $1.35 by 1985.
    • The provision of new operating funds has become the key in getting support for the M.T.A.'s proposed $5 billion, five-year program of system improvements and new equipment. There was no immediate reaction from the legislative leaders. The Democratic leaders were to meet with Mr. Carey tomorrow to discuss the transit issue and the budget for the fiscal year that begins April 1.
    • Meanwhile, Mayor Koch said in a clarification of his position on the New York City bus and subway fare that he could support a fare increase this July if it was accompanied by a ''measured recovery'' of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's service.
    • The Mayor, whose resistance to transit plans has been a major factor in the confused state of transit negotiations here, also indicated that he could negotiate with the state over a possible increase in the city's dollar contribution to the M.T.A.'s operating and maintenance costs.
    • That was a point of contention in the plan the Governor presented today. Under it, New York City's share of M.T.A. operating costs, now 162/3 percent, would remain the same, but its dollar contribution would increase from $237 million to $361 million, in proportion to the expected rise in the M.T.A. budget.
    • Representatives of the Mayor rejected that proposal last Friday because it did not put an absolute dollar limit on the amount the city would have to contribute to the M.T.A. in the future. Carey aides interpreted that to mean the Mayor would not accept any increase in the city's contribution, a position they rejected.
    • The question of new operating funds for the transit system is important, because unless they are provided, neither the Mayor nor the minority leader of the State Senate, Manfred Ohrenstein, Democrat of Manhattan, is prepared to accept a plan for physical improvements to the M.T.A. system. There appears to be general agreement on a program of more than $5 billion of improvements for the buses, subways and commuter lines.
  • Carey-offered increase aid upstate $175 million bridges, roads, $25 million transit authority-portion raised through bonds backed by existing tax-Senate Minority Leader Ohrenstein-refused to go along plan without Koch support-wanted city's dollar contribution MTA-capped five years, fare held 60 cents to July 1982
  • Koch-agreed-increase city contributions-transit package-should include provisions mandating productivity and cost containment-Deputy Mayor WagnerJr. noted CA legislation authorizing part-time workers-Bellamy suggested part city's budget surplus hold fare temporarily while a package was being put together-city-increase-limited 10% a year
  • Newsday editorial-flaws capital program-borrowing-future revenues-don't cover existing expenses, delay electrification-no alternative-sniping Regan-take statemanship to solve issue
  • Survey-NY Board of Trade-50% riders-willing $1 fare-if subways safer, on schedule, cleaner 87% though impossible-failure past results previous increases-17% planned to use subway-less frequently next year
  • Koch-blasted Bellamy-undercutting-city position-surplus-helpfinance system
  • Mayor Koch agreed today to a substantial increase in New York City's contribution to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's operating costs over the next five years. His consent would appear to remove a major obstacle to agreement on a broader program to rebuild the transit system.
    • But the Mayor remained at odds with Governor Carey over whether to allow a 10-cent or 15-cent increase in the bus and subway fare in July. The Mayor continued to insist that no increase be permitted until visible improvements were seen in transit service. The Governor has said an increase in July appears inevitable.
    • Mr. Koch harshly criticized the City Council President, Carol Bellamy, for suggesting that the city use its expected surplus, projected to be between $128 million and $400 million for this fiscal year, as a ''one shot, extraordinary measure'' to hold the fare at its current 60 cents until more permanent aid could be found.
    • Mr. Koch has been trying to get the state to provide the $150 million the M.T.A. says it would need to hold the fare for another year. He has suggested that the state impose new taxes to do this - a suggestion resisted by many state officials.
    • An increase in the city's contribution to the M.T.A. was rejected by Mayor Koch's negotiators at a meeting last Friday. But Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. said the Mayor had altered his position because ''we are fundamentally interested in seeing a meaningful, sensible program.''
    • By the city's calculations, its contribution would increase from $340 million in 1981 to $570 million in 1986. By the state's calculations, the city's contribution would increase from $237 million to $361 million. The difference occurs because the city includes in its contribution the cost of transit police, while the state does not. Mr. Wagner said this was ''manageable within the financial plan'' of the city.
    • The agreement was essentially along the outlines of Governor Carey's ''fair fare plan.'' Under it, the state's contribution to the operating and maintenance costs of the M.T.A. would increase from the current 171/3 percent to 22 percent, while the city's share would be held at its current 162/3 percent. The city's dollar contribution, therefore, would rise in proportion to the M.T.A. budget.
    • Agreement came at a meeting in the Blue Room of City Hall, after city officials were assured they would be protected from a sudden financial burden if the costs of the M.T.A. rose unexpectedly. Aides to the Mayor and the Governor said they still had to work out details of how that would be done.
    • The Governor's representatives said they wanted to place limits on the growth of the M.T.A.'s budget, which would automatically hold down the city's costs. But the Mayor's representatives were stressing the need to link the city's maximum contribution to a fixed limit, such as the increase in the cost of living or some definite percentage.
    • With the Mayor's agreement apparently near, Carey administration officials are now expected to try to get Senator Manfred Ohrenstein, Democrat of Manhattan, the minority leader, to join in an agreement. The Senator had told Mr. Carey at a meeting here yesterday that he would not agree to a transit plan if the Mayor was going to attack it. Only after agreement from that quarter will the Democrats be in a position to start bargaining with the Republicans, who control the State Senate.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority may have to increase New York City's bus and subway fares more than it had expected because of the refusal of two oil companies to pay the state's gross-receipts tax, state officials said today.
    • The authority, already projecting a deficit of $150 million for next year, faces an additional loss of up to $100 million this year because of the actions by the companies, the officials said.
    • The authority has already taken the first steps toward a fare increase of 10 to 15 cents on July 1. The companies contend that the law is unconstitutional because it forbids them to pass along the cost of the tax to consumers. The issue is being fought in court.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the authority was ''dealing with the problem by not making the pension contributions'' to the Transport Workers Union at this time. That deferral, he said, will cost the authority an additional $5 million in this fiscal year for interest to the union. He said the authority had so far received only $25 million from the proceeds of the tax.
    • The State Tax Commissioner, James H. Tully Jr., said the refusal of Mobil and Shell to pay the 2 percent tax was expected to leave the state's mass-transit fund $115 million short of projections for the state fiscal year ending March 31. About $100 million of that was to have gone to the M.T.A.
    • The tax, passed in the closing days of last year's legislative session, was intended to yield $235 million a year for mass-transit systems around the state. An increase in it has been considered the most feasible way for the state to meet the additional commitments Governor Carey made under his recent programs to stabilize the fare. He was planning to discuss such an increase with legislative leaders on Monday, according to aides.
    • But the tax is under Federal court challenge because of the clause that prohibits it from being passed on to consumers. A Federal judge in Syracuse ruled last year that this provision was unconstitutional, but the state appealed the ruling and succeeded in staying any order striking down the tax pending a further review.
  • Mayor Koch said today that he had ''struck out'' in his attempts to convince the Reagan Administration that it should not seek to end the program that provides Federal subsidies for mass-transit fares.
    • The city stands to lose $122 million a year by 1985 if the subsidies are ended.
  • The M.T.A. received $157 million, or 7 percent of its operating budget, from Federal subsidies last year. Major cuts in operating subsidies would not be made until 1983, so the Reagan proposals would have little effect before then. But by state estimates, the total loss by 1986 could be $881 million, and difficult decisions appear to lie ahead for the M.T.A. and the state and local governments.
    • New York, under the Reagan cuts, would forgo $171 million in capital aid for mass transit in 1982, and most long-range projects would get no Federal funds
  • By the end of last week, both Governor Carey and Mayor Koch had agreed to provide substantial new aid over the next five years to help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority pay operating and maintenance expenses the farebox doesn't cover. That was something neither had anticipated, publicly at least, only a few weeks ago. Mr. Carey, meanwhile, said he would provide $170 million for upstate roads and bridges over the next five years - an amount, not surprisingly, that he had already anticipated spending - to win support from upstate legislators for his $5.85 billion, five-year capital improvement plan for the transit system.
    • Nevertheless, serious problems remain. One is how the Governor is going to get the Legislature to pay for his new largesse. Another is how the Mayor is going to keep the fare at 60 cents until his requirement that the system show a ''demonstrable, measured improvement visible to the eye'' is fulfilled -something some politicians expect will happen only after November's Mayoral election. Still another is that everyone involved seems to have a growing private, if not public, dislike for everyone else.
    • The most critical problem, though, is that the M.T.A.'s ever widening operating deficits will continue to increase faster than the supply of new state and city dollars, making further painful fare increases almost certain. The Carey Administration estimates that, even with the five-year improvement program and new operating aid from Albany and New York, fares would still rise to at least $1.10 by the Transit Authority's 1985-86 fiscal year.
    • That is the crux of the difficulty in resolving the New York transit mess. All sides acknowledge that, after years of neglect during the city's fiscal crisis, the crumbling transit system must be rebuilt quickly and the task will consume enormous amounts of money. No one, however, wants his constituents to have to pay for it. For Mayor Koch, a fare increase this summer would be the most immediate and obvious sign that he had lost that battle. Even though he is running virtually unopposed for re-election this fall, a sharp fare increase is not likely to bring smiles to the lips of the New Yorkers he meets as he walks the streets asking for votes.
    • The Mayor insists his opposition to a higher fare is not politically motivated and, to prove it, he points to a list of ''Koch taxes,'' on items such as gasoline, automobiles and payrolls, that he asserts could forestall an increase for another year (putting it closer, coincidentally, to Governor Carey's expected re-election campaign). Other politicians note that virtually all of these taxes have been rejected by the Legislature in the past and will almost certainly be rejected again. Nevertheless, Mr. Koch could still protest a fare increase, and he wouldn't have to suffer from any of the ''Koch taxes,'' either.
    • But what Mr. Koch termed a ''monkey wrench'' was thrown into the works last week by the City Council President, Carol Bellamy, who suggested that if the Mayor really wanted to hold down the fare, he could contribute some of the city's expected surplus of $128 million to $400 million. An aide to Governor Carey, Michael J. DelGiudice, said this plan ''seemed to make a lot of sense,'' a natural position for the Governor's office to take, since it would resolve the fare dispute without costing the state anything. The Mayor, whose relations with Miss Bellamy have been increasingly strained lately, refused to consider the idea and accused the City Council President of trying ''to cut off our legs at the knees'' in the midst of the negotiations.
    • One place neither the Mayor nor the Governor is looking for new transit aid is in Washington. Everyone would be happy, in fact, simply to stop the cuts President Reagan has proposed. Finding new money in Albany will not be easy, either, even though state officials and legislators appear to be blessed with the kind of pragmatism that comes from being more than a year away from an election.
    • No one in the state capital, for example, is talking about trying to save the bus and subway fare this summer - not even Governor Carey, who ran for re-election in 1978 pledging to hold the fare at 50 cents through the end of 1981. But everyone seems wary about proposing new taxes, particularly at a time when the Republican-led Senate has passed a tax cut of close to half a billion dollars.
    • The best hope, politically if not legally, would be to increase the gross-receipts tax on oil companies from 2 percent to 3 percent. However, that tax is being challenged in Federal court because of a clause that prohibits it from being passed on to consumers and both the Mobil Oil Corporation and the Shell Oil Company have refused to pay it.
    • As if the situation wasn't difficult enough, the two Democratic leaders, Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink of Brooklyn and Senator Manfred Ohrenstein of Manhattan, have asked the Governor to explore the possibility of trading Federal funds for the Westway highway project for Federal transit aid, which could pay for part of the M.T.A.'s capital improvement program, thus holding down the fare. Mr. Carey has dismissed this as impossible, an opinion he bases not on queries to Washington but rather on his 14 years of Congressional experience. The leaders have found that less than convincing. The Mayor has supported and opposed the Governor's position on Westway at various times, depending on the prospects for his own mass transit agenda.
    • And even after the negotiations over who will pay for the improvements are settled, there is likely to be more fighting over the improvements themselves. Senator Ohrenstein, who has been lying low while the Governor works out his differences with the Mayor, is expected to question the M.T.A.'s plans for spending the $5.85 billion. Reportedly dissatisfied with the emphasis on passengerpleasing new rail cars, he wonders whether structural, signal and track improvements might not be more necessary.
  • Increased car use caused by deteriorating subway service has made it impossible for New York City to meet current Federal clean-air standards without federal mass-transit funds and other assistance, the city's Environmental Protection Commissioner said.
  • Ravitch-if oil tax struck down-fare $1 or more-only $23 million-received tax-was expected to generate $200 million annually
  • Carey would back-oil tax-curb fare hike-
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday he expected the State Legislature to amend and reenact the gross-receipts tax on oil companies if the tax was found unconstitutional because of a clause prohibiting the companies from passing it along to consumers.
    • But despite the prediction of the M.T.A. chairman, Richard Ravitch, legislative leaders immediately said they would not approve a grossreceipts tax without protection for consumers.
    • ''That would be very difficult to get votes for,'' said Richard J. Roth, spokesman for Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, the majority leader of the State Senate. ''Both houses have made it pretty clear they are not going to enact a statewide tax where more than 85 percent of the money would go to the M.T.A. I'm sure that nothing has been told Mr. Ravitch by Senator Anderson that would lead him to believe that.''
    • Mr. Ravitch, speaking on the WCBS-TV ''Newsmakers'' program, also said that the bus and subway fare, now 60 cents, could go up to 90 cents by July 1. He said this could happen if the $200 million expected from the gross-receipts tax was not received by the M.T.A. and if Governor Carey and Mayor Koch did not come up with some plan to fill the M.T.A.'s projected $150 million deficit for the 1981-82 fiscal year. Commuter rail fares would increase by a similar percentage.
    • ''I frankly expect that the Legislature will reenact the grossreceipts tax if the onerous provisions are found unconstitutional,'' said Mr. Ravitch, ''and if they're upheld by the court, I'm sure the money will be paid in, and we'll get it by June 30. If not, we're going to have to deal with it through fare increases.''
  • One day after it came to public notice, the New York City Transit Authority canceled yesterday an ''embryonic'' plan to a seek a way of shielding its sophisticated new electronic power-supply equipment for the city's subway system in case of nuclear attack.
  • The leader of the Republican-controlled Senate informed Governor Carey today that he did not want to take up the issue of aiding the state's mass-transit systems until after negotiations on the state budget for the fiscal year that begins April 1.; more
    • The majority leader, Senator Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, told Mr. Carey of his intention at a private meeting here with the Governor and Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink. Mr. Carey's response, according to an aide, was, ''Absolutely not.''
    • ''He wants it as part of the budget or earlier,'' the aide said. ''The Governor wants to get that done.'' But Mr. Anderson's resistance further complicated the already labyrinthine debate over how to provide for the equipment, maintenance and operating needs of public transit - particularly those of the deficit-ridden Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • ''Transportation certainly is an urgent question,'' said a spokesman for Mr. Anderson, ''but it's not urgent like the budget. If we don't do it by Tuesday, the trains don't stop running.'' On the budget itself, there was little progress reported, past the fact that the principals had met on the issue for the first time.
    • Senator Anderson had previously remained largely silent on masstransit aid while the Democrats tried to develop a unified position, which they have still been unable to do.
    • That became apparent once again today as representatives of Governor Carey and other Democratic officials sparred at a public hearing here over whether it would be viable to trade in the Federal funds for the controversial Westway superhighway project, using the money for improvements to the M.T.A. system.
    • The New York City Council President, Carol Bellamy, reiterated her suggestion that the Westway be traded in for $1 billion - a move she said could ''knock a dime off any future fare increases'' - to pay for capital improvements to the bus and subway system. She renewed as well her suggestion that the city use part of its expected surplus to stabilize the fare.
    • While he acknowledged that after a trade-in and the construction of a smaller road from the Battery to 42d street, there would be ''$1 billion theoretically left over for public transportation,'' Mr. Peyrebrune said New York would be behind several other states in trying to trade in the funds and would not see them for a long time, if at all.
    • He cited the state's effort to trade in the $270 million Long Island Expressway Interstate project, saying that it had been knocked down to $240 million by Congress and that the state had seen only $40 million of it.
    • Mr. Peyrebrune's assertions brought a charge from Assemblyman Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of Manhattan, that ''the executive branch of this state keeps putting out misinformation.'' He said the billion dollars would be made available over a 10-year period - about $500 million of it in the period covered by the M.T.A.'s 5-year, $5.85 billion improvement plan.
  • ''There is so much posturing. All the characters - the Governor, the Mayor, the M.T.A., the Comptroller, the legislative leaders, the Council President -trying to avoid responsibility, and meanwhile the system collapses around us.''
    • That was the unusually frank assessment by Carol Bellamy, the City Council President, of the public agonizing by transit and public officials over an almost inevitable increase in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's bus and subway fare.
    • The attempt to demonstrate herculean efforts to avoid a fare raise while diffusing or shifting responsibility for it in an effort to influence voters has been standard procedure in the city and state for many years. The strategem is supposed to be particularly important now because Mayor Koch is seeking re-election this year and Governor Carey is preparing to seek a third term next year.
    • Election records, however, do not support the theory that voters punish politicians for fare increases, and politicians cannot recall any mayoral or gubernatorial candidate who was defeated because of one.
    • ''Fare increases don't hurt - that's a truism, but I don't think politicians perceive it that way,'' said Harold L. Fisher, former M.T.A. chairman and a veteran of many city and state campaigns.
    • ''They're less damaging than politicians think,'' said Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., Mayor Koch's principal spokesman on the authority. However, he recalled with a chuckle that his grandfather, the late Senator, thought ''he had not been strong enough on the 5-cent fare.''
    • In fact, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which would actually impose the fare increase, helps shield elected officials from voter wrath. The authority's members are appointed by the Governor, Mayor and legislative leaders of both parties, so responsibility for its actions - such as a fare increase - can be diffused.
    • The fare held steady at 5 cents from 1904 to 1948 and has been increased seven times since then, three times under former Mayor John V. Lindsay. Yet, Mr. Lindsay was re-elected after one fare increase and retired undefeated after the other two. William O'Dwyer was also re-elected after the subway fare jumped from 5 to 10 cents in 1948. Fiscal Crisis, Not Fares
    • Mayor Abraham D. Beame was defeated two years after the fare rose from 35 to 50 cents in 1975, but his defeat was widely ascribed to the city's fiscal crisis, not the fare increase. Similarly, Vincent R. Impellitteri was defeated in the Democratic primary after the fare jumped from 10 to 15 cents in 1953 but then, too, the fare was not a major issue.
    • The fare was last increased - from 50 to 60 cents - in June, but there are no indications it had any ill effects on Mayor Koch's standing in the polls.
    • But elected officials still run scared in the face of a fare raise. ''A fare increase doesn't help'' a politician seeking re-election, said former Mayor Robert F. Wagner, father of the Deputy Mayor and one of the master politicians of recent years. He said a fare increase would represent ''further irritation'' of riders already angered by ''crime, graffiti and poor maintenance.''
    • The principals in the city-state-M.T.A. negotiations to fill a growing gap in transit operating revenues, apparently subscribe to the Wagner theory: Mayor Koch seemingly resists a fare increase while pressuring the state for more operating funds, while Governor Carey looks to the fare box as well as the city and state to take up the slack.
    • The Mayor has even proposed possible regional or statewide taxes in lieu of a fare increase, but this, too, can be seen as political manuevering - upstate and suburban legislators have a history of resisting tax increases for their constituents that will be even partly used to defray city transit costs.
    • ''The fare increases always come after the fact,'' Miss Bellamy said, ''after the service is bad because of lack of funds. My own preference is some kind of transit tax, but how real is it? It would require very difficult, hard lobbying that hasn't happened yet.''
  • Leaders of the State Senate's Democratic minority released a staff report today assailing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's five-year, $5.85 billion system-improvement program.
    • The report asserted that ''the M.T.A.'s priorities appear to be backward,'' but offered no specific priorities of their own. Instead, the Democrats called for a meeting early next week in Albany with the chairman of the authority, Richard Ravitch.
    • Mr. Ravitch responded that if the Democrats felt they had expertise to offer, they should come down to New York City and discuss it with ''the engineering people of the Transit Authority and the M.T.A., who developed this plan.''
    • Then he added: ''You know the old adage - if people don't want to do something, it doesn't matter what reason they give.'' The Democrats had rejected the concept of Governor Carey's plan two weeks ago because it was not accompanied by a program to help the authority with its widening operating deficits. That, however, was before they had seen the details of the capital-improvement plan.
    • Since that time, Mr. Carey has been developing a plan to give additional operating assistance to the authority, and the M.T.A. has released the details of its capital program. It was those details that were the subject of today's Senate report.
    • The Democrats criticized the M.T.A. plan today for concentrating too heavily on the purchase of new subway and commuter cars, and not enough on less obvious improvements - repair yards, signal systems and the like - that might make the transit system run better.
    • They also complained that the needs of the suburban commuter lines were not adequately taken into account. The Senators also criticized the mathematical formula by which the M.T.A. developed its priorities, saying that it was vague and did not adequately reflect the transit system's real needs.
    • The Democrats, led by Senator Manfred Ohrenstein of Manhattan, insisted they were not trying to delay a settlement of the transit program and said they hoped to get agreement along with a settlement of the budget.
    • The Democratic Senators said that they wanted a better idea of what items were not addressed by this version of the Transportation Authority plan, which is a part of the original 10-year, $14 billion program that Mr. Ravitch had said would be needed to bring the transit system back into top operating condition.
  • Regional commissioner of labor statistics-transit system-key to future economic boom
  • Simpson-criticized Regan report-MaBSTOA poor performance-due to Grumman failures, archaic bus maintenance facilities, overaged bus fleet, virtual elimination of training programs during fiscal crisis
  • State Comptroller Edward V. Regan charged yesterday that there was widespread ''nepotism and favoritism'' in the Transit Authority's Manhattan and Bronx bus division, despite knowledge of such ''questionable personnel practices'' by top transit officials. He said nepotism had contributed to its having a far worse record of bus breakdowns than its counterpart division in Brooklyn.
    • The highly critical report, Mr. Regan's second one on the unit this year, assailed the service performance of the 2,068-bus Manhattan and Bronx fleet as having ''reached almost intolerable levels.'' Mr. Regan said the record was linked to an official policy condoning nepotism in - although not confined to - the maintenance department.
    • While negotiations continued between the Governor and legislative leaders on a possible transit fare increase and greater operating assistance, Mr. Regan called for a sweeping management overhaul to accompany ''any move to require users of the buses and subways to pay higher fares and increased taxes.''
    • John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority, in an interview, did not dispute Mr. Regan's figures on employment of relatives. But he denied that frequency of close kinship ties suggested nepotism.
    • The average number of bus miles traveled between breakdowns dropped from 519 in 1975 to 315 in 1980 - less than half the average of 715 miles in 1980 for buses maintained by the Brooklyn-based division.
    • From 1977 to 1980, the percentage of bus trips that the Manhattan and Bronx division canceled increased by 44 percent, compared with only 28 percent for the other division.

April 1981

[edit]
  • Aqueduct cut
  • ANTHONY SEMINERIO safety op-ed
  • Governor Carey convened the Legislature in special session here today with an order that the Assembly and Senate consider not only the state budget but also his five-year, $5.85 billion program of new equipment and improvements for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system.
    • The special session, called by Mr. Carey in the middle of its regular session, gives the Governor authority under the State Constitution to set the agenda for the Legislature. It opened at noon with only two legislators in the Senate and about 60 in the Assembly, but it recessed two minutes later in the absence of any agreed-upon bills to discuss.
    • The transit program was listed as No. 1 on the agenda the Governor sent the Legislature this morning, over opposition from the State Senate and Mayor Koch. The special session had been expected to deal only with the state budget.
    • On the transit issue, Mr. Carey had previously been working with the Mayor and the Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, to get agreement on future operating subsidies for M.T.A. as part of the transit program.
    • Both of them have said they could not accept a capital improvement program for the transit system without an accompanying plan to hold down future fare increases. This reluctance kept the capital program from being enacted a month ago, when the Governor, Mayor Koch and Speaker Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, announced agreement on it.
    • Although Senator Ohrenstein and the Mayor agree that capital improvements to the M.T.A. are necessary, they have refused to take up that plan on its own in an effort to keep up pressure for a solution of the authority's operating money problems as well.
    • The Democrats are close to agreement on the so-called fair fare plan, which would provide for additional contributions to the M.T.A.'s operating subsidy by the state and city. Their major difference is now over Mayor Koch's insistence that some way be found to avoid a fare increase this July, putting it off until there was a ''measured recovery'' in service.
    • The transportation plan submitted by the Governor contains help not only for the M.T.A., but also for the upstate transportation authorities and for highway improvements. These changes were made to satisfy upstate legislators, most of whom are Republican.
    • The following are the major elements of the Governor's program:
      • Permission for the M.T.A. to float about $1.6 billion in new bonds, to be backed by revenues from fares and from subway-station concessions.
      • Authorization for the state to enter ''service contracts'' with the M.T.A. for about $800 million. This would require the Legislature to come up with state appropriations of $80 million a year for the next decade. If it did not, the M.T.A. would be required to use additional fare revenues to fulfill these contracts.
      • Authorization for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to issue up to $400 million in bonds to aid the M.T.A. with equipment and maintenance.
      • Permission for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to spend $200 million, half for new buses for the New York City metropolitan area and the other half for transportation improvements in New Jersey.
      • The remaining $2.85 billion for the M.T.A. would come from Federal, state and local subsidies that had been anticipated.
  • TRANSIT DECLINE POSES A THREAT TO JOBS IN CITY
    • The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has begun a study of the impact on the economy, including analysis of the effects of train delays on worker productivity and the resulting dollar costs.
    • Standard & Poor's Corporation and Moody's Investors Service both cited deteriorated mass transportation as a cause of grave concern in their ratings of the city's fiscal health.
    • And the city's Department of Transportation reported that, largely as a result of refugees from public transportation, the volume of automobile traffic into Manhattan in 1980 reached the highest level in history - double that of 1950 - and midtown travel speeds were the lowest ever recorded.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, blames the precipitous slide of mass transit on the fiscal austerity of the mid-1970's. The authority is seeking in Albany a program of $5.85 billion over five years for transit improvements and larger operating subsidies, and increased fares are likely.
  • A top City Hall official acknowledged for the first time yesterday that a fare increase on the city's subways and buses in July was virtually inevitable.
    • The official, who asked not to be named, conceded in an interview that ''it looks like there will be a fare increase,'' and said ''the next days are critical'' in the Koch administration's effort to get the state to put up $150 million that the city has been seeking in order to hold the fare until July 1982.
    • Mr. Morgado, however, said the Mayor had called him and reduced his demand from $150 million to $75 million in state aid. That is estimated to be enough to hold the fare to Jan. 1, 1982.
    • The Mayor's insistence that money be provided by the state this year has been the major sticking point in getting agreement on a socalled ''fair fare'' plan to hold down future increases. And the Senate's Democratic minority - while asserting that it would be impossible to provide $150 million - has insisted that it would not accept any plan that would later be attacked by Mayor Koch.
    • The Governor's sudden action, which took City Hall by surprise, was intended to put pressure on Mayor Koch to negotiate on a ''fair fare'' plan that did not include the $150 million to forestall this July's increase.
    • ''I don't think I could get the votes in my own house to pass it,'' Mr. Ohrenstein said of the Mayor's tax proposal. ''He has to come to grips with the fact that there will probably have to be a fare increase this July.''
  • Koch-support hike-January 1981-not before
  • Mayor Koch, who has repeatedly opposed a rise in the transit fare unless service gets ''demonstrably'' better on New York City's subways and buses, said yesterday that an increase was likely in coming months even without such improvements.
    • In the latest refinement of his position, Mr. Koch said he would have no objection if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority incorporated an increase into its budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Under generally accepted guidelines, that fare rise would have to be 15 cents to make up for an anticipated revenue shortfall of $150 million.
    • But the Mayor insisted that the increase should initially appear only on the books, for budget-balancing purposes. Actual imposition of the increase, he said, should be delayed until at least next January to give the authority ''a minimum of six months in which to demonstrate an improvement of services.''
  • Big A service-restraining order
  • Opinion NYT
    • Chairman Ravitch of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority believes $5 billion in new capital would reverse the M.T.A.'s slide. Most of the money would come from Federal, state and city funds. But he says the M.T.A. will have to borrow about $1.5 billion. It would be repaid from bridge and tunnel tolls and subway and bus fares. The Legislature has been nibbling at such a proposal. Downstate representatives will seek state aid to cut down the size of the ensuing fare increases. Upstate representatives will resist fiercely, knowing that constituents in, say, Oswego, don't want to pay for the city's subways.
    • Mayor Koch has made it clear that he does not want a fare increase in the middle of his re-election campaign. He demands extra state support as a condition for not opposing the M.T.A. bill. Governor Carey feels he needs a contribution from the city to make transit aid acceptable upstate.
    • The Senate Majority Leader, Warren Anderson, doesn't want the M.T.A. borrowing, necessitating higher fares, until he's sure Governor Carey isn't hiding potential tax revenues pending his reelection campaign. Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink doesn't want to support a program whose enemies will blame him for higher fares. Other legislators want the power to approve M.T.A. spending in advance and stiffen local controls that hobble M.T.A. procurement.
    • It's absurd for the Legislature to run the M.T.A. in such detail. Albany should allow the Authority to try to borrow what it thinks it needs, set a time limit for results and take a hard look at what has been accomplished by the deadline.
    • When it comes to the amount of the fare, the Legislature will probably find that voters are smarter than politicians think. Everyone knows that higher fares are inevitable, not only in New York State but also in New Jersey, where 50 percent raises are now being sought by the state-owned rail and bus lines, and all across the country.
    • It is obvious that many mistakes were forced on former M.T.A. managers by the uncertainty of regular, adequate capital funding. For 20 years, housing, health, higher education and other social programs took priority over transit maintenance. Letting the system decay has not kept the fares down.
    • If there's a choice between higher fares and disintegrating transit, most passengers will choose higher fares. That cost can be measured in dollars. The cost of a system so deteriorated that it cannot be relied on will be measured in thousands of lost jobs.
  • A team of former corporate executives from a business group founded by David Rockefeller produced a plan yesterday listing major New York City Transit Authority problems. It offered to recruit 20 executives to begin solving them.
    • The group's recommendations came after a two-month examination of the Transit Authority's management and operations. The study and plan were done by the Economic Development Council, and in general they prescribe a heavy dose of private managerial techniques to cure the city's ailing subway and bus service.
    • The 72-page plan addresses many of the internal issues that the Transit Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority say have prevented them from halting the deterioration of subway and bus service, including chronic breakdowns of subway car doors, inefficient systems for purchasing spare parts and the uncontrolled spread of graffiti.
    • Asked what the authorities' response had been, a spokesman for the council, Walter Heithous, replied: ''Very guarded.'' Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, in an interview yesterday termed the council's offer ''very generous'' and said it had been ''essentially'' accepted. He added, however, that the executives' participation would be limited by ''where they can be productive,'' a determination to be made by John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority.
    • Automated data processing systems, the council said, have been overexpanded in a few places at the same time that they are badly needed in others. It found one inventory control system that ''could have well made substantial improvements in maintenance-parts availability during the recent service crisis.''
    • ''Yet this project, initiated in 1971, has been at the 95 percent complete stage for some considerable time,'' the council said. The council also found that control over graffiti and vandalism was divided between two departments, rendering responsibility for control in subway stations ''unclear.'' The plan recommended identification of ''proven or promising elements'' of a successful program and the setting up of a managerial structure to carry out the program.
    • The council, which sponsors an executive-lending program, was established in 1965 as a forum for business to address public issues. Meanwhile, Mr. Ravitch - confronted with the State Senate's recess while the fate of a transit-fund package remains unresolved - indefinitely postponed yesterday the transportation authority's regular meeting set for tomorrow. He did so with an angry statement that to meet would only falsely ''raise the expectations of the public that these vitally needed improvements will, in fact, be done.''
    • Mr. Ravitch, showing growing distress with events in the State Capitol, said that without ''clarification from Albany,'' there was nothing ''meaningful'' the authority could accomplish. The M.T.A. chairman had gone to Albany Tuesday to meet with Governor Carey, but Mr. Carey spent that day tending to personal business in New York.
    • Mr. Heithous said that the council, in mid-March, presented its findings to Mr. Simpson and Mr. Ravitch and offered to lend executives from their companies for up to 18 months each. This would incur no cost to the transit agency, he said. The development council's proposal grew out of an approach Mr. Ravitch made last November to David Rockefeller, chairman of both the Chase Manhattan Corporation and of the council, seeking business support for a $14 billion capital funding package for the M.T.A. Mr. Rockefeller, according to Mr. Heithous, told the transportation chairman the council would first have to look into the efficacy of the system's management.
  • A fare increase wasn't the only thing on the minds of transit officials last week. After two months of study, a team of former corporate executives found that conditions at the Transit Authority's headquarters were nearly as bad as those on the IRT.
    • The executives said the agency was handicapped by splintered authority, the duplication of duties and ''large numbers of staff doing no apparent work at all.'' Coordination between departments was so poor, they said, it took up to 18 months to replace a light bulb in a subway station.
  • Deterioration in New York City's subway service is costing businesses and commuters an estimated $165 million to $330 million a year and reducing the city's competitiveness with other areas, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said yesterday.
    • Mayor Koch said that according to an estimate by the Regional Plan Association a $1 billion cut in Federal transit aid would cause a greater use of cars and would increase the amount of money spent on gasoline by $650 million a year.
    • He said bus operating cost per revenue mile in New York City was $4.15, compared to a national average of $2.19, $2.45 for Chicago, $2.71 for Washington, D.C., and $1.63 for Albany.
    • Some solutions for transit problems, Mr. Teele said, might include changes in subsidies from states and localities and ''a more realistic approach to lightly used transit service and more imaginative policies with respect to fares and pricing.''
    • The Federal Reserve Bank study was described by Roger M. Kubarych, vice president and assistant director of research. It was made by Daniel Chall, an economist. Cut in Business Output
    • In various alternatives on calculating costs, the study assumed a five-minute increase in each rush-hour trip. This, it said, would reduce business output at least $165 million annually, while delays in employees getting home would represent a $125 million value in ''free time'' to them.
    • Since businesses would not long tolerate a drop in output, the study said, riders would eventually have to leave home earlier and absorb the full costs the loss.
    • On ''unpredictability'' of service, the study assumed two 25-minute delays each week, eventually forcing employees to start early for work to arrive on time. It put a value of $330 million on their lost time.
    • Mr. Kubarych said this would ''represent a fall in real income as great as if city income tax rates were doubled.'' Mr. Chall's paper said commuters entering subways between 7 and 8 A.M. increased by 4.5 percent between March and October 1980. Subway use during each of the next two hours fell by 2 and 9.5 percent. Rise in Auto Traffic
    • Automobile traffic into Manhattan rose 3 percent last year, according to the paper, while subway use declined 2 percent. Train breakdowns were 30 percent higher in 1980 than in 1979 and 75 percent more than in 1968. On-time performance, in which a train is counted on time unless it completes a trip more than four minutes behind schedule, averaged 80 percent from last September through March, down from 88 percent in mid-1980.
    • Transit Authority records list trains canceled at the start of a trip or abandoned in midtrip as being on time. Recording the difference between scheduled and actual arrivals at 35 major transfer points, Mr. Chall said trains that did not arrive at their destinations ''increased from 12 percent to 18 percent of the rushhour schedule in recent months.''
    • In February, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority invoked a state law and declared a 90-day emergency in subways and on buses. The action suspended competitive bidding for the purchase of equipment and maintenance supplies in order to reduce a maintenance backlog.
  • Majority support tax cut delay-fare down
  • Double-decker failure 1976
  • New approach subway concessions
  • LIRR lacked payroll money
  • Option 63rd Street study
  • Interstate Transfer Program-$20 million modernize subway stations-excess regular ongoing capital funds
  • Until end of month pay $125 million-pension system-4 months overdue
  • $500,000 Rapid transit service sufficiency study; proposals-as early as next year-Simpson-told study committee-rather scrap proposals than battle stiff community resistance from community boards
  • After two weeks of sensitive negotiations, the Transit Authority has agreed to let a team of private business executives try to improve the management of New York City's faltering subway and bus systems, but the authority has turned down the executives' offer of help in seven key areas.
    • An initial two-month study by the executives group, the Economic Development Council, headed by David Rockefeller, described a sluggish and overstaffed transit headquarters with inadequate resources supporting the basic mechanical operations in the garages and on the lines.
    • Since the report was made public early this month, the transit agency's president, John D. Simpson, has been meeting with council executives, and the first two members of a team of 20 business leaders are to arrive at the authority this week to begin a 12- to 18-month program of problem-solving and reorganization.
    • The report - prepared by six executives, led by Morris Dantzker, the council president - listed 55 areas it said were suffering from poor management. Mr. Simpson ruled out six of the seven to be excluded on the ground that the authority had already begun solving those problems. They involve financial audits, research and development, broken subway car doors, maintenance yard productivity and two transit police issues.
    • The seventh excluded issue - the reorganization of what the council described as an overstaffed and fractious headquarters operation - Mr. Simpson said he intended to handle himself.The development council began looking at the transit system in January, amid deterioration of subway and bus service to what have been called the worst levels in the system's history. Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - the Transit Authority's parent agency - approached the council for help in seeking a $14 billion financial package from the State Legislature, and the executives first decided to investigate the system's management.
    • Since then, the program of management assistance has begun to take shape. Walter B. Wriston, the chairman of Citicorp, has held a luncheon to begin recruiting executives, whose services will be paid for by their companies, not the transit agency. Mayor Koch sent a letter to Mr. Ravitch, criticizing what he called the transit system's ''operational quagmire'' and applauding ''the time and talent offered by the private sector.'' And council officials maneuvered to avoid offending what one called ''the egos'' that can be rankled when executive prerogative is challenged.
    • Following are eight of the most important management problems listed by the council, along with Mr. Simpson's account of how they have been addressed in the past: Overstaffing at Headquarters
    • After looking at the Transit Authority's headquarters in Brooklyn, a six-member task force of the council said that the chain of command was not ''as effective as it should be.'' In some instances, the team said, different departments were performing the same duties. The number of people on the staff was ''excessive,'' it said, and there were ''large numbers of staff doing no apparent work at all.''
    • However, Mr. Simpson said he would not let the council participate in a reorganization of headquarters, ''at least in the beginning.'' Asked why, he said, ''This project is one we initially agreed to put on the back burner because of my intention to do some reorganization.''
    • A major management study completed in 1979 by Booz Allen & Hamilton, a management consultant firm, identified many organizational problems, and Mr. Simpson said he had ''begun to implement a couple of the recommendations and will implement more.''
    • Asked for examples, he cited the shift of approval power to him from the M.T.A. board for some purchases of urgently needed parts and supplies, and a three-month ''emergency'' authorization to approve some other purchases. But neither example was specifically recommended in the consultants' study and Mr. Simpson acknowledged that neither involved the organization of management inside the Transit Authority.
    • Mr. Simpson did not dispute the conclusion that the staff was too large. ''A lot of things can and should be done,'' he said, ''and I am reviewing that in conjunction with the new budget next July 1.''
    • But he said he doubted he would be able to reduce the staff. ''Many of the people have Civil Service standing,'' Mr. Simpson said, ''which means they will be absorbed somewhere else in the organization. There are economies that are possible and that I intend to implement, but many of those will be offset by new statutory or regulatory requirements.'' Broken Subway-Car Doors
    • Among the main irritations for subway riders - and the reason many trains are taken out of service - is the breakdown of car doors. The task force said maintenance chiefs at the main Coney Island repair shop had said that many door malfunctions stemmed from a basic engineering problem: a chemical reaction between the door frames, made of steel, and the door sills, made of aluminum, which causes the frames to rust and the sills to buckle. The team recommended that the sills be replaced with another material.
    • Mr. Simpson ruled out the council's participation in this area, too, because, he said, the Transit Authority had already placed an order for $60,000 in new sills to replace those on two 20-year-old models of cars on the IND and BMT lines. This will cover repairs for about 550 of the 3,800 cars on those lines.
    • Door breakdowns have been emphasized by Mr. Simpson since last fall as one of the main reasons for the service decline. But before the council study, Mr. Simpson blamed the problem on ''burnout'' of the doors' motors caused by passengers' holding the doors open too long.
    • He still says that burnouts and a second problem, ''debris clogged in door slides,'' cause 90 percent of the breakdowns, and that the authority is trying to develop a more heat-resistant motor. Computer Misuse on Records
    • The task force concluded that the authority's use of computers for record-keeping was uncoordinated and inefficient. In a few areas, too many different systems were in use or being developed, while other departments struggled along with no computerization.
    • At the Coney Island main repair shop, the task force noted that although there were computerized lists of repairs made on subway cars, they were not produced in a form on which high-level management could base decisions. And while there was a report prepared each week on how much workers were accomplishing, ''There does not appear to be any use made of the labor-productivity report,'' the council said.
    • Mr. Simpson said the council would help in this area. He said the inefficiencies stemmed from the need for the storeroom supply system - criticized by the task force for being only 95 percent complete a decade after it was initiated - to tie in with the general accounts system, with the payroll system, and with other systems.
    • Mr. Simpson said that last year, when he was executive director of the M.T.A., he ''observed that the different elements of the M.T.A. were developing data systems without a central focus.''
    • ''We strengthened the M.T.A. data center to become a clearinghouse,'' he said, and coordinated authority within the Transit Authority in an assistant director for management and information. A general ledger system formerly managed by the authority's controller was transferred to the new department.
    • He denied there were any data systems producing information that was not used. The biggest problem, he said, was inadequate automation in maintenance. ''There are 444 R-22 cars,'' Mr. Simpson said. ''If I asked what's the most frequent part failure, I would have to send someone down to go through 444 jackets,'' meaning the files on each car.
    • However, the chief of maintenance, Edwin Weidman, earlier had described a system that could automatically print car histories, recording on a car-by-car basis each problem a car had been serviced for. Asked about that system, Mr. Simpson said that it had indeed been in place for 10 years but that nevertheless, ''if I asked the question, what made a particular car lay down in service, I wouldn't be able to get that information.'' 'Borrowing' by Token Clerks
    • The task force said that delays in the accounting process for token booth revenues had allowed token clerks to ''borrow'' money for as long as seven weeks before shortages were detected and the clerks were billed. The executives were unable to get an estimate of how much money was lost or held up this way.
    • Mr. Simpson said the booth accounting problem - which the business group will work on - had been approached in a variety of ways, none satisfactory. Now, a three-step process is in effect:
    • First, each clerk does his own bagging and produces a tally, and the employee receiving the bag in the ''money room'' checks to make sure the tallies agree. Then, turnstile counts are reconciled for each shift against the count the token clerk has submitted; this takes several weeks. Finally, a monthly report is prepared showing the running balance for each clerk - ''so we would eventually catch the guy who skimmed a nickel a day,'' Mr. Simpson said. Shortage of Supervisors
    • The task force said the Transit Authority had far too few nonunion supervisors to provide effective supervision. ''A much greater effort must be made to provide management training,'' especially at the lower levels of the hierarchy, the team said. Mr. Simpson agreed to let the executives address this problem.
    • With a total of 45,000 employees, he said, the authority has only 300 management employees not represented by unions. Recognizing that many of these are nearing retirement, Mr. Simpson said, planning for their replacement began last summer and would be continued this year. The shortage was aggravated by personnel cuts during the city's fiscal crisis, he said. Unproductive Workers
    • Productivity standards for the 4,500 workers responsible for inspecting and repairing subway cars are too low and have been for years, the task force said. Even so, the task force said, many units are performing at only between 60 percent and 70 percent of the standards. ''The quotas or standards being used have severely limited the effective deployment of manpower,'' the team said, ''and the union has consistently opposed any changes in the standards.''
    • Mr. Simpson said this was another area in which he had ruled out the council's participation. Asked why, he said, ''We're addressing the problems.''
    • ''We were concerned enough to hire a consultant outfit, Maynard & Company, some months ago to conduct a study of labor output,'' Mr. Simpson said.
    • Proposed productivity increases involving the Transport Workers Union were one of the key issues leading to a strike that shut down the city's transit system for 11 days a year ago. The issue has remained unresolved since then.
    • The issue has arisen ''perpetually,'' Mr. Simpson said, in the authority's two-year cycle of contract negotiations. But Mr. Simpson said he recognized some validity in the union's complaint that the authority had not provided the tools and parts for workers to do their job.
    • ''The quota that may have been arrived at in collective bargaining was strictly academic,'' Mr. Simpson said. ''The person at the workbench didn't even know what it was - what he knew was he didn't have the parts. That's why I gave procurement of parts the priority.'' Poor Working Conditions
    • A serious personnel problem, the task force reported, was the ''poor'' condition of depots, yards, storerooms and other facilities. ''Poor working conditions lead to low employee morale and poor productivity,'' it concluded. The group also found work habits that it said were below generally accepted standards in private industry. The task force urged a comprehensive review by the unions, management and the development council.
    • The decrepit condition of many facilities has been obvious to transit officials for many years, and Mr. Simpson will allow the business executives to work on the problem. He said major capital spending was needed.
    • As for work practices, he said the authority would address those again in negotiations next spring.
  • After two months of looking over the spectrum of Transit Authority operations, from headquarters to subway tracks to maintenance yards, the Economic Development Council issued a 72-page report, supplemented by more than 100 pages of memorandums and performance charts, listing 55 problem areas.
    • The report was prepared by six former corporate executives under the leadership of Morris Dantzker, president of the council, which is affiliated with the New York City Partnership. What follows is a brief summary of the council's findings in each area.
    • The Transit Authority acknowledges many of the problems and says efforts are already under way to deal with them. In addition, it has agreed to let the business group try to improve the management of all the areas but seven - the exceptions are marked with asterisks (*).
    • Top Management
      • *Transit Authority headquarters is overstaffed; some employees seem to have nothing to do, and different departments perform the same duties.
      • There are too many computer information systems and they are poorly coordinated.
      • The management of computer projects seems to be weak - one data project for maintenance parts was started in 1971 and is still not completed.
      • The authority lacks a comprehensive program for setting goals or for reporting results.
      • Because policies and procedures are not well documented, the same problems are analyzed repeatedly, the training of new personnel is impeded, and senior management has difficulty putting new policies into effect.
      • *The authority seems to have no formal mechanism for auditing its own financial controls, purchasing and other key operations.
      • *Research and development is uncoordinated and tends to react rather than innovate.
      • Decisions on capital spending are too complex and time-consuming, in part because of internal procedures but also because of government requirements that are difficult to change.
      • Better communication is needed with the riding public, which is increasingly critical of service. Subway Cars
      • At the Coney Island maintenance yard, which holds 1,200 cars, almost all record-keeping is handled manually and duplication is common.
      • Hundreds of cars await repairs, and it is hard to get any estimate of the days of work at hand or information about shortages of parts.
      • Graffiti and vandalism trouble the Coney Island yard, and no action is being taken to stop them.
      • *Many subway cars suffer broken doors because of incompatible metals in the door frames and sills.
      • Although a computer prepares a repair history for each car sent to inspection, it does not identify problem-prone cars so management can take action.
      • *Many maintenance workers produce at only 60 percent to 70 percent of standards that are considered low compared with those in private industry.
      • The doors to the inspection shed at Coney Island have to be kept open, exposing workers to the cold or the heat, because the shed is not as long as new cars. Subway Stations
      • Subway stations are dirty, and some rail clerks and rail porters nominally assigned to the stations are actually doing central office work.
      • Token clerks can ''borrow'' money for up to seven weeks before the shortage is spotted.
      • While people wait in long lines for tokens, clerks perform 29 separate activities.
      • Many records - employee documents, union grievances, timekeeping and fare reports - are kept manually, with no help from computers.
      • There are delays of up to 18 months in tasks as simple as changing light bulbs and removing graffiti. Maintenance of Way Department
      • Division of responsibility is unclear between 130 engineers in the maintenance of way department and 1,000 engineers in the engineering department.
      • Operators of subways and buses criticize the upkeep of tracks, signals and depots.
      • The priority system for assigning work seems to create long delays.
      • The department suffers staff shortages that slow its work. Transportation Department
      • Train scheduling and car control could be improved by computers.
      • Many employees with ''road titles'' such as dispatcher, motorman and conductor actually work in such areas as timekeeping, budget control and audits where there seems to be no need for road experience. Buses
      • Not counting drivers and mechanics, an average of 25 people work in each of the 21 bus depots, more than are needed.
      • Reports and paper work need to be reduced further.
      • Much equipment is 10 to 20 years old, making it very difficult to replace parts or introduce more productive work standards.
      • Two bus divisions - a Transit Authority division covering Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, and the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority - are separated by different unions and work rules; their merger could save money.
      • Repairs on depots and other facilities are done internally at a cost that appears higher than if outside contractors were used.
      • Maintenance workers and foremen have no effective training program, and bus officials voiced doubts about one they hired a consultant to develop. Personnel
      • Selection and training of workers could be improved by computerized record-keeping.
      • Supervisors are inadequately trained and are assigned more workers than they can handle.
      • The upper-level management staff ''sorely needs'' bolstering from without and training from within, through executive recruitment, improved salaries and financial aid for advanced education.
      • Working conditions in depots, yards and storerooms are so poor they undermine morale and, together with restrictive labor practices, reduce productivity.
      • Many people are assigned to restricted duty because of injury or disability, further reducing productivity. Parts and Supply
      • Computer systems being developed for supplies would automate only the main storerooms and not satellite ones where much maintenance takes place.
      • The authority has spent 10 years working on a computer system that, even if completed, would not provide the information the agency needs.
      • Supplies often run out, because the regional storerooms have no adequate way to notify the central purchasing office of their needs.
      • Legal complexities of the city's procurement process, combined with the authority's long two-month lead time, ''costs the Transit Authority dearly'' in buying supplies.
      • The authority consumes $40 million a year in diesel fuel without using modern fuel-dispensing systems to catch abnormal consumption and theft.
      • Separate information systems have been proposed for five areas including storeroom replenishment and fuel control; bill-paying should be integrated with these.
      • New storeroom layouts need to be designed, unmarked bins labeled and security improved. Engineering and Construction
      • Too few equipment manufacturers and construction contractors are willing to bid on Transit Authority jobs.
      • The agency has trouble attracting good engineers because salaries are far below market levels. Law Department
      • A ''top to bottom'' analysis of organization, staffing and workload is needed to address the ''burgeoning'' of new legal areas.
      • With 10,000 torts claims cases coming in a year and verdicts reaching as much as $1 million, the department needs computerized claims and litigation controls. Transit Police
      • The clerical staff needs to be reduced to free officers for patrol.
      • Crime trends and reporting methods should be given an independent analysis to address the public's ''distorted view of runaway crime on the subway.''
      • Executives and supervisors need better training.
      • *The public should be better advised on crime prevention.
      • *The lack of a full-time labor relations expert can put management at a disadvantage in dealing with a strong, well-organized union.
      • Who is responsible for control of graffiti and vandalism is unclear.
  • Gene Russianoff op-ed-plan disaster
    • Governor's Carey's $5.6 billion legislative program for purchasing new capital equipment for New York City's subway and bus systems is a disaster for mass-transit riders. It is fiscally irresponsible and provides no real long-term solution to the system's needs. Most business and citizen groups, as well as legislative leaders in the city, share this view, but, amazingly, have decided not to fight the Governor's bill. They are glad that something -anything - is being done about the collapse of the transit system. This is a very bad mistake.
    • What's so terrible about the Governor's program? First, and most important, the plan fails to address the operating needs of the system. Mayor Koch is right: There must be a concurrent solution to the Transit Authority's capital and operating problems. The reason the subways are in such rotten shape is that the Transit Authority, at least since the mid-1970's, has not had the operating funds to maintain them properly. Giving it almost $5.6 billion in capital funds without increasing the operating subsidies is like giving a child a new toy without the batteries; the child will almost certainly break it while trying to make it work.
    • Second, the key element of the plan - granting the Transit Authority power to issue $1.6 billion in bonds backed by fare-box revenues - is fiscally unsound. A 1979 United States Department of Transportation study says flatly: ''Revenue bonds, of course, cannot be used by transit agencies which are chronically deficit ridden.'' Such bonds undoubtedly would carry higher interest rates and lower yields than the many other fiscally responsible capital-funding sources available. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials themselves acknowledge their inability to put a dollar figure on how much money could be raised from these bonds.
    • Mr. Carey's odd notion in all of this is that the Transit Authority will issue bonds backed by nonexistent revenues and then raise the fare in the near future to pay back the bondholders. This approach is misguided. The state might as well plan to build luxury homes on the site of the Love Canal and then float bonds against future rental incomes. There just is no money there.
    • Third, two elements of the plan - the revenue bonds and the authorization of at least $400 million of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority bonds -would place further inflationary strains on the fare box at just the wrong time. The revenue bonds would have this result by requiring a 10 to 15 cent fare increase by 1983 or 1984 in addition to whatever increase is caused by the now predictable operating deficits. The Triborough bonds could cost the Transit Authority about $15 million a year: Under current law, excess Triborough revenues are used to help meet Transit Authority operating costs.
    • A coalition of business and environmental groups headed by the National Resources Defense Council and the New York City Chamber of Commerce and Industry defined the problem last month: ''Revenue bonds will place additional pressure on the fare box at exactly the same time fare box revenues are pressed from all sides, and should be issued only as a last resort.''
    • Fourth, fare increases fueled by payments to the bondholders would outstrip the rate of inflation and would then cause further declines in ridership. A vicious cycle of declining ridership and resulting fare increases to pay back the bondholders could plunge the system into a state of continually deepening insolvency.
    • According to a recent Regional Plan Association study, every 1 percent rise in the subway fare would mean a ridership reduction of 0.12 percent. Thus, the fare increases predicted for the next two years could result in a decline of up to 6 percent of the current riders and a loss in fare-box revenues of about $90 million - a figure approaching that needed to pay back the bondholders each year!
    • There are sound, fiscally responsible alternatives to the Governor's plan that are worth fighting for. Two things should be done right away. The Legislature should vote a tax, which would be adjusted for inflation, solely to meet mass-transit operating and capital needs. The state should also seek a trade-in of Westway highway funds.
    • TA-officials-urged discontinue Franklin Avenue Shuttle-service halted a week earlier-portions building collapsed tracks-structural difficulties-forced NYCTA-consider cost renovating it-$45-50 million cost-Simpson-costed it out-recently-operations committee TA-agreed schedule public hearings-people seem to be able to do without it-if TA spend money repair-at least $7 million-replace wooden platforms-expected reopen track repairs completed-following week-$1.8 million annual cost-used as many as 3 million people/year

May 1981

[edit]
  • John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority, proposed yesterday that New York City's buses go without air-conditioning this summer except when the outside temperature exceeds 90 degrees.
    • The proposal requires approval by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which will meet next Friday. It would end a policy set forth in 1965 by Mayor John V. Lindsay requiring the Transit Authority to provide air-conditioning on all buses and subway cars.
    • Last fall, the Transit Authority asked for and got an additional $3 million -more than doubling an existing $2 million program for bus air-conditioning maintenance - to keep the cooling systems running smoothly this summer. The authority estimated that last summer only one of every five bus air-conditioners was functional on any given day.
    • But in a policy paper issued with the announcement, Mr. Simpson also said the authority was abandoning plans to air-condition any subway car expected to be in service fewer than 10 more years.
    • A spokesman for the authority, Robert Huber, was unable to provide the number of such cars but said most of them were on IRT lines. Mr. Simpson said he could not give an estimate of how much would be saved by cutting back on bus cooling. He said most of the money intended for air-conditioning maintenance had been spent instead for ''emergency rehabilitation'' of older buses for use after the Grumman bus fleet was grounded last December because of structural defects.
  • Franklin Avenue Shuttle-safety hazards-most underutilized line-city-bus provided-route shuttle-fraction of cost-1977-hearings held closure-TA bowed community pressure-1979-fire destroyed half of Franklin Avenue station-20-foot retaining walls slipped so badly-erect wooden supports hold up-2.4 million used it-only 600,000 paid-enter line-Dean Street-least use in system-all shuttle stations-lowest 6% paid passengeruse--buses not been needed
  • Subway noise has declined significantly after five years of a subway noise reduction program financed principally by the Federal Government, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a public interest organization.; more
  • $2.6 million, 27 month DeKalb
  • KOPPELL op-ed
    • The Economic Development Council is to be congratulated for its offer to lend trained business executives to the beleaguered Transit Authority. It has been clear for some time now that the key to better subway and bus service lies in reorganizing and revitalizing the T.A.'s confused and tattered management.
    • On the other hand, John Simpson, the T.A.'s executive director, should be chastised for his rather reticent acceptance of the council's offer of assistance. In accepting, Mr. Simpson said no to help in seven critical areas which are major reasons why subway and bus service is so unsafe and unreliable: financial audits, research and development, broken subway car doors, maintenance productivity, crime prevention, Transit Police labor relations and the reorganization of the overstaffed and fractious T.A. headquarters.
    • The reason given by Mr. Simpson for excluding these areas - that the T.A. is already dealing with them -simply does not stand up to scrutiny. The Transit Authority has attempted to carry out other management-improvement programs in the past without external expertise and has failed to improve service.
    • Furthermore, there is little evidence that the T.A. has the will to utilize outside advice to improve efficiency. Virtually none of the recommendations of the Booz Allen & Hamilton report have been successfully implemented by the Transit Authority some two years after the issuance of this million-dollar-plus consultant's study.
    • In short, Mr. Simpson is following the path of his predecessors by giving lip service to outside suggestions on how to run the transit system while continuing the practices which will invariably lead to the system's further decline. He is insulating from review many of the areas which need improvement in order to restore adequate service.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday rejected a proposal that would have barred the use of air-conditioning on New York City buses unless the outdoor temperature exceeded 90 degrees. It said it would continue to leave such decisions ''to the discretion of the drivers.''
    • But some bus drivers may not have much of a choice. John D. Simpson, president of the New York City Transit Authority, said that on ''at least 2,200'' - or three-quarters - of the system's 2,700 buses equipped with air-conditioning, the equipment was not working at this time.
    • The unanimous 14-0 vote by the board, following Mr. Simpson's status report, was limply cheered by three dozen spectators who had brought along signs protesting against ''steamy buses.''
    • The M.T.A. board also ordered further reductions of service to subway riders by approving the off-hours closing of eight subway token booths and calling for a public hearing in preparation for shutting down the Franklin Avenue shuttle line in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
    • The proposal to abandon use of air-conditioning on buses except in the very hottest weather - an average of 16 days a year, according to Mr. Simpson - was suggested by the Transit Authority president 10 days ago as a way of concentrating maintenance efforts on keeping the buses running. He drafted it in response to assertions that too many buses broke down because of air-conditioning problems.
    • At the end of last summer, four-fifths of the bus air-conditioners were inoperable, leading officials to plan to increase the number of air-conditioning mechanics from 61 to 144 this year.
    • Mr. Schiavone said in an interview that, although the Transport Workers Union agreed to place some limits on summer vacations and to adopt a four-year tenure for such mechanics, many of the veteran mechanics exercised their option to pick other jobs. There are now only about 50 air-conditioning mechanics, he said.
    • Mr. Simpson said, in addition, that the authority had planned to hire many of the additional mechanics through outside recruiting to save time needed to retrain existing workers. He said, however, that this effort had been thwarted by the Transport Workers Union.
    • As for the Franklin Avenue shuttle in Brooklyn, Mr. Simpson said that, after a series of problems including a major fire and the collapse last winter of both a station retaining wall and part of a nearby building, it would cost $45 million to $60 million to rebuild. He said ridership on the shuttle, which connects the Brighton BMT and Eighth Avenue IND lines, had dropped to among the lowest in the system.
    • Approval for closing eight subway token booths, for the most part only in off hours, was expected to save $276,752 a year, according to Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the authority. No date has been set pending advance notice to the public.
    • Six booths in Manhattan are to be closed from 11 P.M. to 7 A.M. They are at the 14th Street station of the LL line, at the Avenue of the Americas; the Wall Street, 34th Street and 59th Street stations on the Broadway-Seventh Avenue line; the Fulton Street station on the J and M lines and the 34th Street station on the Eighth Avenue line.
    • The Essex Street station in Manhattan on the J and M line will be closed from 6 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. In Brooklyn, the Atlantic Avenue station of the Brighton line will be closed between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M.
  • Aides to the Mayor now say that he would probably give his alwaysuseful acquiescence to a fare rise if legislative leaders in Albany can be persuaded to pass some form of regional or statewide tax - be it on autos or gasoline -to help close a looming budget deficit for the M.T.A. in 1982.
    • For months, that deficit had been placed at $150 million, a figure that has been called the equivalent of 15 cents at the token booth. Last week, M.T.A. fiscal officers told board members of the authority that the figure could well exceed $300 million.
    • A senior official in the Koch administration said that, in the bargaining for more state aid, the city will probably try to impress upon Albany leaders the undesirability of allowing bus and subway riders to cover the deficit with a fare that could go to 90 cents or more. However, the official added, no deal for state assistance is likely without city agreement to a fare rise, possibly one of 15 cents.
    • Although aides say that it is not necessarily his intention, Mr. Koch has given signs that he may be easing his way toward acceptance of a higher fare.
  • Mayor Koch's proposed budget for the 1982 fiscal year calls for an increase of $100 million in New York City's share of Transit Authority operating expenses, including more money to overhaul broken-down subway cars.; more
    • The 30 percent increase is being proposed at a time when the Koch administration is seeking to hold down the city's share of day-to-day costs in the transit system, which also receives Federal and state subsidies.
    • Overall in the 1982 budget that will be announced today, Mr. Koch intends to spend $432 million for Transit Authority operating needs, officials said yesterday. That is in addition to $157 million for capital expenses in the subways and buses, a rise of nearly 50 percent.
    • By far, the largest added expense - $77 million - is for reconstructing subway cars, a commitment made by the Mayor last January, although the level of spending for 1982 is more than he had originally planned. That is because he spent much less on this program in 1981 than he had said he would. The idea of the program is to increase the number of subway cars available each day by 520 over the next five years.
  • Only $130 million of $200 million-oil tax received
  • Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said yesterday that the New York City Transit Authority faced a deficit of $383 million - more than double his previous assessment - and a $1 fare in the next fiscal year unless the State Legislature acted immediately to increase the state operating subsidy.
    • Asserting that the physical deterioration of the bus, subway and commuter Text of Ravitch letter, page B11. rail systems was causing ridership to decline, Mr. Ravitch also said approval of a $5.85 billion capital-improvement plan was essential to prevent any further loss of fare revenues.
    • The letter outlined what he described as the ''grim'' fiscal consequences of inflation, ''unexpected revenue shortfalls, new maintenance and power expenses, and the apparent phase-out of Federal operating assistance.''
    • The $383 million deficit figure for the Transit Authority was a major revision of Mr. Ravitch's previous estimate of $150 million for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
    • In addition, he raised the combined deficit projection for Conrail and the Long Island Rail Road for the current calendar year from about $20 million, to $68 million. Fares on those lines would have to rise 45 percent to cover those expected costs, he said.
    • In Albany, Governor Carey called for an ''urgent'' meeting of government leaders regarding the transit package to be held on Monday. The meeting is expected to result in the formation of a consortium of government, union and business leaders to address the issue.
    • The State Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, said in Albany that he now endorsed Mayor Koch's call for an increase in the state's operating subsidy to the Transit Authority next year. He quickly added, however, that he did not know where the money would come from.
    • He said the estimates did not take into account a $100 million increase in the city's current $343 million share of Transit Authority operating expenses that Mayor Koch proposed in his new budget, or any reduction in maintenance costs that might result from new equipment and rehabilitation of old equipment proposed by the city.
    • In his remarks to reporters, Mr. Ravitch expressed his frustration over the Legislature's failure to enact his proposals in full. His term as M.T.A. chairman expires on June 30, but he said it was ''premature to discuss'' his intentions regarding another term.
    • An M.T.A. spokesman, Arthur G. Perfall, said that for the current fiscal year, the state had advanced only $130 million of an expected $200 million from that tax to the authority.
    • ''If the state collects only the same amount next year, we will be another $70 million short,'' he said. Of the $200 million, $104 million was earmarked for the Transit Authority.
  • Ravitch letter
    • M.T.A.'s legislative proposal aims to simplify the process of entering into third-party contracts and to maximize the amount of borrowing we could undertake, subject to only the limitations of the market. In the course of discussions with your representatives, the achievement of these objectives has been compromised, both by the imposition of unnecessary procedural requirements and restrictions on the amount of money that we may borrow for capital purposes.
    • Concerns have also been expressed as to whether fare revenues should be used to service debt in the face of increasing operating deficits. But no one voicing them has proposed any alternative solutions.
    • There are indeed potential alternate sources of capital: government appropriations. But they have not been forthcoming. In fact, the City of New York has existing statutory obligations to provide the capital funds for its transit system which have not been met; the state, which has historically assumed the burden of providing for the capital needs for the commuter railraods, hasn't appropriated sufficient funds.
    • I appreciate the fiscal problems that both the city and state have faced in recent years, and that is precisely why I recommended that fare box-backed bonds be used to relieve local and state governments of the responsibility for the total financial burden involved.
    • Those who question the use of fare revenues for debt service and who are unwilling or unable to provide adequate capital appropriations must be prepared to live with the inevitable consequences of their position: ever-increasing misery for the transit-riding public; adverse locational decisions by businessmen; declining property values; losses of ridership; and ever-increasing pressure on fares.
    • As for whether we should undertake any borrowing in the face of an operating deficit, the attached charts show that costs associated with borrowing for capital, while significant in absolute dollar amounts, would not be significant as a proportion of our annual operating expenses.
    • If, for example, we have outstanding $2.8 billion of fare-backed bonds at the end of six years, the impact of the debt service will represent only 7.6 percent of a projected budget of $3.75 billion.Moreover, this amount would, ultimately, be covered if one makes the assumption that a fully restored system will generate ridership growth and thus increased revenues; a collapsing system will certainly drive riders away -with consequent loss in revenue - at a comparable or greater rate.
    • Without regard to capital financing, the size of M.T.A.'s operating deficits is staggering. I have attached a memo showing that under the circumstances assumed therein, our operating deficit could be as much as $383 million for the next Transit Authority fiscal year, and $68 million for the commuter railroads, this year.
    • This grim set of numbers reflects not only inflation, but unexpected revenue shortfalls, new maintenance and power expenses, and the apparent phase-out of Federal operating assistance.
    • We have also assumed that questions of constitutionality and collectability make uncertain the receipt of revenues from the gross receipts tax. If there are no additional state or local subsidies provided prior to June 30, we will be faced with minimum fare increses of 33 percent during the next year.
    • But let us look beyond our current fiscal predicament and place the growth of operating expenses and revenues in long-term perspective. M.T.A.'s basic operating budget, including both the Transit Authority and the commuter railroads, has grown to over $2.5 billion annually
    • With an assumed 10 percent inflation rate, M.T.A.'s operating costs will initially increase by $250 million a year. In the absence of additional subsidies, our inflation-driven deficit would, through this decade, require automatic fare increases of approximately 20 percent a year - or twice the rate of inflation. This result is not only economically unacceptable, but socially unjust.
  • $220 million-Federal aid-$200 million-290 subway cars-grant-80% cost cars-$250 million-same level federal funding-first cars-operation-March 1983-first cars end 1984-IND/BMT-$20 million-3 years maintenance programs
  • Greater New York Public Transit Coalition op-ed
    • Here are six things needed to arrest the decline of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's beleagured transit network. [ 1) Provide capital funds to rehabilitate the system: Documented needs exceed $5 billion over five years. They should be met through a combination of increased state, city and Federal funds, fare levels that keep pace with inflation and, as a last resort, the one-time issuance of capital bonds. The major share of these bonds should be repaid in future years through state appropriations.
    • (2) Increase M.T.A. accountability: Legislation should direct the M.T.A. to prepare multi-year capital and maintenance plans which establish transit spending priorities, offer a rationale for their selection and relate proposed projects to quantified service goals and objectives. The bill should also require submission of an annual spending report to explain where each year's money went and what was accomplished.
    • (3) Cut red tape in capital spending: Legislation should eliminate overlapping agency reviews, should appropriate state transit funds directly to the M.T.A. and should ease government procedures for initiating low-cost rehabilitation projects.
    • (4) Create a dedicated source of operating assistance: Defeat of the 2 percent oil company gross receipts tax, now under legal challenge, would warrant swift passage of an equivalent transitfunding measure. Beyond this, the Legislature should consider such options as an auto registration surcharge or a change in state gasoline tax formulas to meet critical statewide transit and roadway rehabilitation needs.
    • (5) Curb labor costs: The state has a legitimate role in insuring that inefficient labor practices are not subsidized at taxpayers' expense. Our lawmakers should consider legislation that would phase out state transit assistance to those systems whose future labor contracts perpetuate costly work rule practices. (6) Revise management structure: There is real need to decentralize M.T.A. control over day-to-day operations of its subway, bus and rail systems and to improve management efficiency.
    • A bill proposed earlier by the M.T.A. would leave the authority without the services of a strong executive director, or chief operating officer, to whom the heads of the constituent agencies (i.e., the New York City Transit Authority and the commuter railroads) would regularly report. Advancing this proposal would be contrary to sound business practice and the advice of the state's own 1979 M.T.A. Management Study. Decentralizing operations requires only administrative changes, not new legislation.
  • Daniel E. Chall study
  • Inspect R46s
  • Subway summit
  • Governor Carey and Mayor Koch said today that they had ''reluctantly come to the conclusion'' that the growing deficits of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would require a new regional tax to stave off sharp service cuts or major fare increases.
    • The Mayor, who had previously said he would oppose a rise in fares for buses and subways before there was a measured recovery in service, also said today that he expected to ''follow the recommendation'' of a panel that will be appointed to explore how to finance public transportation and recommend when to institute a fare increase.
    • A joint statement was issued by Mr. Carey and Mr. Koch at a news conference following a meeting with legislative leaders, county executives and M.T.A. officials in the Governor's office.
    • Mr. Carey, who had formerly opposed a new transit tax this year, said he had changed his position because of the ''worsening condition'' of the Transportation Authority's finances. The chairman of the authority, Richard Ravitch, had warned last week that a $1 fare would be needed this year without additional subsidies from the state.
    • The Albany meeting was an effort to refocus attention on the transit problem, which has been overshadowed for two months by the battle over the state budget.
    • Mr. Carey had declared a transit ''emergency'' on March 2 and had given the Legislature 48 hours to act a $5.85 billion plan for equipment and system improvements for the M.T.A. But the Legislature did not act and interest quickly waned as the budget problem grew
    • The Governor said the transit panel would consist of ''leading New Yorkers'' and be similar to the one created in 1975 to deal with the New York City fiscal crisis. The panel is to recommend within a week how to generate new revenues for the M.T.A. and when a fare increase would be appropriate.
    • Its longer-range role, Mr. Carey said, will be to make recommendations on productive financial controls and possible structural changes to improve the operation of the authority. The panel is to be named tomorrow.
    • The statement by the Governor and the Mayor drew a mixed response from the other participants in the meeting. The idea of a regional tax for transit drew immediate opposition from the three county executives present, Peter F. Cohalan of Suffolk, Francis T. Purcell of Nassau and Alfred B. DelBello of Westchester. They were still smarting from the Governor's veto last Friday of a budget item to limit their contribution to the cost of maintaining commuter rail stations.
    • An aide to Warren M. Anderson, the State Senate majority leader and a more important player in the passage of a transit plan, was slightly more conciliatory. Richard Weebe, program secretary for Mr. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, said the Republicans in the Senate could accept a regional tax ''if one that is fair would be suggested and there is no alternative.''
    • ''But,'' he added, ''I think there's a lot of convincing to be done that there is no alternative.'' Senate Republicans also said they would not accept a plan unless it had the support of the Democratic minority. The leader of that caucus, Senator Manfred Ohrenstein of Manhattan, said that to get his support, the panel would have to consider a trade-in of the Westway superhighway project for additional Federal transit funds.
    • Mr. Carey, in his news conference, responded that he could not limit the areas the panel would study, but that if the panel recommended a trade-in of the controversial superhighway, ''I'm not going to adopt that recommendation.''
    • The Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat, said he believed the Democratic majority in his house could drop its earlier opposition to a regional transportation tax if it was part of a package of state and local subsidies and fare increases.
  • Last hope transit opinion Times
    • Tired of circling each other in a legislative turnstile in search of a way to revive New York City's transit system, city and state leaders have turned to the last, worst hope of lawmakers: a committee. It looks like a desperate exercise in fig-leaf politics, a way for the legislators to diffuse the blame for painful decisions they know to be unavoidable. But it can also be a constructive step, for the long term as well as for the moment, if the committee is strong enough to force the lawmakers to focus on the main issue.
    • Whatever unity the leaders achieve on the need for capital vanishes when they seek agreement on who should provide it.
  • No funds-cuts-ridership-Dyre Avenue, Rockaway Line, Sea Beach Line, JFK Express, Myrtle Avenue El, Jamaica El-75 stations closed-bus service-cut 1,000 runs or 5,000 day-Franklin Shuttle-process of being closed-eliminating-40 token booths-harbinger things to come-looking bus routes-don't come close paying for themselves-subway system-low ridership-insufficient justify operation-Ravitch-past-shied sweeping rhetoric-Lawe-fight Ravitch request-625 eligible workers defer retirement-Ravitch-warned-withhold cost-of-living hike for October without productivity improvements, 20% cut LIRR-
  • GOP proposal-1% hike metro-area sales tax-raise$400 million, along with commercial property surcharge-nYC
  • Managment and workers of the New York City Transit Authority have been criticized so often for the near collapse of the system that many of them believe, in the words of one well-connected transit official, ''It's better not to do anything than risk messing up.''
    • the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Economic Development Council, a big business group, was in the early stages of an attempt to solve some of the Transit Authority's chronic and serious management problems. A task force of 20 executives, borrowed from member corporations for 12 to 18 months, is attempting to apply the presumably superior management techniques of private enterprise to the public agency's problems.
    • The council offered its aid in April, not long after a study showed subway performance had plummeted to an all-time low. Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, accepted the council's offer with the stipulation that the task force would function only in areas ''where they can be productive.'' He left that determination to John D. Simpson, who became president of the Transit Authority in January and has indicated he prefers handling authority problems internally.
    • Mr. Simpson said that of the 55 areas the businessmen identified in a preliminary study as suffering from poor management, 48 might benefit from the council's help. But the seven areas he wants the council to keep its hands off include important matters such as strengthening financial auditing, paring the headquarters staff, and keeping subway car doors working so more trains can complete their runs. The agency would handle these itself, he said.
    • Mr. Simpson's seemingly reluctant cooperation with the council is bemoaned by some M.T.A. board members as a poor tactic; they say he has nothing to lose if it fails and might possibly share the credit for any improvements the task force can accomplish. But there is also a good measure of sympathy for his position. Associates say his seeming intractibility is simply part of the former West Pointer's personal style. ''Simpson is a colonel,'' said one board member. ''He says to himself, '75 percent of this is not going to work - shoot the bums.' ''
    • Some of the more vocal officials on the transit board, moreover, believe the limits placed on the executives' scope might actually improve their chances of making the system run more efficiently.
    • If Mr. Ravitch's support for the council project has not been notably enthusiastic, perhaps it is because originally he had asked Mr. Rockefeller for help in securing a major transit capitalfinancing plan in Albany and was told, according to a council spokesman, that the council would first have to examine the efficacy of transit system management. But that was the price, and Mr. Ravitch seems content to let Mr. Simpson concentrate on unsnarling operations.
    • The task force executives began reporting for their new jobs early this month; a dozen of the proposed 20 members have been named so far. While permanent offices are being prepared for them at the authority's headquarters in Brooklyn, the executives have been getting to know their agency counterparts in areas such as subway operation, financial control and personnel. Mr. Simpson acknowledged that some on his staff remain ''somewhat cautious,'' but said he ''talked with them and they are being cooperative.''
    • Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by the executives is winning the cooperation of the powerful 33,000-member Transport Workers Union. Its members work under the protection of rules that have defied transit managers' attempts to increase productivity and reduce wasteful spending.
    • Sidney Schwartz, who, as special deputy state comptroller for New York City, has looked into the Transit Authority for numerous management studies, noted that there had been precious few improvements, in spite of many recommendations.
    • Mr. Schwartz blamed that partly on union resistance, but also on past leaders of the authority who he said lacked ''dedication to change.'' He did not fault Mr. Simpson on that point, but said he lacked a like-minded management echelon to help him.
    • Union rules and bureaucrats aside, the loaned executives will also have to face political realities to which they may be unaccustomed. Mr. Berger observed that if, for example, they try to trim costs by closing underused token booths, they will run into ''Assembyman X, who gets on the phone and says, 'You close a booth in my district and when the capital bill gets on the floor, I'll vote against it.' ''
  • $22 million reletter stations-request Queens Subway Riders Alliance-improve service; more
  • Ridership drop seen-fare increase-fares up maximum-40% transit-50% commuter-lose 13.4-17.8% riders-219 million to 291 million of 1.5 billion riders-
  • New term-Ravitch-11 tax increase options-panel
  • Panel-Carey-consider service cuts, fare hikes
  • Fare increase LIRR inevitable
    • Governor Carey, transit officials and legislative leaders last week negotiated the amount of state aid that would be poured into the railroad and other mass-transit facilities and considered the imposition of a regional tax to raise funds to offset some of the increase.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., has been talking of a fare increase of up to 50 percent on the railroad this year, but the Caemmerer aide, Bert Cunningham, predicted that the increase would be something less than that figure.
  • Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin of New York City called on Governor Carey to seek an emergency meeting with Governor Byrne of New Jersey and Gov. William A. O'Neill of Connecticut to develop a regional plan to deal with mass transit.
  • N/R swap opposition; support; more
  • Assemblyman John C. Dearie of the Bronx said the city's buses and subway cars were unsafe because the same people who did the repairing also inspected the quality of the repairs, according to United Press International.
  • Ravitch-criticized unwillingness public/electeds to make tough decisions/sacrifices to save subway-no willingness pay cost of past neglect-public revolt against higher inflation/taxes contributing inability transit system serve public well-commencement address
  • Save our subways-platform conductors-242 of them-openly ignoring-rules covering responsibilities
  • $1 toll Harlem/East River bridge proposal-panel-raise $100 million/year
  • The leaders of the Legislature, frustrated by a delay in proposals from Governor Carey's transit advisory panel, called today for immediate action to begin rebuilding New York City's transportation system and to forestall big fare increases.
    • Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, urged the immediate passage of a $5.85 billion equipment and system improvement program. And he asked for a commitment for a $100 million appropriation of state operating aid for the Metropolitan Transportation System while a long-range program is negotiated.
    • Without endorsing Mr. Fink's plan, Warren M. Anderson of Binghamton, the majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, said there was ''no reason whatsoever why a practical legislative blueprint cannot be wrapped up within a few more days.''
    • Senior White House officials in Washington, meanwhile, suggested that New York City and State consider tapping the city's budget surplus or trading in the Westway for mass transit funds, according to an aide to President Reagan.
    • The positions of the two legislative leaders were immediately denounced by Governor Carey, who said in an interview: ''A quick fix and $100 million will not solve a billion dollar problem.'' He said he would ''hold their feet to the fire'' until he got a permanent solution to the transit problem.
    • Mr. Carey's transit advisory panel, with the Governor's assent, issued a statement yesterday that put off making any specific recommendations on how to deal with the transit problem. It had been scheduled to give those recommendations today.
    • Instead, the panel broadened its purview to create a blueprint for the M.T.A.'s future - one that, state officials said, is likely to include not only new transportation taxes and fare increases, but also structural changes and recommendations for drastic alterations in the authority's labor practices.
    • Aides to Mr. Carey said that this would make it useful to the state not only in getting legislative action on a transportation financing plan in Albany - the panel's originally announced charge - but also in building pressure next year, when the Transportation Workers Union contract expires, for the types of labor and productivity changes that haved proved elusive in the past.
    • Mr. Carey said the Legislature's solution would not provide the assurance the financial community would need to sell the proposed M.T.A. capital improvement bonds at a reasonable interest rate. He said his panel would ''not come up with a shallow solution that is not defensible.''
    • But the legislative leaders rejected the idea of waiting for the panel report, which is now expected July 1, because that would leave the M.T.A. chairman, Richard Ravitch, without the assurance of operating funds he would need to prevent a major fare increase. And they assailed Mr. Carey's characterization of their proposal as a ''quick fix.''
    • The minority leader of the Senate, Manfred Ohrenstein, Democrat of Manhattan, said that Mr. Fink's proposal ''meets all of my criteria'' and would enable the transit panel to devise a long-range program for the M.T.A. without leaving the Legislature ''backed up against some mythical emergency.'' In New York City, Mayor Koch was equivocal. He commended the transit advisory panel for having ''forcefully presented to the public the gravity of the situation.'' But he reiterated that ''capital funding cannot be addressed in a vacuum and must be tied to an agreed upon solution for the operating needs of the transit system.''
    • Mr. Ravitch said he was ''thrilled'' by the call for action on his capital improvement plan, and added: ''I prefer the enactment of a safe, secure, predictable, inflationsensitive tax to provide a growing stream of revenue to the M.T.A., but I certainly prefer Mr. Fink's proposal to noghting, since I would hate to have to make up my entire deficit from the farebox. That would be terrible for the public.''
    • The M.T.A. chairman has predicted that his deficit for the coming fiscal year could be as high as $383 million, and has been talking privately about a 15-cent fare increase in July, another 15-cent increase in October and a third increase of 10 cents next January. These figures assume that the Federal courts will strike down the state's gross receipts tax on oil companies, which is used to finance mass transportation.
  • Abdicating transit op-ed
    • We are told there is a transit crisis and the day of judgment is upon us. The oracles who bring this message are telling the truth, but to be fair to history and to the unfortunates who suffer daily in the subway's menacing depths and on other collapsing forms of public transport in the region, the emergency has been with us for some time. The practice of ignoring it has been polished into an honored political tradition here, where one of the prime measurements of an officeholder's success is the length of time he can put off needed but unpopular fare increases.
    • But now the transit system has fallen into such dangerous shape that even the politicians - in this case Governor Carey and Mayor Koch - decided they better do something.
    • It was not so much the breakdowns and fires and delays and muggings and other rider indignities that spurred them to action, but rather the calamitously soaring deficit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Politicians in New York can no longer run for re-election on unbalanced budgets.
    • Mr. Carey gave the eight-member group a week to come up with the rescue plan that he and Mr. Koch had not been able to produce in their collective decade in office. Wisely, the panel -five of whose members played substantial roles in resolving the city's fiscal crisis - has told the Governor that a responsible job cannot be done in that span. This would seem to indicate that the group is taking its job seriously and does not intend to be anyone's rubber stamp, whatever the political motive behind its creation. It may also mean that the Governor and the Mayor could be handed more than they bargained for.
    • One could argue that Mr. Carey and Mr. Koch abdicated their responsibilities by passing the buck to an elite panel, which they would deny; or one could conversely argue that they were merely being realistic and facing up to a changed world of governance, which I would deny. It would appear that the two men chose the panel device to put some political distance between them and the inevitable medicine the panel will propose - new taxes, new fare increases and new belt-tightening and productivity by the transit unions.
    • In short, there will be sacrifices for everyone, and the Governor, who is expected to run for a third term next year, and the Mayor, who is running for his second term this year, would prefer not to be the originators of the bad news. It is much less painful, and less forthright, for them to be able to say: We're sorry, folks, we did all we could, but the best minds and managers we could find tell us that a price has to be paid now if we want to keep this lifeline going.
  • Senior White House officials have suggested that New York City and New York State consider tapping the city's budget surplus or trading in the Westway for mass-transit funds to strengthen their case for more Federal transit assistance, an aide to President Reagan said today.
    • In response to the White House comments, Mayor Koch disclosed today in New York City for the first time that the city intended to spend some of its 1981 budget surplus for capital programs in the transit system. Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., who is responsible for transportation matters in the Koch administration, said that a specific sum had not been determined.
    • The meeting on Wednesday was set up so that Mr. Ravitch could present a series of proposals for Federal transit assistance. According to the White House aide, these proposals will be studied, although some were regarded as less possible than others.
    • He said that without taking at least one of these steps, New York City would run the risk of making it seem that it was not using all the resources at its disposal for mass transit. This, in turn, would be questioned in Congress and elsewhere when additional aid for New York came under consideration.
    • In New York City, Mr. Ravitch said he was told ''you ought to do more at the local level'' before the city and the state received more transit aid. ''The sense was clear, and that was for us to use local resources,'' he added.
  • Won't railroad plan-panel-recommendations expected end of June

June 1981

[edit]
  • A combination of politics, pique and opportunity led to the abrupt reversals last week of the positions of Governor Carey and the legislative leaders on how to aid public transportation.
    • Mr. Carey moved from calling for immediate action on a transit program to asking for a one-month delay. And the Legislature moved from months of delay to a call for immediate action. All this has left the Governor and the legislative leaders angrier at each other than usual and the transit problem little closer to solution than it has been for the last five months.
    • Mr. Carey had repeatedly declared a transit emergency and demanded that the Legislature act quickly on his $5.85 billion, five-year program to buy new equipment for the decaying Metropolitan Transportation Authority and to improve its physical plant. He now says a delay is necessary while his transit advisory panel comes up with a long-range proposal to resolve the M.T.A.'s financial problems.
    • The legislative leaders - particularly those in the State Senate - had insisted that they could not act on a capital improvement program until there was a firm agreement on a long-range plan to take care of the M.T.A.'s growing operating deficits, thus holding down future fare increases.
    • Now the leaders want to act immediately on the capital improvement plan. The Democrats are calling as well for a stop-gap measure to hold this year's fare increase on the buses and subways to 15 cents and proportionate increases on commuter rail lines while a permanent solution is found. The Republicans, who control the Senate, are less specific, but say they believe that a plan can be worked out in short order.
    • The key to the change in both camps was the action - and inaction - of the Governor's advisory panel. Mr. Carey announced the formation of the panel on May 18 and said that it would report back ''within a week'' with proposals to raise new revenues for the M.T.A.
    • The intention was at least in part to get a respected group of people outside government to call for the enactment of new taxes, thus giving a recalcitrant Legislature a scapegoat when it was forced to perform this politically unpleasant task.
    • But the panel saw its role differently. ''If the Governor wanted a rubber stamp,'' said Felix G. Rohatyn, an experienced hand in the New York City fiscal crisis and a member of the transit panel, ''he could have gone out and bought one.''
    • So on the seventh day, the panel protested. In a meeting with the Governor, its members informed Mr. Carey that they would not be used in this manner. They argued that it would be useless to recommend new revenues without having some program to get the M.T.A.'s operating budget under control as well -not least because the financial community would be loath to float proposed new M.T.A. bonds to finance system improvements without some assurance that the authority would be healthy enough in the future to pay them back.
    • The panel then issued a statement saying that it would not make its report until it had a chance to investigate the situation and develop a full-scale solution. Mr. Carey's office said that would probably not be until July 1.
    • Mr. Carey was willing to go along, aides said, in the hope that the panel would come up with proposals for drastic labor changes that could back up the M.T.A.'s bargaining position in contract talks with the Transportation Workers Union next year and for new taxes that could be enacted this year rather than next - when Mr. Carey might be running for re-election. This brought him to the position - voiced for months by Mayor Koch and the Senate's minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein - that the M.T.A.'s capital and operating problems had to be addressed simultaneously.
    • But the delay set off a furor in the Legislature, whose leaders had complained from the outset that the panel was just another obstacle to facing a problem that had been apparent for months. They were also concerned they would be given recommendations within days of the projected close of the legislative session and pressured into hasty action.
    • It also rankled the M.T.A. chairman, Richard Ravitch. He had said all along that he needed some action by the Legislature on a revenue source to show his board at its July 2 meeting in order to forestall the need for approving a 25-cent fare increase on that date.
    • ''If the panel is coming back on July 1, how do you get legislative action by July 1?'' Stanley Fink, the Assembly's Speaker, asked yesterday. ''Who's calling the shots - Mr. Ravitch or the Governor? That's never been clear.''
    • Mr. Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat, went public Friday with a proposal to enact the capital plan immediately and to make a commitment to provide a $100 million appropriation to the M.T.A. in the state's 1982-83 budget. The plan had been presented to the Governor privately the week before.
    • This, Mr. Fink said, would allow the M.T.A. to hold the fare increase to 15 cents while a long-range solution was worked out. He suggested the Legislature deal with such subjects as tax increases in September. By then, he said, it is more likely that the Federal courts will have acted on challenges to the state's 2 percent grossreceipts tax on oil companies, which is a primary source of state transportation aid.
    • ''I am committed to passing a replacement or augmenting tax if the gross-receipts tax is struck down,'' Mr. Fink said yesterday. ''But why should we do it now? Suppose it is held constitutional? Why take away our option to raise it to 3 percent?''
    • Mr. Fink said that his proposal was not inconsistent with the goal of finding a long-term solution to the M.T.A.'s financial problems and that it would give the state a reasonable amount of time to do it. He charged that Mr. Carey was simply unwilling to risk having to make additional state appropriations for the M.T.A.
  • About 100 passengers refused to leave a subway train bound from Queens to Manhattan yesterday morning, preventing the crew from taking the train out of service, Transit Authority police said.
  • The chairman of the City Council Finance Committee proposed yesterday that New York City spend $200 million of its anticipated 1981 budget surplus to refurbish subway stations and rebuild sewers and highways.
    • The chairman, Councilman Edward L. Sadowsky, Democrat-Liberal of Queens, also suggested that, based on recent economic trends, the Koch administration had appreciably underestimated its tax revenues for the fiscal year 1982, which begins next month. Mr. Sadowsky said the administration might have $200 million or more beyond what it is now prepared to commit for expanded municipal services.
    • Last Friday, Mayor Koch disclosed that he intended to use part of his 1981 surplus for mass-transit capital projects, but he avoided specifics. Budget officials said yesterday that as much as $147 million in surplus funds could be spent on such projects, but that no decision had been made on preferred programs.
    • Relying on the higher estimates of the 1981 surplus, Mr. Sadowsky proposed that $100 million spent on sewer and highway projects and $100 million more on subway station improvements. This would be in addition to the $268 million proposed for those purposes in the Mayor's capital budget announced last month.
  • Kenneth S. Axelson, the chairman of the Governor's panel on transit, said today that he had no objection to action by the State Legislature ''to contain fares at a reasonable level and prevent a runaway fare.''
    • This position appeared to put Mr. Axelson, who was appointed to the board by the Governor, at odds with Mr. Carey. The Governor has opposed a stopgap measure supported by the Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink, to hold the fare increase on buses and subways to 15 cents while the Legislature seeks a long-term solution to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's financial difficulties. But later in the day Mr. Axelson amended his statement to say he was not endorsing any particular proposal.
  • The majority leader of the State Senate, Warren M. Anderson, has informed the Democratic leaders that the Senate will not pass a new permanent tax to aid mass transit before the Federal courts act on challenges to the state's gross-receipts tax on oil companies.
    • The court decision is not expected until after the close of the main legislative session, apparently ruling out action on a tax for now.
    • Senator Anderson, a Binghamton Republican, made his view known at a secret meeting with Speaker Stanley Fink of the Assembly and the Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein. It constituted a partial endorsement of the position put forward last week by Mr. Fink, who does not want to act on new taxes until September.
    • The meeting was held - without representatives from Governor Carey's office - to begin discussing the issues that the leaders want to resolve before the close of the main session, which is now expected in early July. According to one participant, the leaders discussed ''what issues we could be working on'' in the absence of definitive proposals from the Governor's office.
    • ''Somewhere this bottleneck has to be unlocked,'' Senator Ohrenstein said, ''and people are getting together to unlock it.'' Senator Anderson's view toward the other element of Mr. Fink's plan - to commit the state to a $100 million appropriation in next year's budget to allow the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to hold a July fare increase to 15 cents on buses and subways - was less clear.
    • In New York City, meanwhile, Mayor Koch endorsed the idea of creating a financial control board for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The chairman of the Governor's panel, Kenneth S. Axelson, said here yesterday that this was one proposal the panel was discussing.
  • Governor Carey's transit advisory panel yesterday proposed a plan to finance Metropolitan Transportation Authority deficits with increases in the sales tax in areas served by the authority and in the statewide tax on oil-company receipts. It also asked for the creation of a new financial control board to monitor the agency.; more
    • Under the panel's proposal, the sales tax - which is 8 percent in New York City and less in other areas - would rise by a quarter of a cent on the dollar. The tax on gross receipts of oil companies would rise from 2 percent to 3 percent next year.
    • The new sales tax was expected to produce $90 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1, rising to $162 million in the 1984-85 fiscal year. The change in the gross-receipts tax would allow that revenue to grow from an estimated $191 million to a projected $350 million by 1984-85.
    • Declaring that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's financial problems were of ''crisis proportions,'' the panel called on the Legislature to enact all of these measures - as well as a five-year, $5.85 billion equipment and system improvement plan - before July 1.
    • The panel, issuing its report at Governor Carey's New York City office, made no specific recommendation on an increase in bus and subway fares for the city.
    • But its chairman, Kenneth S. Axelson, said that if the authority increased the fare to 75 cents on July 1, as is expected, it should be frozen there for two years ''while they get on with the job of improving the management and the service.''
    • Governor Carey and Mayor Koch, in a joint statement, praised the panel's recommendations as a ''model of fiscal integrity'' and said they were ''hopeful that the State Legislature will now act favorably on these recommendations.''
    • Spokesmen for the legislative leaders, however, saw problems with several of the panel's proposals. The chairman of the authority, Richard Ravitch, said he would withhold full comment until he had a chance to study the plan. But he said: ''I've been pushing for a transit tax for 18 months and for a capital bill that would enable us to rebuild the system. The panel recommendations seem to concur in that judgment and I hope it happens soon.''
    • The eight members of the panel, appointed by Governor Carey last month, had said last week that they needed more time to study the complex financial problems of the authority and did not expect to report until July 1. But they speeded up their report, officials said, after the legislative leaders began suggesting a delay of most action on the agency's problems until September.
    • The majority leader of the Senate, Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, has said he would not take any action on the grossreceipts tax on oil companies until Federal court challenges to it are decided. At issue is a provision of the law that prohibits the tax from being passed on to consumers.
    • The panel recommended that even if the tax had to be absorbed by consumers, it ''should continue to form the cornerstone of the state's program of transit operating assistance.'' But a spokesman for Senator Anderson, Richard J. Roth, said that if the tax was to be passed along, the Senate's response would be, ''No.''
    • As for the rest of the plan, Mr. Anderson's spokesman quoted him as saying: ''Sounds kind of weird to me but we'll look at it.'' The panel's estimate of the authority's financial problems was substantially worse than previous estimates from the authority and other sources. It estimated the combined deficit for the New York City Transit Authority and the commuter lines in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, to be $560 million. And it projected that without new taxes, that deficit would grow to $1.678 billion in the authority's 1984-85 fiscal year.
    • These figures did not include the anticipated increase to 75 cents in the bus and subway fares and proportionate increases on the commuter lines, the report said, and did not include revenues currently being generated by the gross-receipts tax.
    • The panel used these figures to back its call for new taxes, in order to prevent major fare increases in coming years. It asserted that fares should contribute ''no more than 50 percent of operating costs,'' and that increases should be limited to the increase in wages in the metropoltan area or the Consumer Price Index, ''whichever is lower.''
    • This is similar to the so-called ''fair-fare plan'' that Governor Carey and Mayor Koch have been advocating. The panel said that it had decided to recommend supplementing the expected fare increase and the gross-receipts tax with an increase in the sales tax because, among other things, it is sensitive to inflation and is ''nearly proportional in impact'' across income levels, ''unlike the sales taxes of many other states.''
    • But the panel said that in addition to new taxes, a new control mechanism was necessary, and it recommended a Metropolitan Transportation Control Board, patterned on New York City's Emergency Financial Control Board.
  • Five members of Governor Carey's transit advisory panel rode subways and buses early yesterday morning on a tour that provided them with a bleak glimpse of New York City's deteriorating transportation system.
  • Opinion $1
    • New York's transit riders have another date with destiny on July 1. Law as well as prudence require the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to start its fiscal year with a balanced budget, although it is now $500 million in the red. If state and city subsidies can't shrink the deficit, fares would have to leap from 60 to 95 cents, with proportionate increases on commuter trains. Even that extraordinary increase would do little for the reliability and comfort of transit. Still other revenues are needed to buy new cars and buses and to rebuild the deteriorating system.
    • Transit riders should feel fortunate that some legislators are ready to assume the burden of decision. But they cannot deliver their reluctant upstate colleagues unless the Governor finally takes charge. The avoidance in this crisis has been shameful. The damage to New York could soon be irreparable.
  • The legislative leaders of both parties yesterday rejected the key recommendations of Governor Carey's transit panel for raising money to cover the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's operating deficit.; more; continued
    • The leaders said they intended to use a one-time state appropriation to limit to 15 cents a July 2 increase in New York City's 60-cent subway and bus fare, but they ruled out until the fall any plan for long-term financing of mass transit. That is when the Federal courts are expected to decide the constitutionality of New York State's gross-receipts tax on oil companies.
    • Setting aside the 13-page offering of Mr. Carey's panel, Senate and Assembly negotiators were basing their transit discussions on a plan devised by Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink for an immediate $100 million in state operating aid for the M.T.A. to supplement a proposed $5.85 billion equipment and system improvement program.
    • Governor Carey had termed the Fink transit plan a ''quick fix.'' His panel had called for permanent changes, most notably an increase in the region's sales tax by one-quarter percent and modification of the gross-receipts tax on oil companies to drop the prohibition against passing the tax on to consumers. The companies are contesting that prohibition in the courts, threatening the major source of state aid to the M.T.A.
    • The panel also suggested creation of a financial control board to oversee the authority. Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said the one-time appropriation would be sufficient for him to recommend only a 15-cent fare increase to the M.T.A. board on July 2. However, he said, a long-range agreement would have to be reached in the fall to preclude further increases.
    • Senator Ohrenstein and Speaker Fink also criticized the Governor's panel for failing even to consider increasing the mass transit appropriations from the New York City and state treasuries. The panel would hold both the city and state contribution at its current dollar level.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday at the first of three days of mandatory public hearings that the agency's board would convene on July 2 to approve an almost certain transit fare increase of 15 cents. The authority is also considering what to do about a new token, an agency spokesman said.
    • Richard Ravitch, the chairman, said before the sparsely attended hearing began that any action by the State Legislature aimed at averting an even greater increase in the 60-cent subway and bus fare would have to come ''between now and July 2.'' He said the agency was also considering a 25 percent rise for the commuter railroads.
    • Without legislative action, Mr. Ravitch warned, the M.T.A. policy board would have to enact a 35-cent increase for the city transit system and proportional increases for the Long Island Rail Road and Conrail.
    • Late yesterday afternoon in Albany, Governor Carey, faced with opposition from the legislative leaders of both parties, agreed to put off a permanent financing plan for the M.T.A. until the fall. But he posed certain conditions.
    • Mr. Carey's key condition was that the Legislature agree to come back at a definite date, probably in October, to address a permanent financing plan for the M.T.A. whether or not the constitutionality of the gross-receipts tax on oil companies had been ruled on.
    • An aide to Mr. Carey said that in return, the Governor would agree to commit the money needed to prevent the M.T.A. board from having to raise bus and subway fares by more than 15 cents, and commuter fares a proportionate amount, when it meets on July 2.
  • Governor Carey today proposed that the Metropolitan Transportation Control Board he is seeking have virtually complete veto power over any labor contract negotiated between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transport Workers Union next year.
    • In today's meeting, according to participants, Mr. Anderson - after meeting with his fellow Republicans - proposed that some additional amount be committed to improve upstate roads and bridges. The precise amount was still under negotiation, these participants said.
  • Governor Carey and the legislative leaders agreed in principle today on a plan that would hold New York City's bus and subway fares at 75 cents for the next several months and begin rebuilding the transit system.
    • The 15-cent increase in the fare, and at least part of an eventual 25 percent increase on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's commuter rail lines, would take effect July 3.
    • Final agreement was awaiting the drafting of legislation, which was under way tonight, as well as a written commitment from the legislative leaders that they would return before Nov. 1 to enact a permanent financing plan - including new taxes - for the M.T.A.'s operating deficits. If all goes well, aides said they expected the measure to be on the floor of the Legislature next week.
    • Consideration of a financial control board for the authority, proposed by the Governor's transit advisory panel, would also be delayed until the fall, according to parties who took part in the negotiations.
    • The agreement would commit between $100 million and $125 million from next year's state budget to subsidize the M.T.A. deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
    • Those funds, along with the money from the July fare increase, would be enough to prevent the fare from rising again at least through October, although not through the 1981-82 fiscal year. Governor Carey's transit panel recommended last week that if the fare was increased to 75 cents, it should be held there for the next two years.
    • The plan also includes a commitment for more state money to improve upstate roads and bridges, but the precise amount was still under negotiation.
    • The plan would put into place the five-year, $5.85 billion equipment and system-improvement plan long sought by the authority, along with a streamlined process for approving major transit projects. It would also require the state to come up with some source of revenue devoted to pay back the authority's long-term bonds.
    • Under the plan, major projects would be reviewed by a board consisting of representatives of the Governor's Budget Division, the Assembly Speaker and the Senate majority leader. The projects would be exempt, in most cases, from normal environmental reviews and from New York City's community boards and uniform land-use review procedures.
    • In addition, the program would require that a percentage - perhaps as high as 20 percent - of the construction contracts for the improvements to the system be set aside, where possible, for minority group contractors.
    • The final sticking points were the review procedure for the construction projects and resistance by the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, to returning this fall to consider new taxes before the Federal courts have ruled on the constitutionality of the state's tax on oil company receipts. Oil companies are challenging the tax, which was intended to provide $235 million a year for mass transit, because they are prohibited from passing it along to consumers. Several oil companies -including Mobil and Shell - have refused to pay the tax, and the Exxon Corporation recently expressed reservations privately to the leaders about continuing to pay it because of the competitive disadvantage in doing so.
    • Senator Anderson, according to aides involved in the negotiations, is now expected to agree to come back to take up a financing plan that would either augment the oil company tax or replace it, depending on the status of the court action.
    • One final problem was the M.T.A.'s cash flow problem, created by the refusal of oil companies to pay the tax. New York City's Transit Authority must come up with $24.3 million by June 30 to make its contributions to union pension funds, and the commuter lines are short $30.9 million this month, some of it for commitments due next week.
    • Aides to Governor Carey said they hoped to get New York City to advance money to the M.T.A. to push the Transit Authority deficit into the next fiscal year, and were considering an advance from the state to resolve the commuter lines' problems.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in a list that came to light yesterday, has designated what it calls the 69 stations most in need of repair in the New York City subway system.; more
    • It has recommended a six-year program to renovate them, but financing for the bulk of the program, the Transit Authority said, has yet to be found.
    • The City Council will release today its revisions of Mayor Koch's budget for the coming fiscal year, and it will include money for the rehabilitation of only 14 of the 69 subway stations, according to Councilman Edward L. Sadowsky, chairman of the Council Finance Committee. Mr. Sadowsky did not have the list of the 14 stations yesterday, and repeated telephone calls to the Council staff member who had them were not answered.
    • In the list of 69 stations, which was presented to the City Council by the authority in the course of recent budget negotiations, most of them - a total of 27 - were in Manhattan. The president of the Transit Authority, John D. Simpson, said the list grew out of discussions with the City Planning Commission.
    • The reduction to 14 stations by the Finance Committee occurred during discussions with county leaders, each with their own priorities, Mr. Sadowsky said. The Transit Authority was not consulted, according to its president.
  • TA-considered dropping-costly cleaning operation-$10 million a year-quickly discarded-clean graffiti-despite $283 million deficit
  • A Federal appeals court today struck down a key section of New York State's tax on oil company receipts. But it implied the statute might withstand Federal challenge after September, when Federal price controls on petroleum expire.
    • The section in question prohibited the oil companies from passing the tax on to consumers. Under the law, if this section is struck down, the entire tax would automatically be abolished. That could result in a bigger debt for the M.T.A., which is already projecting a deficit of $369 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
    • An automatic stay of the ruling will remain in place until July 6, according to Governor Carey's office. During that period, the state will decide whether to appeal the ruling to the United States Supreme Court.
    • The Speaker said he expected the program to be enacted before the Legislature recesses next month. But he said the ruling raised the question of whether the Legislature could delay action until the fall, as it had intended, on a permanent plan to finance the authority's growing operating deficits.
    • Mr. Fink, citing a legal text, said it was possible the state tax could take effect again automatically in September, when the conflicting Federal statute expires, without new action by the Legislature.
    • In that case, he said, he would be reticent to enact a large new tax to subsidize the M.T.A., such as the regional sales tax suggested by the Governor's transit advisory panel.
    • Instead, Mr. Fink said, he would favor an increase in the oil company receipts tax - perhaps excluding small companies and nonpetroleum products - or a regional tax such as a levy on the transfer of commercial property.
  • Governor op-ed
    • I would like to comment briefly upon certain of the arguments in your June 7 editorial regarding transit. The most important point you make is that without certain steps being taken now, metropolitan-region mass transportation is only a few steps away from the chaos that exists in some of the transit agencies of our nation's biggest cities - Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Birmingham, to name only a few. These systems have been on the verge of bankruptcy, their service levels have been cut back drastically and fares have been substantially increased.
    • My administration and the State Legislature have been attempting to focus attention on this critical issue for more than two years; until recently, few have listened to our warning cries.
    • I proposed a mass-transportation bond issue in 1979 which everyone said could not pass the Legislature. It did. Then the naysayers said the people wouldn't support it. They did. Soon the positive results of that program will be visible in the region in the form of new subway and commuter rail cars, rebuilt storage and maintenance yards and other tangible improvements.
    • In 1980, I proposed a $335-million operating assistance program for transit systems throughout the state - including a gross-receipts tax on oil companies, a change in gas-tax levies and a regional gas surcharge. Only the gross-receipts tax - the largest single state assistance program for mass transportation ever enacted in the nation - passed the Legislature and became law.
    • This year, Dick Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, developed an omnibus $5-billion capital program for the metropolitan region. I supported his proposals fully, and early in the year introduced legislation which I asked be quickly adopted. Unfortunately, it has not yet been enacted. While I expect the Legislature to adopt this program soon, we have already lost valuable time in beginning to make additional improvements in our transit system.
    • My administration, the Legislature, the Mayor and the region's local officials are also extremely concerned about the continuing problem of spiraling operating costs and the attendant fare increases. That is specifically why I created a panel of financial and management experts, headed by Kenneth Axelson, to analyze both the short- and long-range operating costs of the M.T.A. I requested that they work under tight time constraints so that state legislators and public officials from the region would be able to review their proposals in a timely manner before formal deliberation.
    • The panel has now completed this preliminary, yet detailed, task. Its recommendations include the immediate enactment of the comprehensive capital program, the development of reasonable fiscal controls to enhance the marketability of capital improvement bonds and the adoption of sufficient new or enhanced regional revenue measures to close future M.T.A. operating-budget gaps without unacceptable fare increases.
    • I fully support these proposals and have asked the seven-member panel to develop more specific long-term legislative and management recommendations.
    • We all agree that our metropolitan transit system is in crisis. The problems are visible in service deterioration, increasing costs, rising fear of crime by the ridership and intolerable delays.
    • Even with these difficult problems, the M.T.A. is both a necessary and a valuable system that perhaps has been taken for granted too long. What is imperative now is that we have a comprehensive and long-range approach to the transit problem in the metropolitan region. This is the charge I have given to Dick Ravitch and to Ken Axelson and their respective board and panel members. This is the framework within which I have asked the state legislators and local officials to work.
  • Opinion no ducking transit tax
    • Thanks to the timely ruling of a Federal appellate court, New York has been given what should be an irresistible push to pass a legal and adequate transit subsidy tax. The court's decision has left metropolitan transit with an unambiguous deficit of at least $400 million, only $150 million of which will be covered by the expected fare increase on July 1. If the law struck down in court is not replaced by a new tax, subway and bus fares will have to go not to 75 cents but to at least $1 next month, with a comparable increase in commuter fares.
  • In addition, the officials agreed to spend up to $200 million from an anticipated surplus for the 1981 fiscal year ending June 30 to finance programs to refurbish subway stations and rebuild sewers and highways.
  • LIRR fare hike
    • Now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that owns and operates the railroad, is scheduled to meet July 2 to consider yet another fare increase to help close a projected L.I.R.R. operating deficit of $235 million.
    • A. This is an area that is hard to measure, but the railroad feels it may have had some success through changing some of the old work habits. For example, cars are now inspected every 92 days, instead of every 30 days, freeing shop maintenance personnel to perform longneeded car overhauls, which had been deferred for several years.
  • The Assembly tonight approved a measure creating $5.6 billion in bonding authority to improve the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's facilities over the next five years. The vote was 95 to 49.; more
    • Included in the package is $100 million in operating aid for the M.T.A. designed to limit an increase in the bus and subway fare to 15 cents on July 1.
    • Substantial aid for upstate highways, bridges and mass transit in the Transportation Systems Assistance and Financing Act of 1981, designed to make the package more attractive to Republicans outside of the New York metropolitan area, is expected to secure its passage in the Republican-controlled Senate.
    • The plan would allow the M.T.A. to take on construction projects without obtaining most of the usual local and environmental approvals and to skip competitive bidding in some cases.
    • The capital projects would be monitored by a review board comprising four members, one each appointed by the Governor, the Assembly Speaker, the Senate leader and the Mayor of New York City. Unanimous approval would be required for each project.
    • The package approved today by the Assembly also included some major relief to the Long Island Rail Road, which would not have to repay the state $107.5 million in advances for freight operations. This provision would allow the L.I.R.R to float new bonds.
    • There is also $25 million for rehabilitation of upstate bridges, $68 million in new money for upstate highways, and $9 million for upstate mass transit. The financing for the New York City package would come from a variety of sources, including contracts to be underwritten directly by the state, revenue from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, anticipated Port Authority surpluses, bonds backed by M.T.A. revenue, and Federal and city funds.
  • Senate approval, 53-5-$240 million-additional-upstate/suburban highways
  • Governor-opposed-1% sales tax hike
  • Carol Bellamy charged yesterday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was going to waste as much as $154 million buying new subway cars that were not needed.
    • Miss Bellamy, the President of the City Council and a member of the board of the M.T.A., was commenting on the authority's plan to spend $5.6 billion to improve the city's transit system and the commuter railroads over the next five years.
    • The authority has recommended spending $1.17 billion of the capital financing package that the State Legislature approved yesterday to buy 1,450 new subway cars by 1986, terming it the fastest way to achieve a significant improvement in subway service.
    • Richard Ravitch, the authority's chairman, said he would call a meeting of the board next month, after it enacts an expected 15-cent transit fare increase, to decide how the money for the New York City Transit Authority and the commuter railroads in the city area will actually be spent. The M.T.A. is the policy-making body for these systems.
    • Miss Bellamy, releasing an analysis of the plan by her staff, contended that a purchase of that size would overstock the Transit Authority with surplus cars, which are held on standby to replace malfunctioning equipment. Instead of easing subway maintenance backlogs, she said, the addition would only compound the problems by spreading workers too thinly.
    • The Council President also accused the Transit Authority of scheduling ''premature'' and ''arbitrary'' retirement of 431 older cars simply to make room for the new ones it wants to buy.
    • ''I am very aware of the legitimacy of the concerns and we will talk it out,'' he said. ''It's a close business judgment and I believe the purchase of new cars is still the best route, but we will have a full airing at the meeting and decide then.''
    • Miss Bellamy's study contended that the Transit Authority already maintained up to twice as many surplus cars as the standard for transit systems nationally. The study cited a report last spring by the Tristate Regional Planning Commission that said repair work on the oversized surplus was one of the reasons for the authority's persistent maintenance backlog.
    • The Bellamy study indicated that the authority's IRT fleet maintained a surplus of cars 22 percent more than the number needed to provide daily service. The combined IND and BMT fleets have a 31 percent surplus. Using the Tristate Commission's recommendation for a surplus in the range of only 15 percent to 20 percent, Miss Bellamy estimated that the new-car purchases would result in at least $154 million spent for unneeded cars using the lower percentage and $46 million using the upper percentage.
    • Other standards in wide use would place the costs even higher. According to the American Public Transit Association, a Washington-based trade organization of transit systems, the surplus ratio generally accepted in the industry is in the range of 10 percent to 18 percent.
  • Budget action delayed-transit talks
  • New York City transit fares will have to be raised to 95 cents on July 2 unless Governor Carey and state legislative leaders agree on a new transit tax, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday. Commuter rail fares, he said, would have to be increased by 50 percent.; more
    • One official familiar with the transit program that Governor Carey plans to announce today said it would include a new 1 percent tax on oil companies' gross receipts, a rise in the regional sales tax and a new commercial property tax.
    • Mr. Ravitch said yesterday the deficit now facing the authority was $224 million, including $180 million for the New York City Transit Authority and $44 million for Conrail and the Long Island Rail Road.
    • He said that if the state failed to provide the money, it would have to be made up through larger fares. ''What I'm saying is they've got six days to do it,'' he said, urging a ''swift'' decision by the legislative leaders. Mr. Ravitch said the one-quarter of 1 percent rise first proposed for the region's sales tax was too small. It should be higher, he said, if that was the method the Legislature decided to use.
    • He declined to say how much higher but added that a 1 percent rise, producing ''between $400 and $500 million,'' would be more than enough.
    • The latest fare-increase prediction came five weeks after Mr. Ravitch said there would have to be a $1 subway and bus fare without a rise in the transit subsidy. A transit panel appointed by the Governor later recommended the sales tax increase and a 1 percent rise in the gross receipts tax to 3 percent, both of which were aimed at holding the fares at 75 cents for two years.
    • Governor Carey had been expected to submit his proposal for new transportation taxes to the Legislature yesterday, but he delayed release of his plan until today after Mr. Ravitch's remarks.
    • Aides to Mr. Carey said his administration was still reviewing some details with other state and city officials. They acknowledged privately that they wanted Mr. Ravitch's remarks to get as much attention as possible in the hope of building pressure on the Legislature to act now, rather than delaying action until October as many Republicans seem to want to do
    • - A 1 percent tax on the gross receipts of oil companies with sales of more than 60,000 barrels a year. This tax, which would produce about $100 million a year, would be passed on to consumers. About $60 million of it would go to the M.T.A., and the remainder would go toward the road improvement program approved by the Legislature this week.
    • An increase of one-half cent on the dollar in the sales tax in the nine-county region served by the M.T.A. This tax would produce about $250 million a year.
    • A new tax of 35 cents per $100 of assessed value on commercial property in New York City. It was not immediately clear whether this would be applied to all property or only to property involved in sales or transfers.
    • Mr. Carey was also expected to call for additional appropriations from New York City to help the authority close its operating deficit. The Governor's new oil-tax proposal was expected to meet resistance in the Republican-led Senate, both because it would be passed along to consumers and because it would replace, rather than supplement, current appropriations for roads and bridges.
  • Governor Carey today proposed new taxes and higher contributions by New York City to balance the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget over the next two years. But his plan was immediately denounced by Mayor Koch as ''devastating'' and ''a sellout,'' and it drew a mixed response from the legislative leaders.; more
    • Mr. Carey said his program would enable the M.T.A. to hold for two years its increase in the 60-cent bus and subway fare to 15 cents and on the commuter rail lines to 25 percent. The chairman of the M.T.A., Richard Ravitch, warned yesterday that bus and subway fares would have to rise to 95 cents in July unless there was some agreement by next week on a tax package.
    • Mr. Carey's plan would rely largely on three taxes to close an M.T.A. deficit estimated at $331 million for the coming fiscal year and $623 million for the next.
    • - A 1 percent statewide tax on the receipts of oil companies that would be passed on to consumers.
    • An increase in the sales tax of one-half cent on the dollar in the area served by the M.T.A. The present sales tax is 8 percent in New York City and up to 7 percent in suburban areas.
    • An additional tax of 35 cents per $100 of assessed value on commercial and industrial property in New York City. The present tax is $8.95 per $100 of assessed value on all property. Productivity Gains Sought
    • The Governor also called for $104 million in new local contributions to the M.T.A. over the next two years and for the M.T.A. to save $90 million through increased productivity.
    • The Speaker said his staff was continuing to study the feasibility of changing the state's formula for taxing oil companies under the corporate franchise tax, asserting that the companies were now paying only $29 million a year to the state under this tax.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has warned the transit union that it will withhold $24 million in scheduled cost-of-living wage increases in October unless bus and subway workers produce ''hard money'' productivity savings.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the New York City Transit Authority, an M.T.A. subsidiary, and chief management negotiator in the productivity talks, said he was determined to achieve ''real productivity'' that would warrant payment of the cost-of-living increases. But the union, he added, has not been willing to go along with management proposals.
    • In an interview, John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, maintained that the union did want to cooperate in achieving greater productivity. But he criticized what he termed the Transit Authority management's resistance to the union's willing
    • The M.T.A.'s contract with the union specifies that the cost-ofliving increases are to be paid from productivity savings and provides for joint labor-management productivity committees to work out improved work procedures.
    • Officials note that this is separate from another productivity issue in the current contract that is still unresolved - that of adding 20 minutes' more working time to some employees' schedules from wash-up or other time.
    • ''I'm willing to cooperate,'' he said. ''I don't like going to war, but if I have to, so be it.'' The union leader expressed concern because the productivity committees had not been activated earlier to establish the basis for the cost-of-living payments, expected to total 36 cents an hour if they are put into effect. Failure to pay those wage increases, the union warned in letters last month to the authority, could result in an explosive situation that could ''provoke problems which the union might find uncontrollable.''
  • Despite pressure to achieve a solution at a meeting today in Albany called by Governor Carey, Mayor Koch and the State Senate majority leader remained sharply divided yesterday on which residents of the state should bear the brunt of new taxes to finance mass-transit operating costs.
    • The Financial Control Board has set tomorrow as the deadline for ruling on the city's budget for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday, and a balanced budget for the city's Transit Authority must be presented by then.
    • The majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, however, continued to support the idea of relying mostly on a tax in the metropolitan region to shore up the recurring operating deficits of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which includes the Transit Authority, the Long Island Rail Road and the New York portion of Conrail.
    • A second deadline comes Thursday morning, when the M.T.A. meets to decide whether the subway and bus fare will rise to 75 cents or - failing an agreement on new taxes - to 95 cents. The M.T.A. has said it needs a guarantee of at least $331 million in new funds for the coming fiscal year in addition to a 15-cent fare increase.
  • A private meeting today among Governor Carey, Mayor Koch, legislative leaders and other officials seeking to assemble a tax program to subsidize the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and to improve transportation facilities upstate ended after nearly two hours with optimism, but no agreement.
    • Following the meeting, staffs of the officials were assigned to study a number of alternatives presented by the Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink. These included a surcharge of up to 5 percent on the personal income tax in the area served by the M.T.A., a new method of taxing the profits of oil companies and a tax on the transfer or sale of nonresidential property in New York City.
    • Mr. Ravitch was optimistic enough after this morning's meeting, however, to say the board could enact that increase in two stages - to 75 cents immediately, and to 95 cents after a delay if the Legislature did not act promptly.
    • Governor Carey was hoping to postpone until Thursday tomorrow's scheduled meeting of the New York City Financial Control Board. The board had delayed its approval of the city's financial plan last week because of questions about the finances of the New York City Transit Authority.
  • The New York City Transit Authority, which expects delivery of 1,300 new buses in the next few weeks, is not planning to increase the fleet - the smallest in a decade - that has operated on the city's streets for much of the last year.
    • As the new buses arrive, a similar number of older buses will be retired from service, according to sources in the Transit Authority. The authority is also planning several reductions in subway service, but these cutbacks are expected to be more limited in scope, the sources indicated. John D. Simpson, the Transit Authority president, ordered the reductions after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority told him to cut by $64 million his proposed $1.99 billion operating budget for the fiscal year starting tomorrow.
    • Mr. Simpson selected the bus system as a major target for cuts after the M.T.A. board told him on June 12 to reduce planned expenditures. A $1.92 billion budget for the Transit Authority for the new fiscal year has been approved by the board. Its current budget is $1.7 billion.
    • In a recent interview, Mr. Simpson said he was preparing to save $10 million in salaries and fringe benefits on the cost of running the bus system. He also said he hoped to save $7.5 million on the same items in the subway system.
    • Mr. Simpson did not return telephone calls made yesterday in an effort to obtain details of the planned savings. How the budget cuts would affect subway service was not clear, except for previously announced plans for the closing of eight subway token booths during off-peak hours.
    • Mr. Simpson said the authority did not plan to lose any manpower - bus and subway operators, for example - as a result of the planned reductions in service.
    • He said additional workers would be needed to permit the authority to reintroduce training programs that were eliminated during the city's fiscal crisis.
  • Council leaders had asked for additional $20 million-capital funds-accelerate TA projects-including 14 subway station projects-4 in Queens-this year-instead of 1983-Council won-only half of sum-$10 million-probably projects affect train service-"slightly higher priority than renovation of stations"

July 1981

[edit]
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that increases in New York City subway and bus fares to 75 cents would be approved tomorrow.
    • But the chairman, Richard Ravitch, said he would give the Legislature two more weeks to enact a tax to finance transit operations before making any further increase in the fare. He said the fare would rise to $1 in two weeks if the State Legislature did not act within that time.
    • A rise of 25 percent in commuter rail fares will also be approved tomorrow, with a second, equal increase to come if there is no action on a tax.
    • Mr. Ravitch, in a telephone interview, said that he was offering the additional time because he was convinced that the Legislature was truly committed to a solution - ''It's my sense that they all want to do something,'' he said - but that the problem was deciding among the differing proposals.
    • ''I'm not the most popular man in Albany today,'' he added. In Albany, negotiations on a tax package hit a new snag as the State Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, Democrat of Manhattan, announced that ''there will be no Democratic votes for a tax package that does not have a 50-50 mix of statewide and regional taxes'' to support the M.T.A. The Governor's proposal put about three-quarters of the burden on the 12-county M.T.A. region.
    • The Republicans were said to be ex-ploring a number of alternative taxes-possibly including a levy on airport pas-senger arrivals - but none of them had been developed to the point that they were presented at last night's meeting. . The city's troubled bus fleet was also discussed yesterday. The Grumman Corporation said a special engineering panel had approved the company's procedures for repairing structural cracking in the city's Flxible buses. 40 Flxible Buses This Month
  • With the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ready to approve a 75-cent bus and subway fare and a 25 percent increase in commuter rail fares tomorrow, legislative leaders negotiated here into the night with each other and with Governor Carey on a tax plan to keep the fares from rising even higher in two weeks.
    • The Governor, meanwhile, signed into law a measure that will provide $5.85 billion for equipment and system improvements for the Transportation Authority over the next five years as well as $200 million for road and bridge improvements around the state.
    • The measure also commits the state to provide $100 million in new state operating assistance to the authority next year. But the legislation still left a gap of more than $200 million for the M.T.A. in the fiscal year that began today. The Democrats were said to be preparing a joint program that they could pass in the Assembly, where they have a majority, in order to put pressure on the Republican-led Senate if negotiations broke down. Deadline Is Considered
    • An aide to the Governor said Mr. Carey was considering ordering the Legislature, which is seeking to finish its work before the Fourth of July weekend, back into special session if no resolution came within 48 hours.
    • The resolution that the Transportation Authority is expected to adopt tomorrow would increase bus and subway fares to 75 cents and raise commuter fares by 25 percent immediately, and would raise the fares to $1 and increase commuter fares by an additional 25 percent if no tax package is agreed upon by July 17.
  • RIDERS CALL DELAYS WORSE THAN FARE RISE
    • Possibly the most astonishing realization after dozens of interviews with subway riders all over the city is that there seems to be little outrage over the fare increase itself. It is accepted - with a shrug rather than with invective - as just one more inevitability of life in New York.
    • The outrage, bordering at times on hysteria, is directed at the service. It should take Madeline Gervase 45 minutes, for example, to get from her job in the Time & Life Building, at 50th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, to the 79th Street station in Brooklyn. Three times last week it took more than two hours.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, when it meets today to raise the fares on New York City's subways, buses and commuter rail lines, is expected to institute free bus transfers to cushion the blow of a 75-cent fare.
    • The M.T.A. board in the past has rejected the idea of free transfers as being too costly for a deficit-ridden system. But interviews with board members indicated they expected to act favorably on it today, as a way to ease the effect of the fare increase on some two-fare riders and to reduce the anticipated loss of ridership resulting from a higher fare.
    • The free transfers were proposed earlier this week by Carol Bellamy, the City Council President, who is a member of the M.T.A. board. Miss Bellamy's staff estimated the new policy would cost $12 million a year, while a 15-cent increase without free transfers would reduce ridership by 43 million rides, or 8.4 percent, a year. Studies by the Tristate Regional Planning Commission, which conducts research in transportation policy, indicate the average income of bus riders is lower than those of people who use the subways.
  • MTA Board votes
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority raised the fare yesterday for New York City's subways and buses from 60 cents to 75 cents and approved increases averaging 25 percent for Conrail and the Long Island Rail Road.
    • The authority also approved future rises to $1 for the city transit system and another 25 percent for the commuter lines. Those increases will take place after two weeks if no additional financial aid is provided by the state.
    • Approval of a two-step increase was unusual and if the second phase is not imposed no additional vote will be required. The vote by the M.T.A. board was 11 to 2. One member, William J. Sheridan of Setauket, L.I., was absent.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said the authority still faced operating deficits this year of $240 million for the New York City Transit Authority and $71.6 million for the rail lines after revenues from the initial fare increases are included.
    • The board went out of its way to indicate it was cognizant of the public's anguish over the dismal quality of transit service. The president of the Transit Authority, John D. Simpson, charged that the Transport Workers Union had recently begun a ''work-rule slowdown'' that was further damaging service.
    • Mr. Simpson said the slowdown was called by the union in retaliation for management efforts to increase productivity as the mandated quid pro quo for a scheduled Oct. 1 cost-of-living increase.
  • Hours after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority increased fares on bus, subway and commuter lines, the legislative leaders tentatively agreed tonight on a program of taxes designed to finance the authority's remaining operating deficits and prevent additional fare increases for the next two years.
    • ''It's a package that hits individuals, businesses, people doing business -statewide, regional, M.T.A.,'' Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink said. ''It's a recognition that all segments of our society have to support mass transit. It's a key and vital element to our future state's economy.''
    • - A tax of three-quarters of 1 percent on the gross receipts of oil companies, which would be passed on to consumers. Fifty-five percent of this would be distributed to the M.T.A. region and 45 percent upstate to help transportation authorities improve roads and bridges there.
    • - An increase of a quarter of a cent on the dollar in the sales tax in the 12-county area served by the M.T.A. The tax is now 8 percent in New York City, and up to 7 percent in the rest of the region.
    • - A 10 percent tax on sales or transfers of commercial and industrial property over $1 million in New York City.
    • - A ''long lines'' tax that would bring the in-state portion of interstate commerce under the state corporate franchise tax. This would include communications, gas pipelines and transportation activities.
    • - A change in the way oil companies must calculate their New York State profits, in order to gain more money under the state's corporate franchise tax.
    • The program was designed to produce $700 million for the M.T.A. over the next two years. This would be roughly enough to cover its present deficits, but not the additional costs created by next year's labor contracts.
    • Even after the 15-cent increase in the bus and subway fare and the 25 percent increase on commuter lines approved by the M.T.A. board today, the authority will need $331 million in this fiscal year and at least $430 million next year, as well as money to cover wage increases negotiated in next year's labor contracts.
    • Next year's deficit will grow by about $20 million for each percentage point of a wage increase, according to legislative estimates.
    • The accord in Albany came after each of the principals had given up tax programs they favored. Assembly Speaker Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat, dropped his proposal for a surcharge on the income tax in the M.T.A. region because the Republicans, who control the Senate, said there was little support for that tax in their house.
  • Signal system-replaced cycle-stay service up to 35 years longer-then they should-briefing papers used to justify legislative passage capital plan-should be 45-50 year cycle-MTA-still parts signal system-still be 80 when replaced
  • Mayor Koch said yesterday that Governor Carey had ''lost control'' of the mass-transit negotiations in Albany. Mr. Carey, in turn, accused the Mayor of playing politics with New York City subway and bus fares.
    • Robert J. Morgado, the Governor's top aide, contended in a telephone interview that Mr. Koch had retreated from a Control Board deal related to the transit-fare increase because of the opposition of the City Comptroller, Harrison J. Goldin.
  • The president of the Transit Authority said yesterday that Friday's fatal subway train crash in Brooklyn had resulted from signal problems caused by long-deferred maintenance of aging and outmoded equipment.
    • The official, John D. Simpson, said that the signal system had been scheduled for replacement late this year and that many other urgently needed safety improvements awaited action under a five-year capital improvement program.
    • As the Transit Authority began a formal inquiry into the crash, which killed a motorman and injured 135 riders, Mr. Simpson also said the motorman might have passed as many as eight failed signal lights without halting his train or calling a command center for instructions, as required.
    • - The signal system that failed, which dates from 1918, had not been modernized because of Transit Authority fiscal problems but was ''at the top of our list of priorities'' in a $351 million program to fix antiquated signals on many lines.
    • - Other segments of the subway system that need urgent signal repairs or modernization include the IRT Flatbush and Pelham lines, especially from 138th Street to Parkchester in the Bronx, and the BMT's Sea Beach and Brighton lines in Brooklyn. These lines are included in a proposed five-year repair program.
    • - Potentially dangerous conditions in the city subway system that also need urgent improvements include water leaks in tunnels, major power substations and power distribution systems that date to the 19th century, and various track rehabilitation projects. These are scheduled for work under a $300 million, five-year program.
    • The 1918 signals on the southern end of the line - between Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn and the New Lots terminus - have triparms that automatically set the brakes of cars that pass red signal lights, but unlike more modern signals elsewhere in the subway system, they do not automatically halt trains that pass signals that have failed.
  • TA's Signal Maintenance Division-knew signals out completely-large section of track-accident occurred-failed to notify TA command center-workers-trying pinpoint cause earlier problem-triggered signal failure-dispatcher-not listening to radio--"If we were to follow all of the rules as they are in the rule book, you probably wouldn't have the railroad rolling."-John Lawe
  • Confusing transfer policy
  • $17.5 million cuts proposed-$4.8 million-cleaning, $5..3 million service cuts, rest bus cuts-$2.2 million JFK Express, Franklin Avenue Shuttle CC reduced, 177 booths shut overnight-bus cuts-virtually end campaign against graffiti inside cars-shrinkage bus fleet 4,200 to 4,000-discussion-subway shrinkage-suspension shuttles overnight
  • Only $12.1 million from cuts
  • Won't be until 1994-all signals replaced-installed 1915-mid-1920s-not equipped with modern fail-safe mechanisms-automatic halt-signal power fails-28 miles of track-"The TA contends, however, that rapid replacement of the antiquated signals "is not crucial to safe operations" because of operating rules that require motormen to stop their trains at unlighted signals"
  • A number of motormen and conductors of the New York City Transit Authority asserted yesterday that subway trains impaired by safetyrelated defects were sent out every day to carry passengers on the subway system.
    • The workers, veterans of five, 10, 19 or more years on the system, said during interviews at a subway-station crew room that they were routinely told to operate trains with impaired headlights or taillights, inoperative horns, broken windshield wipers and cars with dead motors.
    • If they do not, they said, they are summoned to Transit Authority headquarters and disciplined for insubordination with a loss of pay. The subway workers were interviewed during their lunch break at the vast Stillwell Avenue station at Coney Island. They bitterly denounced the Transit Authority president, John D. Simpson, for attributing the death of a motorman in a subway accident last Friday to the motorman's own failure to follow the authority's rules and regulations.
    • They asserted that the authority's management regularly broke those rules itself, because they said it permitted equipment to deteriorate and had not kept pace with essential maintenance.
    • One of those intervewied yesterday, Alex McManus, a motorman for 19 years, estimated that up to 5 percent of the trains going out each day ''don't have headlights.''
    • Mr. Simpson, in an interview, denied that the authority's managers knowingly sent trains into passenger service with the types of safety violations cited by the workers.
    • ''Of the ones you mentioned, there are occasions when trains with dead motors go into service,'' Mr. Simpson said, ''but not of sufficient number to affect the normal operations of trains.'' The other defects, he said ''should all be picked up in pre-servicing of the trains, and trains should not be operating with defective headlights or other safety-related defects.''
  • Issue LI support
  • After a flurry of last-minute compromises by legislative leaders desperate to capture the necessary votes, the Assembly and the Senate hoped to begin debate in the predawn hours today on five new taxes to finance mass transit. The leaders had announced tentative agreement on the taxes last Thursday.; more
    • Debate had been delayed for a day while Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, and the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, struggled to find enough support for the bills, including a 0.75 percent tax on the gross receipts of oil companies that could be passed on to consumers. They had considered the gross-receipts tax to be the most difficult measure to push through and had hoped to tackle it quickly.
    • The five taxes are intended to raise $793 million, most of which would go to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to subsidize its operating deficit and avert fare increases for two years.
    • The precarious coalition that the leaders built last week began eroding in the last five days under the pressure of heavy lobbying by businesses. Representatives of real estate concerns and oil companies said the new taxes would drive business out of the state and would push up gasoline prices.
    • At Mr. Anderson's request, amendments to the bills were being drawn early today that would create Inspector General offices for Conrail, the New York City Transit Authority and the Long Island Rail Road as well as a citizen advisory board for each of the areas served. Another amendment would delay for two months the effective date of a proposed capital gains tax on real estate transactions in New York City.
  • Mayor Koch said yesterday that he had sent a letter to Washington asking if the Reagan Administration would approve a trade-in of Federal dollars intended for the Westway to subsidize the city's ailing transit system.
  • Bill passes
  • Subway slow down-so not blamed accident New Lots
  • A package of five taxes to subsidize mass transit and in particular the operating deficit of the troubled Metropolitan Transportation Authority was narrowly approved today by the New York State Legislature.
    • The most distasteful tax for the legislators - three-quarters of 1 percent on the gross receipts of oil companies, which could be passed on to consumers -was approved by a single-vote margin in the Assembly just after 5 A.M., and by a three-vote margin in the Senate an hour later.
    • The five taxes, intended to raise $793 million, are the following:
      • The gross-receipts tax on the oil companies.
      • An increase in the state sales tax of a quarter of a cent on the dollar in the region served by the M.T.A. The tax would be computed by rounding up to the nearest whole cent for fractions of 0.5 cents or more and rounding down for fractions under 0.5 cents.
      • A 10 percent tax on capital gains in real-estate transfers of more than $1 million within New York City.
      • A tax based on the net income and capital of oil companies' outof-state and international operations.
      • A corporate franchise tax of 0.75 percent on the gross returns from the in-state portion of interstate communications and commercial transport.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Transportation Authority, said today that the passage of the tax package would allow him to recommend that the authority's board abandon a subway fare increase to $1, from 75 cents, that had been scheduled for July 17.
    • ''I recognize that it takes a lot of courage to enact taxes in the United States in 1981,'' he said. ''I appreciate the fact that this is a massive commitment of support to transportation systems.''
    • But he said he could not guarantee that the new taxes would prevent another fare increase in the next two years. He said that three unknown factors - the extent of Federal operating assistance, the precise amount the taxes will produce and upcoming labor contract negotiations - prevented him from making such a guarantee.
    • The fragile vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly came after strenuous lobbying among its members by the Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink, who paced about the Capitol in the predawn hours, clutching five roll-call sheets marked with red ink. Around him were sleeping legislators who were sprawled on couches and chairs
    • Mr. Fink, who needed a 76-vote majority, found the swing votes in four Republican members of the Assembly from New York City, two of whom had received telephone calls last night from Mayor Koch.
    • The Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, mustered the Republican margin necessary to add to a sizable but shifting Democratic bloc even as the votes were being taken on the Senate floor.
    • To mollify the complaints of some legislators who said there was no guarantee that the mass-transit systems would show any signs of improvement with the new funds, the Senate early this morning passed legislation creating four inspector-general offices with a $20.9 million appropriation.
    • The legislation provides one office each for Conrail, the Long Island Rail Road and the New York City Transit Authority and one to oversee the others. The inspectors general would investigate complaints about the system and could contract for emergency repairs.
    • The Assembly is expected to approve the legislation tomorrow. Another amendment - to the real-estate tax - would change its effective date from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1. The Senate passed the measure this morning and the Assembly was to take it up tonight.
  • Far from playing up to the riders, the M.T.A. management will have to press for changes that probably will disturb them. It needs to get greater productivity from its workers, even if that means work stoppages. It should eliminate redundant lines and services, even if that means closing stations and re-routing trains and buses. Equipment purchases should be based on sound engineering judgments of what will work best longest, not on good looks or claims of modernity.
    • The M.T.A. chairman, Richard Ravitch, has shown he can win the interest and support of the legislative leaders. Having found the money, they can now help him turn his organization to the even harder business of making transit work.
  • Conrail fare increase formula change
  • Governor Carey yesterday signed into law the package of bills intended to produce $793 million in new revenues for public transit, particularly the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The measures, approved by the Legislature early Thursday. are intended to cover the M.T.A.'s deficit and avert further fare increases for two years.
    • Mr. Carey, in a statement, praised the Legislature for ''acting responsibly and passing this package to meet the urgent needs of our transit systems, public and private, upstate and in the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority region.''
    • But in an interview Friday, he predicted that some of the taxes might be challenged in the courts and that others would lead to threats of an exodus by business, forcing the Legislature to take action before two years was up.
    • Governor Carey also signed measures creating three inspectors general and three citizen advisory boards to monitor performance of the New York City bus and subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road and the M.T.A.'s Conrail lines.
  • LAWMAKERS and commuters are complaining that the new Long Island Rail Road fare increases, averaging 22.2 percent, are tailored to fit the financial problems of New York City's subways - not those of the less severely straitened railroad.
    • The M.T.A. counts fares collected on the railroad separately from those collected on the subways, and they can be applied only toward L.I.R.R. operating costs. But Arthur Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A., said his agency had made no plans to use any of the additional revenue to improve service on the L.I.R.R.
    • According to figures that Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, presented to Mr. Caemmerer, chairman of the Senate's Transportation Committee, the deficit for Transit Authority operations in New York City will rise 45 percent by 1983.
    • By contrast, the deficit of the authority's commuter railroads - the L.I.R.R. and the Conrail commuter lines in the suburban counties north of New York City and in Connecticut - is expected to rise by less than 30 percent.
  • ROCKY ROADBED FOR SUBWAYS
    • As Mayor Koch proclaimed it ''urgent to rebuild the system,'' the M.T.A. was finally able to begin in earnest to undo the affects of years of ''deferred maintenance.'' That pallid euphemism refers to spending restraints dating from the city's 1975 fiscal crisis - and continuing until late last year - that caused the authority to suspend many essential repair programs that had kept the aging systems in relatively safe working order.
    • Any one of the cuts would have weakened subway performance, according to M.T.A. officials, and coming in combination they wreaked sufficient havoc to bring the system to its knees earlier this year.
    • Last week, some veteran conductors and motormen said they were routinely ordered to operate trains with safety-related defects attributable to maintenance cutbacks. These included impaired headlights, inoperative horns, broken windshield wipers and cars with dead motors.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the New York City Transit Authority conceded that some trains in service included cars with dead motors, but insisted that the other defects the transit workers cited ''should all be picked up in pre-service of the trains.''
    • What follows, based on figures the transportation agency provided, are synopses of some key cuts made beginning in 1975 and what has been done to restore them:
      • * Subway car inspections that had been performed about every three months were cut back to about every four months. Last year an additional $6 million was spent to reinstate the three-month cycle; that cost will rise to $8.2 million this year.
      • * Upgrading, including periodic replacement of air-brake components, used to be done on 20 trucks (the four-wheel assemblies at each end of a subway car) per week. The program was dropped to eliminate 54 jobs and save $2.17 million a year
      • * Car door maintenance procedures, in which 10 cars a week underwent door overhauls, were dropped to eliminate 37 jobs and save $1.5 million a year. Last year the authority committed $23 million from operating revenues and $36 million from New York City's capital budget for a comprehensive car improvement program that includes restoration of the door repair schedule. This year the expenditures are to rise to $34 million and $94 million respectively.
      • * Until 1975, paper-pickers were assigned to major terminals to clear away waste paper accumulated during a train's daily service. The program was ended to pare 21 jobs and $500,000 a year.
      • * Another $500,000 was saved by eliminating 21 workers who cleaned the outsides of subway car windows manually. What cleaning the windows got after that occurred during periodic overall washes. Last year the authority began a new $5.2 million car cleaning program, including manual window washing; this year $5.8 million is budgeted.
      • * Fifteen cars were painted inside and outside each week until 1975, when the rate was slowed to 12 cars to drop 20 jobs and save $500,000 yearly. Today the rate is still 12 cars a week, but the cost of painting them is 75 percent higher now than in 1975.
      • * Twenty-nine jobs for''road car inspectors,'' who performed quick checks and repairs of defective parts before a train went into service, were cut to save $780,000 a year. Last year the authority spent $6.8 million to provide 225 new inspectors. But the expanded effort has been undermined by increased subway vandalism, M.T.A. spokesman Arthur G. Perfall said. The inspectors must devote almost all of their time to replacing the nearly 300 windows that vandals shatter each day.
      • * Cleaning of emergency exits and air vents along the tracks was ended, eliminating 179 jobs to save $4 million a year. This work is no longer being done.
      • * Sixty-five workers cleaned and scraped tracks until their jobs were eliminated in 1975, saving $1.4 million; other workers were delegated to this job on a reduced schedule. Last year the 65 slots were restored and 33 new ones were added; $3.2 million is budgeted for track cleaners this year.
      • * A total of 169 signal equipment maintenance jobs were eliminated to save $3.7 million a year. Only 29 of these jobs have been restored, at a cost of about $1 million this year.
      • * Maintenance of ventilation and drainage equipment, lighting, elevators, escalators, telephones, turnstiles and assorted electronic equipment was reduced by 131 jobs to save $3 million a year. These jobs have not been restored.
    • City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin announced plans to ask the Board of Estimate ''to take a major and active role in monitoring mass transit.''
      • ''Our subways and buses are too crippled to continue the old ways of trying to maintain service,'' he said in a statement. ''We can no longer rely solely upon the Transit Authority to do the job.''
      • Mr. Goldin, who is running for re-election, said he would go before the Board of Estimate at its July 23 meeting to propose a resolution requiring the Transit Authority to provide a monthly ''State of the Mass Transit System'' report. The report would include facts on equipment deficiences, subway crime, station maintenance, graffiti and track work.
    • Call bids-200 cars $185 million; hike details
    • The State Comptroller charged yesterday that the New York City Transit Authority was ''about 10 years behind'' schedule in modernizing power substations in the subway system.; more-additional $200 million-Capital Plan-review 35 projects-each completed late-up to 19 months-1 4-month delay design-drawing errors, $61 million uncommitted funds-modernization program-TA regularly accepted contractor explanations delays beyond control-failed to levy penalties
      • This, according to the Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, is likely to cost an additional $500 million to $1 billion in construction expenses and lost savings.
      • Mr. Regan criticized what he called ''serious weaknesses in the T.A.'s ability to wisely spend capital funds.'' H
      • An audit by the Comptroller said equipment in most of the 190 substations was 47 to 81 years old; generally, a life of only 35 years is recommended. Substations convert electricity from alternating current of 11,000 to 26,400 volts to direct current of 625 volts, for third-rail power. Modernization Begun in '63
      • Thirty-one stations are manually controlled. A modernization program started in 1963 called for building small automatic substations to serve shorter track sections than those served by large units. Under that program, a new central location would control the automatic substations.
      • The program was to have been completed in 1986, at a cost of $250 million. But the Comptroller said the estimated construction cost had soared to $600 million, adding that a new 1995 deadline ''may be difficult to attain.''
      • Only eight of 20 ''modernization steps'' planned on the IRT-BMT system and seven of 20 on the IND were completed or under construction as of last January, the audit said. Plans had called for 16 and 10, respectively.
      • Savings of $27.55 million a year are expected through increased efficiency from the entire program, the audit said. Of this amount, work already effected has resulted in savings of $10.4 million a year. Simpson Responds to Criticism
      • In response to Mr. Regan's criticism, John D. Simpson, Transit Authority president, said a major problem had been a ''cumbersome approval process,'' requiring 17 levels of government to approve a contract before work could begin. He also cited difficulties in obtaining substation sites.
    • Mayor transit support op-ed
    • Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis said yesterday that if Mayor Koch and Governor Carey submitted a joint request, he would approve a plan to trade in Federal funds earmarked for the Westway for use on mass transit.
    • A report prepared for the Citizens Union recommends shutting down New York City's subway system between midnight and 6 A.M. to hold down the Transit Authority's deficits and future fare increases.
      • The report, made public yesterday by the civic organization, said a post-midnight closing might produce a net saving of $55 million to $65 million and would reduce subway crime because more officers would be shifted to daytime duty.
      • The Citizens Union is a nonpartisan organization that functions as a watchdog over the actions of local government. The study estimated that the six-hour closing would bring a gross saving of $84.2 million in Transit Authority spending for personnel and other costs: subway operations, $29 million; stations department, (primarily manning of token booths) $33.4 million; power department, $4.1 million; electricity, $17.7 million. But after accounting for the cost of additional bus service, some loss of ridership and installation of gates or other measures to ward off vandalism, the net saving would be closer to the $65 million figure, Mr. Woodward said.
      • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which sets policy for the Transit Authority, one of its subsidiaries, has considered the question of closing the subways at night several times in recent years, but has always come to the conclusion that ''it's not worth it,'' according to Arthur G. Perfall, the M.T.A.'s spokesman.
      • Mr. Perfall said that just the time it would take to move trains back to the proper yards after midnight and to get them out to where they would be needed again in the morning would shave two hours from each end of the shutdown.
    • TA President-spoke consulting firms-London/Paris-consider a look at overnight closure-previous TA studies-argued against
    • Public transit officials from more than 20 cities around the nation appeared before a House transportation subcommittee today to criticize proposed reductions in Federal help. They said a $50 billion package of capital assistance would be needed in the next 10 years.
      • ''Today these systems require immediate improvements, including cars, station rehabilitation, track and signal upgrading, and rebuilt maintenance and storage facilities,'' he said.
      • Mr. Ravitch acknowledged that New York had been too hard-pressed to do proper maintenance, having available for maintenance only $300 million yearly from all sources. He also noted that the consequences of 30 years of postponed work and ''capital disinvestment'' have taken a toll in quality and realiability of service. The Franklin Avenue Shuttle
      • One consequence of the overdue maintenance in New York, he said, is the impending retirement of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant section. The train's 11,000 riders a day represent ''a handful of New York's riders,'' Mr. Ravitch said, but he said that the train alone would be the nation's 77th largest transit system.
      • Mr. Ravitch praised the new $3.2 billion in captial aid bonds authorized by the New York Legislature last week as ''an unprecedented local commitment'' that may begin to arrest the decline.
    • The New York City Citizens Union disavowed yesterday any connection with a study released by William Woodward, a candidate for the City Council, that recommended shutting down the subway system between midnight and 6 A.M.
      • The study, made public by Mr. Woodward on Wednesday, advocated a post-midnight shutdown to save up to $65 million a year from the Transit Authority's operating budget. Mr. Woodward had identified himself as ''chair, Citizens Union Transportation Committee,'' and said that the study had been ''conducted by the New York City Citizens Union.''
    • Hundreds of new subway and commuter rail cars, major rehabilitation of stations and dozens of less visible maintenance improvements await commuters in the New York metropolitan area, according to a five-year $6.7 billion plan announced yesterday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
      • Included in the package are 900 new air-conditioned subway cars, $500 million to bring antiquated signal systems up to date, rehabilitation of 69 of the system's worst stations and the electrification of the Long Island Rail Road between Huntington and Northport.
      • ''This is not a dream, but a realistic assesment of what we can do in the next five-year period,'' Mr. Simpson said. The money to back up the program is the result of a $5.8 billion transit spending plan adopted last month after much debate by the State Legislature. With some calendar adjustments and Federal money added, the total capital plan reaches $6.7 billion.
      • Before the public sees the long-term equipment improvements, however, it may have to endure some reductions in day-to-day service. A committee of the regional agency meeting yesterday in Brooklyn approved reductions in the current bus schedules. The authority's full board will consider this and other service cuts at a meeting this morning at its Manhattan headquarters, at 347 Madison Avenue.
      • - Subway cars: Nine hundred new cars would be bought at a cost of $726 million to replace old and unreliable cars. A $582 million program would overhaul and rehabilitate 3,331 cars in the current fleet of 6,328 cars. Maintenance shop improvements worth $483 million would be made.
      • - Buses: A $346 million program would replace city buses every 12 years. Some 350 buses would be purchased each year for the next eight years to accomplish this objective, and $425 million would be spent on bus depot rehabilitation.
      • - Subway signals: A $500 million rehabilitation program would modernize the communication system. Only the oldest of the signals would be replaced, however, and some would remain outdated.
      • - Subway stations: Modernization of 69 of the system's 430 stations would be undertaken for $316 million. Ventilation and stationlighting improvements and elevator and escalator replacements would be included.
    • Most recommendations-improvements-TA staff-March-had not changed-proposed $150 million added amended plan track repairs; electrification to Northport-$5.7 million, added, $91 million reconstruction car repair shops, $22 million Penn operating improvements, $13 million passenger station improvements Penn
    • 142 bus runs not restored-$17.5 million-$65 million budget-service adjustment-$10 million-bus-eliminated previous year-Grumman-save $7 million-$3 million-schedules-board rejected-savings cut JFK Express-$5.4 million-save $1.2 million/year; cut mopping, less cleaning inside cars, reduce graffiti removal efforts inside-another $2.1 million-public hearing-$500,000 reduce/eliminate token booths weekends 64 part-time booths 61 stations; $1 million-reduce CC 1 hour morning/evenings, eliminate Franklin Avenue Shuttle-$600,000
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority relented yesterday on most of $7.5 million in spending cuts it had demanded in subway operations.
      • At the behest of John D. Simpson, the president of the New York City Transit Authority, the board gave its permission to restore all but $2.1 million of the subway cuts by drawing on contingency funds.
      • Mr. Simpson, under board instructions to cut $65 million to remain within his $1.9 billion Transit Authority budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, gave the board the board the alternative to drawing on the contingency funds. Among them were curtailment of graffiti-removal, cleaning and mopping on the insides of subway cars - saving $4.2 million - and eliminating the $1.2 million-a-year cost of express train service to the John F. Kennedy International Airport. These steps were averted by the board's action yesterday.
      • The monthly meeting of the M.T.A., at 347 Madison Avenue, also saw the board implement, as expected, a $10 million reduction in bus service that will mean longer waits for riders. It also rescinded the threat of an increase to $1 in the two-week-old 75-cent subway and bus fare, and a second 25 percent increase for the commuter rail lines, as a result of a $793 million package of transit-aid taxes enacted in Albany.
      • The fate of the Franklin Avenue shuttle in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, closing of some 60 token booths, and cutbacks in rush-hour service on the IND's CC line were scheduled for a public hearing in September, but little hope is seen for the shuttle because of its physical deterioration.
      • Mr. Simpson said that reductions in bus schedules, designed to eliminate paid down-time for some bus drivers and to maintain the fleet at roughly the size it has been since 637 Grumman Flxible buses were removed from service, would go into effect in October.
    • A New Yorker in search of a cool ride has a 1-in-3 chance of finding air-conditioning that is working on a subway car and a 1-in-7 chance on a bus, a Transit Authority survey has found.
      • Transit officials were not hopeful that the situation would soon improve. ''We don't have the ability,'' said Andrew G. Schiavone, general superintendent of surface transit, a Transit Authority division faced with aging equipment and inadequate maintenance facilities. ''The entire summer will be that way.''
      • A consultant hired by the M.T.A. said that thus far this summer, Long Island Rail Road riders had a 9-in-10 chance of riding an airconditioned car, while riders on trains in Conrail's Metropolitan Region had an 8-in-10 chance.
      • Mr. Schiavone of the Transit Authority said that only 600, or 15 percent, of the system's 4,000 buses had air-conditioning units that were cooling properly. A Transit Authority spokesman, Sybil Morgan, was unable to say yesterday whether, or at what rate, the broken units were being repaired.
      • On the subways, more than half of the cars that have airconditioning units are functioning properly, the survey showed. But only 44 percent of the 6,000-car fleet have air-conditioning units. Thus, the chances of getting a car that has a working unit is only about 33 percent, officials said.
    • He said that a productivity clause in the current transit contract - heralded by Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, as a major victory designed to produce as much as $30 million in savings - had actually produced less than $1 million in savings in the current New York City Transit Authority budget. The clause was supposed to add 20 more productive minutes in the working day of many employees.
      • A spokesman for the Transit Authority, John C. Nelson, yesterday confirmed the $1 million figure. He attributed the change to an arbitrator's ruling that barred schedule changes that had been proposed by the authority.
      • Mr. Koch said he was prohibited by law from committing surplus city funds to operating subsidies for the Transit Authority. The Reagan Administration has used the existence of a substantial New York City budget surplus to avoid providing more aid for the city's transit system, as well as to justify cuts in operating aid it has proposed for next October.
      • Mr. Koch said that he faced a choice between putting the usable surplus of $137 million ''into fares or to keep senior citizens centers open'' and that he chose to commit the whole amount to the centers, another target of Federal cuts.
      • On specific Transit Authority proposals for saving money by cutting bus and subway service, such as the planned closing of the Franklin Avenue shuttle, Mr. Koch said he would have to give each proposal individual assessment. But he supported the ''real world'' concept of cutting little-used services ''so you don't have to increase the fare.''
    • Unreleased study-TA-bus and subway maintenance-obtained-H.B. Maynard Co.-supervision so poor/work rules so lax-key repairmen work only 3 of 8 hours-bus maintainers take three times as long to do a job-"The overall impression one receives in viewing the shops is one of inefficiency and disorganization. There are too many people standing around idle; there is an inefficient flow of material and no 'hum' of activity."-$210,675 study-207th, Coney Island-132nd, ENY depots-presented May-TWU Law-blamed lack of tools/spare parts-most inactivity-2 men frequently assigned 1-man jobs-blatant inactivity-part maintainers-many accustomed to reading books during the day; heels confidential TA study-Science Management Corporation-"the skill level of the average maintainer is less than adequate"; only 1 of 5 maintainers was reasonably competent-subway maintainers-produced routinely 1/3 rate they should, flagrant abuse work rules, no written standards how jobs are to be performed-shortage of parts-jury-rig repairs-bus shops-foremen bogged down paperwork
    • Won't be buses to replace shuttle-TA officials-shuttle closed repairs, extra buses April-few used it
    • A $72 million award that New York City and the Transit Authority won as damages for defective subway equipment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

August 1981

[edit]
  • Carey/Koch Westway pact
  • R46s-contracted manufacture 1,549 replacement trucks-first delivered by end of year-all replaced by 1984
  • The Transit Authority has agreed to withdraw a longstanding order that prohibited subway and bus employees from talking publicly about the maintenance and operation of the city's transit system.
    • In response to a Federal suit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the authority said it would ''not enforce and not reissue bulletin order 1981-21,'' which threatened with dismissal employees involved in ''the unauthorized release of information.''
    • A spokesman for the authority said the bulletin had never been enforced and was being withdrawn to avoid further litigation. But Steven R. Shapiro, a staff attorney for the rights group, called the action ''an important victory for T.A. employees and for the public as well, which should not be forced to rely solely on government handouts for information during a period of intense debate about public transit service.''
  • The New York City subway system's fleet of R-46 cars was pulled out of service over the weekend so that mechanics could inspect and repair electrical devices that have led to three smoky subway fires in the last four months.
  • NHL increase
    • In addition, stops at the Melrose, Williams Bridge and Woodlawn stations in the Bronx were removed from the 7:56 A.M. run to North White Plains, and the Tremont stop was removed from the 8 A.M. to North White Plains.
  • The number of reported crimes in New York City subways rose 20 percent in the first six months of this year from the corresponding period last year, according to statistics released yesterday by the transit police.
  • Dobrow-As long as the L.I.R.R. continues to operate under 1890-style work rules, high fares and even higher subsidies will be required. In Europe, commuter trains are operated by one- or two-man crews, with fares conveniently collected at stations (sometimes with automated equipment). As long as obsolete labor practices continue, the L.I.R.R. will have a labor force greatly in excess of what would be required with nodern operating methods - and the commuter will pay for this inefficiency.
  • City Council President Carol Bellamy said yesterday that the low bid to build 325 new subway cars for the IRT lines was 67 percent higher than the Transit Authority's original estimate for the new cars. She suggested that the authority consider using the money, instead, to rehabilitate existing cars.
    • Under the low bid by Nissho Iwai, a Japanese trading company representing Kawasaki, which would build the cars, the cost of each new R-62 model for the IRT line would be be $1,060,000 for a total of $344.5 million. The Transit Authority, in its five-year capital plan issued last March, estimated that each car would cost $633,000.
    • In a letter to the president of the Transit Authority, John D. Simpson, Miss Bellamy questioned ''the escalating and uncertain costs of new car purchases,'' and charged that Mr. Simpson had ''not adequately considered the option of rehabilitating selected portions of our existing fleet.'' Calls Her Figures Misleading
    • Mr. Simpson said in an interview that Miss Bellamy's figures were misleading for two reasons. First, he said, the authority's estimate of the cost of the cars was in 1980 dollars and thus did not include the effects of inflation, and secondly, the estimate had not included the cost of spare parts for the new cars.
    • In her letter, Miss Bellamy asserted that the Transit Authority had ''prematurely rejected'' a rehabilitation plan devised by the consulting firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff-Gibbs & Hill for the longer and wider cars on the BMT and IND lines and had never considered such a rehabilitation program for the older and shabbier cars operating on the narrow-gauge IRT tracks.
    • ''The question is: 'Do you replace these cars at $1 million apiece or fix up the ones we have?' '' Miss Bellamy said. Mr. Simpson disputed her charges and challenged the figures used to compare the costs of acquiring new subway cars. While conceding that a 1980 estimate by Lewis T. Klauder Associates was $633,000 per car, Mr. Simpson said that the figure was in 1980 dollars and excluded inevitable cost escalations and spare parts that were included in the Nissho Iwai bid. Simpson Explains Reasoning
    • ''By the time we get 325 cars plus spare parts and trucks you would be spending $344.5 million,'' or slightly more than $1 million per car, Mr. Simpson said. ''That makes the difference look larger than it really is.''
    • The Budd Company of Troy, Mich., also submitted a bid - $15 million to $20 million more than Nissho Iwai. Mr. Simpson questioned the idea that the authority had not explored the rebuilding of existing IRT subway cars and said that no subway system in the world had successfully rebuilt any obsolete cars.
  • Budd bid-$42,000/car higher-Simpson-Bellamy did not account for rampantinflation-
  • The leader of the union representing most of New York City's 33,000 subway and bus workers said yesterday that he would be willing to abandon the Transport Workers Union's traditional policy of ''no contract, no work'' in exchange for the same right to arbitration that city employees already have.
    • ''It would almost totally remove the possibility of a strike,'' said the labor leader, John E. Lawe, who is president of Local 100 of the T.W.U.
    • Transit workers are now considered state employees. But under Mr. Lawe's proposal they would be allowed to conduct their negotiations under the city's labor relations procedures, which provide for binding arbitration by an impartial board. This would not change their Civil Service standing or benefits.
  • VANDALS SET PACE FOR SUBWAY REPAIRS
  • After showing some improvement this spring, service on the city's subway system declined in June and July, setting summer failure records, according to Transit Authority statistics.
    • According to a separate study, service on the IRT Division - already regarded as the most troubled in the subway system - was even worse last month than it was in the dead of winter.
    • Officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority pointed to some improvements made this year, but acknowledged the overall decline.
    • In an effort to obtain more funds for transit, Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, has talked openly about the system's failures since taking the post two years ago. ''The reliability of the system has gone down steadily down for a long time,'' he said yesterday.
    • John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority, the agency that runs the subways and buses, added, ''We know that we are in grave distress and we will remain that way until we begin to bear the fruits of our five-year capital program.''
    • The State Legislature recently authorized $5.8 billion in spending for the M.T.A., which will enable the agency to purchase new equipment and upgrade maintenance facilities over the next five years. The agency's officials say that the resulting improvements in service are still at least a year away.
    • According to a study by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the M.T.A., in July, 8,400 trains either failed to get into service or were pulled out of service. There were 7,900 such failures, known as abandonments, in July of last year and 4,900 in July 1979. Swings in Performance
    • Michael B. Gerrard, chairman of the committee, said the poor showing in July 1981 came after several months of improvement over the record level of 10,500 abandonments in January.
    • The committee also found that the percentage of late trains had more than tripled in the past two years - from 3.2 percent in July 1979 to 11.3 percent last month. There are approximately 6,500 scheduled subway runs a day.
    • In a separate analysis released by Andrew J. Stein, the Manhattan Borough President, the IRT was singled out for special criticism. ''Unfortunately for IRT riders,'' Mr. Stein said, ''there were even more abandonments in July than January, the month that the Transit Authority conceded was the worst month ever recorded.''
    • The Stein survey found there were an average of 163 train failures a day in July, compared with 155 in January. Mr. Stein said that the high rate of failure should convince the Transit Authority to put more money into maintenance and less into a program of purchasing new equipment.
    • In January, he said, 71 percent of rush hour trains were on time at key stations, such as Grand Central and Times Square. The figure was up to 90 percent in April and May, although it slipped to 88 percent in June and July.
    • The Citizens Advisory Committee, a watchdog group formed four years ago, found bus performance ''just as dismal.'' The percentage of system time lost because buses failed to make or complete their runs increased by more than 50 percent, their study showed.
    • Survey TA figures-6 months-ending July-IRT service July 10-year low-worse than January-number of abandoned trains-increased 155/day January to 163 July-vandals/disruptive passengers-only 10% of abandonments-IRT abandonment lowered to 129 February-started deteriorate again-MDBF-6,000 June 1981-7,200-June 1980, 10,700-June 1979-abandonments IND/BMT-improved 18% 6 months-180/day February, 147/day July-May-July period-deterioration-40% increase abandonments

September 1981

[edit]
  • Pullman/city settlement-$9 million late delivery-$1 million repairs-R46s
  • Seven options-63rd Street studied-$100 million-link to Queens Boulevard Line
  • High interest rates and the weakened municipal bond market may force the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to scale down the $5.8 billion package of capital improvements passed by the State Legislature in June, several officials said yesterday.
    • The sharpest warning came from Carol Bellamy, President of the City Council and an M.T.A. board member, who said the five-year plan was in serious jeopardy. About $3 billion of the spending program would h ave to come from the sale of authority bonds.
    • ''Some new cars have been ordered,'' Mr. Bailey said. ''We already have the money for that and we are establishing the priorities for the rest of the spending package now. We will go ahead with the short-term projects and plans for the long-term projects.'' Redefining Priorities
    • Another board member, William J. Sheridan, said he was not as concerned as Miss Bellamy about the M.T.A.'s ability to sell its bonds, though he agreed that high interest rates could jeopardize the borrowing program.
  • MTA announced start of vehicle-leasing program-MTA Board approved-could free more than $200 million-federal money-other capital improvements
  • The Transit Authority police caught more than 60,000 ''fare beaters'' during the first six months of 1981 in an effort to collect thousands of dollars in revenues believed lost each year, authorities said.
  • The Reagan Administration, rejecting a position taken by the Administration of Jimmy Carter, has approved a controversial plan to meet air quality standards in the New York City region.
    • As a result, New York is fully in compliance with the Clean Air Act for the first time since the law was passed by Congress more than a decade ago.
    • Various elements of the Clean Air Act have been met over the years, but the one sticking point - now resolved -was whether the state was making appropriate mass transit improvements to discourage the use of automobiles in New York City and in the surrounding counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland. The intent of the law is that carbon monoxide levels in the region be reduced to Federal standards by the end of 1987.
    • The state plan for mass-transit improvement that the Environmental Protection Agency's new administrator, Anne M. Gorsuch, has now approved is the very same plan that the agency in the Carter Adminsitration rejected.
    • New factors have come to light, Miss Gorsuch said, including the approval by the Legislature in Albany of a $5.8 billion plan to buy new equipment and make other mass transit improvements in the New York City area over the next five years. What is more, she adds, the thinking in Washington has changed.
    • ''The state should have the ultimate responsibility for identifying its transit needs and deciding how to meet them,'' Miss Gorsuch said in her opinion, which was published last week in The Federal Register. The ruling was dated Sept. 2, but no announcement about the reversal has been made by her office since then.
    • ''It is outrageous and absurd to say that the city's crumbling mass transit system is getting all the money it needs,'' she added. Miss Benstock noted that the Administration had proposed legislation to relax some of the standards set under the Clean Air Act. The approval is ''completely illegal under the current law,'' she added. The law requires a state to use every available source to improve mass transit, but New York is not doing so, she charged, because it h a srefused to trade in the funds earmarked for the Westwayand use them for mass transit instead. ''completely illegal under the current law,'' she added. The law requires a state to use every available source to improve mass transit, but New York is not doing so, she charged, because it hasrefused to trade in the funds earmarked for the Westway and use them for mass transit instead.
    • The mass transit plan that has now won Federal approval is the last step in complying with the Clean Air Act. Earlier plans that have been approved over the years have included standards for stationary pollution sources, such as factories, and additional regulations for automobiles.
  • Facing a deadline less than three weeks away, officials of the Transit Authority and the unions representing its employees say that they are still far apart in reaching final agreement on cost-of living wage increases for 35,000 bus and subway workers.
    • The wage increases will go into effect the first of next month if $16.8 million in cost reductions through improved productivity can be agreed upon by that time. But after months of negotiations, agreement has been reached on roughly only $7 million of the total, according to the Transit Authority.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the authority, has insisted that the array of proposed programs must provide real money savings that can be transferred from department budgets to the COLA, or cost of living adjustment, account.
    • The authority wants to achieve the $16.8 million in cost reductions between Oct. 1, 1981, and March 31, 1982, when the current contracts with Local 100 and two locals of the Amalgamated Transit Union expire. Under terms of the contracts, the cost-of-living increases for the workers are based on one cent per hour for each four-tenthsof-a-point rise in the regional Consumer Price Index between August 1980 and August 1981.
    • But the agreements state that no increase shall be paid for any rise in the index above 6 percent over the 12-month period. With this limitation, the maximum cost-of-living payment, if the savings are accomplished, would add 36 cents an hour to the wages of employees.
    • The panel met last Thursday for the fifth time and found that the two sides were a still a long way from agreement. Facing uncertainty are the authority's proposals for a reduction in bus schedules and the elimination of paid lunch time for some drivers. The authority said that the proposed schedule cuts were designed to save $2.8 million annually by eliminating 132 of 2,285 bus runs and that the cutbacks in paid lunch time were expected to save $700,000.
    • The proposed bus schedule changes and other cost-cutting measures in the authority's surface department could save an estimated $4,762,304 by March 31, l982, according to the authority. Also under discussion are about 40 other proposals, most of them by the authority and others by the union. On some, there has been basic agreement, but Mr. Simpson said these would provide only about $7 million of the $16.8 million needed for the cost-of-living increases.
    • In its maintenance-of-way department, the authority is seeking substantial savings through the reduction of personnel in some divisions, as well as reassignment of work, changes in tours of duty, and other steps. The saving under these programs, if implemented, is expected to total $2,939,460. Time Standards Proposed The authority has proposed establishing tim e standards instead of quotas in car-cleaning operations after an an alysis by its car management department that indicated the pres ent work force could carry an increased workload.
    • This would eventually result, the authority said, in a reduction of 91 in the number of car cleaners. But there would be no layoffs, Mr. Simpson said, because 38 positions are vacant as a result of attrition and would not be filled and the other workers involved would be put into upgrading programs. The estimated saving was put at $1,067,249. The authority's overall goal for saving in this department is $5,556,154.
    • The authority is also expecting to save $2,442,000 through reduced pension costs resulting from earlier attrition of the work force.Other savings goals include $667,894 in the rapid-transportation department, $314,926 in the stations department, $119,753 in the power department and $1,740,946 as a result of suggestion programs.
  • DOGS TO PATROL SUBWAY YARDS
  • $683 million LIRR plan
  • City audit report-CORE overhaul plan-far behind schedule-first year-5-year-$400 million program-due to poor planning expenditures short of appropriations by 55%, hiring behind schedule, labor productivity disappointing-program developed 1978 after consultants declared it prudent to make major overhauls good cars-extend life car 8 years and 600,00 miles-program aimed reducing size fleet, number of cars bought-TA responded-report overly critical-TA response-fewer cars available to work on than anticipated, limited engineering talent, limited shop space-best use of available personnel, material, cars to work on-audit-despite city appropriation $35.9 million FY-expenditures-$16 million-55% shortfall; overall production-sharply lower than planned-overall labor costs $500,000 greater than planned $9.6 million-59% completion rate jobs involving 300 or more cars; material purchases short 73% FY 1981, only $5.9 of $21.9 million spent; concept regular car-maintenance force not achieved, work force of mechanics 101 short of planned 423; TA said spending level first year-set $23 million, not $35.9 million-since reduced to $14 million-given $13.3 million spent-shortfall less than 6%; NYCTA-spent/committed 78% of FY1981 capital allocation-22% shortfall-represented requisitions-processed early FY1982; 60% completion rate given service, engineering, staff acquisition problems, change thrust plan quite satisfactory; workers assigned other maintenance duties-no work to do on CORE-name efficiency/productivity
  • Mayor Koch, hailing the decision by the Reagan Administration to uphold New York's clean-air plan, said yesterday that there was now no need to place tolls on the bridges across the East River and Harlem River.
  • Opposition cut Franklin Avenue Shuttle-Franklin Shuttle Fact Sheet-$2 million save-cut-bus service-only cost $500,000-speaker pointed out-cost JFK express-deficit-higher ridership shuttle-
  • Fenci ng the Corona yard, where under 10 percent of the system's 4,500 cars ar e kept, will cost about $1.5 million. There are 20 othersuch yards, a nd the Mayor said he hoped to have all of them fenced and equipped with dogs. Damage done by grafitti sprayers costs the city about $3 .8 million a year, a transit spokesman said.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that within a year he would seek a 25-cent increase in the $1 tolls on the Triborough Bridge and four other East River crossings to help finance a new plan to pour billions of dollars into the region's mass-transit system.
    • The improvement plan, costing $6.7 billion, calls for the agency to purchase hundreds of new subway cars, commuter rail cars and buses, as well as to make numerous other maintenance improvements over the next five years. Approval by the 15-member M.T.A. board is expected this week.
    • However, in interviews yesterday and last Thursday, Mr. Ravitch said he would push for the full package of improvements while taking several steps - including a greater reliance on bridge and tunnel tolls - to strengthen the agency's position as it prepares to enter the bond market.
    • Among the steps outlined by Mr. Ravitch to improve the authority's position were the selling of the New York Coliseum and the East Side Airlines Terminal, both of which are owned by the M.T.A., and using short-term borrowing arrangements until the longer-range municipal bond market improved.
    • On the the bridge and tunnel tolls, over which the M.T.A. has full authority, Mr. Ravitch said he would ask the M.T.A. board to approve $1.25 tolls for the Triborough, Bronx-Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges and the Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnels. The board last increased the tolls - to $1 from 75 cents - 16 months ago.
    • Based on the financial health of that agency, the Transportation Authority plans to borrow about $800 million in the municipal bond market. An additional $2 billion will come from borrowing backed by revenues coming to the subway system, the Long Island Rail Road and Conrail's metropolitan region.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the bridge and tunnel bonds, which have been sold for several years, have ''a prime credit rating'' and thus will bear the lowest interest rate. The revenue-backed bonds, as well as another offering known as ''service contract bonds,'' are expected to get a lower credit rating and therefore carry higher interest.
    • If the M.T.A. raises the bridge and tunnel toll s, it can then be ina position to sell more of the higher-rated b onds. As for the remainder of the lower-rated rev enue-backed bonds, Mr.Ravitch has other plans. ''We're trying to im prove the security of the bonds as best we possibly can,'' he said. ''Hopefully we will come up with a concept of a bond here that wi ll enable us to get an investment-grade rating for these kinds of bo nds.''
  • A Federal study of eight recent New York City subway fires issued today said that there were ''serious and pervasive safety problems'' in the subway system that ''could lead to the most tragic consequences.''
    • The National Transportation Safety Board charged in the report that subway crews were poorly trained in emergency procedures, that passenger were inadequately notified of emergencies and delays, that maintenance was insufficient and that ''untried'' equipment had been ''field tested'' on riders.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, called the Federal report ''excessively alarmist.'' ''There is no reason to believe that the subway system is unsafe to ride,'' he said. ''Historically,'' Mr. Ravitch added, ''the Transit Authority has put the safety of the riding public as its fi rst priority, and the T.A. has one of the best safety records of an y rapid transit system in the world.''
    • The report issued today is based on an investigation of five subway fires over the 13-month period ended July 29, 1981. The accidents caused 53 injuries and damage to subway cars estimated at $500,000. Some cases involved extensive delays and panic situations in which passengers kicked out the windows of smoky cars. Separate Inquiry
    • Among the recommendations made in the 75-page report were the following:
      • The authority should have more frequent subway-car inspections than every 10,000 miles, as at present. The report did not say how often inspections should be performed, but noted they are done every 3,000 miles in Washington and every 5,000 miles in Boston. In response, Mr. Simpson said that 5,000-mile inspections began on IRT cars last fall and that the same schedule will apply to BMT and IND cars within the next fiscal year.
      • The authority should provide at least two fire extinguishers in each car. Mr. Simpson said that this had been tried, but that the extinguishers had been stolen. He said extinguishers are placed in ''emergency nooks'' every 600 feet in subway tunnels.
      • The authority should train motormen and conductors in emergency procedures and provide place emergency instructions for passengers in ''conspicuous places'' in all cars. Mr. Simpson said that the training was being done, and that the emergency instructions were not feasible because situations differed widely.
  • Capital Program report-recommended money-allocated based on performance standards-recommended tracking system-pinpoint problems/monitor financial allocations-suggested initiation of annual capital budgeting-allow adjustments 5-year capital expenditures, deal with funding shortfalls/cost overruns
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is scheduled to vote today on a capital improvement plan that, according to the agency, will pour $7.9 billion into transit systems in New York City and surrounding counties over the next five years. The program was proposed earlier this year by Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, and approved by the State Legislature in June.
    • The original plan approved in June was for $5.8 billion in improvements, but the amount was increased to $6.7 billion and then to $7.9 billion after calendar adjustments were made and several new money sources were identified. These included unspent funds from the 1979 transportation bond issue, expected increases in Federal capital funds and the anticipated success of a new lease-back arrangement on rolling stock.
    • The capital plan for the Transit Authority begins with a program emphasis on the purchase of new subway cars, and calls for an expenditure of $1,749 million to purchase 1,150 new IRT cars and 226 new IND-BMT cars. This program includes $345 million of previously authorized funds, which are being used to fund the purchase of approximately 325 IRT cars. The reliability of the system is further enhanced by a program to rehabilitate existing cars. This portion of the program calls for an expenditure of $256 million, of which $194 million would be used for a continuation of the CORE program and $62 million for car-door modernization, air-conditioning retrofit programs and an overall car safety program for existing 75-foot cars. The bus-replacement program projects an expenditure of $312 million to purchase 1,605 buses. At the completion of the five-year program, the number of buses of 12 years or more of age will have been reduced from 1,500 to 573. Up to 50 percent of the fleet will be accessible to the elderly and handicapped, and 100 percent of the fleet will be air-conditioned.
    • $309 million is allocated for a program to begin to improve the passenger environment in subway stations. $227 million of this is to accomplish the total rehabilitation and modernization of some 50 stations throughout the transit system. The balance, $82 million, is to replace over-age escalators and elevators and to replace roofs, canopies, turnstiles, lighting and signage and to complete the installation of abrasive warning strips at all stations. Noise Abatement The track and rail section of the program represents a proposed expenditure of $375 million, of which $267 million will be used to rehabilitate mainline track, contact rail and track switches. $99 million is for the continuation of a noise-abatement program by the installation of welded rail and rubber rail seats. The capital program calls for an expenditure of $500 million for signals and communication requirements. $439 million is to begin the replacement and modernization of the signal system. $61 million is to begin the modernization of the telephone and other voicecommunication systems. The section of the program dealing with the power distribution system calls for a total expenditure of $314 million, of which $260 million is to replace and modernize antiquate d substations on the IRT-BMT system, some of which date back to the early 1930's. $54 million is to re-equip IND substations with m ore modern and reliable equipment.
    • The proposed expenditure of $432 million will advance a continuing effort at rehabilitation shops, replacing outmoded and inefficient mechanical equipment, maintenance-of-way machinery and the rehabilitation of employee and shop facilities. Money for Bus Depots Bus depots are among the major constraints to improving the reliability of the bus fleet. This program calls for an expenditure of $367 million, of which $275 million is to construct six new depots. $92 million will be used to rehabilitate, modernize and/or re-equip 11 existing depots. The new routes construction program will be brought to the point where subway operations will be possible on two new segments of the rapid transit system. $180 million will be used to complete the Hillside Avenue connection and the Archer Avenue connection in central Queens and to complete the 63d Street line to 21st Avenue in Queens.
    • The total program calls for an expenditure of $239 million for miscellaneous and emergency needs. $20 million is to be spent for upgrading the management information systems throughout the authority. $219 million is to be spent on a variety of miscellaneous and emergency projects as the need arises. Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority The total program for passenger stations calls for an expenditure of $5.8 million. The stations at Pleasant Place and Princess Bay Place will be rehabilitated, and various platforms will be extended. Track and third rail will be replaced at various locations and the Y at St. George will be realigned at a total estimated cost of $2.3 million. An expenditure of $3 million is projected to replace the Tottenville interlocking, while $11 million will be spent in providing additional power for more reliable operations. Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road five-year plan totals $683 million. $252 million of that amount is identified for n ew cars. It is projected that a total of 216 new M3 electric cars can be acquired for the LongIsland Rail R oad. Seventy of the 216 are already on order, funded by the 1979 bond issue. The goal of providing the new cars is ultimately to relieve the overcrowding that currently exists. It is interesting to note that in terms of peak hour arrivals at Penn Station there has been a 37 percent increase over the last 10 years. It is estimated 9,500 commuters now stand for from 20 to 65 minutes. The five-year program calls for $31.2 million for passenger stations. $16.2 million is to make improvements at various stations. Those improvements will include rehabilitation of escalators, improved signage and lighting, access for elderly and handicapped persons and platform extensions.
    • $15 million of the program funds will be spent on Penn Station passenger facilities. In addition, $8 million from other sources will be used for Penn Station improvements. These improvements will include air-conditioning, installation of new escalators, elevators and a new West End Concourse to relieve overcrowding at the west end of all L.I.R.R. platforms. Another Project The L.I.R.R. will be spending $75.9 million to increase capacity by adding a second track from Syosset to Northport and from Republic to Ronkonkoma. The additional track will improve reliability and permit reverse commuting, which is not at present available during the peak travel periods. The L.I.R.R. has, in addition, allocated $35.7 million to extend the electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch from Huntington to Northport. Included in this program are new, 12-car high-level platforms and a modern electric-diesel transfer facility at Northport. The five-year program allocates $159 million for shop and yard improvements on the L.I.R.R. In addition, previous funding sources will provide $76 million in additional funding for shop work and $54 million of additional funding for the West Side Storage Yard. The shop program will complete the first three phases and begin the fourth phase of a 10-phase shop program. The initial efforts of this program will be directed toward improving the comfort and reliability of the diesel car fleet. The West Side Storage Yard will make it possible for the L.I.R.R. to operate as many as 25 percent additional trains into and out of Penn Station and to eliminate the wasteful practice of shuttling trains back and forth across the length of Long Island each day. Metro-North Commuter Service The Metro-North Commuter Service has allocated $277.5 million for the purchase of new cars. Of this amount, $164.5 million is to purchase 142 new electric cars, 60 of which were ordered with funds from the 1979 bond issue. In addition, 10 SPV rail diesel cars at a cost of $12 million have also been ordered using funds from the 1979 bond issue. $29.4 million has been allocated for rebuilding cars. This program includes the rebuilding of 24 series 4400 cars and the re-equipping of seven FL9 locomotives. This equipment will be used to improve service on the Upper Hudson. In addition, in conformance with U.S.E.P.A. regulations, money has been allocated for the replacement of transformers on existing M2 cars. $35.2 million has been allocated for shop and yard improvements. The Harmon Shop will undergo a $20 million improvement program - $10 million had been provided through the proceeds of the 1979 bond issue, while $10 million is allocated from this program.
  • Plan passed MTA-depressed bond market-matter of concern
  • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, warned yesterday that bus and subway fares could rise to 80 cents before next June if President Reagan's plan for a 12 percent Federal spending cut was adopted by Congress.
    • A 12 percent Federal reduction would mean a $50 million operating deficit for the authority, Mr. Ravitch said, which would have to be made up before the fiscal year ends next June 30, with a 5-cent fare increase if necessary. The fare rose to 75 cents last July.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the budget cut also threatened the M.T.A.'s $7.9 billion five-year capital-improvement plan, which was unanimously approved yesterday by the M.T.A. board. State Panel to Review Plan
    • The plan now goes to a five-member state review panel, which has 90 days to reject or approve it. Mr. Ravitch said he hoped the panel would act expeditiously because ''every day we defer rebuilding the system is a day the public will not get better service.''
    • Mr. Ravitch said major changes would not be obvious for two years, when the new rail cars and buses purchased under the plan will go into service. In the interim, there should be more subtle improvements in operations.
    • The M.T.A. now receives $470 million a year from the Federal Government, about $300 million in capital assistance and $170 million in operating funds. M.T.A. officials were not certain yesterday whether the cut would be made in both forms of assistance. Operating assistance is used for the day-to-day running of the transit system, while capital assistance is used to purchase equipment and make long-range improvements.
    • If a new reduction in Federal capital money goes into effect, Mr. Downey said, there could be a 10 percent shortfall in the five-year capital program. But he and other M.T.A. officials refused to predict that there would ultimately be a deficit, saying that other sources of income could prove more profitable in the coming years.
  • Controller Goldin-report-breakdowns up 53%1975-1980-6,508 MDBF 1980, 1975 14,358-scheduling/manpower inefficiencies car inspection program cost $2.9 million-inspected every 10,000 miles since 1978-previously 7,500-recommended inspections minor problems 7,500; major 15,000-wuld eliminate 116 car inspector jobs-could be transferred-TA hired 2,000 repairmen past 18 months
  • Slowdown threat-$16.8 million savings-agreed to $7million-dispute-opportunity-save $1.5 million shop maintenance staff
  • 2,000 repairmen added-18 months-some work only 3 hours/day-full maintenance budget-spring 1980-MTA resumed training program-job restorations-previously budgeted-not able to fill all spots; many new workers-road car inspectors
  • Asserting that the transit unions had failed to cooperate in improving productivity, Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, warned yesterday that New York City bus and subway workers might receive only 16 cents of the 36-cent-an-hour cost-of-living increase they were expecting next month.
    • For his part, John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, said he did not anticipate a walkout, particularly in view of the strike experience of the union in 1980. But he noted that there were ''a million ways'' to hurt the transit system.
    • Mr. Ravitch, who was joined by Mr. Simpson in making his announcement, said the current contract specified that cost-of-living raises be paid as of Oct. 1 only if there were sufficient productivity savings to cover the cost. The transit workers' average wage is $10 an hour.
    • To pay the full 36-cent increase, he said, a saving of $16 million would be required from Oct. 1 to March 31, 1982, when the current contract expires. Since the two sides have agreed on savings measures totaling only $7 million, Mr. Ravitch said , o nly the 16-cent-an-hour increase would be justified. Panel to Meet Today
    • ''I'm upset at the lack of progress,'' Mr. Ravitch said. ''The union has fought every inch of the way.'' His statement, made public yesterday, came on the eve of a meeting of the panel today that both sides said could be crucial.
    • Mr. Ravitch said he and the authority's board did not intend to continue the productivity and cost-of-living provision in the next contract agreement.
    • One such proposal, according to the authority, involves a saving of $2.44 million in pension costs resulting from productivity programs certified under the previous contract. Because there is a two-year lag in payments to the pension fund, the authority says, the money was realized as a productivity saving in the 1978-80 contract.
    • Another saving, the union says, relates to health costs. The T.W.U. contends that higher Blue Cross and Health Insurance Plan rat es are bei ng met from the Health and Welfare Fund without increased con tributions from the authority. Those additional costs, the union con tends, should be credited as cost-reduction savings. 'Smoke and Mirrors'
    • Mr. Simpson said he did not consider either the pension saving or the health fund's payment of higher insurance costs as constituting productivity. ''Mr. Lawe said he'd vote for smoke and mirrors,'' Mr. Simpson said, ''but I won't.''

October 1981

[edit]
  • A special three-member panel last night pinpointed potential productivity gains and cost reductions in New York City's transit operation totaling $16.9 million - enough to provide the system's 35,000 bus drivers, subway workers and maintenance employees with a cost-of-living increase of 36 cents an hour beginning today
    • The panel, composed of a representative of the unions, a representative of management and a middleman, considered some 40 individual means of increasing productivity and saving money. The cumulative measures approved by the panel amounted to $16,941,449 in economies.
    • Among the economies agreed upon were a reduction of manpower in some departments, a cut in overtime, increased productivity in carcleaning operations, a change in some duty tours, the consolidation of certain transit operations and the reassignment of workers.
    • Between the reduction in manpower through attrition and the transferral of some employees to new and more productive maintenance programs, 500 jobs would be affected, Mr. Simpson said.
    • There was also partial agreement arrived at in the reduction of bus schedules. Mr. Simpson said that the T.W.U. had agreed to changes in Brooklyn and that the Amalgamated Transit Union had agreed to schedule changes in Queens. But he said that the T.W.U. had not agreed to such changes in the Bronx and Manhattan, changes that are now in litigation, and that the Amalgamated union had not agreed to accept proposed changes in Staten Island.
    • In spite of his objections to some of the specific proposals, the Transit Authority president said that the agency would immediately begin calculations to pay the cost-of-living increase to employees. Transit workers should find that raise reflected in their paychecks a week from today.
  • Mayor Koch and the Transit Authority yesterday criticized a cost of-living award that will give the city's 35,000 bus and subway employees a 36-cent-an-hour wage increase beginning next week.
    • ''They rip us off like we're a carcass,'' he said of the transit unions. John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority and a member of the panel, said he had voted against part of the $16.9 million package.
    • He said he had opposed giving credits in some cases where he felt there was no tangible saving and where workers were carrying only the workload it was expected they would carry under approved job assignments. He balked at a $3.5 million pensi on credit claimed by the union although, he said, it was the resul t of pension changes enacted by the State Legislature.
    • Damaso Seda, a vice president of the T. W. U., who represented Mr. Lawe in the final phase of the panel's discussions, cited savings in all departments, ranging from $80,396 in the power department as a result of employee reassignments and the elimination of geographical restrictions to $5,406,278 in the car-maintenance department through new work standards, reduced over time, some job attrition and improved prod uctivity.
    • Mr. Simpson cited a savings of $1,067,249 as a result of a reduction of 91-car cleaning jobs, $467,918 through consolidation of some operations in one of the shops, $82,580 through the use of trucks instead of trains in picking up revenue from change stations and $610,625 through reduced standby overtime when buses are not available. Altogether, he said, 500 jobs were eliminated by attrition, or the employees were moved, without replacement, to new programs where they were needed.
    • The panel also gave credit for savings of $1,503,000 achieved under the previous contract but not used to pay for cost-of-living increases at that time. A reduction of $1,499,388 in pension costs, from attrition under the previous contract, was also allowed because the payment to the pension fund was not made until the current contract took effect.
  • Doomsday Express-collisions/derailments up about 100% past year-Car Maintenance Division-perhaps worst managed-lost 1,400 people-more than 1/4 of its workforce-training pared to bone-supervisors promoted from ranks-before ready-program to detect/replace worn out air brake parts-scrapped-overhauls-every 12 years dropped-special safety inspections before trains left yard dropped-major track cleaning-all but abandoned-so close to breaking point-minor defects-trigger chain reactions-5 train-June-day before derailment-one car reported filled with smoke-ordered out of service repairs-no attention-back in service-TA inspector confidential report-if through check made, alarming condition would have been found-1975-girder broke-7 line-undetected rust pit on girder-widened crack-tracks fell six inches-similar defects believed to be so widespread els-1978-engineering consultant-urged TA-make a systematic search for them-never undertaken
    • Collisions/derailments, breakdowns, late trains, broken door delays, track fires, window panes replaced figures
  • State Senator Roy M. Goodman said yesterday that there was a grave danger an accident in New York City's subway system ''killing and injuring hundreds or thousands'' of riders would result in the near future from what he called a ''substantial safety emergency'' in the system.
    • The Senator, a Manhattan Republican, based his assertion on the findings of a three-month inquiry conducted by the State Senate's Committee on Investigations and Taxation, of which he is chairman. His committee's report followed by 11 days an announcement that the National Transportation Safety Board had found safety problems in the subway system that ''could lead to the most tragic consequences.''
    • John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, said the Senate committee had compiled an ''incendiary'' document by ''picking up sensational news stories and making news of them again.'' A spokesman for the M.T.A. characterized the report as an ''irresponsible and outrageous distortion of fact.''
    • Among his other charges, Senator Goodman said that 38 passengers and employees had been killed in train-related accidents in the last five years. Mr. Simpson said that the number of passenger fatalities linked to subway operations in that period was ''just plain zero'' and that those who were killed had jeopardized themselves by riding between cars, crossing tracks or trying to board moving trains.
    • - Mr. Goodman urged that capital funds be used to repair and rehabilitate existing subway cars rather than purchase new ones. Mr. Simpson said that rehabilitation of the fleet, some of which is more than 30 years old, would cost $500,000 a car. ''You really don't get your money's worth,'' he said. ''That's the logic compelling the board'' to buy 1,300 new cars for its 6,300-car fleet.
    • - The Senator said that firefighting equipment in the system was inadequate. He said that ''often there are no fire extinguishers on the train, even in the motorman's compartment.'' Mr. Simpson replied that wayside extinguishers, along the track every 500 or 600 feet, had ''capacity so much greater and proximity so close as to make them superior to onboard fire extinguishers.'' Need for Signals Stressed
    • - Mr. Goodman said that investment must immediately be made in new safety signals. Mr. Simpson said that such replacement had the highest priority and that replacement of 1918-vintage signals had already begun along the stre tch of track in B rooklyn where a subway crash last July resulted in a motorman's deat h.
    • - The Senator said that intervals between car inspections must be reduced from once every 10,000 miles to once every 7,500. The Transit Authority president said the interval had alreday been reduced to once every 5,000 miles - last year on the IRT and this year on the IND and BMT.
    • - Mr. Goodman demanded an increase in emergency evacuation training of motormen and conductors. Mr. Simpson said such training began last week.
    • - The report also cited occasions when train crews were forced by supervisors to take defective equipment - including cars with cracked windshields and no headlights - into service at the risk of being disciplined for insubordination. Mr. Simpson dismissed the source of these reports as ''union officials with an ax to grind.''
  • But ask Richard Ravitch, Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to describe the state of things in New York City's subway and bus system and he says, ''I've never seen such lousy morale in my life.''
    • The dismal mood is one major reason for a labor-management struggle at the Transit Authority. The people who work in the system and the people who run it are pulling apart, battling over everything from the schedule changes to collecting fares from bus passengers in wheelchairs.
    • Mr. Ravitch said last week that in next year's labor negotiations he will push for ''basic changes'' which, he hopes, will then clear the way for a period of labor peace in which the atmosphere will be more conducive to joint efforts to improve productivity.
    • One of the changes Mr. Ravitch will be seeking is the elimination of a ''productivity'' clause in the union's current contract that almost everyone involved acknowledges is exactly the wrong way to seek real improvements.
    • That episode was just one example of the combination of factors that has produced what amounts to a textbook case of why it can be so hard to improve productivty in the public sector. A weak and divided union and a politically besieged management find it difficult to agree on changes that might help the system. Politicians find the M.T.A. a juicy target because they bear no direct responsibility for it, and their attacks further demoralize transit employees. All this contributes to ''a less than desireable level of output,'' Mr. Ravitch said.
    • Under intense pressure from politicians and straphangers, the transit authority took a harder line this time. Associates said Mr. Simpson spent inordinate amounts of time fighting what he called ''smoke and mirrors'' proposals from the union to justify the costof-living hike. This provided a good comparison between the real and the illusory among the productivity increases and cost reductions that were said to have saved a total of $16.9 million.
    • The union argued, for example, that it should be given credit for $3.5 million in savings that grew out of pension law changes that the union had orginally opposed. Mr. Simpson argued against including the item, and succeded in keeping it out of the productivty package. Some of the items that were allowed, such as $1.5 million in pension-related savings, were actually achieved under the previous contract. This is allowable under the productivity clause.
    • On the other side, the Transit Authority and the union agreed that genuine, current prductivity gains were achieved by increasing the work load of car cleaners, allowing a reduction through attrition of 91 workers and saving about $1.1 million dollars. But overall, Mr. Simpson said, the episode just proved the provision does not promote a consistent definition of productivty. One possible bright spot in this otherwise grim situation is th at both sides seem ready to accept a union proposal to take next year 's contract talks to arbitration if a settlement can't be reached. Th at won't just reduce the danger of another strike. More usefully, it may help reduce the political pressures on both sides and perhaps make it easier to come to terms that might halt the downward spira l of labor-management relations.
  • An experimental project to determine whether New York City's subway system can be run on storage batteries has been initiated by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
    • More than half of the Transit Authority's electric bill, which runs from $7.5 million to $11.5 million a month, is a so-called ''demand charge'' that the authority must pay to be sure it will have sufficient generating capacity to meet its needs in the morning and evening rush hours.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, called the project ''exciting'' and said it had ''the potential to provide us with a greater margin of reliability for less money.''
  • Doomsday Express-TA-routinely sends out defective trains-command center-radios that don't work-control boards-just maps strung up-BMT/IND maps-lights intended track trains-never connected-hard keep track of trains-16 of 39 trains -July 21-rush-dead motors-yard knew-train defective-before it went out-next day-unrepaired-another breakdown-problem p-wire-electrically controlled brakes-problems interior lights-send car into repair shop-take months get done
  • Doomsday Express-123-most broken cars-Coney Island Yard-88 more cars-shop-805 TA workers-quieter than main reading room-NYPL-car-cleaners work very slowly-token booth clerks-inside open only 1 window-city's transit executives-long before surrendered-right to make workers work-trying to get it back-locked into work quotas-even union leaders consider extremely lax-union won't give up-subway cars forced to be cannibalized-major accounting firm-found spare-parts purchasing operation -15 years behind time-repairmen-cramped, poorly lit areas-cold shops, not given right tools-no whistles telling workers when to work-workers broke them years earlier-work quotas-as long as each worker-repairs set number parts a day-doesn't matter how long done-repairmen meet quotas-so low-can be met quickly-men design their own day themselves-no control-supervisor-Lawe-quotas ridiculous/men should be working harder-quotas-created-increase productivity-eliminate-quotas-TWU need concession
  • Doomsday Express-Franklin Avenue Shuttle-NOT FRONT PAGE-literally falling into street-supports nearly consumed by rust-rain bolts/debris-so great-concrete crumbling retaining walls, patched baling wire, jerry-rigged wooden braces-most glaring example-damage by neglect-TA rather close than pay $40-60 million needed to put back shape-tunnels flooding so bad comes close to washing away tracks-els track supports-threaten to crash into station mezzanines-rickety track-TA-admits conditions bad-don't tell you had-Dean Street-canopies sag, wooden platform slats broken away, broken off at base, platform guard rails-protect people falling 30 feet to street-very shaky-station-not painted in years-support beams-not straight-repairs done haphazardly-string/bailing wire-TA inspectors don't even bother detailing broken things-bad so long-Fulton Street station-wooden mezzanine spanning Atlantic Avenue-gaping holes-planks once held down; Crown Street bridge-car-over-tracks-rammed garbage truck-1975-only temporarily repaired-even though TA officials admit structure in dangerously poor condition-not until 1981-got around to put a repair contract-drawing board-St. Marks Avenue-people flee-metal falls down-February 11-130-foot-segment-concrete wall-holding up embankment-supporting tracks-Bergen Street-shifted nearly a foot broke away-wall slipped more-tracks would have collapsed-makeshift brace-heavy timbers-still buttress it-no idea-when permanent repairs would be made-inspectors reported a crack-months before-grew-reported it-keeping an eye on it-nothing done-until disaster almost struck-TA executive in charge of maintaining subways-Chester Marczewski-professed not alarmed-conditions-lines-matter of priorities-explain defect-Simpson-insisted never matter of policy allow decline Franklin Avenue-fruits of fatalism-asked most critical areas-entire system-critical-tracks so poorly maintained-more trains derailed-past 12 months-derailments-climbed nearly 100%-nearly all blamed bad tracks-Parkside Avenue derailment-track-bad shape-riding over them-8 mph above speed limit-enough derail-two derailments days-Hutns Point-faulty track lubricator-cause first mishap-not repaired in time prevent second-8,500 structural defects-elevated-only 822 repaired-corrosion-eating away-dozens elevated stations-lurching of train-can trigger failure-Ammon & Whitney consultant-could mean tracks collapse into station-require immediate attention-review of latest TA inspection reports-only 6% of reported through-span defects corrected-AstoriaLine-two rotting through-spans-so serious reported as Code red: Repair Immediately-unrepaired since February 1980-supposed to be fixed within 24 hours-scores ignored completed-others unrepaired almost 2 years-New Lots Line-east of Nostrand Avenue-38 Code Red defects-discovered January 1980 and July 1981-15 remain uncorrected-10 structural cracks-22 to 5 inches long-some discovered more than 21 months ago-rivets missing-at least 3 critical support girders since January 1980-2 badly corroded girders-reported a year prior-some columns els so shaky-trains banned traveling when wind over 65 mph-column overstress so widespread-particularly Flushing/Jamaica-Ammon & Whitney-had recommended TA-undertake a comprehensive review of all elevated columns-detect potential hazards-few columns Jamaica Line slated replacement-no systemwide analysis ever made-chronic flooding 26 subway tunnels-endangered track supports-at least 3 areas-Lenox Avenue Line-tunnel drained by pumps used construction Panama Canal-flooding near 116th Street threatened-wash tracks away-frequently rose above third rail-short out signal relays, cut power, problem was under observation for the better part of a decade-TA waited 1977-take stopgap measures-not until-this year-so critical-TA-had to do something-$23 million federally financed emergency repair project finally launched-"If the contract hadn't been let when it was, we'd have lost the line."-real worry-water not seen-signals New Lots, Pelham, Flushing-signals in service since WWI-should have been replaced 30 years ago-jerry-rigged parts-manufacturers-don't stock parts-"According to current schedules, it will be almost the year 2000 before new signals are completely installed. What kind of shape do you suppose those World War I models will be in by then?"-equipment archaic-death motorman July-New Lots Line-crash partially blamed overage signals
  • Committee proposed plan-purchase undercarriages replace R46 ones
  • MTA-losing millions-advertising-had offered MTA-$100 million plan-retail renaissance-yield $2.5 million/year-MTA changed real estate directors
  • Doomsday Express-Ravitch plan-; bond plan-if go through-Band-aid on a cancer-plan jeopardized shaky bond market-recommendations-demand 8 hours work/8 hours pay, meet unions head-on-give decency-tools, sanitary bathrooms, rid health/safety problems, end work quota system; contract out repair work, end overtime system; nail down-contract-full agreement-writing-set performance targets-report results publicly-modernize cluttered supply rooms, stop hiringcostly consultants-solve every problem-stop sending out damaged subway cars-threaten punishment/firings break safety rules-new cars-interchangeable parts-unload white-elephant properties-fix percentage-value subway-pay upkeep-transit taxes-inflation-sensitive
  • $397,000 design foul-up completed Clark Street elevator-can't be used-began February 1979-12 months behind-September 30, 1980-completion date-UMTA funds-built without safe access-cres perform maintenance-MOW personnel thought access-steel strut-removed to conform to safety code
  • An independent survey of subway performance finds a sharp decline in service on all lines in New York City and shows trains were late about twice as often as in a similar survey conducted only a year ago.; more; more
    • The survey, made public yesterday, documents some improvements in cleanliness and maintenance, including more working lights and doors, a greater number of legible maps and less litter and graffiti in most of the system.
    • It attributed the improvements to a new $60 million Transit Authority maintenance program that replaced a system of ''deferred maintenance'' introduced during the city's fiscal crisis. 3,300 Trains Checked
    • But the study reported that, even so, one out of five subway cars had broken doors, one in two cars had illegible or missing maps, and one out of 10 had dim or broken lights.
    • The findings were based on observations of 3,300 trains by the New York Public Interest Research Group and the Institute for Public Transportation. The results roughly parallel declines in on-time service recorded by the Transit Authority during the last two years.
    • Last year, using the same system, the raters found that only 17 percent of the trains were late on average. Mr. Simpson said that the Transit Authority regarded any train as late when it arrived at the terminal more than five minutes behind schedule. According to Mr. Russianoff, canceled trains and trains that are taken out of service are not counted as late.
    • The Transit Authority's own statistics showed that the percentage of late trains more than tripled during the last two years, from 3.2 percent in July 1979 to 11.3 percent last July.
  • Train moved doors open-fail-safe indicator-faulty-new policy-keep known problem cars out of service
  • Four oldest/most deteriorated sections identified-zone contracts-analysis by authority submitted to City Council Committee on Transportation-lighting, fixing, leaks, track, signal work-single contractor-BMT Jamaica, New Lots, Fourth Avenue, 8th Avenue-$327 million signal modernization-these areas-$112 million-rest of system; $750 million-repair work these areas-minimize disruption-bidding not starting until CPRB approval
  • Investors have responded enthusiastically to a plan by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to involve private corporations in the purchase of 632 railroad cars and buses, M.T.A. and banking officials said yesterday.
    • They said they were optimistic that the plan - essentially a sale of tax shelters to corporate investors - would be extended to include nearly all of thousands of subway and railroad cars and buses that the agency is scheduled to purchase in the next five years.
    • ''The investment banks have literally been beating a path to our door,'' said Arthur G. Perfall, the agency's director of public affairs. He predicted that the project could save the agency $480 million, or about 20 percent of the $2.5 billion it expects to spend for new equipment in the next five years.
    • The plan, announced by the M.T.A. last month, is designed to help the authority stretch its funds for new equipment by having corporations put up about 20 percent of the purchase price. In exchange, the corporations would be permitted to deduct the full depreciation allowances of the equipment from their Federal corporate taxes. The equipment, officially owned by the investors, would then be leased back to the M.T.A., which would operate it.
    • The authority's board has approved a contract naming Citibank as the agency's representative to line up investors for the first group of 620 buses and 12 railroad commuter cars, some of which are already in service.
    • Of the total purchase price of $102 million for the 632 vehicles, Mr. Perfall said the M.T.A. would save about $11 million. Citibank is to receive a fee equal to 10 percent of the equity it raises.
    • Basically the arrangement would work like this: XYZ Corporation would buy a $1 million rail car using $200,000 of its own money and $800,000 of transit agency money raised by selling bonds. XYZ would hold title to the car, enabling it to depreciate the entire $1 million for tax purposes over five years, and would lease the car back to the M.T.A, which would operate it.
    • At the same time XYZ would pay the M.T.A. interest and amortization for the $800,000 of bond money. Because the amount would be equal to the rent the M.T.A. would pay for the equipment, those payments would offset each other.
  • Dogs graffiti
  • Opposition-end Franklin Avenue Shuttle-by November 1-cost rebuilding-$60 million-no final decision made
  • New York City's mass-transit and crime problems have led a growing number of ''lower-income riders'' to abandon subway trains and buses and use taxicabs, according to a mayoral committee created to study the taxi industry.
  • Brooklyn College 3 survey
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be asked in Albany today to answer 183 prepared questions about its $7.9 billion plan for rebuilding the region's subway, bus and rail systems.
    • The questions will be posed by the legislative members of the Metropolitan Capital Review Panel, which has until Jan. 1 to approve the plan, reject it or allow it to take effect without action.
    • City Council President Carol Bellamy, a member of the M.T.A. board, warned, however, that delays in approving and carrying out the spending plan would cost the system $8 million a month in inflated costs.
  • Leaseback deal
  • 40% subway delays-caused by door problems-most failure of fail-safe systems designed keep trains from moving while doors are open-findings federally funded consultant's study-TA-completed 13 months prior-TA-failed to respond recommendations-as required by law-high % of all subway car doors operate close to the margin of error for failure Booz-Allen & Hamilton Car Door Reliability Study-key finding-environmental factors-press excessive stress-door operations-called for improved training/shop procedures-based on 1978 data-60% door problems-failure of systems supposed to prevent trains from moving with open doors
  • The Legislature also approved a bill that will permit the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to purchase equipment in certain cases without competitive bidding. The M.T.A. believes that the bill will expand its ability to negotiate favorable terms and has the potential of saving it up to $400 million.

November 1981

[edit]
  • In 1978, Congress voted to finance the rehabilitation of several major bridges in New York City. But early this year, the Reagan Administration raised a question: What about the portion of the bridges over which subway trains travel - should that cost also be borne by the Federal Government?
    • No, a lawyer for the Federal Highway Administration said. Yes, a lawyer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said. Last week, Drew Lewis, the Secretary of Transportation, overruled the Federal lawyer and said that money would be made available to New York for the full rehabilitation cost, covering the highway portion and the rail portion.
    • The decision, according to city and state officials, could save the M.T.A. $32 million over the next 15 years. The amount represents the prorated subway portion of the total $162 million rehabilitation program on the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. Replacing Cables
  • Major subway repairs, employee vacancies and poor training have caused overtime costs to soar at the Transit Authority, according to a report issued by the agency yesterday.; more-325 vacancies car maintenance department
    • Charles Kalkhof, an authority vice president, said half of the allowed overtime for the current fiscal year was spent in the first quarter ending September. ''We are overspending our overtime by 200,000 hours, or 224 percent,'' he said.
    • Many valuable hours are lost, Mr. Kalkhof added, because ''many of our employees do not speak English.'' ''We will take all management actions necessary to assure that only overtime that is actually required is used,'' he said. Some 1.1 million hours of overtime were billed last year.
  • Fresh from his landslide re-election victory, Mayor Koch said yesterday that he had shifted his priorities and intended in his second term to play a ''much closer role'' in seeking better subway and bus service.
    • The statement signaled a sudden turn for the Mayor. Until yesterday, he had listed law enforcement as his No. 1 concern and had said, whenever asked about the subways, that they were terrible but that there was little he could do.
    • What was not necessarily required, he added, was more money. The Mayor thus held forth little likelihood that the city would increase its contribution to the M.T.A., which totals $440 million in operating and capital funds for the 1982 fiscal year that began July 1.
  • SEPARATE AGENCY SOUGHT FOR L.I.R.R.
  • GRUMMAN LAGGING IN BRINGING BUSES BACK TO NEW YORK
  • Transit officials will begin a regular series of reports to the public on the performance of buses and subways, Mayor Koch said yesterday.
    • The Mayor said he had long urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make such reports, possibly every two weeks, setting out goals and listing accomplishments and failures. The first report is due later this month, he said.
  • Mayor Koch said today that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should consider hiring private companies to do routine repair work on New York City's subways and buses.
    • John D. Simpson said in New York that the agency already contracted out much work to private companies, though he was interested in expanding the program. Mr. Simpson is president of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that operates the buses and subways.
  • John E. Lawe, president since 1977 of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, is under attack by three opponents in the contest for top office in the 33,000-member union.
  • TA officials-meet two weeks-assertion Bellamy-CORE-a year behind schedule-plagued by purchasing difficulties, lack of management supervision, many mechanics who spoke English poorly-slippage-funded city July 1980-plagued problems-since inception-management monitoring system-should have been in place since November 2-wouldn't be in place until Christmas-original consultant's report-repair program-recommended not go forward-without management system-20-30% mechanics-difficulty speaking/understanding English-Simpson-TA forced to hire higher than normal proportion immigrants-agency could not afford pay salaries-experienced mechanics-can command-private sector-repairs-this stage-cars repair shops-only one day
  • Despite a widely noted deterioration of subway and bus service in New York City, municipal researchers have found that since 1970 the work force and spending power of the Transit Authority, alone among major services, have actually increased.
    • The researchers, who compared the budgets, work forces and levels of service provided by various agencies, also found that since 1975, the money available for transit was cut less severely than for the other major services - police, fire, education and sanitation.
    • ''They cut transit hardly at all, and it's the only service that went to hell.'' said one of the researchers, Raymond D. Horton, executive director of the Citizens Budget Commission and an associate professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.
    • The researchers concluded, in fact, that other major services had held up better than might have been expected under retrenchment. Employees left behind after reductions in the work force tended to work more efficiently in an effort to keep up with a workload that had been handled by much larger staffs, the researchers said.
    • Transit, however, is ''the deviant case,'' they said. The transit system's work force and its budget, in constant dollars, are larger today than they were in 1970. The budgets and work forces of the four other major services, however, have all been reduced, in some cases sharply, over the same 12-year period.
    • During the fiscal crisis period that began in 1975, the Transit Authority's budget and work force were reduced. But the cuts were smaller, on percentage basis, than those imposed on the other major services.
    • How did this seemingly less severe retrenchment produce such serious deterioration of service? The researchers and various city and transit officials cited a combination of factors. 'Worst-Managed' Service
    • Some, including Mary McCormick, associate director of the Fund for the City of New York, who conducted the survey of city services with Mr. Horton, saw the findings as evidence that the transit system had over the years been ''the worst-managed'' service.
    • Until recently, she suggested, the transit system had escaped many of the pressures brought on by the city's financial problems. This was at least in part, she said, because the Transit Authority and its parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are independent authorities and are not clearly accountable to either the Mayor or the Governor. The Transit Authority's revenues come from a combination of fares and subsidies from the city, the state and the Federal Government.
    • Edward S. Seeley Jr., deputy director of the office of infrastructure renewal of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a former official of New York State's Financial Control Board, suggested that ''management has permitted the system to become less efficient.'' For example, he said, since the creation of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968, the number of vehicle miles operated per employee, a measure of the total volume of service offered to passengers by each worker, has slipped at a rate of 1.2 percent a year.
    • Total vehicle miles operated by the transit system have fallen nearly 20 percent since 1970, he said. Mr. Seeley said this decline in efficiency was one of three reasons for the deterioration of service. The two others, which he called interrelated, were the sharp reduction in capital funds, as distinct from the operating budget, and the lack of a ''coherent'' policy on what percentage of the system's costs should be borne by fares and what part by government subsidy.
    • Most experts generally cited some combination of these three factors. Responsive to Pressure
    • Deputy Mayor Robert F, Wagner Jr., a member of the M.T.A. board, agreed that a major cause of the current ''collapse'' was a sharp cut in capital spending to maintain and modernize the system. He said this had a more serious effect on subways than on other city services, which are not as dependent on capital investment.
    • Mr. Wagner also noted that over the years, the system had been quite responsive to pressure from mayors and governors to hold the subway fare down, which had starved the system of needed revenue.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, also noted that during the period when there were reductions in the work force, staff cuts were made ''disproportionately'' from maintenance staff.
    • ''They made cuts in the least visible sorts of things to accommodate budget restrictions,'' said Mr. Simpson, who took over the Transit Authority last January, ''That has had a time-bomb effect,'' he said.
    • The survey of services also suggested that some agencies were able to absorb cuts by reducing minor services while maintaining their most central service. But the subway and bus system could not do this since it offers only one basic service: moving people.
    • By comparison, the Transit Authoprity budget, between 1975 and 1981, was reduced 9.5 percent and its work force 5.4 percent. The disparity is even more apparent when the services are compared over the entire period from 1970 to 1982. During that period, there were reductions, after adjusting for inflation, in the budgets for police (24.5 percent), fire (12.2), sanitation (7.6 percent) and education (5.3 percent) services. The Transit Authority budget, on the other hand, is 21 percent larger today than in 1970, in constant dollars.
  • When Mayor Koch talks these days of improving mass transit, he stops short of the ultimate weapon - a city takeover of the troubled subway and bus system that each day carries 3.5 million passengers.
    • He doesn't foreclose that option - open to the city under a little known state law - but he says he first wants to see if his other ideas for upgrading the transit system will bear fruit.
    • Since his re-election victory this month, the Mayor has taken a new, more aggressive approach toward transit. After years of saying it was a state responsibility, he is insisting on a greater voice in running the system -including more seats on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.
    • For now, Mr. Koch speaks of a ''partnership'' with Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, and John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority -a far cry from the often adversarial stance the Mayor took during most of his first term.
  • Saying that New York City's regional transportation system has become ''too big and too unwieldy,'' a state legislative leader called yesterday for the creation of three separate authorities to run the subways and commuter railroads on a day-to-day basis.
    • The concept was endorsed by county officials in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties. But it was rejected by Mayor Koch, who in recent weeks has called for a greater role in running the city's troubled subway system.
  • Although it has been delayed time and again by the collapse of railroad empires, budget crises and inertia, the long-promised upgrading of commuter rail service in the New York metropolitan area is once more picking up speed, according to transit officials.
    • Similarly, experience has taught transit officials caution. ''The problem is mammoth,'' acknowledged Peter E. Stangl, president of the M.T.A.'s Metro-North Commuter Rail Division. ''It took a lot of years to get into the mess we're in, and it'll take some years to get out.''
    • Improvements should become visible in a year or two, he said, although the full effects probably will not be felt before 1986. The capital programs focus on a system that handles more daily riders -about 530,000 - than the rest of the nation's commuter rail systems combined and accounts for 2,600 of the 4,800 cars and locomotives in commuter service across the country.
    • The innovative plan calls for corporations to purchase for tax deductions up to $2.5 billion worth of rail cars and buses and then to lease them back to the M.T.A. The first subscriber, Metromedia, agreed recently to underwrite a $102 million deal involving 620 buses and 12 rail cars.
  • Some lawyers on the full-time staff of the New York City Transit Authority engage in private practice during working hours, according to a team of management analysts that has spent the last six months looking into the system's operations.
  • Richard Ravitch, in a vigorous defense of his leadership of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, criticized Mayor Koch yesterday for reducing New York City's aid to mass transit.
    • Mr. Ravitch said a major program to rebuild the system was under way and added that there had been modest but ''significant'' recent improvements in service. He said he hoped to enter labor talks with the city's 35,000 subway and bus workers ''better prepared than at any time in the past,'' but labeled Mayor Koch's recent statements about the talks ''counterproductive.''
    • Mr. Ravitch said he was ''disappointed to hear from the Mayor'' that the city's contribution to the M.T.A. for capital programs would be reduced from the fiscal 1982 level of $165 million to $100 million in each of the next four fiscal years. Over that period, he said, this will mean a $260 million loss to the authority.
    • Mr. Wagner said the city was reducing its capital contribution to the M.T.A. because of ''competing and divergent infrastructure needs.'' He added that the 1982 level of $165 million is ''double what it was two years ago.''
    • In the area of service, Mr. Ravitch, who has been chairman for two years, said the M.T.A. had made the following strides:
    • - On the subways, the average number of trains unavailable for service to meet morning rush hour requirements was reduced from 85 in November of 1980 to 32 in November 1981. He said he expected the system to have 400 additional transit police officers within the next six months .
    • - Last month, the Long Island Rail Road achieved its best on-time performance in three years. According to the railroad, 89.79 percent of its trains operated within five minutes of schedule.
    • - Within three months, the New Haven line, part of the Metro-North system, will have a new third generator at the plant in Cos Cob, Conn. Within a year, new ticket-vending machines will be installed at Grand Central Terminal for Metro-North commuters.
    • - The new General Motors buses have ''restored reliability to a severely distressed bus operation.'' In the coming months, contracts will be awarded for the purchase of 325 more buses, 1,150 IRT subway cars and 225 IND-BMT cars.
    • In the short term, Mr. Ravitch said, the goal is to ''maximize service performance in the difficult cold months ahead.'' He noted that subway performance reached an all-time low last February. 3 New Managers
    • Mr. Ravitch also noted that new top managers have been appointed for the three major M.T.A. agencies - the Transit Authority, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, the authority's new name for the Metropolitan Region of Conrail.
    • The chairman urged the New York State panel that is reviewing the M.T.A.'s $7.2 million capital plan to act swiftly. And he called on the New Jersey Legislature to approve legislation to authorize the purchase of 325 buses with funds from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. If that legislation is not approved by Monday, Mr. Ravitch said, the purchase will be held up.
  • Now I would like to tell you about next year's agenda. Since we recruited new management and restored canceled maintenance programs, modest progress has been achieved. Our overwhelming priority has been and will be to maximize the number of vehicles that are available to move people in the peak morning and afternoon rush hours.
    • Though the transit system has many functions, its primary purpose is to get people to and from work. Toward this goal, we have achieved the following:
    • - In the subway system, after five years of steady and precipitous decline in service, we have stabilized some vital aspects of performance. The average number of trains unavailable for morning rush-hour requirements has been reduced from 85 in November 1980 to 32 in November 1981.
    • - Last month the Long Island Rail Road achieved its best on-time performance in three years. We attribute this progress directly to the initiation of the long-deferred M-1 electric-car overhaul program in 1980.
    • Our short-term goal is now to maximize service performance in the difficult cold months ahead. Cold weather freezes motors and switches, makes maintenance more difficult and increases passenger demand.
    • Next we will turn to another set of problems - door motors, airconditioning and train delays. We have traced the past year's increase in train delays primarily to problems relating to the age and condition of rolling stock and, sadly, to public abuses, normally requiring police intervention.
    • To address the immediate maintenance problems, the Transit Authority is combining R-46 cars with R-44 trucks, an action which results in taking our least reliable trucks and cars off the IND-BMT systems. Within the next several months, the barn overhaul program will be fully initiated, the shop overhaul program will be introduced and the R-46 truck replacement program will begin.
    • As for service delays caused by the riding public, we anticipate within the next six months the availability of 400 new police officers for front-line duty, and we will be petitioning the city for additional hiring authorizations to increase police presence on the system.
    • Next spring we will renegotiate the transit contract. Our most important objective is to eliminate the restrictive practices and quotas which prevent management from doing its job. In addition, we want the dollar settlement to be as low as possible but fair.
    • Over the longer term, transit riders and workers will see concrete improvements resulting from our capital program. The new General Motors buses have not only restored reliability to a severely distressed bus operation but are also dramatic proof of what can be achieved with new funds. Contracts for New Buses
    • Over the next several months - assuming our capital plan is approved by the Capital Program Review Board -we intend to award contracts for 325 new buses, 1,150 IRT subway cars and 225 IND-BMT cars.
    • For the commuter railroads, our first priority is to stabilize and improve operating performance within the context of a still-to-beimproved capital plant.
    • The L.I.R.R. will be evaluating the assignment of available cars to assure maximum use and reduce the number of standees. L.I.R.R. president Robin Wilson has also set as an immediate priority the restructuring of its car cleaning programs, both to make certain that available resources are targeted to areas of greatest need and to accelerate interior refurbishment and window replacement programs.
    • Metro-North and Conrail management are now concentrating on heating preparations for the winter season and reducing the amount of rolling stock out of service. Within three months, the New Haven Line, which has been plagued by power reductions, will have available a new third generator at the Cos Cob plant, and within one year, new ticket vending machines will be installed at Grand Central Terminal and some outlying stations.
    • On Oct. 1, the M.T.A. board voted unanimously to submit our capital program to the M.T.A. Capital Program Review Board. The city, state and legislative representatives to the Review Board were fully involved in the development of the plan before it was submitted, and every question they have asked about it has been answered promptly and in detail.
    • Yet the plan has not yet been approved, and the M.T.A. cannot proceed without this approval. No bonds can be sold, no procurement contracts can be let, no negotiations finalized.
    • In addition, some political leaders have raised questions about the relationship of M.T.A. to local government and whether there should be separate boards for each operating agency. These are not new issues but rather are part of the longstanding debate as to how independent a public authority should be. Resurrection of this debate has three unfortunate consequences.
    • First, it fools the public into believing that the condition of our equipment and the quality of our management will suddenly be enhanced by changes in structure. Second, it creates uncertainty in the financial and manufacturing community as to the M.T.A.'s ability to enter into binding commitments. And third, it hinders our ability to attract qualified professionals who are considering joining M.T.A. to participate in this rebuilding program.
    • I have not heard any political leader in this state express disagreement with our fundamental agenda, nor have I heard any explanation as to how changes in form might better accomplish these goals. Therefore, if this is the right agenda, and if the state's and city's political leadership are truly committed to this plan, let us end the distracting political rhetoric.
    • While we welcome questions and constructive criticism, let us separate past history from future possibilities and let us pull together and work together to insure the survival of this system.
  • KOCH WILL APPOINT MASS-TRANSIT AIDE
  • John D. Simpson, president of New York City's Transit Authority, has announced the appointment of John N. Centinich to take charge of programs to overhaul and maintain the system's 6,500-car subway fleet.
  • KOCH SEEKS RIGHT TO NAME TRANSIT UNIT CHIEF
  • Edward Koch's talents as a backseat driver may be needed in the mayoral limousine, but transit officials don't seem to want them applied to the subway system. Responding last week to yet another round of criticism from City Hall, Richard Ravitch, the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, assailed the Mayor's ''counterproductive'' comments on upcoming labor talks.
    • But if the Mayor's statements irritated Mr. Ravitch, Mr. Koch's actions - among them, the appointment of a special mayoral assistant for transportation and the request for state legislation authorizing him to appoint the next chief of the New York City Transit Authority - did no less.
    • Mr. Koch has said he would like to turn some subway maintenance over to private companies if the M.T.A.'s own maintenance workers are unable to improve their performance by March 31, when their contract runs out. Even as he demanded improved performance, however, the Mayor acted to cut the city's contribution to M.T.A. capital programs over the next four years from $660 million to $400 million.
  • Convoluted, union-dominated disciplinary system-workers all but guaranteed keeping jobs, even if they malinger, defy direct orders, violate safety rules-past 18 months-TA tried to fire 47 workers, arbitrators blocked 70% of dismissals-penalties slashed-can't be tougher on workers-disciplinary cases-often sloppily investigated/prosecuted; Ravitch angrily disputed-suggestion discipline lax
  • Mayor Koch named a 42-year-old lawyer and transportation expert as his special transit adviser yesterday, saying that the new aide would strengthen the Mayor's ''working partnership'' with the city's Transit Authority.
    • The Mayor also said he would recommend that the adviser, Ross Sandler, be appointed to the board of directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transit Authority's parent body, effective Jan. 1.
    • The naming of Mr. Sandler, who has been a director of the Natural Resources Defense Council - a public-interest law concern - came as Mr. Koch pressed ahead in his efforts to control the appointment and dismissal of the Transit Authority's president.
  • WORK RULES HINDER GAINS ON COMMUTER LINES

December 1981

[edit]
  • Subway ridership in New York City decreased in September, more trains got out of the yards each day and crime on the system increased, according to the first comprehensive monthly report issued by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.; more; continued
    • The inch-thick document, completed in accordance with a 1981 state law and requested by Mayor Koch, also reviewed extensively the performance of the Metro-North Commuter Rail Division and the Long Island Rail Road.
    • Some of the more positive data in the report were released by Mr. Ravitch in an address last Wednesday, but the full report tells of both the successes and the failures of recent agency efforts. It was in the speech that Mr. Ravitch made his first public attack on the Mayor, calling Mr. Koch's recent statements on transit workers ''counterproductive.''
    • In an interview yesterday, Mr. Ravitch said that he had yet to decide whether to allow John D. Simpson, the head of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. unit that runs the subways and buses, to meet with Mayor Koch as scheduled this Thursday to review the performance statistics.
    • David Z. Plavin, the executive director of the M.T.A., said the performance report was required by the 1981 legislation that enabled the M.T.A. to formulate a $7.2 billion capital improvement plan. The plan is now awaiting final approval by a four-member state panel established by the legislation, which must act this month. Report Was Released Early
    • Technically, the first report was not due until after the plan was approved, but M.T.A. officials indicated that they hoped the early release would encourage the panel to act favorably before the deadline.
    • Mr. Simpson said the report demonstrated that ''we have crossed the line in nearly every key indicator.'' As an example, he cited the September statistics for mean distance between failure, the performance standard that reflects the average distance a car operates before it experiences a mechanical failure. The number of miles went from 6,300 in September 1980 to 6,900 this September. That means that the system is getting more use out of the cars before they break down.
    • The number of trains that finished their runs in rush hour was also up, from 85.2 percent to 88.9 percent, but the number of trains that experienced mechanical failure while in service went from 3,100 to 3,400.
    • The monthly number of passengers was down from 84.7 million to 80.8 million, reflecting, in part, the effect of the fare increase last July. The number of reported felonies on the system rose to 1,500 from 1,400.
    • On the Metro-North division, which is operated under a contract with Conrail, the statistics showed that ''we are starting to chip away at the problems,'' according to Peter E. Stangl, the president of the division.
    • On-time performance on the Hudson Line went from 83.3 percent in September 1980 to 80.1 percent in September 1981. On the Harlem Line, it went from 82.8 to 80.5 percent, and on the New Haven Line, from 89.3 to 90.2 percent. Trains are considered on time if they arrive within five minutes of schedule. Stangl Sees Progress
    • Mr. Stangl called those and other indicators ''stable,'' which he said was progress, considering the aging fleet and equipment. He added that new cars were on order. ''I think we will have a better story to tell in the coming months,'' he said.
    • Robin H. H. Wilson, president of the Long Island Rail Road, said ''the trends are in the right direction, but the levels are not completely satisfactory.'' On-time performance, he said, went from 85 percent in September 1980 to 89 percent in September 1981.
    • Mortimer L. Downey, the M.T.A.'s assistant executive director for management and budget, noted that the improvements had cost money. He said that in September 1980, the operating cost per passenger on the subways was 88 cents; in September 1981, it was $1.04.
  • The New York Transit Authority's ''great white fleet,'' the first of the Flushing-line subway trains to be painted completely white, suffered a minor graffiti attack Monday. But the agency said yesterday that its plans to repaint all 419 of the Flushing cars were unchanged.
    • The cost of painting was $2,200 a car for material and labor, Miss Edelson said.
  • Zone Express study criticism-four different project directors
  • A new, $12.1 million computerized inventory system designed to speed repairs of the deteriorating subway fleet and increase workers' efficiency has been unveiled by the New York City Transit Authority.; more; continued-should not be parts shortage
    • But the increase in efficiency and productivity and faster repairs may not be noticeable for up to a year as the Transit Authority seeks to reverse the downward trend in subway maintenance, officials said. They said workers would be trained around the clock in the use of the system and should understand it in three weeks.
    • Robert Huber, an authority spokesman, said the computer would allow the authority to keep better track of its workers and the time it takes them to complete various projects. It will also enable repairmen to keep more detailed records of what parts and equipment are available and instantaneously retrieve the mechanical histories of individual cars.
    • The subway maintenance operation has been one of the most criticized units of the transit system. Its head, Edwin Weidman, resigned under pressure last week.
    • Several Metropolitan Transportation Authority executives contended that under Mr. Weidman the car maintenance program had been poorly managed, causing a dramatic increase in derailments and car breakdowns.
    • Others said subway engineers had been unable to keep up with their usual work, such as fixing doors, windows and motors on the trains, because so much effort was expanded repairing welds and cracks in the undercarriages of the R-46 cars.
  • Faced with the task of paying for hundreds of new subway cars, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is for the first time enlisting the aid of foreign and domestic manufacturers to help get better deals on the equipment.
    • Citing current high United States interest rates, Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, said the authority had realized that in order to get the business, car manufacturers, especially those in foreign countries, might be willing to help the M.T.A. borrow money at lower rates. The Morgan Guaranty Trust Company has been hired to negotiate with the foreign manufacturers.
    • ''We came to the conclusion that once the capital plan is approved for the purchase of new equipment, we would be buying sufficient quantities, some $2 billion, to gain leverage and might get vendors to help provide the financing,'' said Mr. Ravitch. 1,150 Cars to Be Purchased
    • Among the items to be purchased under the authority's $7.2 billion capital plan are 1,150 I.R.T. subway cars. The authority had planned to raise $4 billion of the money from the sale of bonds, but because of uncertainties in the United States bond market, it has been looking at other borrowing options.
    • Mr. Ravitch said negotiations were under way with subway-car manufacturers in several countries, including Hungary, West Germany, France, Canada and Japan, as well as companies in the United States.
    • In the case of the foreign manufacturers, the M.T.A. hopes that it can ge the companies to encourage foreign banks to provide financing at rates lower than United States banks.
    • Mr. Ravitch said that Daniel Scannell, an M.T.A. vice chairman, would be in Canada this week to discuss financing possibilities with a manufacturer in that country.
    • ''We are trying to buy as inexpensively as possible and to get the best financial deal,'' Mr. Ravitch said. The approach was made possible by legislation passed in Albany last month that frees the authority from competitive bidding in certain situations. It was also made possible by a decision of the M.T.A. board to use local rather than Federal funds to purchase the subway cars, thus exempting the authority from Federal provisions that would require it to buy products made in the United States.
  • A New York City Transit Authority superintendent was indicted yesterday on Federal charges of accepting benefits valued at more than $30,000 from 12 companies involved in a Pullman contract to produce subway cars.
  • Criminal charges were filed yesterday against John G. deRoos, the former senior executive officer of the New York City Transit Authority, and five other present and former high officials of the authority. They were accused of accepting benefits from companies involved in the manufacturing of a fleet of defective Pullman subway cars.
  • Mayor Koch and John D. Simpson, president of the New York City Transit Authority, presented yesterday the first of what they said would be a series of monthly public reports on the status of the city's bus and subway system.
    • There were no suprises in the dozen multicolored charts used by Mr. Simpson, but in the end both men agreed that while the system had a long way to go, actions taken over the past year had at least halted the system's long slide into disarray.
  • WHO CAN DO WHAT ABOUT THE SUBWAYS IN NEW YORK?
    • Mr. Koch. As much as Dick Ravitch and the members of the M.T.A. board want and believe they have full responsibility for running the system, that's not what the public believes. If something breaks down it's quite true it is their responsibility to repair it, not mine. But in terms of getting it repaired so that the service is there, the public looks to me.
      • While the M.T.A. board was created to insulate the Mayor and not have him held accountable for fare increases and anything else related to the subway system, I have never felt the need to be insulated. That's not my style. I'm out in the streets. I'm talking to thousands of people. What do you think they talk to me about? 'I didn't get to work on time,' they'll tell me. 'When is it going to change?' What am I going to say - 'Go talk to Dick Ravitch? Go talk to the members of the M.T.A. board?'
      • That doesn't mean that Dick Ravitch and his board don't have legal responsibility. But I have, for lack of a better word, moral responsibility.
    • Q. Would you outline your priorities in the five-year improvement program?
      • Mr. Ravitch. There's no disagreement with us on that. Our priorities are to get new rolling stock, to rebuild our maintenance facilities, to replace some of our antiquated power signal track.
      • Basically, there will not be a fundamental change in the quality of service until the R-46 trucks are replaced, starting in late '82, and the new subway cars arrive in late '83 and '84. Three or four years from now you will begin to see a dramatic improvement in the quality and reliability of service.
      • Our short term objective is to avoid the calamity of last February. If we can improve upon the performance in the cold weather this year, it will be an enormous accomplishment.
      • Q. It has been suggested that the subway system be reduced 25 percent by eliminating redundant lines and also that it be closed at night.
      • Mr. Ravitch. Closing the system at night is not as big a money saver as people think it is, because if you eliminate the token booth clerks - the major cost - you either have to replace them with security officers or build new entrances to the subway stations. If they were left vacant, there isn't a piece of metal that would be around the following morning.
      • I have a map showing that the lines most underutilized are in the poorest areas of the city. I don't believe that a public transportation system should eliminate service in those areas.
      • We are studying how to use bus service more as a feeder system for the subway lines rather than run bus routes where there are subway lines.
  • Witnesses disputed-$260 million shortfall-capital program-Nadler said city had promised TA-$165 million/year over 5-years-$825 million-later cut to $565 million-shortfall $260 million-city no documents record-base expectation-Plavin-said city informed months ago planned contribute $100 million/year-last 4 years-MTA never counted on $260 million-capital plan formulated-state renege $90 million-overappropriation $1 billion 1967 bond issue-if operating revenue used-5-cent fare increase could result-earmarked overhauling subway cars-$1.2 billion-capital construction 1969-allocated-$200 million more than bond issue called for-$110 million extra money-paid general funds-remaining was to go to TA next year-state didn't plan on it-$110 million was for commuter railroads/upstate transit-still in budget-hope Legislature might allocate it
  • In its continuing war against subway graffiti, New York City will provide $22.4 million to build double fences around 18 Transit Authority subway yards, Mayor Koch announced yesterday.; more
    • The money to build the fences at the 18 remaining yards will be made available through a bit of fiscal shuffling, but in the end it does represent new city dollars. The $22.4 million for the fences will come out of funds set aside this year for the Car Overhaul Reconstruction and Enhancement Program. These funds have not been spent at the anticipated rate. Plans for Next Year
    • Next year, the city will restore the money for the so-called CORE program, thus increasing its contribution to the Transit Authority to $122.4 million from the $100 million that had been scheduled.
    • Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, said he was pleased by the Mayor's decision to increase transit financing. Mr. Ravitch recently said he was disappointed that the city had lowered its annual contribution to the M.T.A. from $175 million to $100 million.
  • 4 years, more than $2 million-bus studies-no benefits riders-prompted investigation TA's inspector general; two so ineptly conducted-recommendations shelved-$140,000 Zone Express study-began November 1977-TA-unable to come up final report-information worthless-out of date
    • More than $1 million-Brooklyn bus study-originally budgeted $650,000-never completed-further work deferred
    • $1 million-Staten Island-own proposal-shelved-community opposition
    • TA-attempting-use people at bottom scapegoats
    • Several months, $25,000 Zone Express study-wasted-requiring staffers-study Q12-known not suitable-calm down residents Little Neck-Douglaston-feds supposed to cover 80% cost-no possibility TA reimbursed Zone Express study
  • CPRB-how strictly MTA-should be held promise-acting MTA executive director-said MTA should be allowed to deviate-up to 25%-measured funds committed any part of plan-amount of time needed completion-several CPRB members wanted-10%-change plan-above-resubmitted-approval-compromise 15% unacceptable to MTA-
  • ''Thank God it didn't happen an hour or two later,'' said the M.T.A.'s chairman, Richard Ravitch, leaving the implication that in some way the subway system had again won the toss. And so spectacular a derailment is a bad beginning for a winter we had hoped would be less dismal than last year's.
    • It can't start until the new capital funds start to flow. When will that be? Had there not been an accident a host of Federal and state transit officials and, of course, the M.T.A., would be spending weeks putting together the complex package of documentation and approvals that must precede the purchase of new equipment. Perhaps now they can find ways to simplify the package and cut the delays.
  • John E. Lawe has been re-elected to his third two-year term as president of the union that represents 33,000 of New York City's bus and subway workers, the union announced yesterday.
  • MTA agreed-major changes subject CPRB-drop project of $7.5 million or more LIRR, $30 million for subway/bus-any major delayed 18 months-considered dropped-prevents MTA-putting off-scheduled improvements longer than that without subjecting to CPRB approval-report annually to CPRB on progress
  • Final approval of a $7.9 billion plan to rebuild the region's transit system was virtually assured yesterday when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to permit expanded oversight of its actions.
    • The authority will allow a four-member review panel to have control over any major changes the agency wants to make in the subway, bus and rail operations covered by the plan.
    • Assemblyman Arthur J. Kremer, a Democrat of Long Beach, L.I. and a member of the panel, said ''I think I convinced the M.T.A. that I did not intend to vote for the plan on Tuesday unless these things were put into the plan.'' A veto by any of the four members can block a project.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, the assistant executive director of the M.T.A., said that the changes allow the review board to pass judgment on any proposal the M.T.A. makes that would be substantially different from the approved plan. For example, any change in commuter-line projects that would cost $7.5 million or more, or subway and bus projects costing $30 million or more would have to be approved by the panel. Keeping Panel Informed
    • Mr. Perfall said the amendments ''were not really substantive changes, but changes in the method of keeping the panel informed.'' But Assemblyman Kremer said that he had ''extracted from the M.T.A. all the things needed to protect the public.'' Among these, he said, was a ''fair distribution of new buses to all five boroughs'' and a ''speeding up of the rehabilitation of Pennsylvania Station for Long Island Rail Road riders and also signaling systems on the L.I.R.R.''
    • ''They must have a plan to improve service,'' the Assemblyman said. ''They have got to produce within one year a maintenance plan for all new rolling stock and they must report to us monthly on the performance of the M.T.A. under this program.''
    • The transportation authority also agreed ''to inform us every 90 days what programs have been started, where the money came from and how much remains unspent,'' Mr. Kremer said.
  • No changes work-allowed engineering/design work to start, start borrowing process
  • A five-year, $7.9 billion transit improvement plan, the most ambitious in the history of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, won final approval from a state review panel yesterday.
    • ''Now we can get on with the job of rebuilding the system,'' said Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the M.T.A., who conceived the plan and saw it through the various levels of governmental approval.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, assistant executive director of the M.T.A., said the approval would enable the regional transit agency to begin ordering new equipment and improving maintenance. But he said it would be almost two years before passengers saw major improvements in service.
  • UMTA grants-$92 million-all but $35 million for subways/buses is new money-not in financial projections
  • A report issued last week provided an answer that many doomsayers might find surprising. The 75-year-old New York subway system is the second safest in the country, ranking only behind the spanking-new Metro in Washington, D.C., according to the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the M.T.A. In fact, in a recent one-year period, the report found, New York's transit system (both buses and subways) had only seven accidents per million vehicle miles, as against 15 per million in Chicago, 18 per million in Boston and 48 per million in Cleveland.
    • But Mr. Simpson also acknowledges accidents are bound to increase as the subways deteriorate. ''The system is right at the point where the number of opportunities to go wrong has expanded so dramatically that no matter how hard dedicated people try, something can happen,'' he said.
    • And things have been going wrong with greater frequency lately; so far this year there have been 23 collisons or derailments, up from 15 in the same period in 1980. Most of the accidents, officials say, could have been avoided with better maintenance. The Times Square derailment, for example, took place when a motor dropped from a 26-year-old subway car with nearly a million miles on it, causing the car behind it to skid off the tracks and tear through nine steel tunnel supports. Authority records indicate that first car had been inspected six weeks before the accident.
  • John E. Lawe, who was re-elected president of New York City's bus and subway workers' union earlier this month, is already preparing for next year's transit negotiations. But he said that he wanted to avoid a repeat of the 1980 strike that paralyzed the city's public transportation for 11 days.
    • But he sounded somewhat less militant and more flexible than two years ago as he talked yesterday about the upcoming negotiations.
  • Old and dusty defenses, local transit officials are discovering to their chagrin, may be just as solid as newfangled ones. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with the City of New York and the New York City Transit Authority, is attempting to compel the developer Donald J. Trump to grant an easement through his Hyatt-Regency Hotel as part of its plans to enlarge the 42d Street entrance to the Grand Central subway station.
  • Assemblyman G. Oliver Koppell called for a rollback of salary increases for 80 top Transit Authority executives whose salaries have been raised an average of 33 percent since 1979.
    • A spokesman for the Transit Authority, Jeanne Edelson, defended the raises. She said that the increases came after a three-year wage freeze for authority managers during the 1970's.
  • Tacked above John D. Simpson's desk at the Transit Authority is a map of the New York City subway system streaked with reds, yellows and greens. Red signifies an underused subway line; yellow, a line with average ridership and green, a heavily used line.
    • Mr. Simpson, the president of the transit system, says that he sometimes stares at the map and considers ''doomsday options'' - what lines would be shut down should the transit system lose some of the billions of dollars that keeps it hobbling along.
    • There is, however, a growing body of opinion that the transit system cannot afford to wait for ''doomsday'' - that something must be done immediately to bring the lumbering giant of a subway system under control. Among the major recommendations that grew out of a conference last month on municipal priorities were to eliminate 25 percent of the lines in the sprawling subway system and to close it completely late at night.
    • Such recommendations are not new. In one form or another, they seem to pop up every few years as solutions to the city's mass-transit woes. The less there is to operate, the argument goes, the better it would be operated.
    • Early in 1980, the last time that the board of the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority considered proposals to do major surgery on the system, the members came down strongly against such action. Before lopping off parts of the system, they argued, the authority should seek additional subsidies and, if necessary, raise fares.
    • However, new voices favoring reductions say that two things have changed since early 1980. The Reagan Administration came into office with a program of reducing mass-transit aid, and the subway fare went up twice -to 60 cents and then to 75 cents. It is time, they argue, to begin surgery on the New York City subway system. The Background
    • ''Setting Municipal Priorities 1982,'' a volume put together by two university professors, Raymond D. Horton and Charles Brecher, and discussed at a conference last month, proposed closing underused subway lines and shutting the subway system each night from midnight to 6 A.M. To make up the gap in each case, the authors suggested that extra bus service be added.
    • Dr. Horton's book did, however, make specific recommendations for closing certain lines. Among these are the Jerome Avenue line, the Dyre Avenue line, both in the Bronx; the Culver, West End, Crosstown and Myrtle Avenue lines, in Brooklyn, and portions of the Rockaway line, the White Plains Road line and the Jamaica Avenue line. Against Cutting Back
    • Mr. Simpson at the Transit Authority said that it is ''naive'' to think that cuts could be made in a wholesale fashion without encountering major public and political resistance. He noted that a recent proposal to close the Franklin Avenue shuttle - which runs for one mile in Brooklyn - met angry community resistance. The fate of that plan is being reviewed by the authority.
    • Moreover, Mr. Simpson said the additional lines recommended for closing might look like weak links in New York, but would be considered major in any other rapid-transit system in the country.
    • ''You compare it to the Atlanta system, and the Jamaica el looks superb,'' he said. David Z. Plavin, the executive director of the M.T.A., said that closing a subway line is tantamount to telling a community, ''We're writing you off.''
    • Both transit officials said that the cost of running current subway service would be cheaper than closing down some subway lines and running buses instead. In addition, they rejected a nighttime closing plan for several reasons:
    • - The system was not designed to be closed. Expensive gates would have to be built and security systems devised.
    • - Trains would still have to run through the night - without passengers - to get back to the yards and get ready for morning service.
    • - The need of people to get to and from work. ''The most significant issue,'' said Mr. Plavin, ''is that this is a 24-hour city. Cleaning people, deliverymen, data-processing employees have to get home. These are, by and large, poor people. What do you do about them?'' Outlook
    • Mr. Simpson said he would welcome such a study. But until it is done, he said, there is not sufficient data to proceed with major cuts in anything but a ''doomsday atmosphere.''
    • Making such cuts, Mr. Simpson said, would be ''a rotten choice.'' ''And I pray very hard that I never have to do it,'' he said.
  • Surge in Subway Crime Reported for December
  • Mayor Koch suggested yesterday that the state courts create special trial sections to deal exclusively with serious crimes committed on the city's subway and bus lines.

January 1982

[edit]

February 1982

[edit]
  • Late night shutdown opposition
  • New Federal budget cuts expected to be announced next Monday have raised the possibility that New York's 75-cent subway and bus fare may be raised a nickel or more by this summer, transit officials said yesterday.
    • There may also be increases in commuter fares on the Long Island Rail Road and the section of Conrail operated by the M.T.A., the officials added.
    • When the New York City fare went to 75 cents last July and there were comparable increases in commuter rail fares, state officials said they hoped to hold the line until 1983. This was because of a $301 million state tax package worked out in Albany, they said, and because cuts in the Federal budget were not expected to be severe for large city transit systems for two years.
    • But Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said yesterday: ''Our sources of revenue are all pretty much in doubt.'' The Reagan Administration, he asserted, apparently has ''reneged'' on a commitme nt to continue to provide operating assistance at the same level as last year.
    • Early soundings from Washington, Mr. Ravitch said, indicate a $25 million reduction in the city's Federal share, the equivalent of 2 1/2 cents a ride.
    • An M.T.A. spokesman, Arthur G. Perfall, said: ''Obviously we are not going to go out and say we are going to raise the fare to 77 1/2 cents. By itself it would not necessitate a fare increase. But it could be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.''
    • The M.T.A. had expected operating aid in 1983 to be $125 million, a reduction of $45 million from the current year. Over the weekend, however, officials learned through New York City lobbyists in Washington that the President's budget would contain only $85 million in aid, a further cut of $40 million.
    • Of that $40 million, $25 million would have to come from the city's transit system, officials said. About $10 million would come from the budgets of the authority's commuter lines and $5 million from Federal aid that goes directly to localities for such items as ferries and buses.
    • As recently as two weeks ago, when it was reported that the new state taxes were likely to produce less revenue than expected, M.T.A. officials said they had been assured by the state that the shortfall would not imperil the 75-cent fare.
    • Additional pressure on the fare, officials said yesterday, could come from a settlement reached with the city's 35,000 bus and subway employees. Contract talks are expected to start soon in an effort to reach an agreement before the March 31 deadline. Political pressure to hold the fare at its present level may also have been diminished by the withdrawal of Gov ernor Carey as a candidate for re-election this November. The Governor chooses five members and the chairman of the 14-member M.T .A. board. On the recommendation of local officials, he also ap points the rest of the board.
  • The early-morning shutdown of the Flushing IRT subway line in Manhattan began yesterday to permit workers to upgrade the 75-yearold tunnel that takes the line under the East River into Queens. A Transit Authority spokesman, Robert Huber, said the $7.5 million project on the No. 7 Flushing line was expected to take a year to complete.
  • Fare increase LIRR possible
  • NEW BUSES: NEW HOPE TO DISABLED
  • T.W.U. CHIEF ASKS INCREASE IN SECURITY ON SUBWAY LINES
  • CITY ANNOUNCES MEASURES TO FIGHT TRANSIT CRIME
  • Grant-$64.1 million-$31.5 milllion-finish Archer, $32.8 million 63rd Street
  • Bus and subway fares could go up by as much as 30 cents this year under a possible combination of Federal aid cuts, transit wage increases and shortages in state tax collections, the Metropolitan Transit Authority's executive director said today. At a hearing on next year's state budget, the executive director, David Z. Plavin, cited the M.T.A.'s projected loss of $50 million to $55 million in Federal aid, a possible $100 million shortfall in state taxes and a possible 7.5 percent wage increase.
  • Fear-nearly completed Lenox work-dangerous water seepage-may jeopardize entire reconstruction
  • The Transit Authority has asked the Federal Government for $150,000 to study a flooding problem on the Lenox Avenue subway line that the authority has already spent nearly $25 million to solve, Borough President Andrew J. Stein of Manhattan charged yesterday.
    • ''The time for a feasibility study is before, not after, a project is completed,'' Mr. Stein said. ''The T.A. may waste $25 million and inconvenience 200,000 riders a week on a construction project that it now fears could be washed out by the problem it was supposed to solve.''
    • ''It was a poor choice of words,'' Miss Edelson said when she was read that part of the application. Flooding has been a problem in the tunnel of the Lenox Avenue line for several years. In October 1978, the authority conducted its own study of the tunnel and found that the portion from 117th to 124th Streets required ''emergency repairs.''
    • The authority applied for a $25 million grant to create ''a continuous waterproofed structure.'' The grant was obtained and construction began last March.
    • The reconstruction work is now 85 percent complete, according to the authority, and full service is expected to resume in June. But Mr. Stein said that the Federal funds to study the water problem, if approved, would not be available until July. Miss Edelson of the Transit Authority said, however, that even with the completion of the construction between 117th and 124th Streets, a study would be needed to monitor the stretch from 110th to 135th Streets. ''New York does have a continuing problem with water levels,'' she said. ''It is something that people should be doing more monitoring of.''
  • New York City's Transit Authority is not legally required to protect a passenger from crime in the subways or to supply additional police protection to known high-crime areas in the system, the State Court of Appeals held yesterday.
  • With formal contract talks between New York City transit officials and the unions representing the 35,000 bus and subway workers expected to begin in a few days, both sides are indicating a desire to negotiate peaceably and to settle their differences without another strike.
    • Mr. Lawe, the transit union leader, said the first item on the agenda was to resolve differences over proposed legislation that would provide for binding arbitration in case of an impasse in the negotiations. Mr. Lawe suggested such an approach last summer, but Mr. Ravitch was initially cautious about the it.
    • After much behind-the-scenes maneuvering, however, Mr. Ravitch announced last week that he was recommending to the Legislature a proposed amendment to the state's Taylor Law. The legislation would place transit workers under the jurisdiction of the city's Office of Collective Bargaining and provide for binding arbitration if there were an impasse in bargaining.
    • Mr. Lawe said the transit unions would seek ''adequate'' wage increases that took into consideration the rise in the cost of living; better job protection; improved health coverage, and better working conditions, particularly in the maintenance shops. The average hourly rate of pay of bus and subway workers currently is about $10 an hour, according to the M.T.A.
    • The Transit Authority, which is facing a cut in Federal aid and the receipt of less state aid than it had anticipated, is expected to stress its financial limitations and to seek ways to manage the system more effectively, achieve greater cooperation from workers and improve productivity.
  • The proposed change or repeal of a Federal tax-leasing provision is jeopardizing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plans to generate more than $480 million of a major improvement program, the agency's chairman said yesterday.
    • The chairman, Richard Ravitch, said ''it would be a catastrophe'' if the authority could no longer use the provision, which permits it to raise funds through selling new rail cars and buses to private companies and then leasing them back. The companies, in exchange, can depreciate the equipment for tax benefits.
    • The tax law includes a special section - which Mr. Ravitch lobbied for - that covers public transit rolling stock. It allows transit agencies to transfer, through sale, depreciation benefits on new equipment that they, as government entities, cannot take advantage of.
    • The M.T.A.'s first transaction under the new law was with Metromedia, the broadcasting company, which paid $15.5 million last December for title to 620 buses and 12 commuter rail cars. The remainder of the equipment's actual cost of $102 million, would be offset by rental payments from the M.T.A. to Metromedia.
    • This arrangement in effect produces a Federal mass-transit subsidy that also benefits a private company. Mr. Ravitch and the M.T.A.'s special counsel, Steven Polan, argue that Congress, when it examines the tax law, should make an exception to preserve this indirect masstransit support. Subsidies Through Private Sector
    • Using hypothetical figures, Mr. Lighthizer pointed out that in a typical M.T.A. deal, the Federal Government, while losing $10 million in depreciation benefits, would see most of that money go to the M.T.A. after the lease-back transaction was made. The rest would go to the purchasing company and the bankers and lawyers who arrange the sale. Why not give the entire $10 million to the M.T.A. in the first place, he asked, if the purpose is mass-transit subsidizing?
    • Mr. Ravitch said M.T.A. lawyers were preparing a memorandum explaining the issue that will be circulated to the New York Congressional delegation. He said Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Representatives S. William Green and Charles B. Rangel, who originally lobbied for the provision, would be urged to do so again. He also planned to contact the heads of transit authorities in other cities.
    • He said that the M.T.A. was working on another lease-back arrangement for a number of buses and that ''we're negotiating very hard for 1,150 subway IRT cars we'd sell to whoever offered us the most for the credits.'' He said the M.T.A. could even raise more than the original estimate of $480 million.
  • The Transit Authority is installing at 74 subway stations a kind of plastic electrical tubing that is outlawed in many New York City buildings because it emits toxic fumes when heated.
    • A spokesman for the authority acknowledged that the material, polyvinyl chloride, ''can be hazardous if it burns,'' but said that it was being used on a limited basis.
    • The tubes hold wires for a new loudspeaker system that is being installed in IRT stations in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn. The system, which is to cost $5 million, is being installed as part of the Transit Authority's effort to improve communications with passengers. It is to be completed in 1983. Miss Edelson said that the plastic was being used, instead of the steel conduits used in the past, because it was lighter, more flexible and less expensive.
  • The Secretary of the Treasury said yesterday he would favor exempting mass-transit programs from a proposed repeal of a Federal tax-leasing law that could cost New York almost half a billion dollars.
  • The Transit Authority announced yesterday that it would stop installing plastic electrical tubing in subway stations as a result of warnings by health authorities that the material releases toxic fumes when burned.
    • Transit officials said, however, that they would leave in place the tubing, made of polyvinyl chloride, that was recently installed in more than 50 stations throughout the IRT system.
    • Mr. Simpson told the M.T.A. board yesterday that the polyvinyl chloride already in the system would be replaced in ''future years'' with steel conduit during routine maintenance.
    • The switch to steel for the loudspeakers in the remaining stations, Mr. Simpson said, will add $100,000 to the $5.7 million project. The work is being performed by an outside contractor.

March 1982

[edit]
  • With Republican and Democratic tax writers driving to repeal the leasing provisions of the 1981 tax cut act, New York and other cities could lose a tax subsidy for mass-transit rolling stock that was enacted with almost no debate.
    • The Treasury Department has not officially shifted from its defense of the leasing provisions, including the mass-transit subsidy, but with Congress unwilling to accept President Reagan's projected budget deficits, the Treasury is coming under pressure to give ground.
    • A spokesman for another liberal Democrat on Ways and Means, New York's Charles B. Rangel, said that Mr. Rangel ''will fight'' to keep the transit subsidy. Thus far, no one has come forward to join him. Soliciting Support
    • Another New Yorker battling to protect the subsidy is Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat up for re-election. Wearing his most engaging smile, Senator Moynihan coaxed Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan the other day to say ''I am definitely in favor of rent-a-bus,'' a reference to the leasing contracts that the subsidy allows.
  • A bill providing for binding arbitration in Transit Authority labor negotiations was blocked today, just one day before talks are scheduled to open.
    • But the bill was blocked at the last minute because of the opposition of the Senate Republican leadership and Mayor Koch.
  • The Transport Workers Union asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday for a 25 percent wage increase over two years as negotiations for a new contract began. Both sides said they were optimistic about prospects for avoiding a strike this year.
    • John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the T.W.U., characterized the union's proposals for the wage increase and 35 other contract improvements as ''modest,'' but he emphasized that the union would be adamant in refusing to give up any benefits. He said that he was eager to get down to ''good collective bargaining'' and that a strike would not help anyone.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said that he had expected the demands of the union would be ''extreme'' and that the union's negotiators ''did not disappoint us.'' Some conflict and disagreement, he said, are inevitable in negotiations, but he added that he thought there was ''relatively small prospect of a strike'' when the contracts expire at midnight on March 31.
    • Besides the overall 25 percent wage increase during the proposed two-year contract, the T.W.U. asked for a continuation of cost-ofliving allowances but independent of productivity; payment of such allowances to retired employees; payment of all unused sick leave upon retirement; no contracting out of work; improved pensions, and a more extensive program of health and welfare benefits.
  • He identified the ''other people'' as politicians and certain members of the M.T.A. board. But while Mr. Ravitch has had success in winning over colleagues, politicians and employees, in his nearly 2 1/2 years as M.T.A. chairman, he has had some problems with the public. A New York Times survey taken late last year asked who was ''most responsible'' for the current condition of the city subways. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents blamed Mr. Ravitch, 13 percent Governor Carey and 11 percent Mayor Koch.
  • Reasoning that there is strength in numbers, the New York City Transit Authority recently began setting aside special areas on subway platforms where passengers could congregate late at night while waiting for trains.
    • As conceived by transit officials, the ''off-hours waiting area'' would be a low-budget item that would require little more than signs, some yellow paint and a few light bulbs. Passengers would provide the rest, simply by virtue of their physical presence.
    • The various features of the security program will be used in stations where appropriate. Some locations will have most of the features, but all 465 stations will have the off-hours waiting areas by 1987. A closed-circuit television system will monitor the waiting areas at some stations, including Columbus Circle and Times Square.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is close to a deal with a Japanese company for the purchase of 325 subway cars, sources close to the talks said yesterday. It would be the first purchase of foreign-made passenger cars for the New York system.
    • ''We have not yet concluded a deal with Kawasaki,'' he said. But without naming any company, he added that a deal for the purchase of 325 cars could come ''soon.'' Others close to the negotiations predicted that there would be a deal with Kawasaki before the end of the month. The Japanese concern is being represented in the talks by the Missho-Iwai Trading Company.
    • It would be at least a year before the new cars were delivered. They would replace IRT cars that are nearly 20 years old. The M.T.A., which is a state agency, is using a combination of state, local and borrowed funds to finance the car purchases. Federal ''Buy America'' laws, which require the use of United States suppliers, do not apply because Federal money is not involved.
    • Pullman was not among the companies that expressed an interest in manufacturing the new IRT cars. Only two companies, Kawasaki and Budd, offered formal proposals for the first lot of 325 IRT cars. The sources close to the negotiations said that the terms offered by Kawasaki company appeared likely to prevail.
    • One attraction of a foreign car purchase, according to Mr. Ravitch, is that the companies have offered to help the M.T.A. finance the purchase, often with the aid of their governments.
    • As the result of state legislation passed last year at the request of the M.T.A., the purchase of the new subway cars is being handled differently. Instead of the bidding procedure formerly used - in which each interested company submitted its price for the project - M.T.A. officials are now able to negotiate contracts. Thus they do not have to accept the low bidder, but can base their decision on a series of factors, including product quality, financing arrangements and product guarantees.
    • Under the legislation, a public hearing must be held once the negotiations with one manufacturer are concluded, so that other companies can challenge the contract. Fifteen days' notice must be given of the hearing.
  • The Assembly approved a bill today that provides for binding arbitration in the New York City Transit Authority contract negotiations.
  • Gene Russianoff MASS TRANSIT NEEDS A PUBLIC SAFETY BOARD
  • The directional signs in New York City's subway system - both car and platform messages - are often unlighted, dismembered or, when legible, simply wrong. Even the hardened New York native who has been riding the subway system since childhood can find it difficult to navigate routes other than those with which he is thoroughly acquainted.
    • The Transit Authority says help is on the way. An ambitious program with capital-budget funds to replace signs at the 458 subway stations in the system and to update the route and destination signs on most of the system's cars began last year, the authority said. But it will not be finished until a few years from now.
    • Ruth Fredericks, a spokesman for the authority, said that at least $23 million, most of it from Federal and state grants, would be spent to replace signs in the stations. Work on 87 of the stations is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Stations where new signs are in place include South Ferry in Manhattan and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn on the IRT division, Whitehall Street in Manhattan and Rockaway Parkway in Brooklyn on the BMT and Fordham Road and 205th Street in the Bronx on the IND.
    • As for scroll signs in subway cars, $6.2 million is projected as the cost of obtaining and installing replacement signs in the three operating divisions. Outdated and Misleading
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority may have to spend an extra $600,000 for fences to keep vandals out of subway train yards because a routine letter from a Federal agency did not arrive in time last week - a month and a half after it was requested.
    • ''What it comes down to is that Washington couldn't get a fairly routine form letter signed in 45 days,'' said Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A.
    • Mr. Perfall said that arrival of the letter from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration by last Wednesday would have cleared the way for the M.T.A. to sign a $2.3 million contract to have the fences built at four yards in the Bronx.
  • Governor Carey tonight signed a bill providing for binding arbitration in talks between the New York City Transit Authority and unions representing 30,000 bus and subway workers. Earlier, the Senate passed the bill without debate by a vote of 48 to 8.
    • The measure is the cornerstone of a plan by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the transit unions to avoid a repetition of the transit strike in April 1980 that lasted for 11 days.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority presented New York City's bus and subway unions with a 128-page volume of contract proposals yesterday. Among other things, they call for a three-year agreement, instead of a two-year one, and the ending of all specific work quotas.
    • The M.T.A. officials said the package was aimed at improving the system's efficiency and at removing restrictions in many areas on management's right to manage.
    • With the abolishment of quotas, employees would be required to perform productive work throughout their shift, In addition, there would be no pay for the time off between morning and afternoon bus runs, and restrictions would be removed on the right of management to establish runs, to order overtime and to schedule bids for job picks.
    • The authority also seeks to broaden duties under various job titles, such as bus maintainer, stock assistant and cleaner. Parttime employees could be hired for certain jobs, and restrictions limiting the authority's right to schedule vacations would be removed.
    • Other proposals include giving the authority a free hand in scheduling nonconsecutive days off, eliminating differential pay for weekend work, and restructuring at lower rates the wage levels of certain job classifications.
    • These include cleaners, railroad clerks, conductors and trackmen. Incumbents, however, would not have their wage rates reduced. The average hourly wage of transit workers has been $10, according to the authority.
    • John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the T.W.U., which represents 33,000 bus and subway employees in the city, expressed some exasperation at the lengthy rundown of authority proposals and said the union did not take them seriously.
    • He reiterated that his union was not going to give up benefits and practices that had been negotiated over the last 40 years. But he said the union was anxious to get down to direct bargaining for a package that would be mutually agreeable and would also help improve the transit system.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority signed a contract with a Japanese company yesterday for the purchase of 325 subway cars and announced that the deal would be financed in part by a $126 million loan from the Government of Japan.
    • The passenger cars, which are scheduled to begin arriving in December 1983 and should all be in service by 1985, will be the first purchased for the New York City subway system from a foreign manufacturer. They will replace IRT cars that are 25 to 35 years old.
    • The negotiated price of each new car was $844,500, for a total purchase price of $274,462,500. The price is subject to the cost of metals at the time of construction.
    • The Export-Import Bank of Japan, a Government institution, will lend the money in yen to Nissho-Iwai, which will in turn extend credit to the M.T.A. in dollars. Over the next eight years, the M.T.A. will repay the loan in dollars, which will be converted to yen by Nissho-Iwai before repaying the Japanese bank.
    • Under the contract, the M.T.A. must pay a fee of $40,400 a car to Nissho-Iwai for assuming the risk of fluctuations in the yen. According to Steven Polan, special counsel to the M.T.A., the extra payment will result in an effective interest rate of 12.25 percent, better than the authority could get by borrowing in the bond markets in this country. The M.T.A. has never borrowed in the municipal bond market and, therefore, it was difficult to determine yesterday what interest rate it would have had to pay if it had taken that course.
    • The new cars, Mr. Ravitch said, will look very much like the cars now in service on the IRT. ''We did not want to have a lot of gadgets, widgets and blandishments,'' Mr. Ravitch said. ''They will be built for reliability, service and comfort.''
  • A Federal safety agency that investigated two recent subway derailments yesterday recommended the immediate inspection of the motors on nearly all of the city's 6,000 subway cars.
  • TA-announced-schedule revised to keep with trains-more people, fewer trains-have them run reliably-
  • The United States Supreme Court's refusal yesterday to make employees of the Long Island Rail Road subject to New York State labor law was a sharp blow to efforts by transit officials to strengthen management's hand at the bargaining table.
    • Those efforts, had they succeeded, would have aided the state in other negotiations as well. And they might have permitted an overhaul of the union structure on the Long Island and on Conrail's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Divisions.
    • - It would have stripped them of the right to strike. Under the Federal rules, railway workers may strike, although only after a complicated mediation process that can drag on for months or even years.
    • - It would have allowed management to seek to abolish the current unions and form new unions along different lines. For Mr. Ravitch's part, he has often said that he felt this jurisdictional change was as important, if not more important, than the question of the right to strike. Represented by 17 Unions
    • The reason is this: The L.I.R.R. workers are currently represented by 17 unions, divided along craft lines. Motormen are in one union, signalmen in another and conductors in a third. This is the standard setup on the nation's railroads.
  • The contracts covering 35,000 bus and subway workers in New York City expire at midnight next Wednesday, but negotiators say they are still discussing secondary matters and have not yet addressed critical economic issues.
    • John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, one of the unions involved in the talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, appeared yesterday to be growing impatient about the lack of progress. And he is unhappy about management's insistence on a long list of contract adjustments, many of which he characterized as ''givebacks.'' This insistence, he said, could create a problem he could not control
    • Discussion Wednesday focused on union proposals to improve health and welfare benefits for workers, with full present and future costs paid by the M.T.A. The unions have also asked for a 25 percent wage increase over two years, continuation of cost-of-living allowances, better pensions, and other contract improvements. Hourly employees on buses and subways now average more than $20,000 a year in pay.
  • The Transport Workers Union and the New York City Transit Authority, in a break with some 45 years of history, have overhauled their collective-bargaining relationship so dramatically that leaders on both sides say there will be no subway and bus strike when the present contract expires at midnight tonight.
    • The only question to be resolved is whether union and management officials will negotiate their own contract or settle their disputes through a newly established arbitration procedure. And even that question, which will hardly keep the city hanging on the outcome, does not really have to be settled tonight.

April 1982

[edit]
  • New York City's bus and subway unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority declared an impasse last night in their contract negotiations. The decision sent the dispute to a three-man panel empowered to render binding arbitration.
  • For his part, Mr. Ravitch sees a larger benefit in arbitration. He wants desperately to improve productivty in the transit system. ''But real productivty doesn't come about as a result of things that are written in the contract,'' he said; it results, instead, from improving relations between employer and employee. Replacing strike threats and strikes with arbitration of transit contracts could be a major step in that direction. But judgement on that point will have to be reserved until 1984, when the M.T.A. and T.W.U. either agree once again to submit to arbitration or talk instead of strikes and the Taylor Law.
  • Theodore W. Kheel said yesterday that he was resigning after 33 years as the official arbitrator in labor disputes involving the city's subway and bus workers. He said he was doing so because the Transit Authority was seeking to oust him for decisions it considered too favorable to the unions.
  • MEN IN THE NEWS; 3 MEN WHO HOLD KEYS TO A TRANSIT SETTLEMENT
  • The Metropolitan Transporation Authority is negotiating with two more foreign companies to buy subway cars following its purchase last month of 325 subway cars from a Japanese manufacturer.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and three other officials have been ordered to appear in court on Wednesday to defend their decision to purchase 325 subway cars from a Japanese company.
  • Representative Bill Green has sent a harsh letter to Senator Bob Dole, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, challenging Mr. Dole's contention that leasing arrangements used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were a ''grossly inefficient'' form of Federal subsidy.
  • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said yesterday that Senator Bob Dole was ''wrong on the facts'' last week when he attacked a leasing arrangement under which the M.T.A. plans to buy hundreds of subway cars, commuter railroad cars and buses.
  • Budget vetoes by Governor Carey may force renegotiation of an intricate transit aid package that was passed last year to preserve the 75-cent New York City bus and subway fare, legislators and aides to the Governor said today.
    • The Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink, charged today that Mr. Carey's vetoes were an attempt to renegotiate the terms of the transit package that the Governor was unhappy with last year but signed into law anyway. Mr. Fink argued that such renegotiation was unnecessary.
    • ''The Governor walked away last year,'' Mr. Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat, said. ''The Governor abdicated.'' Mr. Carey argued that the revenues from the five taxes passed last year to raise $385 million for a special fund for transit aid were falling short, and he had proposed a series of changes, which were rejected by the Legislature.
    • Although under law he could not veto appropriations from the fund that he had included in his original budget proposal, he vetoed a technical bill, thereby preventing the payment of an additional $105 million to the M.T.A. out of the state's general fund. In addition, he vetoed a $20 million appropriation for a mass-transit inspector general.
    • Mr. Carey also vetoed $160 million in capital funds for the Transportation Authority and additional funds for bus purchases and highway and bridge repairs.
    • State budget officials said that revenues from one tax in the package passed last year - a tax on the in-state portion of interstate communications -would fall $50 million short, while another tax - on the New York portion of worldwide oil company profits - might be subject to legal challenges.
    • A third tax - on profits from real-estate transactions of more than $1 million in New York City - was repealed and replaced with an increase in the New York City mortgage-recording tax. Legislation signed on Monday by Mr. Carey repealed the profits tax retroactively to last July 1. It requires New York City to return the more than $9 million collected so far.
    • Mr. Carey had proposed replacing the communications tax with a different tax on the same companies and repealing the oil company tax. It was to be replaced with a 5 percent tax on aviation fuel.
    • The Assembly Speaker, Mr. Fink, agreed that some taxes were not producing the revenues expected, but he said that ''the bulk of it is being collected.'' Mr. Kremer estimated that the shortfall could rise to as much as $170 million. They both defended the legislation to pay the $105 million appropriation out of the state's general fund.
    • Mr. Ravitch commented: ''I have a general problem with taxes that don't get paid. They tend not to be a reliable source of income.''
  • Of the three city and state officials who had been scheduled to respond to complaints at the protest meeting -in which about 60 community organizations participated, including the Citizens Alliance and the New York Public Interest Research Group -only Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, did so.
  • John E. Zuccotti was named yesterday the official arbitrator for labor disputes involving the city's subway and bus workers. He will replace Theodore W. Kheel, who resigned two weeks ago.
  • The chairman of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said today that if Congress repealed a public transit tax-leasing provision, he would recommend that the M.T.A. cut its order of new subway cars.
    • The M.T.A. has announced plans to purchase 1,150 new cars for the IRT line and 226 for the BMT-IND lines. The chairman, Richard Ravitch, who was here to lobby for preserving the leasing provision, said: ''If we lose the tax thing, I recommend that we not buy additional cars for the BMT system and new cars on the IRT.''
    • The $500 million that the M.T.A. would get from lease financing over five years compares with $460 million in reductions of Federal aid to New York City in the 1982 Federal budget.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the uncertainty over whether the leasing provision would be continued had forced the M.T.A. to accept a penalty clause in an order for 200 commuter cars for the Harlem, Hudson and Long Island Railroads.
    • An option for the 200 cars was taken with the Budd Company several weeks ago, but it carries with it a penalty of ''around $5 million'' if the tax-leasing provision is canceled.

May 1982

[edit]
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that Thursday's arbitration award in the transit dispute would give management better control of its operations.
    • He said that he was ''generally pleased'' by the changes ordered by the three-man arbitration panel and that he felt the award would make it possible for management to operate more effectively and to achieve improved productivity in the transit system.
    • Despite repeated questions relating to the fare issue, Mr. Ravitch declined to suggest what would happen to the fare as a result of increased labor costs expected to total nearly $500 million in the next three years.
    • According to figures made public by Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin and confirmed by the M.T.A., average weekday ridership on the city's subways and buses is down by 5.8 percent since the transit fare went up from 60 cents to 75 cents last July.
    • Mr. Ravitch, at his news conference, said that in the first year under the new arbitration award the cost of a 7 percent wage increase and higher health and welfare costs would total $85 million. At present, he said, the authority has a shortfall, exclusive of the Thursday award, of about $250 million. But the authority still does not know, he said, how much help it is going to get from the state and Federal governments.
    • Mr. Goldin said in his monthly report on the city's economy that, during the first eight months of the fiscal year, the Transit Authority, which operates the bus and subway system, received only $20.2 million from a tax package designed to generate $168 million.
    • Mr. Ravitch, in discussing the arbitration award, said he was particularly pleased by the panel's abolishment of work quotas, the limitations placed on overtime, the elimination of many old oral and written agreements from past years that had proved themselves barriers to increased efficiency and the extension of the contract from two years, as in the past, to three years.
  • But this year, it was all that administration officials could do to refrain from gloating. Privately, they said the settlement would be a great help to them. Even their public comments, framed cautiously so as not to weaken their bargaining position, reflected this view.
  • When a subway train is stopped for two minutes, the conductor will inform the passengers why there is a delay and how long it will last. Clerks in token booths will be equipped with bullhorns so they can address large crowds on the platforms during major delays.
    • Conductors will be instructed not to announce that ''there is another train right behind'' unless they know it is so. These were among the new procedures announced yesterday by Mayor Koch as part of a joint attempt by the Transit Authority and the Mayor's Transit Office to counter unexplained delays, a major source of complaints among riders.
    • The Transit Authority is also installing grease-pencil boards at token booths and instituting a mass announcement system so that riders entering a station can be informed of major delays before passing through the turnstile.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority told legislative leaders here today that the authority faced a shortage of $300 million to $400 million in the coming year, state officials said.
    • The leaders said the chairman, Richard Ravitch, had contended that the gap would have to be filled by new state taxes or a fare increase.
    • ''The problem,'' Mr. Ravitch said today, ''is reductions in Federal aid, the holes in the tax package passed last year and perpetually rising costs.''
    • Mr. Morgado said Mr. Carey had already proposed a variety of taxes - including alterations in the tax package approved last year - designed to produce $260 million in revenue.
    • But these taxes, he said, would not cover the cost of the authority's labor settlement, which will run to some $500 million over the next three years. And some of these taxes would replace existing ones that the Governor says are not producing as much revenue as expected.
    • ''Unless some movement is made on a tax program we have suggested, the fare increase could be very large -which we don't think is an acceptable outcome,'' the Governor's aide said. ''But we clearly won't provide for all $400 million.''
    • By general reckoning, each $50 million to $60 million of the authority's budget gap equals a nickel on the fare. One person familiar with today's discussions said Mr. Ravitch spoke at one point of the possibility of ''30 percent fare increases'' for both subway and commuter rail lines.
    • Recently, however, their aides have discussed the possibility of revising a tax on transportation and communications companies that Mr. Carey said was producing $52 million less than expected.
    • The Governor is proposing a higher tax on the some of the same companies - with the new tax focusing on telephone companies. Mr. Carey has also proposed a 5 percent tax on aviation fuel to assist public transit. In adition, he wants to replace two taxes on the gross receipts of oil companies that are intended to help the authority. One is a 0.75 percent tax that can be passed on to consumers and the other a 2 percent tax that cannot be passed on. Governor Carey wants to replace them with a single 2 percent gross receipts tax that companies could pass along to consumers.
  • The arbitrated settlement that averted a New York City transit strike is no peace treaty; it's only a truce for which each side pays a heavy price. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority gives its workers a 21 percent pay increase over three years. The unions agree to negotiate the often-wasteful work rules in transit departments and shops.
    • The wage settlement is somewhat higher than the current inflation rate and the percentages the Koch Administration projected in budget forecasts. But it is not out of line with other recent government contracts, including Albany's. Although other municipal unions will treat the transit settlement as a basis for their own demands, the ''zipper clause'' that opens all unwritten work rules to renegotiation sets this contract apart.
    • The M.T.A. considers the clause a major breakthrough. In past years it routinely traded away productivity for lower wage demands, to hold down fare increases. But now the M.T.A. wants to improve service and is embarking on a major capital expenditure program to restore stations and rights-of-way, rebuild shops and replace subway cars and buses. It cannot attain them without better performance from the work force.
  • Fares on subways, buses and commuter lines could go up by as much as 40 percent this summer, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority warned yesterday.
    • However, such increases could be avoided, according to the chairman, Richard Ravitch, if the Federal and state governments stepped in to reduce the authority's projected operating deficit of $406 million.
    • Talking about the worse scenario, Mr. Ravitch said: ''There will be in the neighborhood of a 25-cent fare increase on the New York City Transit Authority - possibly 30 cents - and a 33 to 36 percent increase on the commuter lines.'' Fares Rose Last Summer
    • Linking the possibility of a $1 fare with action in Albany, as Mr. Ravitch did, is certain to exert pressure on the legislators, all of whom are facing re-election this year. As such, it is also a time when the members are loathe to enact the new taxes that would be needed to pay for transit aid. When asked about the different pressures on the Legislature, Mr. Ravitch said, ''I recognize that these are tough decisions.''
    • In another transit development, Drew Lewis, the United States Secretary of Transportation, announced in New York yesterday the approval of three Federal grants worth $108 million to the M.T.A. The money, however, is for capital expenses rather than operating needs and has no bearing on the fare.
    • The $406 million operating deficit mentioned by Mr. Ravitch is the combined total for the current fiscal year and fiscal 1983, which begins July 1. Mr. Ravitch said the deficit was the result of shortfalls in state and Federal aid, the cost of the recent labor settlement with the transit workers and other increased expenses.
    • President Reagan announced last year that he would ask Congress to phase out Federal operating assistance to local transit agencies by 1985. With the President's recent decision to acclerate that reduction, Mr. Ravitch said, the M.T.A. stands to lose $53 million over the two-year period.
    • Despite the litany of deficits, Mr. Ravitch said there were a few bright spots in the budget projections, including fare-box revenues that were $8 million more than expected and $50 million in administrative savings, which he attributed to better management.
  • By the end of last summer, things were looking up for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and for the 4 million passengers who use its subway, bus and commuter rail lines each day. The New York Legislature had enacted a host of taxes to raise $793 million to help cover the cost of running the system. Richard Ravitch, the authority chairman, had put together an ambitious $7.2 billion capital program to help rebuild it.
    • The authority was looking forward to new equipment, improved maintenance, a steady fare and an end to the long decline in ridership. Things could get so good, Mr. Ravitch allowed, that new passengers might even be persuaded to climb aboard.
    • What a difference a year makes. An important part of the rebuilding program, a leasing arrangement worth $500 million to the authority, is under serious challenge in Congress. The Reagan Administration has proposed to cut $53 million in Federal operating subsidies. And the transit tax package the Legislature put together is running $189 million short.
    • So it was hardly a surprise when, after days of shuttling between Albany and Washington in an effort to hold things together, Mr. Ravitch called a news conference Thursday to warn that the 75-cent subway and bus fare might rise as high as $1.05 this summer, accompanied by proportionate increases on the Long Island Rail Road and metropolitan region of Conrail.
    • Higher fares are bound to have a depressing impact on ridership. According to a study by the City Comptroller, Harrison J. Goldin, subway ridership declined 5.8 percent since the fare rose from 60 cents to 75 cents last July. A 33 percent fare increase this summer could mean another drop of 10 percent, according to David Z. Plavin, the executive director of the M.T.A.
    • The question was whether the lawmakers would be willing to refashion last year's tax package - which included a quarter-cent sales tax, a real estate transfer tax and a gross receipts tax on oil companies - and, if necessary, enact additional taxes to compensate for ever rising expenses and, perhaps, ever increasing Federal cutbacks. Governor Carey has already proposed one such plan, but the Legislature resisted it. With all the seats in the Assembly and Senate up for grabs this year, an agreement may be as difficult to come by as a seat on the I.R.T. during rush hour.
    • Some sort of fare rise, the third in three years, seems inevitable, according to lawmakers and transit officials. And while there is never a good time for such an increase, now seems a particularly bad one, since it coincides with a planned promotional campaign that the M.T.A. expects to begin this summer. Signs of Things to Come
    • At each of the system's 458 stations, the authority will post a notice telling of improvements to come at that stop - a new escalator, new lighting or new security measures such as closed circuit television cameras. The signs, which will also be posted at Long Island and Conrail stations, will also tell of the difficulties of getting some of the projects started and appeal to riders for patience.
    • The posters are perhaps the first visible evidence of an improvement program that, except for the threat to the leasing arrangement (which enables a private company to purchase subway cars, buses or rail cars and rent them to the authority, with the company gaining tax breaks and the authority reaping savings), Mr. Ravitch said is ''proceeding well.'' The M.T.A. has had its problems with new equipment - just last week, for example, more than 100 new General Motors buses were reported idled with malfunctioning rear doors - but there are high hopes for 186 new Budd commuter cars as well 325 subway cars built by Kawasaki of Japan. Negotiations for 825 I.R.T. cars are continuing.
    • And although the recent labor settlement, arrived at through arbitration, will cost the M.T.A. nearly $500 million over the next three years, Mr. Ravitch said some aspects of the contract, particularly the elimination of work quotas, will make the 35,000 bus and subway employees more productive.
  • The cost of operating New York City's subway and bus system in the coming fiscal year will be $2.3 billion, about $300 million more than in fiscal 1982, the Transit Authority said yesterday.
    • The total, as forecast in the authority's 1983 budget request, includes $113 million to pay for the recent labor settlement with the system's 35,000 workers. The cost of the settlement, which had earlier been estimated at $500 million over three years, will actually come to $686 million when related costs are taken into account, according to figures released yesterday.
    • Mr. Berger said he was particularly concerned with requests for additional employees. Among other items, the budget asks for 128 new motormen and conductors, 245 new maintenance-of-way workers and 119 new bus drivers.
    • In a related development, Mr. Simpson said he could not immediately support a contention made last week by Mr. Ravitch that $50 million in an authority ''contingency fund'' had been saved in fiscal 1982 through improved administrative controls.
    • In an interview before his testimony to the committee, Mr. Simpson explained that the savings had come from a revised pension, power costs and increased investment earnings.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A., acknowledged that some of the savings had come from ''factors beyond our control,'' but added that other savings had come from ''an atmosphere of tighter control over the budget than ever before.''
    • The authority's budget came under attack from the office of Carol Bellamy, the City Council President. According to its analysis of the new budget, administrative costs would 18 percent over 1982, while spending on the subways would rise 3 percent and spending on buses would remain roughly the same.
  • Transit officials said yesterday that a plan to charge New York City subway passengers a higher fare than bus riders was under serious consideration by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • According to the officials, a two-tier fare system could take effect if the 75-cent fare goes up this summer, as expected. If it is approved, it would end a 32-year practice of keeping city subway and bus fares at the same level.
    • The notice invites the public to three hearings next month to comment on a possible fare increase ''of up to 50 cents'' as well as on a ''structure under which bus and subway fares would be set at different levels.'' The hearings will also consider increases of as much as 50 percent in the cost of riding the Long Island Rail Road and the metropolitan region of Conrail.
    • Officials declined to speculate on what the two-tier fare structure might be, but they did say that the subway fare would have to go up proportionally to make up for the shortfall in bus revenue. Thus, if the bus fare was to remain at 75 cents, the cost of a subway token would have to go up to more than the $1.05 contemplated by Mr. Ravitch.
    • If a two-tier system is adopted it would be the first since 1950, when a subway trip cost a dime and a bus ride 7 cents. Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the authority, said the plan was being looked at because recent fare rises had led to a greater drop in the number of bus riders than in subway passengers.
  • Six months after he became Mayor Koch's special adviser on transit matters, Ross Sandler has still not taken a seat on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority because another board member has resisted the Mayor's pressure to step down.
    • Transit officials characterized as exaggerated reports of a possible increase in the 75-cent fare to $1.25. The reports stemmed from legal notices that said the board would hold hearings to consider an increase of up to 50 cents. ''Twenty-five to 30 cents is what it looks like now, but the hearing notice gives us flexibility,'' said Arthur G. Perfall, the M.T.A. spokesman. The specter of a $1.25 fare also helps the authority pressure the Legislature to increase transit aid.
  • About 20 people who were unable to pay fines for minor offenses in Brooklyn subways will be penalized by having to clean graffiti from the inside of subway cars
  • A legal challenge by a state labor leader to New York's purchase of 325 subway cars from a Japanese manufacturer has been dismissed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
  • A Reagan Administration official has warned the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that it may face heavy penalties if it awards a subway-car contract to a foreign builder.
  • The State Assembly's Democratic leadership said today that increases in bus, subway and commuter rail fares were not needed this year and that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had ''grossly exaggerated'' its projected $406 million deficit.
    • In a sharp attack on the authority's chairman, Richard Ravitch, two key Assembly committee chairmen said he was using ''scare tactics'' to frighten riders and to pressure the Legislature into passing new taxes that they said were not neeeded. Endorsed by Speaker
    • Mr. Koppell and Arthur J. Kremer, a Democrat from Long Beach, L.I., who heads the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, released an analysis showing that the Transit Authority, which operates subways and buses in New York City, could have a surplus of $17 million while the commuter railroads could have a deficit of $15 million during the next two fiscal years.
    • While Mr. Ravitch had reduced Federal operating aid in his budget projections because President Reagan has proposed phasing it out, Mr. Koppell pointed out that last week the Senate Finance Committee restored Federal operating subsidies to last year's levels.
    • In addition, the legislators questioned the including of $70 million as a reserve for contingencies, $20 million in overestimated expenses, $37 million in new programs that have not been approved by the M.T.A. board, and a $36 million repayment to the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority that the legislators said was not needed.
    • Mr. Koppell said that while a $70 million reserve was needed last year because Transit Authority labor negotiatons had not been concluded, this year there was no such need.
    • Mr. Ravitch countered that any organization as large as the M.T.A. needed a reserve.
  • With the aid of a loan from Canada, New York will purchase 825 subway cars from a Canadian manufacturer for $662 million, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced yesterday.
    • The order represents the largest single purchase of subway cars in the history of the M.T.A. The vehicles, which are expected to begin arriving two years from now, are all to be in service by late 1987. They will replace cars on the IRT system that are 25 to 35 years old
    • The negotiated price per New York car will be $803,485, for a total purchase price of $662,875,125. The price is subject to the cost of metals at the time of construction. The Canadian Government will provide 85 percent of the total price, or $563 million, at an interest rate fixed over 15 years at 9.7 percent.
  • Legislators say they caught Mr. Ravitch using overly pessimistic figures as part of a scare tactic to put pressure on the Legislature to revise a package of state taxes passed last year and to obtain additional assistance. Democratic and Republican fiscal aides indicated they were inclined to agree.
    • Mr. Ravitch says that to protect riders from future unexpected fare increases, he must budget conservatively and not count revenues until they can be counted on
    • In any case, they say, the legislative leaders - Warren M. Anderson, the Republican majority leader in the State Senate, and the Assembly Speaker, Stanley Fink, a Democrat - have assured the Transportation Authority that, even if the package falls short, the aid will be provided.
    • Mr. Ravitch today proposed that the Legislature make an appropriation to cover all funds due under the tax package. If the tax revenues come in, the state would be reimbursed. If not, the authority's budget would be in balance.
    • Other issues include $70 million in contingency funds that legislative fiscal aides consider excessive and $37 million in new car-rehabilitaton programs not yet approved by the M.T.A. board.
    • Mr. Ravitch acknowledged that the final budget approved by the board might have a lower contingency fund and that the $37 million for car rehabilitation might be reduced or eliminated.
  • The Budd Company will seek an injunction to block the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's award of a $662 million subway-car contract to Bombardier Inc., of Montreal.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has ''overstated'' its deficit projections for New York City's transit system and can balance its budget with a fare increase of no more than 15 cents, the State Comptroller said yesterday.
    • The Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, a Republican, thus joined the debate over how much of an increase might be needed this summer in the 75-cent subway fare. Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, has said that the fare might have to go as high as $1.05; Democratic leaders in the State Legislature have argued that the fare can remain where it is.
    • Based on a preliminary evaluation conducted by Sidney Schwartz, the special deputy comptroller for New York City, the Comptroller's office charged that the M.T.A. overstated its case when it predicted a $285 million deficit for fiscal 1982 and 1983. The real gap, according to Mr. Schwartz's analysis, will be $147 million, which would require a 15-cent fare increase.
    • Both analyses asserted that the M.T.A. had overstated its needs and underestimated its revenues. The one major difference was that legislative leaders had more confidence than the Comptroller in the Legislature's ability to make up an anticipated $124 million shortfall in a state transit tax package.
    • Three weeks ago, Mr. Ravitch held a press conference to announce that the M.T.A. system faced a two-year deficit of $406 million. Of the total, $285 million was attributed to the Transit Authority, which runs the subways and buses, and $121 million to the commuter railroads, which include the Long Island Rail Road and the metropolitan region of Conrail.
    • Unless the Legislature could come up with money to make up the shortfall, Mr. Ravitch said, there would be a 25 to 30 cent fare increase on the subways and buses, and a 33 to 36 percent increase on the commuter lines.
    • According to the Comptroller's analysis, the Transit Authority deficit could be reduced if it eliminated $37 million in new programs and $65 million in contingency funds in the 1983 budget. In addition, the report said that the authority understated fare revenues by $7 million, overstated operating expenditures by $28 million and overstated the 1982 budget gap by $11 million.
  • The Fire Department has determined that a fire-retardant coating proposed for potentially hazardous plastic electrical tubing used in subway station public-address systems is of ''limited value.''
    • The determination was disclosed yesterday by City Council President Carol Bellamy, who called for the immediate removal of the tubing used in 58 Manhattan stations. She said the toxic fumes it released under intense heat posed ''a clear and present danger'' to millions of riders and workers.
    • The M.T.A. has estimated that it would cost $2 million to remove the public-address tubing.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that the agency's plan to buy 825 subway cars from a Canadian manufacturer had been ''seriously jeopardized'' by ''silly squabbles'' in the Reagan Administration and by ''political actions'' in Congress.
    • If the M.T.A. is forced to renegotiate the Canadian deal it could cost the agency $300 million, Mr. Ravitch said. In addition, he said, if Congress ends the ''safe harbor leasing'' provision for public transit, it could mean an additional loss of $500 million.
  • The Reagan Administration said today that the plan of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to buy 825 subway cars from Canada violated international trade agreements. And it said that it was considering ''all of our options'' for action against the Canadian Government and the manufacturer.
  • Inefficiencies in getting spare parts have forced ''rampant cannibalization'' of some subway cars to provide needed parts for others, City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin said yesterday. He called it a ''significant'' factor in the decline of the system's passenger service.; computerization of department expected by July-depended on two companies-Westinghouse and General Electric for most critical subway parts-resulted in exorbitant prices-TA now had an engineering unit-prepare drawings-certain parts-send out other suppliers-vie for competitive bids
    • In an audit report, the Comptroller said the lengthy procurement cycle stemmed mainly from inordinate delays in processing purchase orders by the Transit Authority and excessively late deliveries by suppliers, notably by the system's two major supply companies, Westinghouse and General Electric.
    • The report, based largely on data from 1980 and early 1981, said an average of a year passed between the time goods were requisitioned by the authority and the date they were received. The authority's practices were responsible for 129 days of the elapsed time and the suppliers, for about 217 days, the report said, even though deliveries were generally promised within 90 days. Trying to Correct Deficiencies
    • John D. Simpson, the Transit Authority president, whose views were sought in the preparation of the report and included in it, conceded the deficiencies. He said, however, that the authority had been moving to correct them in the last year through such measures as the expansion of data processing and the scheduled July implementation of an automated purchase, receiving and accounts payable system.
    • The Comptroller's report held that ''cannibalization,'' while a necessary evil in emergency situations, was a costly expedient to overcome the failure to obtain parts in a timely manner because of such Transit Authority practices as poor inventory records and lack of contract penalty clauses for late deliveries.
    • On delivery delays by the major suppliers, the report said that Westinghouse had delivered an average of 140 days past the promised delivery date on 21 of 31 sampled purchases and that General Electric averaged 48 days late on six of eight examined purchases. The two companies, the report said, sold more than $7.6 million in supplies to the authority in 1980.
    • The report said the authority's ''almost total dependence'' on its two largest suppliers had, in addition to frequent late deliveries, resulted in a lack of purchase discounts, such as the 2 percent offered by smaller suppliers, and apparently exorbitant prices. However, the report added, when other suppliers had made competitive bids, both Westinghouse and General Electric significantly lowered their prices. Competitive bidding is employed except for emergency orders.
    • Although Westinghouse and General Electric ''farm out'' some of their orders to subcontractors, the report said, the subcontractors themselves were ''reluctant to deal directly'' with the Transit Authority ''for fear of losing future business'' with the two major companies.
    • The Comptroller urged that the two major suppliers be required to supply the names of subcontractors for inclusion in the authority's mailing lists of potential bidders. Mr. Simpson said that the authority had sought such information ''without notable success'' and that it would continue its efforts.

June 1982

[edit]
  • The Budd Company of Michigan filed a countervailing duty petition here today that seeks protection from the Federal Government against the offer made by the Canadian manufacturer, Bombardier Inc., to build subway cars for the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
  • New York City's transit system gets less Federal assistance as a proportion of operating budget than the six other major city transit systems in the United States, according to studies by a leading consultant concern.
    • In analyzing President Reagan's new proposals, Mayor Koch's administration said they would cut Federal operating aid to the Transit Authority to $106 million in fiscal 1982, or 5.3 percent of operating revenues. The city reckons it has 33 percent of national transit riders, and says the existing formula has given the New York area only 15 percent of Federal mass-transit operating aid.
    • The New York City Transit Authority operating deficit was $348,001,000 in fiscal 1981 after operating expenses of $1,217,301,000 and operating revenues of $869,300,000, according to the Program Planners studies.
  • Minor flaws have been discovered in hundreds of undercarriages built to replace defective parts of a problem-plagued fleet of city subway cars, but the effect on service will not be known until experts study the defects this week, Transit Authority officials said yesterday.
  • The Budd Company sought an injunction in Federal District Court yesterday to stop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from buying 825 IRT subway cars from a Canadian manufacturer.
  • At a hearing in Federal District Court yesterday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to postpone for three days final action on its controversial plan to purchase 825 subway cars from a Canadian manufacturer. The agreement came after the Budd Company of Michigan sought an injunction against the deal.
  • United States Senator Donald Riegle, Democrat of Michigan, said yesterday in Detroit that he had introduced legislation designed to cut off Federal mass transit financing to New York City if it goes through with the purchase of subway cars from a Canadian company.
  • The board voted to reduce by $65 million the $2.1 billion operating budget of the Transit Authority for the fiscal year 1983. There will be cuts in supplies and some wages and fringe benefits, and the number of transit employees will not be increased over fiscal 1982. Despite the cuts, Mr. Simpson said, passenger service will not be reduced.
    • This budget reduction helps close an anticipated deficit of $270 million that M.T.A. officials said would require a fare increase of up to 30 cents. They said that if a fare increase was to be avoided, the Legislature would have to make up the rest with new aid.
    • Under a new contract provision added in recent days, the M.T.A. can cancel the contract with Bombardier if the Budd Company can get the Treasury Department to match the Canadian financing before July 15. As a result of this provision, Budd agreed to drop a lawsuit it brought in Federal court earlier this week to block the Bombardier contract, until it had an opportunity to seek Federal aid.
  • An official of the New York City Transit Authority charged with illegally taking benefits from companies doing business with the authority said yesterday he ''thought there was nothing wrong with it'' because other officials were doing the same.
  • The State Assembly's Democratic leaders and the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority remained at odds today over whether increases in bus, subway and commuter rail fares were needed.
    • The leaders, who made their statement after a meeting with Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., ruled out any changes this year in the transit tax package approved last year to produce $260 million in revenue.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the M.T.A. might not face so large a deficit as he once feared, but he refused to rule out the possibility of raising the fares on July 1.
    • The legislators said the M.T.A. should be able to close most of the gap with $50 million it has in reserve.''We started with a very large problem and brought it down to a $60 million problem against which there are reserves,'' Mr. Kremer said at a news conference in Mr. Fink's office.
    • In addition, the legislators said Mr. Ravitch had not counted $35 million in Federal aid the M.T.A. is to receive. Mr. Ravitch, however, pointed out that there was still uncertainty that the tax package approved last July to save the 75-cent fare. He said the package could fall short by more than $180 million because of problems in collecting several taxes.
    • A tax on interstate communications and commercial transport was expected to raise $84 million in revenues by June 30. But to date, only the New York Telephone Company has paid the tax, approximately $15 million, according to Ralph Laws, the Assembly's top fiscal aide.
  • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said yesterday in discussing a variety of options that the authority might be able to delay an increase in the 75-cent bus and subway fares until early next year.
    • He also presented revised figures that showed that the authority's 1983 deficit would be $82 million lower than he had anticipated. His comments at a news conference at M.T.A. headquarters, at 347 Madison Avenue, came a day after he returned from Albany, where Democratic leaders in the Legislature told him that a fare increase before the statewide elections in November would not be palatable.
    • But if a fare increase is delayed, he asserted, ''the amount of fare increase required Jan. 1 will be twice what will be required on July 1 - and I'm not sure that is in the best interest of our riders.''
    • Aides of Mr. Ravitch said an additional option was under discussion: a fare increase that would be approved this month but would not go into effect until next year. That way, the aides said, the authority can do what is fiscally sound - pass a balanced budget that includes a fare increase - and roll back the increase if additional state aid materializes.
    • What would be required on July 1 would be a fare increase of roughly 20 cents, Mr. Ravitch said, basing this on new deficit figures that he released yesterday. Last May 6, using an earlier set of figures, Mr. Ravitch said that an increase of 25 to 30 cents would be needed. Deficit Scaled Down
    • Yesterday he said the deficit had been scaled down $82 million through a $65 million reduction in the operating budget and a $17 million ''re-estimate'' of revenues. A further reduction of $46 million might occur, he added, if committees in the House and Senate prevail in their struggle with the Reagan Administration to keep mass transit operating subsidies in 1983 at the 1982 level.
    • The largest chunk of the remaining deficit - $134 million - would result from shortfalls in the transit tax package passed by the Legislature last year, Mr. Ravitch said. Revenues from these taxes, which are levied on oil companies and other businesses, have not brought in the dollars projected.
  • A former official of the New York City Transit Authority was found guilty of extortion yesterday for having taken more than $30,000 in benefits from companies involved in producing the problem-plagued R-46 subway cars.
  • When summer arrives at 1:23 P.M. today, half of New York City's buses and nearly two-thirds of its subway cars will be without airconditioning.
  • Haikalis-CITY'S SUBWAY CARS NEED REPAIR, NOT REPLACEMENT
    • Subway service is poor and unreliable, not because cars are old but be-cause they are not properly repaired and maintained. This contention is backed up by New York City Transit Authority's own statistics that show that all car classes, regardless of age, have dropped drastically in reliability in the past decade. The overall failure rate in 1971 was once per 24,000 miles. Today it is once per 6,500 miles.
    • In 1971 there were nearly 900 over-age cars, or 13 percent of the fleet, in contrast to none today. Newer cars and older cars fail at virtually the same rate. The problem is essen-tially ''soft'' - poor management, low morale and inefficient work quotas. New Japanese and Canadian cars will suffer from this same ''soft'' problem as soon as they arrive on the property.
    • Furthermore, today's political environment apparently dictates buying subway cars of identical design to cars slated for premature retirement. These cars were of obsolete design when purchased, and replacement in kind adds greatly to capital cost and operating cost. In contrast, cars recently purchased for the Chicago transit system or PATH represent state-of-the-art design for narrow constrained systems like the IRT. The recent Chicago order cost 40 percent less per unit than the proposed IRT purchase.
  • The United States is bringing formal charges that the Canadian Government illegally subsidized export credits to help a Canadian manufacturer win a contract to supply New York City with subway cars, the United States trade representative, Bill Brock, announced today.
  • City Council President Carol Bellamy announced yesterday that the city would provide $2 million in the 1983 budget to replace some of the polyvinyl chloride tubing in the subway system.
    • ''We are happy the city provided extra funds,'' said Daniel T. Scannell, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. ''I think that to the extent that it can be used to remove PVC in areas closest to the public, it would seem to me that it should be done.''
    • Mr. Scannell said, however, that the money would not be enough to remove all such tubing in the subway. Transit officials say they will replace the plastic with steel cable. '
  • LIRR fare increase
  • WASHINGTON has now jumped into the battle to block a deal between N ew York City and Canada for the sale of much needed subway cars. L ast week, the United States Government formally accused Canada of i llegally subsidizing the subway car sale, thereby promising a s lugging match with our most important trading partner. If New York i s not to be the victim, the traditional American approach to trade p olicy will have to be changed. It will no longer suffice to stop a g ood deal just because someone is hurt or put out of a job; the b enefits to others will have to be measured and weighed against the c osts.
  • The manufacturers of wiring and cables in 754 subway cars have tentatively agreed to pay New York City and the Transit Authority more than $4 million in settlement of a lawsuit charging that the products were defective.
    • The city and the Transit Authority had sought $80 million in damages, contending that the insulation around the wiring and cables cracked, allowing sparks to fly, according to Richard K. Bernard, general counsel for the Transit Authority. The suit was filed in State Supreme Court on Dec. 21, 1979.
  • Canada's Minister for International Trade, Edward Lumley, said today that his Government was willing to reduce the credit subsidy and raise the interest rate on a $662 million contract between New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a Montreal company to build 825 subway cars, provided the M.T.A. agreed.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said he saw ''absolutely no reason'' to accept the higher rate.
  • Legislative leaders pledged today to make up any shortfall in revenue from a package of taxes it passed last year to assist the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink said he and the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, would bring the Legislature back into session in December to reshape the tax package if it failed to produce as much as anticipated.
    • The pledge from the leaders came as the Assembly prepared to vote on a bill that would make public transportation authorities more accountable to the state by requiring the authorities to submit annual reports to the Legislature and the state's budget director.
    • Under the measure, the M.T.A. would also be required to submit quarterly plans for service on all of its bus, subway and commuter rail lines, with standards for cleanliness, maintenance and air conditioning.

July 1982

[edit]
  • The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority decided yesterday to postpone at least until December proposed increases in subway, bus and commuter fares.
    • As a result of the decision, the State Financial Control Board voted unanimously last night to grant a six-month - rather than a one-year - approval of the authority's financial plan for fiscal 1983, which begins today.
    • The board then adopted unanimously a resolution saying it would reconvene ''on or before Dec. 10'' to review the budget and adopt fare increases ''as will then appear necessary to provide a balanced operating budget for fiscal year 1983.''
    • According to participants in the last-minute talks, the Control Board staff wanted the M.T.A. board to approve fare increases to insure a balanced budget for the authority through the end of fiscal 1983. The price for not enacting a fare increase now, participants said, was approval of only a six-month plan.
    • As part of its mandate as the city's fiscal monitor, the Financial Control Board must approve the budget of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. agency that runs the city's and buses, but it has no jurisdiction over the commuter lines. The Transit Authority deficit was estimated at $210 million.
    • At the meeting of the Control Board at the World Trade Center last night, Governor Carey, its chairman, said that, if necessary, he would either ask the Legislature to act on new subsidies or the M.T.A. board to act on fare increases before Dec. 10 if the transit budget deficits persisted. It would be ''injudicious and imprudent not to,'' the Governor said.
    • ''Both sides gave a little,'' according to an aide to Mr. Ravitch. ''The legislators admitted that there might be a problem with the tax package and Ravitch said that a promise might suffice where action was what he originally wanted.''
  • A dispute over the interest-rate aid that Canada would provide to help a Montreal company sell subway cars to New York poses acute problems for the Reagan Administration, the Canadian Government and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
  • The Federal tax-leasing arrangement for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's program to buy new subway cars was extended by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday as a provision in the proposed 1982 tax bill.
  • A group of business executives who spent a year studying the New York City subway system from within report that they have found archaic procedures, inefficient use of manpower, confused lines of authority and woeful customer relations.
    • The executives paint a picture of a public agency with a $2 billion budget Excerpts from report, page B4. whose telephones go unanswered, inventory practices are 40 years old and where carbon paper abounds in an era of computerization.
    • The report, which includes recommendations in 19 areas, also portrays the Transit Authority management as eager to improve its operations. In virtually every area, the recommendations, which have already been made to the authority, have been adopted or are under serious consideration.
    • The 36-page report is scheduled to be released Thursday at City Hall by Mayor Koch, the Transit Authority and representatives of the business group, the Economic Development Council. The business team, headed by Morris Dantzker, consisted of 22 executives on loan at no cost to the authority from 18 private companies, including New York Telephone, Brooklyn Union Gas, I.B.M. and A.T.&T.
    • John D. Simpson, the president of the authority, said last night that he had not seen the report and could not comment on it. However, he said the executives had ''performed in an extraordinary manner'' in a ''spirit of cooperation.''
    • But one said that the executives appeared to have overcome initial ''suspicion'' on the part of transit managers and that a ''good working relationship'' had been achieved.
    • But Mr. Simpson said he wanted to continue work within the authority to improve seven of the areas. He gave the council free reign to look at the 48 others. Mr. Simpson has yet to issue a report on the areas that he reserved to the authority, which include financial audits, broken subway-car doors and the reorganization of the headquarters operation at 370 Jay Street in Brooklyn.
    • - Forty-five percent of the telephone calls from customers go unanswered, and it takes from six to 12 weeks to reply to a customer's letter. The report calls for the acquisition of a new call-distribution system, the hiring of additional personnel and the improvement of training for those on board. The authority has ordered new equipment and initiated the hiring and training.
    • - Nearly $100 million is spent operating the system's 753 token booths. The cost could be cut by more than 25 percent if tokens were sold in bulk at the booths, banks and stores. The authority has begun to do that at 14 booths and is planning a broader retail program.
    • - The control system for car maintenance at the system's major yard at Coney Island has not been significantly altered since the 1940's. The present manual system, which uses paper, should be replaced by an automated computer model. The transition is under way.
    • - The Transit Authority purchasing department spends $175 million a year, but the forms used ''do not include essential conditions and agreements.'' The report called for an overhaul of contracts and other documents. The changes are now under review by the authority's legal department.
    • - There are 36 regular reports on subway crime, which is classified in 275 categories. The reporting system is ''duplicative'' and ''excessive,'' but there is no division charged with crime analysis. The authority should reduce the 275 classifications to 50, review the usefulness of its crime reports and establish a crime analysis unit. The recommendations are under review by the Transit Authority police.
    • The authority does not have a single department responsible for systems and data processing, although there are 250 employees working in this field in nine divisions. The authority expects to have an over-all data-processing unit before the end of the year, and the technology will be introduced in various departments.
    • - Virtually all of the 6,200 subway cars are marred by graffiti, both inside and out. Vandalism, especially the smashing of windows, is rampant. The report recommends the fencing of 18 subway yards. This has already been done at five of them; the rest are scheduled for fencing by the end of the year.
    • - The torts division of the legal department has become ''primarily a settlement operation,'' with large settlements the rule. Lawyers should follow cases through the courts and develop a settlement strategy, and the division should exercise greater control over the time of the staff. The authority has adopted all the recommendations. Some Areas of Disagreement
    • Although there was wide agreement among Transit Authority managers to carry out the mandates of the executives, there were a few areas of disagreement.
    • For example, the report recommended that passengers who lost a token because of a malfunctioning turnstile be reimbursed on the spot. The authority said, however, that such a system was subject to too much abuse. They asked that the current system of sending refunds through the mail be maintained. The council is reconsidering its recommendation.
    • The business executive program is expected to continue through the middle of 1983. Additional reports are expected to be made later. The salaries and benefits of the 22 executives were paid for by their companies. The individual assignments ranged from six to 18 months.
  • Following are excerpts from the report of the Economic Development Council's Transit Authority Task Force on a variety of problems and recommendations: Customer Service
  • John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority, snapped at a reporter's suggestion that the findings were ''damning.'' ''The first step in resolving a problem is to acknowledge it, identify it and to begin to address how you correct it,'' Mr. Simpson said.
    • ''If that's damning,'' he added, ''I'll be damned.'' Virtually all of the recommendations made in the report are either being implemented or are under serious consideration by the authority. The program, under the direction of Morris Dantzker, president of the Economic Development Council, is expected to continue through the middle of next year, when additional reports will be issued.
  • The bonds that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to issue to help pay for the rebuilding of the subway system received an investment-grade rating yesterday from one of the two major bond rating agencies.
    • When the full $1.6 billion in authorized bonds has been issued, the annual debt service payments will require a fare increase of about 20 cents, Standard & Poor's said.
    • The full $1.6 billion will not be issued for at least five years, M.T.A. officials said. A first issue of between $50 million and $100 million will probably be offered in August, Mr. Ravitch said.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the projection of a 20-cent fare increase is based on the most negative set of circumstances. If ridership increases, if interest rates fall or if government comes up with greater subsidies, the fare increases to pay for the bonds would be reduced or eliminated, he said.
    • While praising the legal security and backing for the bonds, Standard & Poor's said it had put the M.T.A. issue in the lowest of its investment-grade categories in part because of the ''uncertainty'' surrounding a package of taxes passed by the Legislature last year to help balance the M.T.A. budget. Income Shortfall
    • It is the first such bond issue in the M.T.A.'s history. ''They'll be sold, I think, with a great deal of enthusiasm,'' said David H. Troob, senior vice president of Shearson/American Express. Opening the Market
  • The Treasury Secretary said today that he would not authorize Government financing support of an American manufacturer that wants to sell subway cars to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City.
    • The decision by the Secretary, Donald T. Regan, against the Budd Company of Michigan allows the M.T.A. to go ahead with its contract for 825 cars with a Canadian concern, Bombardier Inc. The contract calls for the last of the cars to be delivered by May 1987.
    • In refusing the Budd request, Mr. Regan said he was convinced that Bombardier would have been awarded the M.T.A. contract ''even if Budd were able to offer matching financing.''
  • The chief of New York City's transit police said yesterday that his department would like to expand the canine subway patrol force to at least 50 dogs.
  • Lax supervision and poor work habits in its two major repair shops contribute to the breakdown and delay of many subway trains and cost the Transit Authority millions of dollars a year, according to a study released yesterday.
  • The study, by State Comptroller Edward V. Regan, found that maintenance and repair workers at a shop on 207th Street in Manhattan and at one in Coney Island in Brooklyn performed many tasks too slowly. Because workers sometimes took a day and a half to do jobs that management and the union had agreed should be done in less than a day, subway riders suffered unnecessary delays, breakdowns and canceled trains, the report said.; more
    • In addition to poor service, the inefficient practices of the carmaintenance department forced the authority to pay at least $4.1 million in unnecessary labor costs in fiscal year 1981 and ''additional millions'' in overtime costs.
    • ''Worker productivity was as much as 58 percent below established T.A. work-rule standards,'' Mr. Regan said. He said that ''positive changes'' at the top of the authority's hierarchy had ''not extended down to the middle management and shop levels where they must reach in order to make a difference.'' 'Gains Are Relatively Minor'
    • Regarding authority assertions that it has improved some aspects of its service, the audit said that ''the gains that may have been achieved lately are relatively minor and do not represent a significant rebound in service levels.'' It noted a steady decline in the number of trains that are on-time during rush hours, from 93.3 percent in 1978 to 78.7 percent in 1981.
    • The study, which was limited to the two major shops of the 21 the authority operates, covered the first six months of 1981. However, a spokesman for Mr. Regan said that the auditors had visited the shops again in May and June of this year and found that the conditions largely remained uncorrected.
    • ''It's current,'' said the spokesman, Bonnie Graham. John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, said the study ''should be read as history and not something that makes our riders think we are still sliding downhill.'' He said the rush-hour statistics were not really meaningful because they only measured when trains left their starting points and reached their final destinations. 2d Report on System This Month
    • Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the work practices of many employees were ''restrictive.'' He blamed low productivity quotas that were fixed by previous contracts or by arbitrators. He said the authority was seeking to change many of those quotas and was scheduled to have a hearing on the subject before John E. Zuccotti, the transit arbitrator, on July 21.
    • The report is the second one released this month that is critical of the subway system. Last week, a group of business executives who spent a year studying the system from within announced their conclusions that the $2 billion agency was riddled with archaic procedures, inefficient use of manpower, confused lines of authority and woeful customer relations.
    • The Regan study made a number of recommendations, including ones that would allow the authority's senior staff to know exactly how much repair work was being done each day and to more closely monitor costs. In his response to a draft of the report, which was included in the final version, Mr. Simpson said that many of the recommendations either have been or would be followed.
  • The Commerce Department started an investigation today to determine whether the Canadian Government was subsidizing the export of subway cars to the United States by a Montreal company.
  • Air-conditioning units on New York City buses, both old and new, require such a high degree of maintenance that transit officials say they are fighting a losing battle to keep buses cool this summer.
  • Controller Regan-charged 30% air conditioners in subway cars do not work-paid consultant $210,000 1981-findings-differ than TA-claimed AC not working 15% cars-"This problem, together with other recently reported maintenance shortcomings, raises serious questions in my mind as to the TA's ability to adequately maintain its fleet under existing conditions, even with the infusion of additional capital funding."

August 1982

[edit]
  • The New York City Transit Authority will be required to conduct a noise-abatement study and find ways of reducing noise on its subway cars, under legislation approved this week by Governor Carey.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is hoping that two dusty, silent and unused subway tunnels beneath Second Avenue will become discotheques, wine cellars, bowling alleys, prisons, mushroom farms or whatever any entrepreneur would like.
    • In order to provide access, the M.T.A. would also rent the streetlevel rights that it has for subway entrances. The authority acquired these rights, as well as the underground route, in 1966, when the Board of Estimate approved the Second Avenue subway. The line was supposed to extend from 125th Street to the Battery and cost $1 billion.
  • The United States International Trade Commission ruled today that American industry might suffer economic injury because of Canadian Government export credits that helped Bombardier Inc. win a contract to build 825 subway cars for New York City.
    • The preliminary ruling means the I.T.C. and Commerce Department will continue investigations that could result in penalty duties on the Canadian-built cars.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Reagan Administration have reached an agreement that will let the M.T.A. take over operation of the three commuter rail lines between New York City and its northern suburbs, officials said yesterday.
    • The M.T.A. agreed to operate the lines only after receiving assurances that the Reagan Administration would recommend to Congress that $65 million be made available toward the cost of transferring the operations to the authority.
  • M.T.A. AND CONRAIL; News Analysis
  • A transit arbitrator ruled last night that the Transit Authority had the right to improve productivity in car barns and maintenance shops by determining work loads through production standards.
    • But the arbitrator, John E. Zuccotti, also suggested the authority's method of exercising its rights under the current collective bargaining agreement with the Transport Workers Union had been at odds with the general direction of American industrial relations.
    • The decision appeared to clear the way for a more cooperative effort by the Transit Authority and the union to increase productivity and the efficiency of maintenance operations. This has been a prime objective of the authority as it has sought to improve the city's bus and subway operations.
    • In his decision, Mr. Zuccotti, a former First Deputy Mayor who succeeded Theodore W. Kheel as the impartial arbitrator for transit, also ruled that the Transit Authority had the right to require employees to submit time records that include the time required to complete each operation.
  • Ravitch WHY THE M.T.A.'S BUYING CANADIAN-MADE CARS
  • Doomsday Express-TA had been teaching repairmen the wrong way to inspect air conditioners, giving them manuals they could not understand-asked them to work without spare parts, proper tools-spring-labor negotiations-eliminated quotas-TA-began demanding more work-workers began to increase output-short-lived productivity improvement-union leadership told workers not to increase work-another arbitration proceeding-ruled TA can demand higher output shop, maintenance workers, require employees to submit daily reports showing how much time spent on each job-Simpson-replaced leadership-most key departments-
  • A bipartisan coalition of Senators is seeking legislation to deny tax breaks to American companies that buy an advanced Canadian video system. The system provides consumers with services such as shopping and banking from the home over television screens.
  • $5.4 million consulting contract awarded-design work signals, improvements Fourth Avenue Line-construction contracts-not advertised until fall 1983-age-signals-greatly-delays
  • Delivery of 325 new subway cars from a Japanese concern is expected to begin in December 1983, six months ahead of schedule, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday.
  • 3 FROM SUFFOLK NOMINATED FOR A SEAT ON M.T.A. BOARD
  • The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted unanimously yesterday to issue $200 million in bonds, the first such sale under the authority's $7.2 billion capital improvement program.; more
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said the authority had intended to sell only $150 million in bonds now and $50 million more in December. But a last-minute decision was made on Wednesday to issue all $200 million worth now because of the drop in interest rates that inspired this week's surge in the stock market.
    • The bonds, which were issued through the subsidiary Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and will be backed by bridge and tunnel tolls, carry an interest rate markedly lower than had been projected in recent months. The longest-term bonds were issued at an annual interest rate of 11 5/8 percent, Mr. Ravitch said. Until this week, he said, it was anticipated that the interest rate might be as high as 13 percent.
    • ''We were smart or lucky or a little bit of both, mostly lucky,'' Mr. Ravitch said of the bond issue for the five-year improvement program. He said that there was no way to determine exactly how much the authority had saved because of falling interest rates, but that ''given the condition of the money market, several months ago we would have paid much higher interest rates.''
    • Mr. Perfall said that, depending on the market, from $50 million to $100 million in Transit Authority bonds would be issued in September.
  • Entire R46 fleet should be able to return-with dependable undercarriages by January/February; returning service-10 per week
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority hopes to compress four years of bus purchasing into the next seven months to take advantage of a tax provision passed by Congress last week, officials of the authority said yesterday.
    • The accelerated purchases could save the authority $29 million on its plan to buy 1,300 buses at an expected price of $208 million over the next four years. The buses, however, probably would not reach New York City streets any sooner, because the original delivery schedule of 325 a year is likely to be maintained.
    • Under the new tax legislation, if the purchases are completed by March 31, 1983, the M.T.A. can sell title to the vehicles to private corporations, which in turn lease the vehicles back to the M.T.A. The arrangement provides tax advantages to the corporation and revenue to the authority.
    • More than $1 billion in subway cars and $400 million in commuter rail cars purchased in the last year also qualify under the bill. In all, the authority hopes to save $500 million through such the tax arrangement, known as leverage leasing.
  • TA officials conceded -lack sufficient skilled manpower keep subway at capacity-handling equipment failures-emergency basis-decline/leveling off subway performance-last two months-faster subway car breakdowns-7,400 mdbf-down 8,100-December 1981-don't have manpower to do efficient maintenance-separate TA report-some shop workers could not adequately read instruction manuals for some repair work, compounding delays-workers reassigned from day-to-day maintenance-to work on specific problem areas-lately-special repairs-done-keep fleet moving-other work-not done at all-Scannell memo-concerns maintenance problems-Simpson felt that the tolerance of the system for the introduction of additional high-priority maintenance campaigns was zero-moderate progress past year-leveled off-fragility of system
  • New York officials are hoping to close a deal soon with a foreign manufacturer to build a bus assembly plant in New York State that would provide 1,300 buses for New York City and 1,000 new jobs.
  • TA conceded that it lacked sufficient skilled workers to keep the crippled subway fleet at capacity-handling equipment failures on an emergency basis-MDBF down from 8,100 December to 7,400
  • Commuters from Long Island, Westchester County and Connecticut will have to wait a year longer than expected before all 316 new airconditioned rail cars are in place to improve sporadic commuter service, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday.

September 1982

[edit]
  • A former New York City Transit Authority official convicted of Federal extortion charges stemming from his involvement in the purchase of defective R-46 subway cars was fined $10,000 yesterday and placed on one year's probation.
  • The New York City Transit Authority has been awarded a $66 million grant by a Federal transportation agency to repair and remodel several subway stations and for a wide range of other maintenance projects.; more
    • More than $25 million of the grant, from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, will be used to modernize and add safety features, such as better lighting, to the Fulton Street IRT, Fifth Avenue IND and Astor Place IRT stations in Manhattan, and in Brooklyn, the Borough Hall IRT, Hoyt Street IRT and Marcy Avenue BMT stations.
    • About $3 million will be spent to replace 10 escalators at the IND station at the Avenue of the Americas and 34th Street. ''Unless we can move people better, more effectively, we will lose our economic potential,'' said Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, who announced the grant Friday at a news conference at the 34th Street station.
  • $11.7 million Flushing Line near Willets Point-detected shifting columns-completion scheduled winter 1984-incorporates Ammann & Whitney's advice

October 1982

[edit]
  • A committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a proposal yesterday to close about three-fourths of the public restrooms in the city's subway system.
    • The plan, which must be approved by the M.T.A. board, calls for the closing of those facilities that are little used or unsafe, according to Robert Huber, assistant director of public relations for the New York City Transit Authority.
    • Some of the public restrooms would be converted to washrooms for transit employees, and the imbalance of public restrooms for men and women would be corrected, he said. Currently, there are 484 facilities for men and 304 for women. Under the proposal, each group would have 102 restrooms.
    • While the total of 788 public restrooms would drop to 204, Mr. Huber said, employee facilities would increase from 288 to 463. Mr. Huber said the closings would not generally affect one subway line or geographic area more than others. The restrooms to be retained, he said, would include those at terminals and on lines near sites that attract many passengers, such as sports stadiums and transfer stations, including Grand Central. Board Could Vote Soon
    • He said the conversion process would take at least a year. The board could vote on the proposal, which was approved by its Transit Authority committee, at a meeting this month.
    • ''The criteria used in determining which toilets to close were low use and security,'' Mr. Huber said. ''They are isolated and away from the platform so that a token booth clerk who might see the platform can't see into the bathroom. One policeman can look up and down the platform, but it takes a trip into the men's room or ladies' room to see what is going on.''
    • Mr. Huber said members of the committee suggested that the Transit Authority look into additional restroom closings in some stations where passenger volume warranted retaining them but where security problems made closing them advisable. Those stations include West Fourth Street in Manhattan and Continental Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens.
    • Other restrooms in that category include those at stations in Queens along the route traveled by the GG train, in the Bronx on the routes traveled by the Nos. 2, 5 and 6 trains and in Brooklyn on routes traveled by the J, LL and No. 3 and No. 4 trains.
  • 50% fleet R46s-new carriages-new trucks 33 cars each week-should be completed by January-track replacement completion ease strain on repair/inspection facilities
  • To a backdrop of skepticism, criticism and delays, a public timetable was installed in the New York City subway system yesterday. The timetable, showing a 24-hour schedule of train movements through a station, was posted at Cortlandt Street, a station beneath the World Trade Center.
    • About 700 subway locations will have the timetables by the middle of 1984 at a cost of $2 million, according to the Transit Authority. ''Bet you any money, they're not going to be right,'' said Emanuel Blandina of Sussex County, N.J., as he rushed past workmen installing the new timetable. ''Instead of doing that, they should get the trains running right.''
    • The timetables, which will be covered by graffiti-resistant Plexiglas, were mandated by a 1976 state law that also led to the installation in 1980 of Guide-A-Rides for city buses. Gene Russianoff, an attorney with the Straphangers Campaign, said it has taken too long to implement the law and criticized the plans for their installation.
  • Restroom closures
  • Although he was helpful in some ways, Ross Sandler, who has announced his resignation as Mayor Koch's special adviser on mass transit, was not able to bring about the major improvements in bus and subway service that Mr. Koch had hoped for, city and transit officials said yesterday.
    • Other officials said improved relations between Mr. Koch and Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, and between the Mayor and John Simpson, the Transit Authority president, had lessened the need for Mr. Sandler's role. At the time Mr. Sandler was appointed, Mr. Koch, who had just been re-elected Mayor, was pushing for more power over transit matters, including the right to hire and fire the Tranist Authority president.
    • Mr. Koch's frequent and harsh criticism of both transit management and employees, including the wage settlement following the 1980 transit strike, had put him at odds with Mr. Ravitch and Mr. Simpson. But the officials eventually began to meet and discuss transit problems, and once the gubernatorial campaign started, Mr. Koch largely dropped the subject from his frequent news conferences.
  • Sold $250 million bonds new subway cars-another $400 million next year-1,375 new subway cars first-23% of fleet
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will announce today that it plans to purchase 225 air-conditioned, graffiti-resistant subway cars from a new company owned by French and American interests, officials in Paris and New York said yesterday.
    • In a related development, the authority yesterday completed the sale of its first revenue-backed bonds, which will be used for capital improvements, including the new subway cars.
    • Steven Polan, special counsel to the M.T.A., confirmed the sale and gave the following details about the new cars: They will be used on the IND and BMT lines, replacing cars that are 30 to 35 years old. The first of the 225 cars is scheduled to arrive in January 1985, with the full order completed in May 1986.
    • The total cost of the order will be about $210 million, or about $933,000 a car. The costs are subject to escalation in the price of metals and other material.
    • Prices for the subway cars purchased from the Canadian and Japanese companies were lower, about $800,000 a car. The earlier purchases, however, were for IRT cars, which are smaller than the IND and BMT cars involved in the new purchase. Previous Deals Criticized
  • 65-year low ridership-991,200,000-year ended June 30; more
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has canceled plans to borrow $126 million from Japan to help finance its purchase of 325 subway cars from Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said yesterday that, instead, the authority would finance the purchase through the sale of bonds because of the successful rate at which its bonds sold last week.
    • The authority, which sold $250 million worth of its bonds last week, has been authorized by the State Legislature to sell up to $1.6 billion by 1987. The bonds will also be used to finance the purchase of 225 cars from Westinghouse-Amrail, a joint venture of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Francorail.
  • New York City's transit system could save millions of dollars if it used computerized fare cards instead of tokens, instituted a modern subway signal system and ran shorter trains and bigger buses, according to a report issued yesterday by a state advisory group.
    • The members of the group, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are appointed by the Governor but have no power beyond giving advice. Several of the ideas have been proposed before, but the new report is expected to renew debate on several points.
    • Philip Weinberg, chairman of the advisory group, urged that the recommendations be swiftly adopted, saying, ''The future must not be locked up in archaic practices.''
    • John D. Simpson, president of the city's Transit Authority, called the ideas ''stimulating,'' but added that most of the recommendations were not on his short-term agenda. ''Our priority is to revitalize the system that once worked well before we work on tangents that might be nice, but unnecessary.''
    • The advisory report was prepared by Victor M. Lopez-Balboa, a committee research associate. It recommended that the M.T.A. should consider a computer card system similar to the ones used in Washington and Paris. To gain access, a rider slides the card through a computerized reader built into the turnstile. The cards can be bought by inserting coins or bills into a machine, in a system that eliminates token sellers and makes it easier to charge variable fares.
    • The report also calls for an experimental program on the Flushing IRT using shorter trains that could be operated by one motormanconductor, rather than the two-person system now in use. In addition, it says, productivity can be improved through the use of highcapacity buses that are made up of two sections and bend in the middle.
    • Finally, the report recommended that when new signalling is installed, a new system be added that transmits signals inside the motorman's cab instead of the wayside signals now in use.
    • Mr. Simpson said that new fare collection procedures were being studied and that large-capacity buses would be introduced shortly. Concerning the signal system and one-person operated trains, he said the authors of the report had misunderstood the ''complexity of train operation.''
  • News of ridership declines might come as a surprise to people who each morning are sandwiched by are handling about all we can during the rush hours,'' said Arthur G. Perfall, an assistant executive director of the M.T.A. ''The real decline has come in the off-peak during the day and at night.''

November 1982

[edit]
  • Mayor Koch has decided to abolish the post of special transit adviser when Ross Sandler leaves the job at the end of the year. ''We haven't done it officially, but unofficially it will be abolished,'' said Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. He said Mr. Koch felt the job was no longer necessary, primarily because the Mayor had improved his relations with the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Richard Ravitch, and the president of the Transit Authority, John D. Simpson.
    • Mr. Wagner said that he and other aides to the Mayor who dealt with transit issues would pursue some of the programs started by Mr. Sandler, who announced his resignation last month.
  • Service better August
  • CONRAIL DELAYS ACCEPTED, MORE OR LESS
  • With new figures showing revenue from a New York State transit-tax package $250 million below expectations, legislative and transit officials are negotiating to try to hold down an anticipated increase next month in the 75-cent subway and bus fare.
    • Beyond the problems with the tax package, which was passed in June 1981, the fare could also be affected by a decline in Federal subsidies and by the cost of last spring's settlement with 35,000 transit employees.
    • The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will meet early next month to determine the level of the fare increase. Stephen Berger, the chairman of the board's finance committee, said yesterday that he thought the new fare could be kept below $1. ''But we will have to see what the Legislature does,'' he said.
    • In Albany, the legislative leaders in both houses said they were committed to dealing with the M.T.A. problem soon, but they declined to commit themselves to repairing the transit tax package. When it was passed, the five taxes involved were expected to bring close to $793 million in the first two years.
    • The Division of the Budget released figures yesterday showing that only $543 million would be collected during that period. Several of the taxes have come under court challenge and, in some cases, companies have simply refused to pay.
    • The taxes are: a 0.25 cent increase in the sales tax in the M.T.A. region; a 0.75 percent tax on gross receipts of oil companies; a ''long lines'' tax on the New York portion of transportation and communications operations; a ''unitary tax'' on the worldwide profits of oil companies based in New York, and an extension of New York City's mortgage-recording and real-estate transfer tax.
    • According to the budget division only the real-estate tax is bringing in the expected $54 million for the two-year period. These are the figures on the other taxes:
      • - The sales tax, expected to yield $243 million, will bring $211.2 million.
      • - The gross receipts tax, estimated at $160 million, will bring 129.4 million.
      • - The long lines tax, expected at $144 million, will bring $80.9 million.
      • - The unitary tax, expected to be $192 million, will yield $68.8 million. The total shortfall in the taxes is $250 million, of which $200 million was earmarked for the M.T.A. The balance was to go to upstate transit agencies. Proposals by Riders Group
    • Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the M.T.A., also declined to comment on the state of the negotiations with the Legislature. But he has told associates that the deficit figures he released last May are proving to be correct. At the time, his numbers were questioned by legislative leaders in Albany, who said that the figures would not be as bad once the tax revenue began to come in.
    • In addition to other costs, the board must come up with $150 million to pay for the two-year contract signed with the transit workers. Workers on two other M.T.A. facilities - the Long Island Rail Road and Conrail - are also negotiating for new contracts. Also, Federal aid is running $46 million behind last year.
  • New York and Canadian officials have signed a five-year, $750 million loan agreement to finance the sale of 825 Canadian-made subway cars to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The cars will be manufactured by Bombardier Inc. of Montreal in two plants in Quebec, with final assembly in Barre, Vt. Delivery is to take place from mid-1984 to mid-1987.
  • $4.9 million contract-modernize Concourse/180th Street shops-similar renovations would be made at Corona, Livonia, Pitkin
  • New tokens for the Connecticut Turnpike were put into use this week, and they not only work at tollbooths on the highway, they do just as well in the turnstiles of New York City's subways.
    • The problem is that a subway token costs 75 cents and the turnpike tokens can be purchased in rolls of 40 for 17 1/2 cents each. The standard turnpike toll is 35 cents, and the token was intended to give regular users of the road a discount.
  • In the latest volley of the war of the tokens, the president of the New York Transit Authority called yesterday for Connecticut temporarily to stop selling turnpike toll tokens that also work in New York City's subways.
  • Connecticut's Transportation Commissioner yesterday proposed a way in which he said New York City could prevent 17 1/2-cent Connecticut Turnpike tokens from being used illegally in the subway system. New York officials said they wanted to discuss the idea further.
    • Connecticut began selling the tokens Oct. 18 as a discount for the 35-cent tolls on the Connecticut Turnpike. The sale of the tokens has boomed since it became widely known on Thursday that they also worked in the city subways.
  • Despite a cut in serious subway crime over the last five months, the number of such offenses reported in New York City's system appears to be climbing toward a record in 1982.
  • On the eve of a special meeting today between Governor Carey and state legislative leaders, officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stepped up their warnings that unless the Legislature came up with new money, subway, bus and commuter fares would go up next month.
    • A principal element of that deficit is an anticipated $250 million shortfall in a $793 million tax package adopted in 1981. The immediate future of the fare, Miss Bellamy said, was the responsibility of the Legislature.
    • ''It is anticipated that the M.T.A. package will include some form of gasoline tax,'' the report states, in proposing a separate New York City tax of 4 cents a gallon on leaded gasoline.
    • With legislative help, Miss Bellamy said, a fare increase could probably be postponed until the summer. A small deficit might still remain after legislative action, she said, but not enough to warrant a fare increase.
  • SAFETY AND DELAYS FOR NEW HAVEN LINE RIDERS
  • The Canadian Government is unfairly subsidizing the sale of 825 subway cars to be built in Canada for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, the Commerce Department announced in a preliminary finding yesterday in Washington.
  • New York and Connecticut officials held their first face-to-face talks in the token dispute yesterday - at, of all places, a Connecticut Turnpike toll plaza - but failed to reach a solution.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority today described as ''greatly unfair and senseless'' a preliminary finding that 825 subway cars ordered from a Canadian company by the authority were being unfairly subsidized by the Canadian Government.
    • The chairman, Richard Ravitch, said the authority would argue against the existence of the subsidy in further proceedings at the Commerce Department. It announced the finding Monday night, saying that the subsidy prevented an American manufacturer from competing effectively.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's program for rebuilding New York City's subway and bus system will significantly bolster the region's economy, particularly the construction trades, according to an economic analysis by the Port Authority.
    • The $5.8 billion capital program will generate an average of 17,800 yearlong jobs each year from 1982 to 1987, according to Amos Ilan, an economist for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
    • A total of 10,460 yearlong jobs in each of the five years will be in construction, enough to reduce unemployment in that sector to about 12 percent from the present 16 percent, Mr. Ilan said.
    • Planning and engineering for the program is going on now, and a major portion of the program's construction is expected to start in 1983.
    • The study was conducted at the request of the M.T.A.'s chairman, Richard Ravitch. Mr. Ravitch said it showed
    • The study does not take into account the possible harm to the economy that could be caused by increased fares to repay the borrowing for the capital program. But neither, said Mr. Ravitch, does the analysis include the potential benefits of improved transit service to employers and to the work force.
    • ''The analysis showed that some 89,000 man-years of labor and more than $2 billion in personal income will be generated directly and indirectly through the metropolitan region as a result of the capital program,'' Patrick J. Falvey, the Port Authority's assistant executive director, said in a letter to Mr. Ravitch. ''This is significant enough to make a large dent in the high unemployment rate in the regional construction industry, as well as to benefit several other key sectors of the economy.'' Analysis Pointed to Potential
    • Mr. Ravitch said the potential economic benefits of the program had gone largely unnoticed until he asked for the analysis. He criticized what he said was the lack of support for his rebuilding program from most of organized labor, which he said had failed to help get enabling legislation passed.
    • Organized labor has been strongly behind another major capital program, the proposed Westway project for a super highway along the West Side of Manhattan. By comparison, that project would generate about 9,000 jobs a year over the 10 years it is projected to take to build it, according to Carolyn Meinhardt, a Westway proponent.
    • The Port Authority analysis dealt only with the portion of the M.T.A. program designed to improve subway and bus service. In addition, the M.T.A. plans to spend $1.4 billion on improving commuter rail and bus service.
    • The M.T.A. made an extrapolation from the Port Authority analysis and concluded that the total $7.2 billion program will generate 112,000 worker-years of labor, an average of 22,400 jobs in each of the five years of the program.
    • The Port Authority analysis may underestimate some of the economic benefits, Mr. Ilan said, because it assumed all of the subway cars would be built out of state. In fact, some parts manufacture and assembly will be done in the state.
    • In addition to the benefits to the construction trades, the Port Authority analysis found that the capital program will generate jobs in these sectors: wholesale and retail, 9,800 jobs; health, education and social services, 6,000; eating and drinking, 3,800; health, personal and repair service, 3,300; business services, 1,900; finance and insurance, 1,600, and real estate and rentals, 1,500.
    • The analysis estimated that the program would increase sales in the region by $4.1 billion, increase business income $450 million and add to state and city tax revenues by $160 million.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority pledged yesterday to hold off increases in subway, bus and commuter fares until 1984 if the State Legislature acts to close the authority's $300 million operating deficit.
    • ''This is a rotten time for a fare increase,'' said the chairman, Richard Ravitch. ''The economy is lousy, and the service is poor. I would rather see the fare increases delayed until the economy gets better and we can see improvements in the M.T.A. system.''
    • A new study sets out policy options for New York City. Excerpts and news analysis, page B4. sometimes conflicting views of how much money would be needed and how long fares could be held at present levels.
    • Even yesterday, a key Democratic legislative leader said he expected fares to rise early next year. Assemblyman Arthur J. Kremer, in a televised interview, said that a 90-cent subway and bus fare and a 15 percent commuter increase were all but inevitable, regardless of what measures were adopted by the Legislature.
    • Governor-elect Mario M. Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink have also suggested that fares would have to go up even if this year's deficit were closed.
    • Last week, Governor Carey proposed a new package of taxes to close the M.T.A. deficit. The plan included an increase in the tax on the gross receipts of oil companies, a 5 percent tax on aviation fuel and a speedup in collection of the sales tax.
    • Governor Carey's proposals were rejected outright by the Republican leadership of the State Senate. There was, however, a willingness to explore new revenue measures to help avoid or keep down a fare increase. ''We have an open mind about it,'' said James L. Biggane, the key Senate fiscal aide. Aide Promises to be Flexible
    • According to Mortimer L. Downey, the M.T.A.'s assistant executive director for management and budget, the $300 million deficit is for the 18-month period that will end Dec. 31, 1983. Of the deficit, $187 million is for the city subways and bus system, and $113 million for the commuter rail lines, which include the Long Island Rail Road and the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines.
    • There are three chief reasons for the deficit, Mr. Downey said yesterday. About $200 million of it, he said, results from a shortfall in a tax package passed last year to raise money for mass transit. The rest is attributed to new labor settlements and the decline in Federal aid.
    • The breakdown is somewhat different from the one provided by Governor Carey's budget office. According to the Governor's office, the deficit from Federal aid is smaller, but the tax shortfall is larger - about $250 million. M.T.A. Was Advanced $89 Million
    • The deficit figures from the Governor's office include $89 million provided by the state's general fund to the M.T.A. in anticipation of uncollected taxes, a sum not included in the M.T.A. estimates.
  • The Federal Government has ruled that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is no longer entitled to purchase low-cost hydroelectric power to operate subway and commuter lines because it does not meet the Federal definition of an eligible municipal entity, the M.T.A. said yesterday.
    • Officials of the deficit-ridden agency said the decision could cost it $5 million in higher energy costs this year and far more in the future.
    • The higher rates would add $5 million to the authority's current $300 million deficit, according to a memo released yesterday by Richard K. Bernard, general counsel to the M.T.A.
    • ''What is more important,'' he added in the memo, ''is the loss of our right to buy preference hydropower in 1985 and thereafter,'' when many of the Power Authority's ''long-term contracts with big upstate customers expire. This right could easily involve tens of millions of dollars annually.''

December 1982

[edit]
  • Officials of New York State, New Jersey and Connecticut said today that the Reagan Administration's proposal to aid mass transit through an increase in the Federal gasoline tax would do little more than offset its proposed cuts in operating assistance.
    • The Administration bill would provide $1.1 billion each year for capital improvements on bus and subway systems, but operating assistance that now totals about $1 billion would be eliminated over three years, according to an analysis by the Washington lobbyist for New York State, Brad C. Johnson.
  • The leaders of the New York State Legislature agreed yesterday to take their members back to Albany on Monday for private meetings on plans to reduce or eliminate the need for increases in bus, subway and commuter rail fares.
    • The Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, Democrat of Manhattan, said that a 2 percent increase in the gross receipts tax on oil companies would raise $100 million and that another major tax was needed. He said that any tax package ''is going to be a very heavy lift.''
    • He said that Senate Democrats would not go along with any taxes unless enough money is raised to put off any fare increase until 1984.
    • Mr. Ohrenstein also said he could not support a proposed onequarter of 1 percent increase in the sales tax in the 12-county M.T.A. region, but Mr. Anderson said that an increase in the regional sales tax might be fairer than increasing taxes for the entire state.
    • Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink said that a 25 percent surcharge on a stock-transfer tax was a possibility, but Governor Carey ruled that out as being harmful to New York City and the state. Cuomo 'Encouraged' by Meeting
    • Mr. Fink said he would advise his conference of Assembly Democrats to consider taxes on commercial real estate interests and other businesses that benefit from the transportation system.
    • Governor Carey repeated earlier proposals for an increase in the gross receipts tax, and a 5 percent tax on aviation fuel sold in the M.T.A. region. But Senate aides said they had doubts about the aviation fuel tax and the Queens Borough President, Donald R. Manes, yesterday called on legislators from Queens to organize to oppose the tax.
  • COUNTY'S DELEGATES IN ALBANY RESIST PLEAS FOR M.T.A. AID
  • DESPITE all the talk lately about an increase in the New York City subway fare, transportation officials are now saying that the Long Island Rail Road is facing a far more serious problem, and if nothing is done, commuters could soon be paying 50 percent more to get to work -although few expect commutation costs to rise that much.
    • But Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has suggested that commutation fares could rise even further. He went so far as to call for a public hearing in Mineola later this month on a possible fare increase of as much as 75 percent next year on commuter railroads.
    • However, the legislators do not seem convinced of the severity of the picture that the M.T.A. paints. Many legislators on the Island see the warning of a 75 percent fare increase as an attempt to get them to put pressure on the legislative leaders in Albany to take the painful step of raising taxes. ''Scare tactics'' and ''crying wolf'' are what they call it.
    • ''There is nobody in the shop who has any experience predicting what kind of impact there would be on the ridership when you are talking about such a large increase,'' said Arthur Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A. ''There are no computer models, or formulas or anything else to help us.''
    • But officials put the outside figure for an increase at about 50 percent, enough to raise a typical monthly fare in Hickville from $91 to $136.50. Individual trips would go up from $4.15 to $6.22.
    • This is proportionally far greater than the increases under discussion on the New York City subway. On the city buses and subways there is a $187 million deficit, which translates into an increase of less than 20 cents in the 75 cent fare.
    • ''The commuter problem is even worse,'' said Mortimer L. Downey, asssistant executive director of the M.T.A. for management and budget.
    • In addition, budgets prepared earlier this year for the commuter lines did not include any money for wage settlements. The M.T.A. has now reached contract agreements with two unions on the L.I.R.R., with 15 to go. Based on the pattern of wage settlements, the M.T.A. now expects to have to pay out $37 million more in wages for the commuter railroads.
  • During the gubernatorial campaign, one of the few issues on which Mr. Cuomo and his Republican rival, Lewis E. Lehrman, agreed was that it was not. They talked about breaking up the nation's largest transit authority and creating smaller agencies to replace it.
    • Mr. Cuomo has not expounded on the issue since his victory, but that hasn't prevented the Lieutenant Governor-elect, Alfred DelBello, from speaking out. ''In the short run, we must bail them out,'' he said of the M.T.A., ''but if we are going to avoid this situation recurring, we are going to have to reorganize.''
    • That falls instead on Mr. Ravitch, who was appointed in 1979 by Governor Carey and holds a term that runs through 1987. If the new Governor wanted to remove him, it is assumed that he would step aside. However, Mr. Ravitch said he has had no discussions with Mr. Cuomo about the job, and he is acting as if he will be around to finish the five-year, $7.9 billion capital improvement program he launched last year.
  • Q. Can the New York City region expect any special benefits from the proposed program? A. New York City and the metropolitan area, at the discretion of the Transportation Secretary, are likely to receive a sizable part of money for rehabilitating aging rail systems. However, if the plan is approved as proposed by Mr. Lewis, New York and all other cities would lose all operating assistance, which would largely offset the gain. Q. What would New York do with the money? A. The city could use the money to speed up programs to rehabilitate roads and bridges across the East River. Also, transit officials say $100 million could be spent to improve signals, power distribution, tracks, stations and security. Some new subway cars could also be purchased.
  • Members of the New York State Legislature met in private conferences today and differed widely over whether an increase in bus, subway and commuter rail fares could be avoided this year in the New York metropolitan area.
    • Following separate meetings, two key Democratic leaders, Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink and the Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, said they would not support any mass-transit tax package unless enough money was provided to put off a fare increase through the end of 1983.
    • But Warren M. Anderson, the Senate majority leader, said he doubted enough money could be raised to close the entire deficit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He said some fare increase could be required.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., informed legislative leaders that he would require $225 million to close his budget gap, down $75 million from earlier figures.
    • He attributed this to optimism that the M.T.A. would receive $75 million more under new Federal transit-aid legislation that is yet to be passed and signed into law.
    • State Comptroller Edward V. Regan issued a new analysis of the M.T.A. budget today and concluded that the City Transit Authority budget had been overstated by $56 million. The fiscal committee of the M.T.A., meanwhile, adopted operating budgets for its subway and commuter lines that assumed some action by the Legislature to keep the fare down.
    • New taxes under discussion include a levy on aviation fuel, a surcharge on the stock-transfer tax, an increase in the sales tax in the M.T.A. region, and an increase in a tax on the gross receipts of oil companies.
    • Senator Anderson said that while no consensus had been reached, he personally favored a mix of fare increases and new taxes. And several Senators from the metropolitan area emerged from the meeting to say the prospects for saving the present fares were grim.
    • Minutes later, Mr. Ohrenstein said his Democratic colleagues, who provided the bulk of the votes in the Senate for aid to the M.T.A., would not vote for new taxes unless enough money was provided to keep the present fares.
    • Senator Ohrenstein, a Democrat from Manhattan, proposed that the entire M.T.A. deficit be funded through a payroll tax on employers of four-tenths of 1 percent, to raise $225 mill
    • The committee approved a $2 billion budget for the Transit Authority to run the subway and bus system, a $500 million budget for the Long Island Rail Road and $385 million for the Metro North lines, made up of the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven railroad lines. Dispute on Transit Budget
    • Comptroller Regan's report on the M.T.A. budget took exception to an expected deficit of $187 million for the Transit Authority. He put the gap at $131 million, principally by anticipating $22 million more in aid from Congress.
  • THE Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the operator of New York City's bus and subway systems along with some regional commuter train lines, continues to enjoy access to the bond markets, even though state legislators have not come up with a subsidy and tax package needed by the authority to close a budget gap estimated at as much as $300 million in the current fiscal year.
    • New York State, meanwhile, faces its own budget deficit and will be hard-pressed to match the $290 million subsidy it gave the authority in 1982. A cutback in state assistance would hurt, but, according to 1981 legislation that gave the M.T.A. enough financial credibility to borrow money in the bond markets, a shortfall in revenues from fares or government appropriations would leave it with no alternative except to raise fares.
    • With all the uncertainty about future financing, the bonds issued by the authority might be expected to be depressed. In fact, the authority still enjoys enough acceptance in the marketplace to plan a $125 million bond sale next week.
    • The backing for next week's new bonds is significantly different than for the $250 million of revenue bonds sold in October. But both are an outgrowth of the 1981 legislation that is the foundation for the authority's creditworthiness in the eyes of investment bankers and bond buyers.
    • Of course, the financial markets are still aware of the difficulty of obtaining government funds. As Moody's Investors Service noted in its analysis of the M.T.A.'s revenue bonds sold last October, investors should expect ''the periodic controversy that surrounds it to continue.''
    • But thus far, analysts can only discern a slight drop in the price of M.T.A. bonds relative to other tax-exempt issues. The 10 3/8 percent M.T.A. bonds due in 2012 have fallen from an offered price in October of 99 1/2 to 88 1/2 yesterday, to yield 11.77 percent. But prices of other long-term bonds sold at about the same time declined by similar amounts. The 10 1/8 percent bonds of the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Power Authority, for example, have dropped to 89 recently from a price of 100 on Oct. 15.
    • The bonds to be sold next week are secured by a contract between the state and the M.T.A. in which the state promises to pay $80 million a year for the next 35 years for capital improvements. Because the state has contracted to pay that money, the authority can borrow against it, even though the money must be appropriated annually by the State Legislature.
  • Ross Sandler and Steven M. Jurow MORE SUB THAN WAY
    • On becoming chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1979, Richard Ravitch restored previously deferred maintenance, produced an urgently needed 10-year rehabilitation plan, and, through stunning ingenuity and with strong backing by Mayor Koch, Governor Carey and the Legislature, funded the first five years of the plan. These were critically needed reforms but they did not affect the gap between fare revenues and operating costs, which continued to grow. With a $2.2 billion budget for fiscal 1983, the New York City Transit Authority projects only $1 billion from fares. Government, not the passenger, is now the biggest paying customer of the city's subways and buses.
    • Simply put, transit's long-term problem is that it has failed to meet the competition from private cars and come to grips with low productivity and high costs.
    • First, the M.T.A. has spent too little time worrying about ridership, which provides the only revenue over which it has direct control, and too much time worrying about government subsidies, over which it has little control. The M.T.A. has never had an effective program to attract riders. It has made few studies on attracting or holding riders and has invited little public discussion about ridership. For the M.T.A., ridership and fare revenue just happen - or, more accurately, do not happen. This policy is foolish because the auto sets a competitive standard for travel that transit - the subways especially - does not meet.
    • To be competitive, subways must be more open and inviting, less intimidating. People dislike overcrowding and unpredictability. They want courtesy, working doors, lights, air-conditioners, heaters, frequent announcements on trains and platforms and lots of information. To compete with cars, subways must radiate personal safety, even civility. Dirt, grime and disorderliness, not to mention crime, frighten and anger people, causing them to choose private cars for security, even if they cost more. To categorize these concerns as amenities is to trivialize them. These are straightforward economic issues affecting transit's market competitiveness. The M.T.A. must follow new policies that treat passengers as paying customers whose fares matter.
    • What about expenses? Neither the investments made so far under Mr. Ravitch's praiseworthy capital program nor increased ridership will reduce costs significantly. To reduce expenses, the M.T.A. must come to grips with three other issues: finding better technology, using labor more productively and tailoring service to reduce costs.
    • New technology to increase productivity is the easiest to define because most of the choices being discussed are already in use, at least experimentally, somewhere in the world. These include automated electronic fare collection; energy-saving subway car designs and new braking systems; electronic signal systems to replace trackside signals; one-person train operation; modern trolleys; and bigger, bend-in-the-middle buses. Without question, several of these will have to be installed within the next 10 years.
    • When the M.T.A.'s board turns to labor productivity, however, the picture is dismal. Aggregate figures show that productivity is less than it was two decades ago. Other than these gross measures, however, and some good but sporadic audits, there are no periodic public reports on labor productivity. The board demanded last June that the Transit Authority develop productivity measures for 1983. Prior to that demand, the board itself received no regular information on productivity. Although it obtained major improvements in the labor contract for 1982-85, management has yet to claim credit for any significant productivity achievement.
    • Outside studies of the Transit Authority have reported widespread management inefficiencies. For example, the on-loan private executives from the Economic Development Council, working with Mr. Ravitch's blessing, recommended dozens of efficiency measures, such as methods to put parts nearer work sites. But productivity improvements that will cut deeply into costs demand even more: a far closer working partnership between management and employees than now exists.
    • Management's current strategy rests on new computerized systems to report time and cost information. But union leaders complain about being left out of the process, standards have yet to be announced, and some critics doubt that management's approach will work. In this unsettled situation, the board must embrace a more openhanded approach with labor while insisting upon new efficiencies from managers and workers. This is the board's responsibility. As New York's business leaders said in 1981 when they supported the M.T.A. capital program, higher productivity is essential for continued economic and political support.
    • The third issue, adjusting routes, stations and schedules to meet travel needs, poses equivalent problems. Shifts in population and jobs have caused staggering changes on certain bus lines and subway routes. Some subway stations lost half or more of their daily riders between 1970 and 1979. Since 1977, employment in Manhattan has grown, but these new jobs are being filled more by suburbanites than by city residents. Ridership on commuter rail lines has grown, more cars come into Manhattan, fewer people ride city subways and buses, and some areas of the region that could support increased transit service remain underserved.
    • The challenge for transit is to meet today's and future travel needs. To meet these needs, the Transit Authority in 1981 formed a new department to coordinate budget and planning activities. That effort, like the effort to monitor productivity, is just beginning. The board is not a caretaker of an antique system; it is a travel company that has to respond to its market both in providing new service and in not wasting assets where service is no longer warranted.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority borrowed $35 million from the Chemical Bank yesterday in order to meet the final payroll of the year on its commuter rail lines. It was the second time in two years that the authority had required a loan to meet short-term cash needs.
    • In another action, the M.T.A. board announced that it had concluded a deal in which a private company is to buy buses already owned by the M.T.A. and lease them back to the authority. The arrangement will provide savings for the M.T.A. and tax benefits for the company.
    • But the major issue at yesterday's board meeting - a decision on increases in subway, bus and commuter fares - was put off until next Friday.
    • M.T.A. officials have said that they need $300 million to avoid a fare increase on Jan. 1. They are hoping for additional funds from post-election sessions in Congress and the State Legislature. Delays in Assistance
    • Mr. Perfall said that the cash problem that required the M.T.A. to take out the $35 million loan was the result of a shortfall in a state transit tax package and delays in receiving Federal operating assistance.
    • The loan from Chemical Bank is for a nine-month period at an interest rate equal to 62 percent of the prime rate. It will cost the M.T.A. an estimated $1.5 million in interest. The loan was needed to meet weekly payrolls later this month on the Long Island Rail Road and on Conrail's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines.
    • The M.T.A. also has a cash-flow problem on the subway and bus systems, which are run by its subsidiary, the Transit Authority. This will be met by deferring for nine months a $225 million payment to the Transit Authority's pension fund. The deferred payment will cost the M.T.A. about $7 million in interest payments.
    • In a related development, Governor Carey's office said Mr. Carey would submit legislation to a special session of the Legislature that would permit the M.T.A., the Transit Authority and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to buy buses without seeking competitive bids.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority could face up to $137 million in duties on a fleet of new Canadian subway cars, even if it cancels a Canadian loan to help buy the cars, according to the Commerce Department.
  • Governor Carey and Democratic legislative leaders today proposed a new regional payroll tax to close a budget deficit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and help forestall proposed increases in bus, subway and commuter-rail fares.
    • Final details of the proposal were still being drawn up tonight. But legislators said it would raise about $225 million for mass transit, through a tax of about four-tenths of 1 percent on employers' payrolls.
    • Business lobbyists said they would oppose the tax; Senate Republicans said they were willing to consider it.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A. said that if the measure is apto hold the fare for a year'' - but only if the Federal government provides an additional $75 million in operating aid, including that from the Federal gas-tax legislation being debated in Congress.
    • ''There ought to be no M.T.A. package separate and apart from the state package,'' Mr. Cuomo said. ''It ought not to be divided.'' The payroll tax would be imposed on employers in the 12-county M.T.A. region, where a 0.25 percentage point sales tax increase to support mass transit was imposed last year. Senator Ohrenstein said the exact size of the tax would depend on what groups, such as very small businesses or nonprofit organizations, are exempt.
  • Connecticut agreed today to modify its turnpike tokens so they could no longer be used for the New York City subway.
    • The announcement here came as the city disclosed that 40,000 tokens had been retrieved from turnstiles so far, costing the city $30,000 in lost revenue since illegal use of the tokens was discovered a month ago. The subway tokens cost 75 cents; the turnpike tokens, sold in quantity, cost 17 1/2 cents.
  • PCAC A NEARLY PAINLESS WAY TO SAVE TRANSIT FARES
    • By comparison, a $306 million transit subsidy package could prevent any fare increases this year by spreading relatively minor increases among all the beneficiaries of a reasonably priced transit system.
    • The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the M.T.A. has proposed four measures and has hired an economist to analyze the equity of each.
    • * Converting the state gasoline tax from 8 cents a gallon to 8 percent a gallon would generate, at present lowered prices, $104 million a year regionwide. Based on gas usage of a typical household earning more than $20,000 a year, the 1.6 cents more per gallon would add only $10 to that household's annual gas bill. Since poor people drive less, a family earning less than $10,000 would pay only $2 a year more. All would benefit from roads not further congested by commuters driven off transit by fare increases.
    • * A $15 surcharge on the registration fee of all vehicles would generate $65 million in transit subsidies and is equitable because auto owners in the M.T.A. region earn twice as much as subway riders and because more affluent families have more cars. (Adjusting the registration fee according to the price of the car would be even more progressive.)
    • * A 1.5 percent surcharge on the state income tax paid in the M.T.A. region would add little to the tax bills of all those who benefit directly and indirectly from the economic engine that is Manhattan, but it would generate $82 million. Households earning less than $10,000 would pay $1.50 a year more in taxes. Households earning more than $20,000 would pay $8.40 more. Much of the regional income to be taxed for transit comes directly or indirectly from salaries earned in the city and spent in the suburbs.
    • * Reinstating the 10 percent capital gains tax, with closed loopholes, on the transfer of properties and leaseholds in New York City worth more than $1 million would generate the needed balance of $55 million.
  • A tax measure to help avert an increase in bus, subway and commuter rail fares was stalled tonight after Republicans in the State Senate were unable to agree among themselves on what to do about it.
    • Governor Carey and Democratic legislative leaders supported a regional payroll tax to help close the deficit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and they said they had expected the Republicans in the Senate to go along with the measure tonight.
    • But after a private meeting that lasted more than five hours, the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson of Binghamton, said that Republican legislators were unable to agree to support the tax proposal.
    • Mr. Anderson said that though he personally spoke in favor of the payroll tax, some Republican legislators favored a sales tax instead and others wanted to see a combinaton of taxes and a small fare increase.
    • Democratic leaders have said they would not support a sales tax and would not provide votes for an aid package that also requires a fare increase. Before the Senate Republicans met, State Senator Norman J. Levy, Republican of Merrick, L.I., said that he, too, was seeking an ''absolute commitment that there would not be a fare increase.''
    • The payroll-tax legislation contains a ''sunset'' provision, ending the tax at the end of a two-year period. Mr. Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat, said this was included to give business groups, who oppose the tax, a chance to come up with an alternative method of paying for mass-transit deficits. 'Not an Attractive Tax'
  • ''The day-to-day pressures tend to preoccupy us,'' said John D. Simpson, president of the city's Transit Authority and one of the 400 participants at the conference. ''But long-term vision is necessary.''
    • What is needed in the long run, Mr. Simpson added, is better maintenance, modernization of aging systems and improved worker productivity.
    • The word ''productivity'' was enough to provoke comment from another participant, John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, which represents most of the city's transit workers. The problem is not worker productivity, Mr. Lawe insisted, but ''poor planning, poor supervision and poor emphasis on priorities by management.''
    • Mr. Pushkarev said 30 stations were ''prime candidates'' for closing, either because they were underused, redundant or both. Along with his presentation, Mr. Pushkarev included a redrawn map of the subway system that eliminated certain lines, mostly in the Bronx, and added others, mostly on Manhattan's East Side and in Queens.
    • But Mr. Simpson, the Transit Authority president, said Mr. Pushkarev was ignoring the ''political grief'' involved in such changes. He added that, while some Queens stations indeed had gained passengers and some Bronx stations had declined, it would be 50 years before the ridership on the IND Rockaway line equaled that on the IRT Pelham line.
  • The State Assembly passed a regional payroll tax last night to avert an immediate increase in bus, subway and commuter rail fares. But at the same time Republicans in the State Senate proposed a different tax - a sales tax - to save the fares.
    • The two proposals created a stalemate, forcing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to postpone a self-imposed deadline set for today for fare increases.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said that at a meeting this morning he would announce the specific fare increases that would be imposed on Monday if the Legislature did not act. He said he was required to submit a balanced budget for the city buses and subways to the State Financial Control Board on Tuesday.
    • The Assembly bill, calling for a .44 percent payroll tax on employers in the 12-county region served by the M.T.A., passed by a vote of 81 to 55. But the Senate was unable to act on its own plan -a half-cent increase in the regional sales tax - because Governor Carey refused to provide a ''message of necessity'' needed to waive a required three-day waiting period for legislation.
    • The Senate was debating a Republican proposal to amend the Asembly's payroll tax with their own half-cent sales-tax increase. The amendment was adopted by a vote of 35 to 22 shortly before midnight, but under the rules the Senate could not act on the amended bill.
  • Ridership on New York's subways and buses would drop by more than 6 percent, or about 63 million passengers a year, if the fare rose to $1, the president of the Transit Authority said yesterday. A fare of up to $1 has been forecast if there is no new Federal or state aid by early next week.
    • Such a loss in ridership would be ''devastating,'' said the president, John D. Simpson, especially in view of the fact that the number of riders last year dropped below one billion annually for the first time since 1917.
    • In addition, the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, parent of the Transit Authority, for the first time released projections of what fares on the commuter-rail lines would be if a fare increase of 50 percent or more was necessary. A monthly ticket from Scarsdale, N.Y., on the Harlem Line would rise to $124, from $82.75. On the Long Island Rail Road, a monthly ticket from Huntington would rise to $154, from $102.75. Weekly and one-way tickets would similarly go up. To Meet Again Monday
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said the board would convene again on the fare issue on Monday at 6 P.M., to give the Legislature an opportunity to break an impasse over transit financing. The State Senate and Assembly have proposed different solutions to closing the M.T.A.'s $300 million budget deficit.
    • He said that the immediate passenger loss from a $1 fare would be 7 percent on the buses and 10 percent on the subways. After a few months, he added, these would level off to 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Mr. Simpson put the overall loss of ridership at 6.3 percent over the next year. Total Loss Put at 83 Million Riders
    • Robin H.H. Wilson, president of the L.I.R.R., and Peter E. Stangl, president of the Metro-North Commuter Rail Division, which after Jan. 1 will take over operations of the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Divisions, predicted a 12 percent loss in ridership on their lines.
    • When all the losses for the buses, subways and commuter rail lines were tallied, the M.T.A. officials agreed that the fare increases would result in 83 million fewer riders a year. In the fiscal year ending last June, there were about 1.1 billion riders.
  • Despite two weeks of trying, the Governor and legislative leaders have been unable to reach an agreement on how to close the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget deficit and hold off a rise in the transit fares. Early today, the leaders met in Governor Carey's office and decided to take the weekend off to consider the impasse and weigh public opinion. Here are some questions and answers about the situation, based on interviews with participants in the process: Q. What is the problem? The M.T.A. projects deficits in the 1983 calendar year of $187 million in the $2.2 billion budget of the Transit Authority and $117 million in the $900 million budgets of the Long Island Rail Road and the northern commuter rail lines.
    • It is December and the Legislature has not acted. Mr. Ravitch says his board will enact a fare increase Monday evening, to take effect in January if the Legislature does not act to help close his deficits. What is happening in the Legislature? A. The impasse, which has a number of political overtones, has gone through several phases. The legislative leaders returned here last week to fulfill a commitment to resolve the M.T.A. problem. But Governor Carey and Governor-elect Mario M. Cuomo insisted that the Legislature also solve the projected deficits in the state budget.
    • Warren M. Anderson, a Republican and the majority leader in the State Senate, said he saw no reason to deal with the state problems now. Mr. Carey then ordered the Legislature to reconvene in special session, beginning last Monday. This had no particular effect on Senator Anderson's position.
    • So the Democrats ultimately put aside the state issue and offered Mr. Anderson a plan for the M.T.A. deficit. What is the Democrats' proposal? A. The plan calls for a tax of 44-hundredths of 1 percent on the payrolls of employers in the 12-county region of the M.T.A. That equals 44 cents on every $100 of payroll. Nonprofit organizations and government employers would be exempt.
    • Between $65 billion and $68 billion in payrolls would be taxed. With adjustment made for noncompliance, the tax would produce about $270 million next year, supporters say.
    • Mr. Anderson initially said the proposal met his criteria for solving the M.T.A. problem, and he presented it to his Republican colleagues Wednesday for consideration. But after a five-hour meeting, Mr. Anderson emerged to say there was not enough support among Republicans, who control the State Senate.
    • Mr. Anderson offered as an alternative an increase of one-half of 1 percentage point in the sales tax in the M.T.A. region. This would produce $260 million to $280 million. What are the pros and cons of these proposals? A. Everyone agrees that all three options - a fare increase, a payroll tax or a sales-tax increase - are unpalatable. But most of the debate has tended toward the rhetorical. There has been little in the way of research or analysis comparing the merits or defects of the taxes against each other or against fare increases.
    • Would the passage of either of these taxes solve all of the M.T.A.'s current financial problems? A. No. Mr. Ravitch came to Albany last week and told legislators that he was hoping to receive up to $75 million in extra operating aid from the Federal Government as a result of a transit appropriation bill now pending in Congress.
    • Both the sales tax and the payroll tax are designed to produce enough money to keep the 75-cent fare, when combined with the increased Federal aid.
    • But now the operating-aid bill is in trouble. It is tied to the proposed 5-cent-a-gallon increase in the Federal gasoline tax, which has been blocked by a filibuster in the United States Senate.
  • In hallway news conferences outside Governor Carey's office at 1 this morning, Democratic legislative leaders and the Senate Republican leader traded charges over who was to blame for the deadlock over how to raise taxes and prevent an increase in bus, subway and commuter rail fares in the New York metropolitan area.
    • On Thursday night, in an effort to avoid fare increases, the State Assembly passed a 44-hundredths of 1 percent payroll tax on private employers in the 12 counties served by the M.T.A. But Republicans in the Senate said they were opposed to that measure and instead said they had enough votes to pass a half-cent increase in the sales tax in the region for the same purpose.
  • With tonight set as the deadline for keeping the current New York City and suburban commuter transit fares, Governor-elect Mario M. Cuomo said yesterday that he was prepared to step in with compromise proposals that he hoped would resolve the deadlock over transit financing in Albany.
    • Officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said they would convene at 6 P.M. today and were prepared to hold ''an allnight vigil, if necessary,'' while the Legislature meets, debates and - they hope - reaches a compromise.
    • On the M.T.A. agenda will be a proposal to raise the 75-cent subway and bus fare to $1 and to increase by 50 percent fares on the lines to Long Island and to Westchester and other northern suburbs. The $1 fare in the city could go into effect by tomorrow night. Commuter fares would rise on Jan. 1.
    • Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the M.T.A., said that the authority must present a balanced budget to the State Financial Control Board by 11 A.M. tomorrow. He said the budget would be balanced either through increased Government subsidies or through fare increases.
  • Republicans in the State Senate put forward a new tax proposal - a surcharge on taxes on corporate profits - Tuesday night to save bus, subway and commuter rail fares.
    • Early today, after a meeting in Governor Carey's office, Democratic leaders said that although they had some technical questions, the plan might solve the problem and could be enacted as early as today.
    • At a 1 A.M. news conference, Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, said the Republican package might meet his basic criteria that the business community close the transit deficit. ''I'm feeling pretty cool about the whole thing,'' he said. Governor Carey stood by his side.
    • After an earlier meeting, Mr. Carey had said that legislative leaders had an ''ironclad understanding'' that bus, subway and commuter-rail fares would not go up - even though there was no agreement yet on how to do it.
    • ''There has been an ironclad understanding of all the leaders to the M.T.A. board that, as it sits and waits for a solution, the fare will not go up,'' the Governor said. To Raise $270 Million
    • Until now, the Democrats favored imposing a tax on business - a new payroll tax - while Republicans in the Senate favored a sales tax. The new Republican plan proposed Tuesday night is the first sign the Republicans were willing to impose a tax on business - which has lobbied heavily against new taxes.
    • ''We feel that the business community, which is making a buck,'' should help pay for mass transit, Senate majority leader Warren M. Anderson, Republican of Binghamton, said in announcing the proposal after a private meeting with Republicans.
    • He then put forward his proposal for a surcharge of about 17 percent on the taxes on the profits of corporations in the M.T.A. region. This would raise $270 million next year - enough money to keep fares at current levels, he said.
    • In two lengthy meetings on Tuesday, the Republican Senators rejected a compromise proposal that would have combined separate tax plans passed by the Assembly and the Senate.
    • The compromise would have been made up of a payroll tax only in New York City, and a sales tax increase only in seven other counties served by the M.T.A.
    • Senator Anderson said the Senate Republicans had rejected the compromise because companies would have to pay the payroll tax whether or not they were making a profit.
    • Under Mr. Anderson's plan, the surcharge would be imposed on the state's corporation franchise tax, corporations and utilities tax, bank tax, and insurance tax, which are expected to raise about $2.2 billion across the state this year, two-thirds from the M.T.A. region.
    • The surcharge and the other taxes under discussion would each automatically expire at the end of 1984. A 20 percent surcharge on corporation taxes was imposed during the fiscal crisis in 1975 to help New York City pay its bills. It was repealed in 1980.
  • The New York State Legislature tonight passed a tax surcharge on corporate profits to subsidize mass transit. It is intended to prevent fare increases on subways, buses and commuter rail lines for the next 12 months.
    • The measure passed in the Senate, 46 to 10, after a brief debate marked by complaints about service to riders. It passed in the Assembly a few moments later, 80 to 46.
    • The agreement on the tax was reached this afternoon in a meeting of Governor Carey, Governor-elect Mario M. Cuomo and the legislative leaders. Mr. Carey was expected to sign the bill shortly. Immediately after the vote tonight, the two houses adjourned a special session that had wrestled with the issue for the last two weeks.
    • The new tax is in the form of a surcharge on four categories of taxes based on corporate profits, but it covers only profits earned in the 12 counties served by the M.T.A. For each of the taxes - on banks, insurance companies, utilities and other corporations -a different formula is used to compute profits earned in the region.
    • The tax would be set at 18 percent of taxes paid the first year and 17 percent the second year, and it would automatically expire at the end of two years. It is expected to provide $270 million each year to help subsidize the M.T.A., private bus lines and the Staten Island Ferry.
    • The agreement in Albany followed three weeks of deadlocked discussions over how to close a $300 million deficit in the M.T.A. budget. Of the new tax revenues, $135 million will go to the New York City Transit Authority and $95 million to the commuter railroads.
    • The M.T.A. expects the balance to come from new operating subsidies in Federal legislation that would impose a 5-cent increase in the Federal gasoline tax. The new state legislation also provides $4.4 million for the Staten Island Ferry and $34.1 million to private bus lines.
    • Business groups had lobbied heavily against the payroll tax, and Democrats said the new business tax proposed by Senator Anderson was a victory for them.
    • ''If we ever had proposed this,'' Mr. Ohrenstein said, ''it would have been shot down. It's like Nixon going to China - only Warren Anderson could propose this.''
  • Mr. Ravitch, needless to say, did not raise the fare on Monday night. That was just one of several ''deadlines'' that seemed to melt away as the legislative process ground on. Meetings of the M.T.A. were postponed. Meetings of the Financial Control Board, which must approve the Transit Authority's financial plans, were delayed.
  • John D. Simpson, the president of New York City's Transit Authority, said yesterday that about three of every 100 riders entered the subway system without paying.
    • He estimated that the system was losing about $30 million a year because of the fare beaters. Mr. Simpson was responding to a report in The Daily News that indicated the loss was much higher.
    • ''When we did a survey, we discovered 2.8 percent were entering the system illegally,'' Mr. Simpson said. ''That is a significant amount, but it's not $200 million.''
  • The National Mediation Board abruptly withdrew from the commuter railroad dispute in the New York area yesterday, a day after it announced that it would intervene. The reversal cleared the way for intensified negotiations between the unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
  • $72 million recovered funds defective R46 wheels-$25.6 million-station renovations, $21.9 million substation refurbishment, $10.5 million replacement of high-voltage cable insulation

January 1983

[edit]
  • After a long upward trend, the number of serious crimes reported on the New York City subway system remained roughly the same in 1982 as in 1981, according to preliminary data released yesterday by the Transit Authority police.
  • In Dutchess County, there is talk of seceding from the region served by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • In Albany, with a new administration coming into office, the M.T.A. question is not of the highest priority. In his inaugural address on Sunday, Governor Mario M. Cuomo called for a reorganization of the M.T.A. without giving any details.
  • A State Supreme Court justice yesterday barred renovation of 50 New York City subway stations because the plans do not include elevators for those confined to wheelchairs.
    • The decision, by Justice Ernst H. Rosenberger in Manhattan, was a setback for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which said that it has already provided transportation for the handicapped by buying buses with wheelchair lifts.
    • Under a Federal act reinterpreted by the Reagan Administration in 1981, the authority can meet Federal rules through purchasing buses with the lifts. Justice Rosenberger, however, based his opinion on a state law that he said requires wheelchair access to projects renovated with state funds.
    • About $300 million in improvements is planned at the 50 subway stations over the next four years. Adding elevators to the subways to make them accessible would cost about $1 million for each station, Mr. Perfall said.
  • Governor Cuomo has ordered a special review of the structure of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with an eye toward giving him more control over the agency, top aides to Mr. Cuomo said today.
    • They said the review of the agency, which runs subways, buses and commuter service in the 12 downstate counties, was to be completed within 90 days and that Mr. Cuomo would then make proposals for changes. The aides said that announcement of the transit review would be part of the State of the State Message that Mr. Cuomo will deliver to the Legislature Wednesday.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said: ''It is perfectly appropriate. I'd be delighted to comment on any proposals that come forth that anybody is interested in getting my views on. I've always said the organizational decisions are properly the decisions of state government.''
    • There has been considerable sentiment expressed in both houses of the Legislature for changes in the structure of the M.T.A. Mr. Cuomo had called during the campaign for the abolition or overhaul of the agency so that elected officials could be held more directly accountable for transit service.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday sent a letter to Governor Cuomo asking him to exclude the subway system from public facilities that are required to provide access for people in wheelchairs.
    • The chairman, Richard Ravitch, said that the authority could not afford to install the elevators necessary for the handicapped. M.T.A. officials estimated that the elevators would cost more than $1 million a station.
  • SUBWAY CARS HELD PERILOUS FOR THE BLIND
  • With lawyers and bankers at his side, Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, came here today to dissuade the Reagan Administration from penalizing the M.T.A. for ordering Canadian subway cars.
    • The Administration is considering imposing $137 million in duties on the $622 million deal, contending that the Canadian Government provided an unfair subsidy to a Montreal-based manufacturer.
  • A state appellate court ruled today that a key provision of a much-disputed 1980 tax to aid mass transit was unconstitutional.
    • If the decision is upheld, nearly $200 million collected under the New York State tax - a 2 percent levy on the gross receipts of oil companies in the state -would have to be refunded.
    • Oil companies have sued to block the tax in state and Federal courts, and have stopped paying it. Though it raised $134 million in 1980, it raised only $52 million in 1981 and $13 million last year.
  • Major structural repairs to the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges and large-scale reconstruction of the West Side Highway and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive are among projects that officials say will be accelerated by an infusion of Federal funds approved by Congress last month.
    • Mass transit will also get hundreds of millions of Federal dollars under the new measures, which raised the gasoline tax and certain excise taxes. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to use the money to renovate scores of subway stations, electrify more sections of the Long Island Rail Road and build new storage yards to protect subway cars from vandalism.
    • Officials in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, who are drawing up lists of road and transit projects to complete with the new money, are beginning with projects that have already been pending for years.
    • Between the fiscal years 1983 and 1986, the projections say, New York State can expect $2.6 billion in new aid for road-related projects.
    • Public transportation systems will be allotted money for operating and capital expenses under a formula. The M.T.A. will be the largest single beneficiary in the nation, receiving about $500 million a year.
    • Mortimer L. Downey, chief budget officer of the M.T.A., said the authority would probably accelerate projects, such as station rehabilitation, that had already been announced as part of the M.T.A.'s five-year $7 billion capital improvement program.
  • When a passenger gets ready to board a subway train, there is a 1-in-20 chance that a door will not open. If the passenger manages to enter through a working door, there is a 1-in-3 chance that there will be no subway map and nearly a guarantee that there will be graffiti.
    • The subway rider might not notice these problems, however, because there is a 1-in-6 chance that the subway car will be dark. These are among the results of a new ''passenger comforts'' survey conducted for internal use by the Transit Authority. The odds of any single comfort being provided were found to be good, but the odds of everything going right were a long shot.
    • The survey - conducted during the last three months of 1982 by 10 transit workers traveling the 230-mile subway system - is the first of its kind by the agency. As a result, there was no way of comparing it to past performance on the system, which carries nearly a billion passengers a year. Study by Independent Group
    • However, a survey released in October 1981 by an independent group showed that conditions were far worse in every category. ''I ride the subways too often to believe that things have improved this much since then,'' said Gene Russianoff, counsel to the Straphangers Campaign, the group that conducted the earlier survey.
    • John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority, said the new survey would be used ''for management purposes'' to evaluate the performance of various maintenance shops and yards. The evaluation will help pinpoint where personnel changes, supplies or technical assistance are needed, he said.
    • Mr. Simpson said that the new survey on passenger comforts was undertaken after two years of studying ''the fundamentals'' of subway service, such as equipment breakdowns and on-time performance. 'Next Order of Business'
    • The survey also looked at the city's bus system, which carries half a billion passengers a year. In nearly 8 percent of the cases, signs that are supposed to tell passengers where the buses are going were unreadable or showed the wrong destination. One bus in six had defective windows, and one in five had interior graffiti.
    • Other bus comforts - such as heating and rear door signals - were found to be working more than 97 percent of the time. Good Marks for Heating
    • On the subways, there were also high marks for heating (94 percent were found to have adequate heat), but there were major problems with passenger information. In addition to a paucity of subway maps, more than one car in three had incorrect destination signs. Also, announcements from the conductor about where the train was headed could not be heard a quarter of the time.
    • Mr. Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said his group had been unable to update its 1981 passenger comforts survey because of a lack of financing. However, the group recently completed a study of announcements made on the trains.
    • The group decided to focus on announcements, Mr. Russianoff said, in an effort to follow up on a new policy made public last May by Mayor Koch and Mr. Simpson. Under the policy, if a train is stopped for two minutes, the conductor must inform the passengers of the cause and expected length of the delay.
  • Negotiations were under way here today to try to keep the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from having to pay millions of dollars in penalty duties on the subway cars it has ordered from a Canadian company.
  • Service improving-new plan assigning particular subway car models to specific repair barns-improved repair records-pinpoint who is responsible-previously-several models-each barn-good progress-R62; replacement cracked R44/R46 undercarriages ahead of schedule

February 1983

[edit]
  • President Reagan's new budget proposes a reduction of $1 billion in funds for mass transit, an amount almost equal to the increase passed by Congress last year, according to New York and New Jersey officials.
    • The M.T.A., which had expected to get $136 million in capital assistance in the fiscal year 1983 under the gasoline tax legislation, would receive $95 million under Mr. Reagan's budget, according to Mortimer L. Downey, assistant executive director for management and budget at the M.T.A. A $168 Million Cut in '84
    • For the fiscal year 1984, Mr. Downey said, the M.T.A. had expected to receive $670 million for capital and operating assistance but will receive $168 million less under the Administration budget. The proposed cuts in operating assistance would put pressure on the New York City's subway and bus fares, and could result in reduced services, Mr. Downey said.
  • The Commerce Department ruled today that the Canadian Government had illegally subsidized the sale of 825 subway cars to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with $91.2 million of export credit financing.
  • After a yearlong experiment, during which a $500,000 system of 76 television screens was monitored by the police around the clock, crime actually rose 30 percent at the station. Officials were unable to explain the increase, but they said that during the test crime rose throughout midtown.
    • Despite the experience at Columbus Circle, the Transit Authority has installed a $1.2 million television surveillance system at Times Square that is to go into operation early next month.
    • Eighty percent of the cost of the closed-circuit systems, the officials said, is paid by the Federal Urban Mass Transit Administration, and the rest by the state and city.
  • M.T.A. UNIT TO PAY COST OF SUITS AGAINST CONRAIL
  • Service improvement-last year-only 21 trains lost breakdowns vs. 70-1981, 105 1980
  • YOUTHS STEALING SUBWAY TOKENS BY SUCKING ON TURNSTILE SLOTS
  • The Budd Company, the only United States manufacturer of subway cars, yesterday dropped its six-month effort to penalize the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for its purchase of 825 subway cars from Canada.
  • A coalition of national labor unions yesterday dropped an effort to penalize the Metropolitan Transportation Aurthority for purchasing subway cars from Canada. In return, the authority promised that it would not buy additional foreign-made rail cars during the next three years.
  • When New York's Transit Authority purchases $34 million in hardware in less than two years, as it did recently, no system for preventing fraud can be completely foolproof. But subway officials are obliged at least to try to defend the public's money. If a recent audit is correct about losses on fuses and pipe nipples, the agency hasn't even made the attempt.
    • According to the audit by Comptroller Harrison Goldin, purchasing officials selected bidders on inadequate information, took deliveries without reading package labels, permitted prices to soar unreasonably and ran their operation with all the acumen of kids selling lemonade on the sidewalk.
    • After examining only a small part of the agency's purchases, Mr. Goldin's auditors found overpayments of $1.1 million. Even this discovery seems to have taken an inordinately long time.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sold $125 million worth of bonds yesterday to finance the rehabilitation of its commuter rail lines and bus and subway systems.; more-$43.8 commuter rail; $81.2 million-TA
    • The bonds sold yesterday, known as service contract bonds, were purchased at what Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, called a ''favorable'' interest rate of 9.5 percent.
  • And, Mr. Goldin said last week, since his investigation covered only a fraction of the $20 million spent on such items each year, the total losses may be ''many millions of dollars more.''
    • Focusing on 14 randomly selected contracts, auditors discovered that the authority had paid two Queens suppliers premium prices for less than premium goods. In the case of a third company, competitive bidding had apparently been rigged with the help of at least one Transit Authority employee. ''Shoddy internal control and review procedures'' accounted for some of the waste, Mr. Goldin said, but most of it was due to deliberate impropriety.
  • The Legislature has taken on the full burden of keeping the M.T.A. alive. In 1974 the Legislature created the operating assistance program to shift monies from the general revenue fund to the M.T.A.budget. Subsidies from this program, which fall directly on the backs of taxpayers, have grown from $80 million in 1974 to more than $500 million in 1983. The taxpayer burden imposed by M.T.A. deficits has been further increased by three special taxes enacted by the Legislature in 1980, 1981 and 1982.
    • The need for these increased tax subsidies lies in the fact that fares have not come in fast enough to meet operating costs. In 1970, the M.T.A. expenditure budget was $800 million. The budget grew to $1.2 billion in 1975, rose to $1.9 billion in 1979 and shot up to $2.8 billion by 1983. At the same time, fare revenues declined from 60 percent to 50 percent of operating expenditures, with Federal and local aid dropping over that period.
    • The Legislature has been forced to pick up the slack, with state contributions to the M.T.A. budget raising from 6 percent in 1975 to 22 percent in 1983. State legislators are asked for money, blamed for poor service and criticized by constituents for their inability to exercise controls over local transportation problems. Unlike other public authorities (the Housing Finance Authority, the Energy Research and Development Authority), the M.T.A. is the only body that asks for and gets special taxpayer subsidies to keep its operating going.
    • The M.T.A. board should function as the parent agency under which three regional boards of directors would be created to deal with local concerns and problems.
  • The four-month effort to figure out what to do about the Connecticut Turnpike tokens that fit New York City subway turnstiles has hit yet another snag, officials said yesterday.
  • Contract $7.3 million expansion/rehab 207th Street shop awarded-expected next summer-increase shop size from 19,000 square feet to 45,200 square feet-improve work flow, reduce time for inspecting, testing, repairing car components-12 indoor tracks-allow 40-50 cars serviced at once
  • The 5-cent increase in the gasoline tax will not go into effect until April, but city and transit officials today were already angrily accusing the Department of Transportation of reneging on promises of using it to help failing public transit systems.
    • The controversy began when the Reagan Administration unveiled its proposed budget for the fiscal year 1984. It disclosed that although it would collect up to $1 billion for transit assistance from the gasoline tax, it was sticking by plans to slash operating aid, as distinct from capital funds, for transit systems and to eliminate it by 1985.
  • Governor Cuomo today announced the details of a $1.25 billion bond program to rehabilitate the state's roads and bridges and New York City's mass-transit system.
    • The plan requires the approval of both the Legislature and the state's voters. If approved by the Legislature, the proposal would be put before the voters in November.
    • Mr. Cuomo said revenues from the bonds would be combined with $5.75 billion in Federal and state funds to begin a five-year program ''to reverse the deteriorating condition of highways, bridges, ports, waterways, airports, railroads and mass-transit facilities.''
    • The state expects to finance a wide range of projects with the bond revenues, according to the Governor, including the reconstruction of Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, the Cross Island Parkway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as well as an upgrading of the city's subway system
    • Under the $1.25 billion bond proposal, called the Transportation Infrastructure Renewal Fund, six facets of the state's transportation system would receive funds, including $560 million for state highways, parkways and bridges, $335 million for highways and bridges maintained by local governments and $145 million for the mass-transit systems around the state, of which $105 million would be designated for New York City's Transit Authority.
    • Rather, he pointed out, the Governor's plan would give the state's Transportation Commissioner, who has yet to be appointed, complete discretion to spend the proceeds within six large categories as the Commissioner sees fit.
  • Negotiations are scheduled to resume this morning in New York and New Jersey to avert threatened walkouts at midnight by trainmen and conductors on lines run by Metro-North and NJ Transit.
    • The disputes between the United Transportation Union and the state authorities center on differences over working hours and the size of crews.
    • The railroad has sought in the negotiation to eliminate what Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., calls antiquated and costly work rules. One goal has been to reduce the work force by eliminating rigid requirements for the number of conductors and assistants on a train.
    • But union officials view this objective as a threat to the jobs of their members that could result in as many as 151 layoffs, according to Edward J. Yule, who is representing the parent U.T.U. in the dispute.
    • The other critical issue is hours of work. The railroad would like conductors, trainmen and their assistants to work over a 12-hour span for 10 hours pay each day, with a break of as much as four hours in midday. This would make it possible for the same crews to work during both the morning and evening commuter rushes. The union, on the other hand, is seeking an eight-hour day at the rate of time and onehalf pay for any hours worked beyond eight

March 1983

[edit]
  • Governor Cuomo today announced the awarding of $30 million in contracts to rehabilitate 300 subway cars at plants in Brooklyn and Hornell, N.Y. The work is part of a $40 million program to rebuild 400 20-year old IRT cars, which will be paid for with New York City funds. Mr. Cuomo said the Morrison-Knudsen Company would rebuild 200 cars and create 175 jobs at a repair yard in Hornell and NAB Inc. would rebuild 100 cars and create 87 jobs at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
  • Following are excerpts from the speech yesterday by Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, at a meeting of the Association for a Better New York, as recorded by The New York Times:
    • We recognize that our most important objective is to increase our revenue from fares by increasing our number of riders, and by increasing our num
    • One of them has said to me, almost since the day I became chairman, that one of the ways to achieve that objective is by providing monthly passes. Carol Bellamy has written about this, spoken about it publicly a great deal. I probably should have paid a lot more attention a lot sooner, but other problems and other burdens seemed to take precedence.
    • Examination of that idea and other ideas expressed by many people made us begin to think about the combination of passes and automatic fare collection - and what this could do to both the quality of the system and the number of riders we have. And we've attempted to kind of set some long-range objectives here.
    • We don't yet have the information that would enable us to price a new system of collecting fares in sufficient accuracy to talk with great specifics. But you have to begin somewhere, and the idea is a first-rate idea and we are now going to commit ourselves to studying it in detail to see if it's achievable.
      • Let me try to outline what it is and what we're trying to achieve by it:
        • - We want to eliminate the token. We want to substitute a reuseable ticket with a magnetic strip.
        • - We want to sell transportation on a time basis; monthly passes good for unlimited use on the transit system.
        • - Sell single-trip tickets by time of day - higher single fares during peak hours, lower fares during off-peak hours.
        • - We want to examine carefully all the potential for a massive distribution of passes and blocks of tickets through the employers of this city and through the financial community.
        • - And we want to see whether the introduction of this new system of fare collection can't be used to more closely integrate our commuter lines with the city transit system. Dramatic Impact Expected
      • We believe that if this is achievable, it will have a dramatic impact on the attractiveness of our service: on the number of people who use the system, on the very utility of the transit system to the region's economy, and, ultimately, to the production of a significant increment in fare-box revenue; thus reducing, hopefully, our dependency on the scarce resources of the state government.
      • For many of our customers, if this were to work there would be no more coins; no more exact-change requirements for buses; unlimited rides would permit extra trips, free stopovers - and by unifying bus and subway fares on a single pass, a choice of the most convenient route. Passes will encourage mobility and, as I've said - and I repeat for emphasis - enhanced mobility will increase commercial activity in this region.
      • Let me talk a little bit about off-peak ridership. The cost of moving more passengers in off-peak hours is almost zero - or the increased cost of moving more passengers is almost zero; there is no marginal increase in cost.
      • If we could price a cost of riding the system so that it would be more attractive to use the system in off-peak hours, we would get that additional ridership and, as I say, there would be no marginal increment in cost.
      • The introduction of this system would enable us to permanently close those slam gates and thus significantly reduce our revenue loss from fare beating.
      • Most of the cities that have introduced automatic fare collection and/ or monthly pass systems have focused less on the distribution method. They sell these in their stations in very much the same way that they sold tickets or tokens
      • And I would like, if my colleagues concur in this view, to suggest to our Congressional delegation that they might explore the possibility of changes in the tax law that would enable employer contributions to their employees' use of public transit be treated not as taxable income to the employees, in the same way that employers all over this country provide free parking to their employees, and that is not included income to the employees.
      • My view is that that is a generally favorable result, that it will encourage the use of an increasing number of our citizens who live in two-fare zones to use the transit system.
    • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that he hoped to introduce a magnetic card system, similar to the type used in bank cash machines, for entering the city's subways and buses.
      • To illustrate the cost to the passenger, one M.T.A. official gave the following pricing example: Assuming a $1 fare, the average rider would spend $40 a month getting to and from work. A monthly ticket might sell for $40 and would give the user an unlimited number of trips. This would encourage greater use of the system for optional trips, such as shopping or entertainment.
    • The idea of eliminating subway and bus tokens in New York City in favor of magnetic cards - much like the ones used for bank cash machines - got a generally favorable response yesterday from business leaders and civic associations.
      • The proposal was criticized by Sonny Hall, a vice president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, and Herman Badillo, a former Deputy Mayor. Mr. Hall said transit workers were ''willing to cooperate'' but not at the expense of losing jobs.
    • A Manhattan Assemblyman charged yesterday that the Transit Authority was ''dragging its feet'' in the removal of polyvinyl chloride tubing from the subway system. The tubing emits toxic fumes when heated to high temperatures.
      • John C. Nelson, the Transit Authority's vice president for external affairs, said that work on 12 of the 60 stations would be completed by June but that ''it is not clear whether there will be enough money'' to complete work at all of the other stations.
    • These difficulties, and others, deserve attention and debate. The city's financial health requires a well-patronized rapid transit system. Public discussion may produce ideas that can resolve the doubts. Mr. Ravitch deserves credit for pushing the issue and better suggestions from those who demur.
    • CHARGES DISMISSED IN CASE OF EX-TRANSIT OFFICIAL
    • Metro-North and its conductors and trainmen were scheduled to resume negotiations this afternoon in a dispute over work rules that threatens to halt train service tomorrow morning for 90,000 commuters from New York City's northern suburbs and southwestern Connecticut.
      • There were no contacts between the two sides yesterday. ''I am pessimistic,'' William Beebe, the union's general chairman for the New Haven line, said yesterday. He accused Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., of ''bad-faith bargaining,'' and said Mr. Ravitch seemed intent on ultimately eliminating more than 400 of Metro-North's 622 conductors and trainmen.
      • Talks were suspended Thursday in an impasse over the key issue of whether the size of train crews should be determined by Metro-North's management or specified in writing after negotiation with the union.
      • Metro-North wants to cut costs and improve efficiency by removing rigid requirements for crew size based on train lengths. These rules have been in effect for years under union contracts with Conrail, which turned over management of the line to the M.T.A. on Jan. 1. The authority says it cannot allow unneeded trainmen on a line that is heavily subsidized by the state.
      • The union also has rejected management's offer of buyouts for those eligible for retirement.
      • While the basic issue centers on who should determine the size of train crews, a parallel issue is the number of workers to be eliminated. Disagreement between the union and management over the numbers is so profound that even the mediator, Mr. Anderson, says he has no clear idea what the two sides mean. The Union's Argument
      • The union argues that there are 622 conductors and trainmen who work on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines, and that work rules posted on Wednesday by the M.T.A. would cut that number to about 470, a loss of 152 workers. Even so, the union says, the M.T.A. has refused to commit itself contractually to the figure of 470.
      • ''All we're saying is, if you mean this, put it in writing,'' Mr. Beebe said. ''We have sources at the M.T.A. who indicate to us that Mr. Ravitch actually intends to operate the railroad with 150 men. That's the reason he won't put it in writing.''
      • The management, which has offered to submit to binding arbitration, contends that there are only 540 full-time positions under discussion, and that the balance of the 622 are on a so-called ''extra board,'' on call to fill in as needed. The issue is complicated further because many of those on the extra board are senior employees who obtain choice assignments and premium pay in this status.
      • The M.T.A. maintains that the effect of the new work rules would be to cut the 540 positions to 470, or 70 positions. The question of what happens to those on the extra board is separate, the M.T.A. says. It seeks either a small extra board whose members would be paid whether they worked or not, or a board of any size with no pay guarantees.
    • Metro-North and its conductors and trainmen sought yesterday to break an impasse over work rules and to avert a strike this morning that would halt service for 90,000 residents of New York City's northern suburbs and southwestern Connecticut.
      • The M.T.A. and the U.T.U. were divided over the issue of who should decide how many assistant conductors are needed on trains of various lengths to help the conductor collect tickets and serve as brakemen in emergencies.
      • The M.T.A., which inherited work rules dating back decades when it took over the lines formerly run by Conrail on Jan. 1, contends that it alone should determine the crew sizes on the basis of factors like the length of train, the number of passengers and the distance to travel.
      • The management seeks to cut costs and improve efficiency by removing what it regards as unneeded trainmen from a line that has had to impose large fare increases and is heavily susidized by a financially strapped state government. Under work rules it posted last Wednesday, the M.T.A. says 70 jobs would be cut from a roll of 540 full-time positions, leaving 470.
      • The M.T.A. has offered $5,000 buyout bonuses for about 70 persons eligible to retire this year, and has offered to put the whole issue to binding arbitration.
      • The union has rejected the buyout offer as inadequate and refused to submit to binding arbitration. It contends that the M.T.A. cannot be relied upon to assign the proper number of men to a train to insure its safe operation, and it has offered to accept a staffing plan that is in force on Federally run Amtrak trains. Amtrak Formula's Requirements
      • That formula would require at least one conductor on all trains; a conductor and a trainman on trains with two to six cars and at least one conductor and two trainmen on trains of seven or more cars.
      • Further, the union contends that the work rules posted by management on Wednesday would cut more that 150 persons from the 622-member work rolls, not 70 as claimed by management. Even so, the union argues, management has refused to commit itself in writing to its own target figure of 470.
    • Negotiators in the Metro-North rail strike have agreed to resume talks Sunday, a mediator announced yesterday. The talks will be the first since the walkout, which has affected 90,000 commuters in New York's northern suburbs, began on Monday.
    • ADVOCATES FOR BLIND DIVIDED ON SUBWAY SAFETY
    • Audit Regan restricted duty
    • Negotiations continued early this morning in an effort to settle the two-week-old strike against Metro-North Commuter Railroad. The talks began last night with both sides reaffirming the positions that had led to the walkout.
      • A major issue in the bargaining continued to be the size of the crews. ''We must have the right and flexibility to determine how many people are needed to run a train,'' said Arthur G. Perfall, assistant executive director of the M.T.A., the parent body of Metro-North. Union Cites Safety Issue
      • But Edward J. Yule, one of the chief negotiators for the striking United Transportation Union, said that if crew size were left up to management, union jobs and passenger safety would be jeopardized. ''We want the crew size written into the contract,'' he said.
    • In what he said was his final offer in the 16-day-old strike against the Metro-North Commuter Railroad, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that he would guarantee the jobs of all 622 striking union members.
      • The chairman, Richard Ravitch, also said he would insure that there would be at least one conductor or trainman for each train. In earlier negotiating sessions, the M.T.A. had guaranteed only 484 jobs and no minimum number of conductors or trainmen. The conductors and trainmen collect tickets and take care of passenger safety, while the engineer drives the train.
      • ''We can go no further,'' Mr. Ravitch said of the offer. ''If the union does not agree, it will be a very, very long strike, and they will bear the sole onus for the inconvenience to the public.''
      • Depending on the length of the train, as many as four workers - conductors, assistant conductors and trainmen -had been required on each train under the old contract, the union said.
      • There are 484 regular workers and 138 more on what is known in railroad jargon as the ''extra board'' - those who fill in on vacations and holidays. Mr. Ravitch said he hoped to reduce the work force through attrition hastened by buyouts to those nearing retirement. In addition, Mr. Ravitch said, ''We have also agreed to a crew consist of one person per train regardless of length.'' Crew consist is the railroad term for crew size.
      • Mr. Ravitch said that his agreement to set in the contract a minimum number of workers for each train did not reverse his earlier stand against setting a crew consist. 'Need at Least One Person'
      • ''It was never our intention to have the train run without any conductor,'' he said. ''You need at least one person.'' Union negotiators said they were pleased with the job guarantees but wanted a crew-size arrangement similar to the one on Amtrak. The union said this would involve having one conductor and one trainman on a train that is from two to six cars long, and an additional trainman on a train of seven or more cars.
    • The Transit Authority has lost millions of dollars by failing to use properly employees who have health problems, according to an audit by the State Comptroller's office.

April 1983

[edit]
  • HOW NOT TO RUN A COMMUTER RAILROAD
  • Ravitch interview-all-consuming-maintenance deferred years, hundreds of millions operating deficit, LIRR strike, transit strike-after taking the job; same time-began study capital needs-fare crisis again July 1981, fare crisis-1982 deferred June to December, take over Metro-North Conrail-days both Albany/Washington-only had a superficial snse depth of problem-didn't understand enormity basic conflicts with labor, the idea-political conflicts emerge-unique satisfaction-public service-excitement, sense of dedication-very few occasions one's life-one has an opportunity to do something that is as significant-as publicly useful-don't like many politicians-who know well that problems not the result-peoples' desire to have things run badly-use bad service to make political hay-did not expect Bombardier situation-Budd challenged purchase of subway cars, Canadian government's subsidy of interest rate-didn't know it would erupt international trade issue-tell-increase fares-needed-tell the truth-never misstated numbers-Legislature-accepted budget projections as accurate-fascination-media fare-not other cities in the country; problems-inadequate resources-money and good people, history neglect physical infrastructure-
  • AS Metro-North passengers continued to ride buses and subways last week, peripheral strains arising from the rail strike began to show. A rift developed among County Legislators over a proposal, drafted when union and rail negotiators were not talking, to withhold statemandated county payments to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority until service resumed.
    • No sooner had Edward M. Gibbs, a Peekskill Republican, offered the resolution than William R. Crosbie, who described himself as the only New York City commuter among the part-time Legislators, opposed it
  • Before the strike, according to the M.T.A., the crews were made up of two workers on trains of two to five cars and three employees for more than five cars on the Harlem and Hudson Lines. On the New Haven Line, two workers covered trains with two to four cars and three were assigned to trains longer than four cars.
    • The opponents are also divided on pay for ''swing time,'' the period of up to four hours between the morning and evening rush hours when trainmen and conductors are at work but not on trains.
  • Governor Cuomo said today that negotiatons to end the strike against the Metro-North Commuter Railroad were ''at impasse,'' and he blamed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the union for failing to reach a contract.
    • ''I am disappointed with both parties to the negotiations,'' he said. ''Their failure to use collective bargaining effectively depreciates the process and punishes thousands of New Yorkers.''
    • The M.T.A. has not changed its offer, and Richard Ravitch, its chairman, said the Governor had not pressured him to change his negotiating position.
    • William A. Beebe, general chairman of the New Haven division of the union, said he was ''heartened'' by the Cuomo statement and called it ''a softening of his position against the union.'' He called for Mr. Cuomo to enter the talks and proposed moving them to Albany.
  • Union leaders agreed today to end a strike against the Metro-North Commuter Railroad in New York, and the management said it hoped to have commuter trains running Monday.
    • After six weeks of a strike that has shut down the railroad for 90,000 riders, the management and the leaders of the union agreed to submit unresolved issues, chiefly relating to the size of train crews, to arbitration. The arbitrater's decision would be binding on both sides.
  • The chief of the transit police reported yesterday that there had been a reduction in felony crime on the subways during the first three months of this year.
  • RAIL UNION TAKES ARBITRATION STEP
  • Striking trainmen and the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted yesterday to accept binding arbitration, ending a 42-day walkout against the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
    • Mayor Koch, commenting yesterday on the M.T.A.'s decision to accept binding arbitration, said, ''I worry about the fact that management, instead of exercising the prerogatives which it should have to eliminate feather-bedding, is submitting the issue to a panel.''
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that he hoped a ruling by the arbitration panel in the Metro-North Commuter Railroad dispute would enable the authority to introduce an automatic fare collection system on the railroad.
    • Under this system, passengers would slip a magnetic fare card into a turnstile to gain entry at the commuter rail station rather than hand their tickets to conductors and trainmen.
    • Throughout the weeks of negotiations, the chairman, Richard Ravitch, insisted that management needed the flexibility to set crew size to run a more efficient railroad. It was not until an interview yesterday, however, that he specified publicly that the objective would be to take the fare collection task away from the conductors and trainmen.
    • ''That is why we fought so hard on the issue of crew size,'' he explained.
    • The M.T.A. insisted that it, as management, had the right to determine the number of conductors and trainmen on each train; the United Transportation Union demanded that a minimum of two or three workers be specified in the contract. The primary task of these workers is to collect fares.
    • Union leaders scoffed at the idea of an automatic fare collection system. ''He doesn't want a Metro-North,'' said William A. Beebe, a chief union negotiator. ''He wants a subway north.''
    • Under the settlement reached yesterday, the issue of crew size will be determined by the arbitration panel. Effects of Strike Noted
    • A fare increase of 25 to 30 percent will be necessary early next year for Metro-North commuters, along with increases on the subways and the Long Island Rail Road.
    • If the arbitration panel rules in favor of the union - finding that the crew size must be specified in the contract - the same issue could cause a strike by conductors and trainmen on the Long Island Rail Road. Mr. Ravitch called on the Long Island employees to submit their contract to binding arbitration. ''We want to be sure that there will not be a strike on Aug. 5,'' he said. On that day the final Federal ''cooling off'' period expires, and the unions are legally free to strike.
    • The Ravitch plan for the commuter lines would be to use magnetic fare cards and turnstiles at the stations, the same as in the subways.
    • Mr. Ravitch said that conductors would still be working on the trains but that their tasks would be limited to providing ''passenger convenience,'' such as giving directions. Union leaders have said that a minimum of conductors are needed to insure passenger safety, but Mr. Ravitch has rejected this notion.
    • Ultimately, Mr. Ravitch said, he hopes to ''unify'' the city and commuter lines by providing a single fare card that could be used on the railroads, subways and buses. The commuter who purchased such a card would presumably pay a monthly rate from the suburban community to the city as well as the monthly subway and bus rate. The devices at the turnstiles would ''read'' information coded on the cards. Test Planned This Year
    • The M.T.A. chairman said he hoped to have a magnetic fare card system available for testing on the subway system by the end of the year. Soon afterward, he said, he hopes to test a similar system on the Metro-North and Long Island lines.
    • The major task of the three-member arbitration panel will be to determine who has the right to set crew size. Even if the panel rules against the M.T.A., Mr. Ravitch said, he still hopes to introduce automatic fare collection on the Metro-North system. But he admitted it would be more difficult to justify the expense for the new fare system if the Metro-North was required to keep the larger crews on its payroll.
  • T.A. MUST NOT SURRENDER TO THE GRAFFITI ARTISTS
  • Nearly $16 million has been awarded by the Federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration for the expansion and improvement of the Transit Authority's Stillwell Avenue subway yard in Brooklyn, it was announced yesterday.; more
    • Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, announced the awarding of the $15.9 million grant and said the money would allow the Transit Authority to ''end the practice of laying up noisy subway trains on elevated tracks adjacent to residential neighborhoods.''
  • Mr. Ravitch contended that the ''commitments long made to existing rail systems should be the first priority.'' Mr. Ravitch said the city sought to have 50 percent of the money dedicated to modernization of old rail systems, with 40 percent going to new systems and 10 percent for the purchase of buses. He has not presented a specific request for New York.
  • Twenty-eight subway stations will get face lifts, 196 subway cars will get air conditioning, New York City will get two new bus depots and riders will get fare cards instead of tokens, according to plans released yesterday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The M.T.A. board expects to approve the program at a meeting tomorrow despite some questions about how the $821 million to pay for these and other improvements will be raised.
    • Nearly half the money for the program is expected to come from the 5-cent-a-gallon increase in the Federal gasoline tax that took effect April 1. But a struggle among different regions of the nation has raised questions about just how much New York will get.
    • ''Based on the experience of the last year,'' he said, ''I am confident that our new goals will be realized.'' In the last year, Mr. Ravitch explained, the M.T.A., using Federal and local subsidies, has purchased 1,375 new subway cars and spent more on track and tunnel improvements than was spent during the entire 1970's.
    • ''There were many who said we were crazy when we set our goals last year,'' he said. A year ago, the M.T.A. board approved a $5.8 billion, five-year capital program for the subways and buses. The new improvements will bring the total to $6.6 billion.
    • The highlights of the new spending plan are these:
      • - Installation of air conditioners on 196 R-40 subway cars at a cost of $20 million. The cars, used on the IND and BMT lines, are 15 years old.
      • - Modernization of 28 subway stations at a cost of $189 million. This will be in addition to the rehabilitation of 50 stations under the original plan.
      • - An allowance of $100 million to buy and install an automatic fare-collection system that will reduce, and possibly eliminate, the use of tokens.
      • - Additions to the system's capacity to store subway cars so that all cars will be stored in secure yards. Officials hope that this program, which will cost $72 million, will reduce graffiti vandalism.
      • - Two new bus depots, one in Manhattan and one in Queens, and the rehabilitation of a third depot on Staten Island, at a total cost of $81 million.
      • The rest of the money will be used for a variety of projects, including the overhaul of subway cars and the purchase of new buses. In addition, the M.T.A. board is expected to approve projects for the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad. Details of the proposed improvements on the commuter railroads were not available yesterday.
    • In addition, there has been community opposition to the building of the two new bus depots. One is planned for the West 30's in Manhattan and the other for Jamaica, Queens.
    • M.T.A. officials said the $821 million in additions to the capital plan would be possible because of three new revenue sources. The Federal gas-tax rise is expected to yield $382 million.Officials said they would not revise the figure until Congress took final action.
    • The agency predicts it will receive $356 million more than expected from the sale of M.T.A. bonds. This was attributed to a higher-thanexpected rating for the bonds, which made them more popular with buyers.
    • In addition, the purchase of subway cars at prices lower than expected will yield $83 million. In the last year the authority bought cars from companies in Japan, Canada and France.
    • The way in which the M.T.A. plans to spend the $821 million has come under attack from some local officials. City Council President Carol Bellamy, who is also a member of the M.T.A. board, said she was concerned that there was too much emphasis on ''glamour projects'' such as station modernization, and not enough on ''infrastructure improvements,'' such as track and signal work.
    • In response to her complaint, John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. agency that runs the subways and buses, said he was altering the plan by moving $12 million from station improvements to infrastructure projects.
  • A $26 million plan to build six street-level entrances and exits for the northern side of Grand Central Terminal was approved yesterday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It will mark the first major renovation of the transportation complex since the terminal was built in 1913.
    • The board of directors of the M.T.A. approved the new entrances as it adopted an $8.5 billion five-year capital plan for its subsidiaries, including the city subway system and two commuter railroads, Metro-North and the Long Island.
    • The extra money will allow the board to speed up projects that had been scheduled for the subsequent five-year plan, from 1987 to 1992, Mr. Perfall said. It will be spent for such improvements as increasing air-conditioning on subway cars, upgrading track, signal and electrical systems, and rebuilding stations.
    • At the special meeting yesterday, the chairman of the M.T.A., Richard Ravitch, applauded Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, for helping the M.T.A. obtain the Federal money. Senator D'Amato applauded Mr. Ravitch and the board for the way they are spending it. Mr. Ravitch also credited Senator D'Amato with helping obtain $324 million in additional operating assistance for the city's subway and bus systems in December despite President Reagan's proposal to eliminate the help.
    • The M.T.A., Mr. Ravitch said, had not made a decision on switching from tokens to fare cards and would continue to study the question, not only for the subways and buses, but also for the commuter rail lines. He said he had offered to phase out through attrition the jobs of workers who might be affected, such as train conductors.
  • Added $820 million subway/bus, $300 million commuter rail-total up to $8.5 billion-$3 billion-1982-first year 5-year plan-LIRR-$1 billion-through 1986-all projects recent list additional work-$211 million-added two projects-rehab Jamaica-cut
  • $1.3 billlion boost capital program-lower interest rates bonds, gas tax hike federal, more favorable service contracts
  • Adds seven more Queens stations renovations-including Union Tpke, Forest Hills, more A/C cars, automated fare collection-Bellamy complaint-should be given higher priority-tracks/signals

May 1983

[edit]
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority may not get much credit from passengers, but it has received more than it expected from investors. Because a higher-than-anticipated bond rating made the agency's recent offering more popular than planned, it raised an extra $356 million.
    • Officials also said they would save $83 million through lower prices for new subways and estimated the agency's share of Federal gas-tax revenue at $382 million.
    • But no one will ever accuse the M.T.A. of having more money than it knows what to do with. A year after it unveiled a $5.8 billion rebuilding program for city buses and subways, the agency last week announced another $821 million in improvements, including the modernization of 28 subway stations (in addition to the 50 included in the original plan), the air-conditioning of 196 subway cars, construction of two bus depots and the installation of an automatic fare collection system. Improvements were also planned for the M.T.A.'s commuter rail lines, notably a $22.6 million refurbishing of the Long Island Rail Road waiting room and platforms in Pennsylvania Station and $26 million for six new street-level entrances and exits to relieve congestion at Grand Central Terminal. The latter project, the first major renovation since the station was built in 1913, will not affect the exterior of the building, which is a landmark.
  • Adds seven more Queens stations renovations-including Union Tpke, Forest Hills, more A/C cars, automated fare collection-Bellamy complaint-should be given higher priority-tracks/signals
  • Mr. Ravitch has also made it clear that he hopes to introduce automatic fare collection on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North as part of an effort to reduce the number of conductors who now collect tickets. This would require expensive station modification, Mr. Ravitch acknowledged, but he said it would pay for itself in manpower savings.
  • GRAFFITI PROBLEM ON THE INCREASE ON CITY'S BUSES
  • STRAPHANGERS RATE QUALITY OF THEIR RIDES; more
  • When you have 408 dilapidated subway stations and enough money to repair only 28 of them, how do you choose? That is the question facing the New York City Transit Authority as it prepares to spend $264 million on rebuilding subway stations over the next three years. For 28 stations, the money will bring new lighting, new tiles, architectural improvements and noise- reduction features.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, chose to do the West Fourth Street Station, but the City Planning Commission is arguing for the Queens station. Each agency has its own list of stations, and the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will make a decision later this month.
    • ''The criteria that we used,'' the Transit Authority president said, ''reflected the numbers of people on the system exposed to those stations in the course of an average working day.''
    • The stations in each borough with the heaviest passenger load, therefore, would have priority for repair, Mr. Simpson said. But Richard A. Chudd, director of City Planning's Transportation Division, asked for a ''broader set of criteria'' and released his own list of station candidates. At the Rockaway Park Station, for example, a $2.3 million commercial revitalization program will begin later this year, he said. Improved subway service there and at other locations is crucial to economic development, according to Mr. Chudd.
    • Mr. Simpson said he would study the commission's recommendations, which are advisory, before he makes his final recommendations to the M.T.A. board. But in terms of the number of people served, he said, there is little comparison between candidates on the Transit Authority and City Planning lists. Small Benefit Seen in Proposal
    • According to the revision of the capital plan approved by the M.T.A. board last month, the largest single allocation - $264 million - would go toward station rehabilitation work. The rest would be for improvements in tracks, signals and depots.
    • The choice faced by Mr. Simpson on subway stations was the same kind of question that transit officials have faced repeatedly since Richard Ravitch became M.T.A. chairman in late 1979 promising to ''rebuild the system.''
    • But the question quickly arose - how do you choose between different needs? Several officials, such as Carol Bellamy, President of the City Council, and Andrew J. Stein, Manhattan Borough President, criticized the Ravitch plan to purchase 1,375 new subway cars. They argued that old subway cars could be rehabilitated and made ''like new'' at a lower cost. First New Cars Due Next Year
    • Miss Bellamy, who is also a member of the M.T.A. board, was won over by Mr. Ravitch's arguments for new cars and voted in favor of the purchases. New IRT subway cars - the first fruits of the subway car order - are expected to arrive next year for use on the West Side IRT.
  • Commuters on the Long Island Rail Road - long accustomed to wondering whether the 7:25 A.M. will arrive before the 7:12 - have recently been playing a different kind of guessing game. Some riders refer to it as railroad roulette, and the object is to guess which four stations the L.I.R.R. will eliminate as part of a $146.5 million modernization program.
  • The president of the New York City Transit Authority says passengers on subway lines and buses can expect a cooler ride this summer than last.
    • - The number of mechanics who work exclusively on repairing bus air-conditioning units has more than doubled in the last two years, from 64 in 1981 to 141 this year. On the subways, maintenance workers, who perform other functions as well, make air-conditioning repairs.
    • - Vacation schedules have been rearranged so additional airconditioning maintenance personnel will be working on the buses through the summer months. In previous years, most of the workers took vacations during the summer.
    • - With the aid of a consultant, a new training manual has been developed for repairing subway and bus air-conditioning units.
    • - Air-conditioning units were kept clean through the winter as part of the regular 10,000-mile maintenance cycle.
    • - Tools to repair air-conditioning units have been added to the kits carried by regular maintenance employees. Previously, the workers had to sign out the special tools, a practice that sometimes discouraged continued maintenance.
    • - The overall condition of the subway and bus system has improved. On-time performance during the morning rush hour, for example, went from 80 percent in April 1982 to 90 percent last month. A system that runs smoother will likely mean that everything will run smoother, Mr. Simpson said.
  • The derailment was the seventh on the subways this year and the third this month. The other accidents this month were caused by track conditions, according to the Transit Authority.
    • The accident Thursday happened at virtually the same spot as a derailment 18 months ago. That accident, in which 10 passengers were injured, was caused when a motor fell out of a train and caught on the track.

June 1983

[edit]
  • The plan calls for the city's celebrated ''Train to the Plane'' to lose its special police guard and for its fare to be cut to $1.50 from $5.
    • Mr. Simpson said he thought many people would use the new low-cost service as an express means to get from 57th Street to the World Trade Center.
    • Miss Menschel said that in the last year ridership had increased 5 percent on the line and ''it now comes close to breaking even.'' In the 12 months through March 1983, 1.2 million people rode the line, about a third of them using discounted fare tickets available to regular riders. Total revenue was just over $4 million.
    • On the cost side, salaries for the 43 clerks and 43 transit police officers involved totaled about $3 million. With more passengers expected to be using the new service, the Transit Authority estimates an additional $1 million saving from more efficient use of equipment.
  • Stein-mistakes repeated-TA about to award more than $4 million contracts outside consultants-allegedly done poor work-reconstruction 207th Street shop-dissatisfied design of car paint shop Coney Island
  • Governor Cuomo today proposed adding three members to the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority so that the Governor would control a majority of the board. The agency oversees the operation of subways, buses and commuter railroads in the New York region.
    • Mr. Cuomo also asked the Legislature to approve a change in the status of the M.T.A.'s chairman. The present chairman, Richard Ravitch, serves a fixed term that runs until June 30, 1987. Mr. Cuomo asked that this be changed so the chairman would serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
    • But Mr. Cuomo abandoned the idea of abolishing the M.T.A., which was a major part of his platform in his campaign last year for Governor.
    • The proposals, and several others for changes in the way mass transit is run, were made in a report prepared by the Governor's staff. It was approved by Mr. Cuomo and circulated among members of the Legislature.
    • The fate of the Governor's proposals in the Legislature, where they must be approved, was uncertain. The leaders of both the Senate and the Assembly have expressed a general willingness to make changes in the structure of the M.T.A. The agency has become a major political headache for local legislators, who have been repeatedly confronted with the need to close the M.T.A.'s operating deficits.
    • However, the Governor's plan ran into immediate trouble with the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, Norman J. Levy, Republican of Merrick, L.I.
  • Key portions of Governor Cuomo's plan to give the Governor control of the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were criticized yesterday by both Mayor Koch and the agency's chairman, Richard Ravitch.
    • ''I'm against it,'' the Mayor said at City Hall. ''That's outrageous.'' Governor Cuomo's plan calls for enlarging the M.T.A. board so the Governor can appoint a majority and also recommends having the chairman serve at the pleasure of the Governor, instead of the current fixed term.
    • Mr. Ravitch said he was opposed to Mr. Cuomo's plan to have the chairman of the M.T.A. serve at the pleasure of the Governor. Mr. Ravitch said the makeup of the board was an issue for the State Legislature to decide, but that he believed the present board had worked well.
    • The Governor said that he had confidence in Mr. Ravitch, who is serving a term that runs until 1987, and that if his proposal to have the chairman serve at his pleasure was approved he would keep Mr. Ravitch.
    • He then invited Mr. Ravitch to the podium. The chairman said he disagreed with the Governor. ''In addition to the Governor,'' Mr. Ravitch explained, ''the chairman must be responsive to the Legislature, the heads of local governments and, above all, the riders. They all provide the resources to run the system. The chairman can fulfill his responsibilities most effectively if he is not viewed solely as an agent of the Governor.''
    • At his news conference, Mr. Cuomo also announced that he planned to name Sidney Schwartz, now his special assistant for management and productivity, to be inspector general at the M.T.A. He will serve as a ''watchdog'' of efficiency in the transit system, Mr. Cuomo said.
  • CHANGES PLANNED FOR SUBWAYS TO ROCKAWAYS AND WEST SIDE
  • NEW YORK BALKS AT U.S. BID TO END ALL CROSSING BETWEEN SUBWAY CARS
  • TA ordered-come up plan reduce work hours by 1.5% by end of year, 3% next year-layoff up to 2,100 transit workers-order finance committee-MTA-angered-Simpson-layoffs-impede efforts to improve service
  • An M.T.A. chairman who can be fired at any time, for causes that may have nothing to do with his effectiveness, is no chairman at all. Further, the chairman cannot be beholden solely to one of his constituents if he is to succeed in raising money from all of them. No one can perform this crucial balancing act if he's got lead weights on one foot.
  • One of Governor Cuomo's early initiatives to restructure part of the government - to take control of the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - was stymied even before his staff finished drafting the legislation.
    • The plan was met with indifference by the public, ridicule by Mayor Koch and opposition of one sort or another from suburban legislators and the chairman of the M.T.A., all of whom argued that the current setup was better than what the Governor wanted.
    • It is not at all clear that Mr. Cuomo had a strategy to see his plan through. Legislators, transit officials and other close watchers of the Governor are raising such questions as these:
    • The report took considerably longer. According to the Governor, he rejected initial drafts of the report, which was prepared by his secretary, Michael J. Del Giudice, and other staff members. A Rejected Conclusion
    • The initial draft said, for example, that it was legally impossible to abolish the authority because this would violate covenants in bonds issued by the authority, according to Mr. Cuomo, who rejected this conclusion. The final version said that it was possible to abolish the authority but that this would not be prudent and was not necessary.
  • Plans to modernize 88 New York City subway stations will be jeopardized unless the State Legislature acts soon to exempt the subway system from a state law that requires access for wheelchairs, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday.
    • Mr. Ravitch said the deadlock was holding up ''a critical portion of the M.T.A.'s five-year program - perhaps the most important component in terms of our riders' perception of the security and comfort of our service.'' Station modernization will include new lighting, tiles and acoustical treatment.
    • In his memo, Mr. Ravitch said that the cost of including elevators in the $500 million plan for station modernization would be about $100 million.
    • Mr. Simpson said the derailments ''undermine the modest improvements we have made'' in terms of service. On-time performance on the system, for example, went from 92.7 percent in April 1982 to 94.6 percent in April 1983, according to his office.
  • Mr. Cuomo's Pointless Transit Repair
  • The Queens-bound subway train that derailed in Manhattan Monday night had been pulled out of service the previous day because of a serious malfunction and then put back on the tracks with the problem uncorrected, the Transit Authority said yesterday.; more
    • ''The train should have been held in the yard,'' said John D. Simpson, president of the authority. ''But it was released for service without the necessary repairs being made.''
    • Monday's accident was the ninth derailment on the subways this year. There were 12 derailments in all of 1982. Mr. Simpson gave a report on the recent incidents before the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, at 347 Madison Avenue. He said there was no apparent ''pattern'' to the incidents. ''The causes are discrete,'' he said.
    • The focus on subway derailments came amid a growing controversy on the M.T.A. board about productivity at the Transit Authority. Stephen Berger, the chairman of the board's finance committee, said the agency's $2 billion annual budget could be cut by 3 percent next year without affecting service.
    • ''What we've got to get is a cost control ethic in the system,'' Mr. Berger said. Mr. Simpson agreed that there were productivity savings to be made, but said that Mr. Berger was talking about cutting more than 1,200 jobs from the 42,000-member work force. ''It isn't as simple as it looks,'' he said. ''The percentage solution may not be the way to go.''
  • Last week, acknowledging that it would be ''very, very difficult'' to get legislative approval without the Mayor's support, Mr. Cuomo seemed to retreat from his takeover attempt. Partly to save face, he chose to ''focus'' instead on another aspect of the proposal: the appointment of Sidney Schwartz, his special assistant for management and productivity (and a former deputy state comptroller), to be M.T.A. inspector general - a semiautonomous watchdog to oversee fiscal and operating efficiency. With last week's subway derailment - the ninth so far this year, as against 12 in all of 1982 - one thing Mr. Schwartz will presumably need to concern himself with is the safety of the system.
  • For every dollar that residents of New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Putnam Counties pay for mass transit services, they get more than a dollar's worth in return, according to a new analysis.
    • However, the study found, residents in three other counties - Dutchess, Orange and Rockland - are not getting their money's worth. The analysis was prepared by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in an effort to shed light on who pays how much for the subways, buses and commuter rail lines.
    • The study also shatters the long-standing impression that the city rider gets a higher government subsidy per ride than his suburban counterpart. With the 75-cent token, the subway and bus rider pays 48.6 percent of the total cost of the ride; the rest is subsidy. The commuter, whose fare is determined by the length traveled, pays for 39.8 percent of the ride.
  • After a steady, long-term decline that shrunk the number of riders on New York City's subways to less one billion last year for the first year since 1917, there has been a turn-around, officials said yesterday.; more
    • Mr. Ravitch, testifying at City Hall on the progress of studies of an automated fare-collecting system for M.T.A. buses, subways and commuter rail lines, attributed the increase in subway riders to three things: greater reliability, as measured by on-time performance, the fact that the fare ''has gone down in real dollars,'' holding since the middle of 1981 at 75 cents while overall inflation has continued, and ''the real strength of the New York economy.''
  • The M.T.A. will not punish its able-bodied passengers by taking the money for elevators out of its plan to remodel 88 stations. Nor can the disabled prove that station elevators, average cost $1 million, will be used enough to justify the expenditure. If Mr. Cuomo wants to help current subway riders as well as the disabled, he should lead in determining the best way to make the disabled mobile. Without a tested transport policy for them, the M.T.A. should do nothing.
  • NYC receive $108.2 million grant-share gas tax money-rehab main shop Coney Island, Westchester, 207th, track, signal, electrical rehab Flushing Line; $40 million less than asked for-withheld court dispute involving improved access stations handicapped riders-city could reapply when dispute settled; would have modernized 14 stations
  • Two private consultants will be hired next week to determine the causes of a recent rash of subway derailments in New York, a special committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced yesterday.; more
    • ''We need an examination from an independent source to study this problem,'' said Daniel T. Scannell, chairman of the five-member derailment committee. The panel was set up by the M.T.A. last Friday.
    • The committee said one consultant would study subway wheels, while the other would look into track problems. The committee announced its plans at its first meeting, held at M.T.A. headquarters, 347 Madison Avenue.
  • NEW YORK DAY BY DAY;  Transit Transition
  • Governor Cuomo and the major oil companies have accomplished, through litigation and negotiation, what state politicians lacked the courage to do by legislation three years ago: raise the tax on gasoline and other nonheating petroleum products to subsidize mass transit.
    • The proposed revision of a hotly disputed revenue package captures $555 million in contested taxes and provides a tax the major oil companies are willing to pay. The Legislature, whose leaders appear to have participated in the negotiations, should pass the laws needed to make the deal work.
    • The oil companies have agreed to pay $555 million of the $735 million the state has claimed over three years. In return, a new 3 percent gross receipts tax will be limited to petroleum products except home heating oil and will also be levied on smaller companies. New York would stop trying to tax out-of-state earnings but it will be relieved of claims for refunds.
    • The deal promises to rescue the gimmickry of the original law, used to hold city bus and subway fares at 75 cents over three difficult years. But this useful result does not excuse the twisted means employed to reach it. Mass transit is vital to New York and all transport systems should contribute to its cost. As the city signs say, ''It's this bus or 50 cars.'' Higher gas taxes for mass transit should not require apology or disguise.
  • State Comptroller Edward V. Regan, reviewing the City Transit Authority's financial plan for the next four years, said the authority should take immediate steps to increase productivity and reduce operating costs to close a growing deficit.
    • Otherwise, he said, subway and bus fares could go as high as $1.65 by 1987.
  • Governor Cuomo today signed legislation giving Staten Islanders a special 25-cent discount on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll. But across the Narrows in Brooklyn the measure got a resounding Bronx cheer.
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has continued to insist that the discounts are of ''questionable legality'' because of bond covenants. The agency contends that the discounts will cost the rest of the city $4 million a year in bus and subway subsidies.
  • Massive inspection tracks began yesterday-track problems caused half of derailments-disciplinary charges 10 employees; blamed old equipment
  • Faulty or missing guardrails were responsible for at least 5 of the 10 New York City subway derailments so far this year, the Transit Authority said yesterday. It said trains would be slowed throughout the system to allow the guardrails and other parts of the track to be inspected.
    • Guardrails were the cause, the authority said, of a derailment in Manhattan on Tuesday. John D. Simpson, the president of the authority, said he had ordered an emergency inspection of 100 miles of subway track with guardrails and 60 miles of unguarded curved track. The inspections will be completed by the end of next week, he said.
    • Guardrails are special pieces of track designed to keep trains from derailing. About 100 so-called red-tag areas -stretches of track with safety problems that could lead to derailments or other accidents - were inspected yesterday, officials said.
    • Trains will be slowed to 10 miles an hour at the red-tag areas for the time being, the authority said. Usually there are no special speed restrictions in those areas.
    • Mr. Simpson warned riders that slowdowns would be required throughout the system but that the longest delays should occur in the older IRT and BMT divisions.
    • Hugh A. Dunne, a spokesman for the authority, said: ''At this point, we can't estimate how long these delays will be. For some riders, it may only be a few seconds of delay. It's possible that elsewhere it could go to more than a few minutes.''
    • The speed restrictions at a red-tag area will remain in effect, he said, until it has been checked and found to be safe. ''That could take a night's work at some spots and a couple of weeks at other places,'' Mr. Dunne said. ''If we found some track that caused excessive wear on wheels, the slowdown would continue at that track until the troubles there had been fixed.''
    • Mr. Simpson said questions about the reliability of the guardrails were first raised last week, when he received a consultant's report that cited the guardrails as the cause of a derailment at the Brooklyn Bridge station on May 10.
    • The authority has since discovered, he said, that the guardrails - or the lack of guardrails in areas where they should have been installed - were probably also responsible for Tuesday's derailment and derailments of an RR train on the BMT line at Beebe Avenue in Queens on Feb. 4, a No. 5 IRT train at Jackson Avenue in Queens on March 5, and a J train on the BMT at Broad Street on May 12.
    • ''We find that about half of our derailments are attributable to track conditions, and about 90 percent of the track problems result from problems with the guardrails,'' Mr. Simpson said.
    • He would not estimate the cost of the special track inspection but said it would be insigifcant. The inspection will be conducted by 25 to 30 Transit Authority supervisors, according to the authority. The track to be checked covers about 22 percent of the system's 723 miles of track. An Assortment of Problems
    • As a result of derailments this year, Mr. Simpson said, administrative charges have been filed against 10 authority employees and already have resulted in the demotion of a supervisor and an assistant supervisor.
    • Mr. Simpson said responsibility for recent derailment problems rested largely with his predecessors at the authority. ''The buck should be passed back to the people who failed to appreciate these problems earlier,'' he said.
    • He said economic concerns caused track engineers 15 years ago to abandon a system of bolting the track and the guardrail together. Instead, metal wedges were used in recent years to hold guardrail in place. While the wedges were relatively inexpensive, they did not secure the guardrails as well, he said.
    • Had the bolting system been retained, he said, a number of derailments might have been prevented. Mr. Simpson said he would ask his engineers to review methods of securing the guardrails.
  • Six new potentially dangerous sections discovered, eight switches dangerous enough-warrant-posting track maintainer at locations-manually operate switches-consultants hired-; more
  • In addition to slowing for track inspections, motormen were ordered to move slowly at about 100 locations of questionable safety. Trains, which travel at speeds of up to 50 miles an hour, had to slow to 10 miles an hour at these spots.
    • In a related development, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hired two consultants from California to conduct an independent study of the rash of derailments this year. There have been 10 so far in 1983, compared with 12 in all of 1982.
    • The emergency inspection was ordered Wednesday after the Transit Authority concluded that at least 5 of this year's 10 derailments had resulted from faulty or missing guardrails. The rails are special pieces of track used at curves that are designed to keep trains from derailing.
  • Governor Cuomo and key lawmakers agreed Sunday to set up an inspector general's office to oversee the operation of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a safety board to investigate mass transit accidents.
    • But in the effort to adjourn the 206th session of the New York State Legislature, all sides acknowledged that no action would be taken on the authority's effort to ease requirements to make 88 subway stations accessible to the handicapped as part of a renovation program. The M.T.A. has warned that if the requirements stood, the renovations might have to be delayed. Trouble With Bond Issue Wording
    • Leaders of the Legislature, struggling to bring the session to a close, whipped votes into line on an oil tax, battled to hold together an agreement on a plan to revise rent-stabilization laws and haggled over the language of a bond issue.
    • The Safety Board had been proposed by the Legislature, and was vetoed several times by former Governor Hugh L. Carey. The M.T.A. opposed the safety board, saying it would ''add another layer of bureaucracy'' that was not needed because the ''system currently has one of the best safety records in the country.''
    • The board would be empowered to monitor safety plans and investigate accidents on public transit systems across the state. Federal Backing for Board
  • Connecticut officials say they never altered the 10 million highway tokens that work on New York subways - six months after promising to do so.
  • 2/3 rails checked
  • ABOUT REAL ESTATE; CITY'S TRANSIT AGENCY IMPROVES CONCESSION REVENUE

July 1983

[edit]
  • Regan-TA ignored more than half of recommendations in 10 consultants' reports, unaware of other suggestions-spent almost $6 million-4 years-breakdown management control-prevented knowing when TA had made good on them-since audit taken-new Office of Data and Study Management created
  • Capital Program on target-NRDC-editor-Eric Goldstein-based on six-month study by George Haikalis-TA obtained $2.22 billion for capital revitalization, committed/awarded contracts $2.21 billion-almost all categories subway/bus renewal-on schedule-response to rider complaints-added programs improve automated fare collection-reduce heat/noise in subways; four areas-behind schedule-bus rehabilitation, yard/shop renewal, station modernization, subway car overhaul-delays outside control-court decision handicapped access halted most station renovation work
  • Governor Cuomo said today that he would not give any advice to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on how to deal with the current law that requires subway stations, if they are being rehabilitated, to be made accessible to the handicapped.
    • The M.T.A. has proposed rehabilitating 88 stations, but Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference that he would not offer guidance on whether the authority should proceed with work, including elevators or other access for the disabled, or wait until later in the year to see whether the State Legislature would waive the current law requiring accessibility.
    • Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, said that it would be a poor use of M.T.A. funds to build elevators in the 88 stations and that unless a waiver was granted, all his alternatives involved delaying the project. He said he had called a meeting of the M.T.A. board for July 15 to deal with the issue.
    • Mr. Cuomo said he believed it would be a good use of capital funds to make subway stations in New York City accessible to the handicapped. He said, however, that he would consider other proposals if they have the support of the disabled community.
  • Subway motormen who drive too fast have contributed to a recent rash of derailments in New York City, a consultant studying the accidents said yesterday, and the Transit Authority has begun using radar guns to catch violators.; more-operating 5 fewer rush hour trains than minimum-down to 551 from 556-better than last year-9 day/10 night trains unavailable
    • The top speed permitted in the 79-year-old subway system is 50 miles per hour. On curves and over track switches the limit drops to as low as 10 m.p.h. The subway trains do not have speedometers, however, and the motormen are trained to estimate the speeds.
    • Since the last derailment three weeks ago - the 10th this year - ''slow speed'' orders have been posted at about 100 sites along the system's 723 miles of track. According to John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, speeding was a problem before the new orders were issued and it continues to be one.
    • He said the authority already had one radar device and that others might be acquired. An enforcement ''blitz'' went into effect last week, Mr. Simpson said, and will continue until the trains slow down.
    • Speeding motormen are subject to disciplinary action, including demotion to jobs that do not involve moving trains. Mr. Simpson said some of the speeding might not constitute a technical violation but require only some ''re-instruction'' among motormen.
    • ''We run on a schedule,'' he added. ''If we were speeding, we'd always be ahead of schedule, and everybody knows that subway trains never run ahead of schedule.''
    • In his preliminary report, Mr. Williamson did not specify the conditions that led up to each derailment and did not say whether any of the motormen were going too fast at the time. However, he said that it appeared the practice of speeding among motormen was a contributing factor in all the incidents in that it weakened the tracks.
    • Another cause of the derailments, according to the consultant, has been improper securing of the main track, especially on curves. This finding was at variance with a Transit Authority conclusion last month that 5 of the 10 derailments this year had been caused by faulty or missing guardrails, which are adjacent to the main track.
  • Governor Cuomo's nominee to oversee the operations of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said today that the New York City subway system is a continuing source of ''frustration to riders,'' but that his office would not handle routine rider complaints.
    • The nominee, Sidney Schwartz, who was picked by the Governor to be the first Inspector General of the M.T.A. system, said he would instead look into questions of safety, maintenance, management and purchases for the entire M.T.A. comuter system in the city and seven surrounding counties.
    • Mr. Cuomo also signed laws today setting up a State Transportation Safety Board, allowing noncompetitive bids in bus purchases, and authorizing the M.T.A. to issue bonds, backed by fares, for suburban rail projects.
  • Noise abatement program $34 million-critical element station modernization-33 stations-$350,000/station
  • The union that represents subway motormen called for an immediate rule book slowdown on speed yesterday, in response to accusations that its members ran the trains like ''cowboys,'' screeching into stations and speeding between them.; more
    • ''We are instructing our members to follow the book of rules to the letter -regardless of what it does to operating schedules,'' said William G. Lindner, president of the Transport Workers Union's international, and John E. Lawe, president of Local 100, in a statement.
    • ''We're not telling our members to slow down so that the public will be delayed,'' Mr. Lawe added. ''We do not want to delay the railroad. But we want to protect ourselves until management does the preventive maintenance they should have done a long time ago.''
    • Since the most recent derailment three weeks ago, the 10th this year, motormen have been told to slow down at more than 100 sites in the system. Since that time, subway riders have noticed trains moving at speeds closer to a crawl than a gallop.
    • In recent weeks, Mr. Dunne said, there has been a ''noticeable increase in the number of late trains, which means that most crews are following the rules.'' One-third of the trains are running at least four minutes late, he said.
    • Malfunctioning motors in many subway cars keep motormen from speeding even if they wanted to, said Wallace Brown, a 25-year veteran. ''With a 10-car train with seven of the motors working, you can't get maximum speed, no way,'' he said
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that subway motormen did not speed like ''cowboys,'' as an M.T.A. consultant charged this week.; more-Scannell-chair Subcommittee on Derailments-TA reevaluate speed-restriction areas-see if some red tags should be removed, some eased from 10 mph to 20 or 30 mph-Tuesday-350 red tags, July 15-added 50
    • But the chairman, Richard Ravitch, agreed with the consultant's finding that serious problems with the tracks had contributed to a recent rash of derailments. Mr. Ravitch said an extensive effort was under way to inspect hundreds of possible trouble spots in system's 723 miles of rail and make needed repairs.
    • Orders that motormen slow down at these ''red tag'' sites are causing extensive delays that will continue for another week, Mr. Ravitch said. He added that these delays were not the result of any labor problems.
    • In his preliminary report on Monday, the consultant, Harry Williamson, said that, based on his observations, nearly a third of the 2,900 subway motormen were driving too fast. The subway speed limit is 50 miles per hour, but speeds as low as 10 m.p.h. are required around curves. Trains are not equipped with speedometers; motormen are trained to estimate speeds.
    • Throughout the subway system yesterday, the slowdown orders inspections were causing train delays of 5 to 15 minutes, according to John Cetinich, general superintendent for car maintenance at the Transit Authority.
    • Passengers, however, reported far more extensive delays. All over the system, riders were glancing at their watches, drumming their fingers on the cars' metal poles or striking up conversations about the delays.
    • At the Monday meeting, the Transit Authority president, John D. Simpson, agreed that speeding by motormen was a problem. He said the authority would try to catch speeders with radar guns like those used by highway patrolmen.
    • Motormen must pass over these trouble spots - generally on curves and at switches - at 10 m.p.h. or less. Daniel T. Scannell, the vice chairman of the M.T.A., said that, over the last three weeks, the number of red tag areas has grown from 100 to 400.
    • Numbers supplied by the Transit Authority illustrate how the slowdown orders have affected service. On June 1, before the orders went into effect, there were 868 late trains. On July 8, after the slowdown orders but before the cowboy charge, there were 2,349 late trains.
    • On July 12, with the speeding charge made and the number of slowdown orders growing, there were 2,847 late trains. That means that on Tuesday, 40 percent of the trains were late. There were no figures available for yesterday.
    • Mr. Cetinich of the Transit Authority said yesterday that ''in our zeal to insure the public safety we may have overreacted in placing too many slow orders.'' He said the number would be reduced in coming days and that, as a result, delays should ease.
  • Extensive delays on the city's subways will persist at least through the end of the summer so that repairs can be made at 400 sites where tracks are believed to be weak or poorly secured, the New York City Transit Authority said yesterday.; more; more-400 red tags
    • The assessment of the effect of the track problems came as a surprise even to transit officials, who as recently as Tuesday said they expected the delays to ease next week. The officials were at a loss to explain how the rails, all 723 miles of which are inspected twice a week, had fallen into such disrepair. Queens and West Side Hardest Hit
    • Until the repairs are made, motormen are to proceed at 10 miles an hour through the 400 ''red tag'' areas identified as potentially hazardous after a recent rash of derailments. There are so many of the areas that the authority has taken to hanging portable banks of yellow lights in the tunnels to augment its regular signals.
    • The slow pace has meant delays of 10 to 30 minutes throughout the 79-year-old system, according to Transit Authority officials. Efforts to correct problems on the hardest-hit lines, the IND E and F and the West Side IRT 2 and 3 routes, will be made first, the officials said.
    • Since Mr. Ravitch became M.T.A. chairman three years ago, a program of preventive maintenance that had been abandoned during the city's fiscal crisis has been rejuvenated and given a high priority. But yesterday, transit officials seemed struck by the extent of the deterioration in the system.
    • The Transit Authority revised its earlier estimates about the length of time it would take to eliminate the delays after top officials spent several hours Wednesday inspecting the track on the E and F lines in Queens.
    • The safety evaluation was ordered by the M.T.A. after 10 derailments in the first six months this year. On June 23, John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, said that 100 trouble spots had been tagged and that disruptions would be minor.
    • Mr. Simpson said yesterday that he had been surprised at the growing number of red-tag areas. ''I must admit that my expectation was for a doubling of the initial number of spots, not a quadrupling,'' he said.
    • With 400 spots tagged, Mr. Simpson said, work is to begin on those lines that have been experiencing the greatest delays. On the top of his list, he said, were the E, F, 2 and 3 lines. Riders on those lines, which among them cover the four boroughs where the subways run, have been averaging delays of 20 minutes a trip.
    • On the E and F, Mr. Simpson said, he expected to reduce delays to 10 minutes by the end of this month and to have service restored to normal by the end of next month. Work on the other lines will follow, but he did not set a date for completion. Project Gangs Reassigned
    • Regular inspections will continue, Mr. Simpson added. Normally, 120 trackwalkers inspect their territories twice a week looking for loose bolts, damaged ties or areas where the track gauge is not the proper 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.
    • However, he added, the 90 project gangs that are usually assigned to routine maintenance or project work would concentrate on making repairs in the red-tag areas. Each gang has 8 to 10 workers.
    • Mr. Simpson was asked if he considered the track problems a setback to the recent improvements. ''I'd call it a new dimension,'' he said. When he arrived at the authority two and a half years ago, he said, the major problem was equipment. ''Dropped traction motors was the story of the week,'' he said. ''The progress in car maintenance will continue. The new dimension has been an acceleration of our attention about the condition of the track.''
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will rebuild the roadway of the Throgs Neck Bridge with 15,000 tons of steel from Japan and South Korea. The decision came after Governor Cuomo signed a bill requiring the authority to give preference to steel manufactured in the United States.
    • The ''Buy American'' law was passed in the closing days of the recent legislative session and signed Thursday. The next day, the M.T.A. voted to use the foreign steel on the ground that American steel would have added $3.5 million to the total cost of the bridge project.
    • Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the M.T.A., said the action was within the board's powers under the new law. The law requires that public authorities use domestic steel unless they determine that such a course of action would result in ''unreasonable cost.''
    • ''I think $3.5 million is unreasonable,'' Mr. Ravitch said. Dearie Is 'Disappointed'
  • They have sought a break, a breeze, air-conditioning that works. A few have found it, but for most there has been only more heat - a monotonous heat, the same stale air that was around yesterday and the day before.
  • The commuter lines are in the second year of a five-year capital improvement plan. But spending got off to a slow start because of a thorny state takeover last winter, a debilitating strike by conductors in the spring and an axle problem that has continued into the summer.
  • A State Supreme Court justice in Albany ruled yesterday that new escalators could be installed at the Herald Square subway station without providing access for the handicapped.
    • The justice, Ernest H. Rosenberger, said his decision did not violate an earlier order enjoining the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from making improvements to subway stations that do not include access for the physically handicapped.
    • He said the escalator project was separate from the larger station rehabilitation program covered in his earlier order.
    • The decision permits the installation of 16 escalators at the 34th Street station at a cost of $6.1 million

August 1983

[edit]
  • The unanimous decision by the three- member panel gives the railroad the right to determine the manning of trains subject to 12 guidelines related to workload.
    • It requires the railroad to consult the United Transportation Union on any proposed change in the size of train crews and gives the union the right to appeal to a special arbitrator in disputes in which it considers that manning jeopardizes the health or safety of an employee or is unduly burdensome as a regular assignment. No Layoffs Under Plan
    • Metro-North has agreed not to lay off any of 622 employees who were employed by the railroad as of March 6, 1983.
    • Officials of both the union, which represents conductors and trainmen, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, owner of Metro-North, expressed satisfaction with the decision.
    • Richard Ravitch, chairman of the M.T.A., said it gives the railroad the authority it had sought to control the size of train crews, subject to the specified standards. The decision, he said, also demonstrated that the strike had been unnecessary because the decision is ''essentially identical with our offer before the strike.''
    • Richard Frear, general chairman of the Hudson and Harlem lines, said that if the railroad abided by the 12 guidelines in the decision, he believed more trainmen would have to be added to crews.
    • The decision said there should be one conductor on each revenue passenger train. The manning, it said, will otherwise be determined by Metro-North based on the needs of service as measured by these factors: number of cars, total passengers, platform length, need to balance manpower, number of cash fares, peak or off-peak service, number of local passengers, time between stops, local or express, ridership pattern, operating pattern and other relevant factors related to workload.
  • Koch predicted-2 more years-delay-poor track conditions
  • It was the 11th derailment this year. After the 10th, on June 21, officials saw a pattern of derailments caused by poorly secured track.
    • Track inspectors then identified more than 530 trouble spots and put out ''red tag'' orders, which require motormen to slow to 10 miles an hour. This has resulted in delays of 5 to 20 minutes throughout the system.
    • Mr. Simpson said problems at about 100 of these trouble spots had been corrected. Transit workers have concentrated on the most heavily used lines, especially the IND's E and F and the IRT 2 and 3. As a result, he said, service on those lines has improved.
    • For example, 20-minute delays on the E and F trains are now down to 10 minutes, and the delays should be eliminated by the end of the month, Mr. Simpson said.
    • It will be more than a year, however, before the red tags are removed from some other spots, including the Rockaway line and the Franklin Avenue shuttle, Mr. Simpson said.
  • Wood ties-Sea Beach-replacing ties-first time-53 years-dried/rotting
  • For weeks in contract talks with four of its unions, the Long Island Rail Road had insisted on two key points. It wanted the right to hire outside contractors to do some routine maintenance, and it wanted to change work rules so that members of one union could perform minor jobs normally done by members of another union. ''If we can do it cheaper and faster by contracting out, that's what we're going to do,'' Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, stated during the negotiations.
    • But Tuesday night, as the talks remained deadlocked on the two points and as a midnight strike deadline drew nearer and nearer, the management gave in.
    • The railroad insists the changes are necessary for efficient management. For example, Mr. Perfall said: ''To get a carman to fix a grab rail, he would first have to call in an electrician to remove two wires, which takes about two minutes. Then the carman would call over a machinist to remove two bolts. Then he could fix it.''
    • But the unions insisted it was not all that simple. ''Changing the rules would mean the loss of jobs over the course of time,'' said Robert Cullen, the general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen. He contended that the current work rules were not inefficient and said his members had improved their productivity by 246 percent in the last three years.
    • Thirteen of the railroad's 17 unions representing 4,600 employees reached agreements earlier this year with the line, calling for a 6 percent wage increase retroactive to Jan. 1, 1982; 7 percent retroactive to Jan. 1, 1983, and 7 percent as of Jan. 1, 1984.
    • Officials said the wage settlement with the four other unions was in line with that accepted by the 13 unions, but they declined to discuss specifics, pending ratification.
  • Since then the railroad feels it has licked that problem and made substantial progress on a number of other concerns as part of major capital improvement program, and commuters have even been heard to give the L.I.R.R. a grudging compliment now and then. The railroad recently announced that it had moved past the halfway mark in its 1983 goal to completely refurbish 50 diesel-hauled coaches when No. 2956 - the 26th car to be completed during the first six months of the year - moved out of the Morris Park shop complex.
    • While management agrees that productivity has increased, it insists there is still some room for improvement. For example, Mr. Perfall said: ''To get a carman to fix a grab rail, he would first have to call in an electrician to remove two wires, which takes about two minutes. Then the carman would call over a machinist to remove two bolts. Then he could fix it.''
  • Major crimes on the city subways increased last month, in part because of a rise in incidents in which jewelry was snatched from passengers, the Transit Authority Police Department reported. The were 292 necklace snatchings last month, compared with 221 in July 1982.
  • Twice the number of red tag areas found as expected-OTP from 80% evening rush June-to 64% July-morning-89 to 82%-red tags-repaired-rate 10/day; more-large-scale reconstruction on only 3.91 miles of track since 1976 out of 704 miles-when most tracks first laid-1914, 1928, 1930-engineers assumed they would be replaced every 15 years
  • Simpson-TA replacing worn subway rails 1/2 rate considered safe 1950-planned to ask MTA-more money-summer's additional track repairs-1950 TA commissioned consultant study-renewal of 13,000 tons of rail/year believed adequate safety standpoint-1976-height fiscal crisis-only 9,086 tons replaced-dropped steadily-1982-only 7,853 tons installed-
  • Subway tracks have deteriorated so badly in New York that sections of the 79-year-old system are being closed at night and on weekends for emergency repairs.
    • The first weekend closing began last night on the IRT No. 2 line between Franklin and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn. The seven stations will reopen Monday at 5 A.M.
    • John D. Simpson, president of the Transit Authority, said other temporary closings would be ordered in the coming weeks to repair nearly 400 trouble spots. He did not specify which lines would be affected.
    • The announcement of the closings was made on a day when a consultant, hired to study a recent series of derailments, reported that he had found badly worn track, loose spikes, rotting ties and motormen who drove dangerously fast. The consultant, Harry M. Williamson, did not use the term ''cowboys,'' which he used in a preliminary report last month. The preliminary report set off a rule-book slowdown among subway motormen. But he did say yesterday that excessive speed had contributed to the derailments.
    • Concern over track conditions arose after there were 10 derailments in the first six months of the year. There were 12 all of last year.The Transit Authority initiated a study of all 723 miles of track and ordered motormen to slow down to 10 miles an hour at hundreds of spots it deemed unsafe. As a result, subway delays of 15 to 30 minutes have become common this summer.
    • Last month, Mr. Simpson said that although there would be delays, regular service would continue. Yesterday, however, he said that ''extraordinary'' measures, such as the weekend closings, were needed to correct the track problems.
    • In the past, subway lines have been closed temporarily for emergency work involving such structures as tunnels and bridges. Service across the Manhattan Bridge has been curtailed for three months for structural repairs. Closings for track maintenance, however, are rare.
    • Although Mr. Williamson's report on the tracks was largely negative, Mr. Brown found wheel maintenance to be ''better than average.'' Although there is room for improvement, he said, New York's standards for wheels, flanges, gears and brakes exceeded those in other cities.
    • In the track department, according to Mr. Williamson, ''the general condition of the system is fair to poor.''
    • ''Age of the New York system, I am sure, has a lot to do with this, but a more aggressive maintenance program is indicated. Many ties, particularly on some of the aerial structures, are badly split, burned and decayed.''
    • Mr. Williamson also found variations in service. ''In riding the various lines,'' he said, ''I was struck with the fact that the IND lines were maintained better than the IRT. As both of these systems are quite old, it would appear that the difference in quality rests with the maintenance standards set by each.''
    • He recommended moving IND supervisors to the IRT, ''in an effort to raise the standards of acceptable work.''
    • Mr. Williamson said there were numerous ''quick fix'' measures that could be taken, such as replacement of ties and spikes, but long-term measures must be adopted. He recommended rail-grinding to smooth rough stretches of track and transposing rails, or switching them so they wear evenly.
    • After the release of the consultants' reports, Mr. Simpson made a one-hour presentation before M.T.A. board members about the tracks. He said that in the last decade the emphasis had been on cars and keeping them in good repair rather than on track.
    • With limited resources, he said, the amount of track replaced annually has been cut in half in the last 10 years. In fiscal 1973, Mr. Simpson said, 14,500 tons of track were replaced. In fiscal 1983, which ended June 30, 7,256 tons were replaced. There are a total of 167,000 tons of track in the system.
    • He attributed the drop in track replacement to fiscal pressures, a decline in derailments in the late 1970's and a greater concern for maintaining cars.
    • Mr. Simpson said it would cost $23.9 million to repair the trouble spots on the tracks that have been identified in the last six weeks.
    • Stephen Berger, chairman of the finance committee of the M.T.A. board, said, ''We will spend what we will have to spend.'' But he said he was concerned the track problems had not been identified and repaired earlier.
  • A California railroad expert who studied the New York City subway system concluded last week that deterioration of the tracks was ''readily apparent'' - ''even from the front end of a moving train.'' The image was a vivid one for New Yorkers, who sometimes have gazed out the front window of a subway train and wondered how the swaying cars remained on the tracks.
    • The observations of the consultant, Harry M. Williamson, raised questions: Why hadn't someone in charge noticed track conditions before and taken remedial action? Why had the tracks been neglected? Where do track problems rank in relation to other subway woes? And why is it taking so long to repair the tracks?
    • John D. Simpson, president of the New York City Transit Authority, said that in the last decade attention had been focused elsewhere. The ''top priority,'' he said, was the condition of the subway cars. ''We dealt with that, and we wish we had dealt with the second priority - which was track.''
    • Even before the consultant was hired in June, Mr. Simpson said, the Transit Authority noted that a series of derailments had been linked to faulty stretches of track. This pattern was a change from prior derailments, which had been caused by motors dropping out of trains.
    • Mr. Simpson ordered a survey of all 723 miles of track, and more than 500 trouble spots were identified. The trouble spots were marked with ''red tags,'' which meant that motormen had to slow the trains to 10 miles per hour there.
    • Getting the track problems corrected, however, has proved more difficult than anticipated. As the 1,700 track workers go about fixing the problems, they find additional ones. For every 50 they remove, 10 more crop up, Mr. Simpson said.
    • Several officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent body of the Transit Authority, are saying privately that the track crews are ''overreacting'' by putting red tags on every minor problem. ''If there is a doubt, they red tag it,'' one top official said. ''No one wants to be responsible for a derailment.''
    • At a special meeting Friday on track problems, Stephen Berger, a member of the M.T.A. board, said he had little confidence in the work of the track people after reading the report by the consultant.
    • ''What disturbs me most,'' Mr. Berger said, ''is that the report suggests that it didn't take a genius to see the tracks were in lousy shape. Quality people working on the system should have picked it up.''
    • Mr. Simpson defended the craftsmanship of the track workers, if not their judgment. ''They are basically good track people, but rotten analysts,'' he said.
    • Mr. Simpson announced that work on the tracks would be accelerated in the coming weeks through nighttime and weekend closings of certain lines. The hope is that most red-tag areas will be fixed by the end of the year.
    • The poor track conditions have revived a debate over the priorities for repair in the subways.
    • Andrew J. Stein, the Manhattan Borough President, said yesterday that the M.T.A., should think about canceling its order for 1,300 new subway cars and put the money instead into track replacement. ''The M.T.A. voted for shiny new cars and flashy stations over rotting tracks, crumbling tunnels and falling elevated structures,'' he said.
    • Carol Bellamy, the City Council President and a member of the M.T.A. board, said she thought new trains were needed, but not the remodeled stations. ''Beautiful stations will do you little good if the tracks are broken,'' she said.
    • Both officials said the M.T.A.'s current capital plan did not provide adequate funds for track replacement. Of the $7.2 billion that will be spent in the five-year life of the plan, $374 million has been allocated for tracks. This, Mr. Stein and Miss Bellamy noted, is $70 million less than the sum projected by the M.T.A. staff in 1980 as necessary.
    • But even as money was being discussed, transit officials warned of what they said were two recurring themes: responding only to crises and thinking that money will solve all problems.
    • Mr. Berger said he wanted to be assured that money spent on track repairs would be used wisely.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, the authority's assistant executive director for public affairs, urged caution. ''A few years ago,'' he said, ''the No. 1 problem was cars. As that area improved, the No. 1 priority is track. But we have to think ahead, because next year the No. 1 priority will be something else entirely.''
  • Bellamy report-1/5 delays caused by subway doors-second-most frequent maintenance problems-terms of delays-behind electrical malfunctions-TA budgeted $90 million through 1985 for door repair-hired 20 roving repairmen since April
  • John D. Simpson, saying he had given ''everything I've got'' to the city's ailing subway and bus system, resigned unexpectedly yesterday as president of the New York City Transit Authority.
    • The 46-year-old Mr. Simpson spoke of ''intractable'' problems on the subways, of the ''daily hammering'' by critics and of his desire to spend more time with his family.
    • ''For the sake of my family and myself - and, I believe, for the good of the institution - four years is enough,'' Mr. Simpson said.
    • The resignation comes at a time of dismal subway performance following a series of derailments. As if to underscore the continuing problems, a subway train went off the tracks yesterday in northern Manhattan. It was the 13th derailment this year.
    • The resignation also comes at a time when the authority is beginning to see some results of a new capital investment plan. Tomorrow the first of an order of 325 new air-conditioned subway cars from Japan are to be shown.
    • Mr. Simpson, a West Point graduate, was formerly the head of the regional bus system in Denver. Since coming to New York, he has been a controversial figure. Although he was widely considered erudite in explaining subway problems, his critics said he was not always responsive to his audiences, especially people in neighborhoods that did not want to see subway or bus service reduced.
    • Mr. Simpson came to the M.T.A. as executive director in 1979 and then moved to its constituent agency, the Transit Authority, in 1980. His years with the New York transit system have been marked by one strike, two fare increases, the withdrawal of 600 Grumman buses from service, a ''war'' with Connecticut over highway tokens that fit subway turnstiles, the introduction of German shepherd attack dogs into subway security service and the painting of subway cars white to discourage vandals.
    • He became Transit Authority president in the winter of 1980-81 - when the system's performance had reached new lows. At that time, as many as 150 trains would fail to get out of the subway yards in the mornings to meet rush-hour demands.
    • Under his leadership, the situation improved considerably by last winter, when fewer than a dozen trains were held up in the mornings. ''I think we are on a roll,'' Mr. Simpson said of the improvements.
    • In the last few months, however, the roll came to a halt when a series of derailments marred the record. In June, after 10 derailments, a survey of the tracks found more than 500 trouble spots where motormen had to slow to 10 miles per hour. As a result, on-time performance dropped from nearly 90 percent in May to 53 percent in July. 'Enormity of Tasks' Recalled
    • At a meeting before a special derailment committeee of the M.T.A. board last Friday, Mr. Simpson assumed responsibility for the inadequate state of the tracks. He said he had been concentrating instead on the ''the first priority'' - the condition of the subway cars.
    • In his letter of resignation, sent to Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman, Mr. Simpson wrote: ''I've been dissuaded from leaving in the past because the timing was wrong. But given the enormity of the tasks that still lie ahead in revitalizing this transit system, there won't be any 'right time' in the near future, and I've already given it everything I've got.
    • ''When the board offered me the position of executive director in 1979, I knew that the challenge was formidable,'' Mr. Simpson added. ''But it was only after I became president of the Transit Authority that I understood the intractability of some longstanding problems and came to appreciate more fully the pervasiveness of the distractions which prevent us from dealing with key issues more expeditiously.'
    • In response, Mr. Ravitch wrote that he had tried to persuade Mr. Simpson not to resign, and accepted the resignation ''with regret.''
    • ''I know you must wish that you might have left when the subway system was functioning more effectively,'' Mr. Ravitch wrote in his letter. But he credited Mr. Simpson with an ''outstanding accomplishment'' in not only keeping the transit system operating but improving it while awaiting the benefits of the capital improvement program.
  • Concentration on performance indicators-how many trains late, how frequently they break down; the track problems hit him hard-"The people out there on the system kept insisting to him that there really wasn't a big problem until it suddenly became clear how bad things were."
  • Proud of fleet reliability improvements-Simpson; rekindling of hope within the TA, improved car-equipment reliability, capital program beginning under his tenure
  • After three weeks of riding hot and cold running - and non-running - subway cars, the Straphangers Campaign has found the Canarsie LL the ''sweatiest'' line. But yesterday the citizens' group gave the Transit Authority the first pat on the back in six years of monitoring it.
    • A summer of slowdowns, late trains and derailments, said Gene Russianoff, the Straphangers counsel, was also ''the summer when the T.A. kept its promise'' on air-conditioning.
    • Of the city's 6,311 subway cars, 3,030 have air-conditioning units. In May, the authority's president, John Simpson, who resigned yesterday, set a goal: 95 percent of them would function, giving riders a ''nearly'' 50 percent chance of finding an air-conditioned car.
  • Car maintenance clearly improved this year but the T.A. seems to have neglected tracks and signal systems, resulting in this summer's rash of derailments. It will require care to avoid focusing too much on noncritical track problems at the expense of the cars. Hindsight makes it easy to criticize political leaders for having held down fare increases, leaving the system without adequate maintenance funds. Yet that priority came as a result of repeated judgments, by officials unused to the consequences of neglect, that the fare was what people cared about most.
  • On Tuesday the Transit Authority operated 6,140 train trips. Because of go-slow orders for track repair and inspection, 3,153 arrived at their terminals at least four minutes late. In the morning rush hour 92.6 percent of the runs were on time, but in the evening the figure dropped to 58.5 percent. On July 28, the most recent date on record, the subway turnstiles turned 2,359,659 times.
  • Supervisors augmented twice-weekly inspection by walkers-find red tags-some that require extensive work-not done 18 months--1973-150 miles rail replaced annually-FY1983-ended June-figure down to 68.8 miles-immediate target-1973 level-regardless cost
  • New IRT cars unveiled R62s-entire order-completion scheduled early 1985
  • But the Simpson resignation provided Carol Bellamy, the president of the City Council who is also a member of the M.T.A. board, with a fresh opportunity to call on the authority to ''re-examine'' its rebuilding plan. She said that there was too much emphasis on station modernization and not enough on the system's infrastructure, such as tracks and tunnels. In addition, she said, those who run the subways must stop dealing with crises and instead address a broad range of issues before they grow critical. Another M.T.A. board member, Stephen Berger, the chairman of the finance committee, said that the system's organization must be strengthened so that lines of supervision are made more effective. ''We will spend whatever money is necessary, we will not cheat the system,'' he said. ''But we want to be sure it is spent wisely and that requires a capacity to control work flow.'' As for John E. Lawe, the president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, he said the authority must get rid of its ''consultants and politicians'' along with the expensive ''outside experts'' hired to study problems subway workers are more than familiar with. ''Give us some input, give us the necessary tools and we will bend over backwards to fix this railroad in the shortest time possible,'' Mr. Lawe said.
  • Why it took four years to realize needed a massive replacement track-triage-initial problem car equipment-next priority was track-knew that-had begun a detailed examination-long before current crisis-preliminary assessments-reason to believe that problem was worse that had originally been reported in traditional reporting mechanisms of TA-many people on the payroll thought track was good-never seen good track condition in time at TA
  • New LIRR trains delayed 2 months
  • $1.3 billion added-CPRB unanimously approved amendment
  • 1/3 projects already behind schedule
  • Two unions reached tentative contract agreements early this morning with the Long Island Rail Road, a union official announced. Talks continued between the railroad and two other unions, and there were no interruptions in service.
    • The announcement was made by Robert Cullen, president of Lodge 886 pf the Railway Carmen, which had threatened to strike the railroad if an agreement was not reached by 12:01 A.M. today. He said his union and the sheet-metal workers had reached agreement.
  • Richard Ravitch, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the last four years, announced yesterday that he would step down from the job to return to private business and ''resume a more normal life.''
    • The announcement surprised state and city officials, especially since it followed by less than two weeks the resignation of John D. Simpson, the president of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that runs the New York City's troubled subway sytem.
    • In a letter to Governor Cuomo, the 50- year-old Mr. Ravitch wrote, ''I have decided that it is time for me to return to the private sector and to resume a more normal life with my family.''
    • Mr. Ravitch, a lawyer and former builder, did not elaborate on his reasons for stepping down or on what he planned to do next. But under questioning at a news conference, he talked of the long hours the job demanded, the frequent criticism and the pressure on his family.
    • He said he was leaving with the satisfaction that numerous issues had been settled at the M.T.A., including a series of labor contracts and the final approval of an $8.5 billion capital improvement plan. He declined however to enumerate his achievements on the job. ''So many people are still suffering the inconvenience of riding an inadequate railroad,'' he said in apparent reference to the 13 subway derailments this year and the resulting slowdown in service. These problems - and the attendant criticism - were not issues in his decision to resign, Mr. Ravitch said. ''It comes with the turf,'' he said.
    • When asked about possible successors, Timothy J. Russert, the counselor to the Governor, mentioned the following names as those ''suggested to us most frequently'' by state and local officials: Lieut. Gov. Alfred B. DelBello, Neil E. Goldschmidt, Secretary of Transportation in the Administration of President Jimmy Carter; Stephen Berger, a member of the M.T.A. board; Carol Bellamy, another member of the M.T.A. board and President of the City Council, and Nathan Leventhal, Deputy Mayor of New York City.
    • Mr. Ravitch said he would stay on in the job until the end of October but he indicated that he hoped a successor would be named before then.
    • Mr. Ravitch's four-year tenure as chairman of the authority has been marked by frequent sparring with public officials and a focus on rebuilding the system. The cornerstone of this program has been the $8.5 billion capital plan under which new subway cars, buses and commuter cars will be purchased and other, less visible, maintenance improvements will be made.
    • At his news conference at M.T.A. headquarters, 347 Madison Avenue, Mr. Ravitch said he had intended to step down at the end of the year, but had accelerated the timetable for leaving in part because of the current search to replace Mr. Simpson.
    • ''It would be improper for me to make that decision when that person will serve a new chairman,'' Mr. Ravitch said.
    • Mr. Ravitch received a salary of $15,000 a year for what the Legislature had perceived, when it set the salary, as a part-time job. Mr. Ravitch, who donated the salary to an M.T.A. employee fund, has devoted more than full time to the job, especially when it came to lobbying in Albany or Washington. Many associates said Mr. Ravitch relished the excitement of the job and the access it provided him.
    • ''Part of me found it immensely fascinating,'' Mr. Ravitch said in an interview in his seventh-floor office where he sat in a short-sleeved shirt while two air-conditioners blew mightily, keeping the room at the cold temperature he prefers. ''But part of me likes privacy and pursuing other interests.''
    • ''The job is a meat grinder,'' he said. ''It eats people up.'' Just two weeks ago, he noted, Mr. Simpson resigned in frustration as president of the Transit Authority. With the two top posts open Mr. Sidamon-Eristoff said he was ''concerned for the institution.''
  • Ravitch-greatest failure-inability to convince electeds to remove MTA from provisions of federal Railway Labor Act-weakened the MTA's bargaining position with labor-strikes legal
  • Richard Ravitch's four-year tenure as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was marked by contention and controversy, as well as by independence and innovation.
    • Mr. Ravitch endured strikes against the subway, bus and commuter lines run by the M.T.A. He inherited a system that appeared to be literally coming apart at the seams, with cracks in the undercarriages of new buses and subway cars and in the axles of commuter cars on the New Haven line.
    • He presided over a decline in subway ridership, to the lowest levels since World War I, although new figures indicate the slide may have been reversed.
    • There have been 13 subway derailments so far this year, with at least some of them attributed to lapses in track maintenance and repair.
    • While Mayor Koch once characterized him as a ''Cassandra'' constantly bearing bad news, Mr. Ravitch believed that by calling attention to the system's problems he contributed to what ultimately may be the solution. ''I suppose that some of the management issues, the day to day running of the Transit Authority, didn't get the kind of attention they deserved,'' said Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., a member of the M.T.A. board. ''But in terms of having a vision, in terms of what the system needed, putting together a plan and overwhelming the odds, he produced one of the extraordinary legacies a public official will have left behind in the past 50 years.''
    • Carol Bellamy, the City Council President, an M.T.A. board member and sometime critic of Mr. Ravitch, agreed. In a statement, she said that ''Riders will reap the benefits of his legacy: firmer financial footing for the M.T.A., new buses, subway and rail cars and a massive capital construction plan to rebuild our ancient system now and in the years to come.''
    • And the Straphangers' Campaign, a citywide coalition of mass-transit activists, called Mr. Ravitch ''an able ally'' who attracted a capable staff and pushed through a construction financing plan that may provide ''the light at the end of the tunnel.''
    • ''What he brought to the business of government were the techniques of private-sector financing,'' said Stephen Berger, chairman of the M.T.A.'s Finance Committee.
    • Mr. Fisher, his immediate predecessor, recalled that ''Bill Ronan put the whole thing together and I held it together with spit and chewing gum. Ravitch put together a financial program and a capital program. Now they need someone to carry out those programs.''
    • Mr. Ravitch put together those programs by combining sheer stubbornness and force of personality to marshal public opinion and build fragile political coalitions. He brought his own brand of shuttle diplomacy to the politics of mass transit in New York City, Albany and Washington.
    • He bought subway cars from Japan and Canada, prompting protests from American companies and labor unions. He devised a complex financing plan for mass-transit construction, including a plan under which private corporations would buy buses and rail cars from the M.T.A. and lease them back at a savings to the authority while providing tax benefits for the companies.
    • Mr. Ravitch said he was most proud of having pieced together the package of Federal, state and local financing that will provide about $8.5 billion to rebuild the metropolitan area's mass- transit system - including $6.5 billion for the city's subways and buses - over the next five years.
  • Ravitch record not flawless-operations not a strong point-Daily News editorial
  • Changed relationship with Albany-timely threats large fare increases-helped leverage to pry new taxes out of the Legislature

September 1983

[edit]
  • Once he was in office, Mr. Cuomo tried unsuccessfully to gain passage of legislation that would give him greater control over the agency. But now that Richard Ravitch has resigned and Mr. Cuomo must choose a new head of the agency, he says he will continue the tradition of a strong, independent chairman.
    • ''Nothing has changed,'' Mr. Cuomo said. ''Whomever we select as chairman will be fighting with all of us one time or another.''
    • The tradition of independence is attributable, in part, to the authority's structure and the feisty style of Mr. Ravitch, who announced his resignation as chairman on Monday.
    • Mr. Ravitch built a reputation for independence largely through brinkmanship with elected officials when he would publicly warn of fare increases if the officials did not come up with the taxes and subsidies he wanted.
    • Mr. Cuomo said that Mr. Ravitch's successor would have the same independence and that he was conducting a nationwide search, using executive ''headhunting'' companies.
    • The agency was set up to make decisions without political interference on such sensitive issues as fare increases.
    • Mr. Cuomo insists that at some point he hopes to win approval for legislation giving him more direct control over the M.T.A. In the meantime, he says that if he appoints a chairman who would not act independently of the Governor's wishes, he would be violating the spirit of the law.
    • By distancing himself in advance from the actions of his appointee, the Governor also seems to be leaving himself free to continue to attack the policies of the agency, without himself being accountable. Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., a member of the M.T.A. board, said that the independence of the chairman was ''in the Governor's interest'' for another reason. He said the fact that Mr. Ravitch was ''not beholden'' to the Governor enabled him to develop good relationships with legislators, Mayor Koch and county executives. ''The M.T.A. board reflects the larger politics,'' Mr. Wagner said. ''Any attempt to get by that would end in conflict.''
    • The Governor said he expected to pay the new chairman $100,000 a year or more - more than his own salary - and has begun calling the heads of major corporations asking for suggestions. The chairman's salary now is $15,000 a year.
  • The M.T.A.'s first chairman, William J. Ronan, said the agency requires independence. ''There is considered to be a virtue in independence in the sense that these semi-public authorities, the M.T.A., the (New York) Power Authority, the Port Authority operate on a semi-businesslike basis, as opposed to government agencies which are basically regulatory or service oriented,'' Mr. Ronan said. ''These authorities run enterprises.'' The need for continuity in an agency like the M.T.A. also dictates that it be removed from direct political control, he said. ''These agencies are called upon to engage in projects that many times go beyond the life of an administration, or several administrations,'' Mr. Ronan said. ''There is a need to get beyond, for want of a better word, the sudden shift in political climate.'' New York City Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., an M.T.A. board member, offered several reasons why the agency ought to be independent. ''Not only do riders provide 50 percent of the revenues, but the city pays 2.5 times more than the state , '' Mr. Wagner said. ''Also, the M.T.A. must meet regional needs, which argues for independence. And third, there is the political reality of a Democratic governor and a Republican (State) Senate.'' Mr. Berger argued that the decisions the M.T.A. board must make in the next few years require the appointment of a chairman of sufficient stature to negotiate successfully among contending governmental interests: the city, suburbs and state. Mr. Ravitch was celebrated, during his four years as chairman, for his ability to gain funding from the Legislature and Congress. Many attributed this to his formidable energies and skills - and to the fact that he was beholden to no one. Many difficult issues will face the new chairman, Mr. Berger said. ''There will never be enough money to rebuild the old network as it once was,'' he said. ''Therefore, there has to be some serious discussion about what the shape of the system will be in 10 years.'' Among the possible changes to cut the cost of running the system's, Mr. Berger said, are converting to automatic fare collection and the possibility of running four-and five-car trains in off-peak hours. Such changes, he said, will be controversial questions of public policy.''The chairman therefore has to be somebody who understands the kinds of issues that have to be negotiated, who can create guidance and structure for the M.T.A.,'' Mr. Berger said. ''The chairman has to have flexibility, otherwise he might as well negotiate every issue with the Governor's office.''
  • Almost half the 582 places in the subway system where tracks are badly worn or loose have been repaired, the acting president of the Transit Authority said yesterday.; more
    • The official, Daniel T. Scannell, told the City Council Transportation Committee that the authority, which has had trouble getting parts, hoped to complete the work this year.
    • The bad spots, where motormen are required to slow their trains, have been identified since last June 22. As of yesterday, 292 had been fixed. The program includes replacing rails, ties, plates and spikes.
  • LIRR pensions
  • M.T.A. officials say they will be back this the fall with a renewed appeal before the Legislature in Albany; representatives of the handicapped say they will be there also.
    • Mr. Weisman of the veterans' group said the M.T.A., which was enjoined by the court from modernizing 10 stations, had withheld work on all 88 in its capital plan as a ''tactic'' to pressure the Legislature to act.
    • M.T.A. officials deny that any maneuvering is involved. They say they are simply afraid that if they start modernization projects at the other stations, work will once again be stopped by the courts.
    • Other subway work - on tracks, cars, maintenance yards, signals and tunnels - has not been affected by the court action.
    • M.T.A. officials say privately, however, that they would like to get the station projects - new paint, lighting, tiles and security measures - under way before the end of the year.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has offered a 1 percent ''incentive'' raise to members of the management of the Transit Authority if they can meet an accelerated goal for the system's subway track repair program.; more; more; further; pinpointed 110 of 132 types of equipment/supplies needed-obtain-faster-consultant-team two retired California railroad consultants-investigate cause derailments-offered no solutions
    • The M.T.A board approved the incentive increase yesterday for 580 non- union managers. It totals $228,000 for the year that began July 1, provided that the stretches of subway tracks in need of repair have been reduced to about 100 by the end of this year instead of the end of next year, the original goal.
    • In August, there were 582 so-called ''red tag'' track stretches in need of repairs along the 724-mile system. The stretches in disrepair were identified in an earlier systemwide inspection ordered after 13 derailments, a record number, this year.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, the M.T.A. spokesman, said he could not recall any similar special pay incentives. The sections in disrepair have been reduced to 245. Mr. Perfall said the goal was to reduce the number to about 100, so that service could return to normal and the delays ended. Conductors were ordered to slow down in the troubled areas.
    • The board also voted to permit expenditures of up to $22 million without competitive bidding for services and supplies to speed the repair of the dangerous track sections.
    • The incentive increase would average about $390 a person. It would be added retroactively next January to a 7 percent management salary increase that was already reflected in the Transit Authority's current budget of $2.5 billion. The regular increase, which also was approved by the board, amounts to $1.6 million.
    • In another action, the board decided to allocate new M-3 electric railroad cars sooner than expected to the Metro- North Commuter Railroad by reducing the number of such cars intended for the Long Island Rail Road. The reallocation was necessary because of severe equipment shortages on Metro-North's Harlem and Hudson lines, officials said.

October 1983

[edit]
  • $106 million grant-rehab 11 stations, replace defective doors
  • The New York City Transit Authority - with the help of three French engineers, a handful of retired track supervisors and the guidance of its acting president - has in the last month accelerated its effort to get the city's subways rolling on time.
    • The number of red tags on the tracks, which indicate rail problems, has been whittled down and the on-time performance of the system has climbed, according to Transit Authority figures.
    • The track problem was underscored last evening when a northbound IRT No. 1 train derailed as it left the station at 137th Street and Broadway, which is not a red-tag area. No injuries were reported. It was the 14th subway derailment this year.
    • Meanwhile Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato announced that the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, as expected, had granted $105.7 million to the Transit Authority for the rehabilitation of 11 subway stations and the replacement of defective motor- operated subway doors.
    • At their peak in late July, there were 589 red tags on tracks throughout the 724-mile subway system. At each tag, motormen were required to slow their trains to 10 miles an hour. The result was one of the worst on-time records in the subway's recent history.
    • But by the end of last week, 367 tags had been removed and trains were more punctual throughout the system, according to Transit Authority figures.
    • Over the weekend, from Friday night to this morning, the Transit Authority shut down a major portion of the E and F lines. It will close the lines between 53d Street and Queens Plaza over the next two weekends, too, and other weekend shutdowns are contemplated.
    • ''What we did was recognize that a wait of one and half to two years to bring the red-tag situation back to normal was unacceptable,'' said Mr. Scannell, as he flourished charts showing the reduction in tags. ''We sat down and organized a campaign.''
    • As part of that campaign, Mr. Scannell lured retired track worker supervisors back to work for four months. He won permission from the M.T.A. board to use emergency bid procedures to speed the hiring of outside contractors and the delivery of track parts - ''the big weak spot,'' he said.
    • ''I was on the phone with Walter Williams,'' Mr. Scannell said, referring to the president of Bethlehem Steel, one of several steel companies from which the author ity buys steel parts and tracks. ''We asked them to cooperate with us and get the flow of materials to us moving faster.''
    • The Transit Authority expects to spend about $4 million on everything from rails to C-clamps, spikes and filler plates in the struggle to reduce red tags, he said.
    • For the subway rider, 589 red tags meant a summer of one late train after another.
    • ''That number gave us 31 percent true on-time service,'' Mr. Scannell said.
    • ''True on-time,'' he explained, is different from the transit agency's usual accounting of on-time service. In the past the authority did not include in its on-time figures scheduled work that slowed trains.
    • ''As far as the passengers are concerned, when you look at programmed work and the red tags, we were down to 31 percent of on-time performance,'' Mr. Scannell said. ''The barometer we're using now is the barometer that tells the story for the passenger.'' Improvement in Service By the end of last week, subway service had climbed back to a 56 percent on- time performance - not good, Mr. Scannell agreed, but getting better.
    • ''Our goal is to get the number of red tags down around 80 - our normal complement - by the end of the year,'' he said.
    • To help reduce the red tags, the M.T.A. has offered a 1 percent ''incentive'' raise to Transit Authority management if it can meet the accelerated goal for track repair.
    • And to insure that the work is done properly, Mr. Scannell has induced Jean-Marie Aubriot, the president of Societe Fran,caise d'Etudes et des Realisations de Transports Urbains - a technology exporting company specially created by the state-owned Paris subway authority - to send two engineers to evaluate the track repairs done this fall and early winter.
    • ''The public is entitled to additional assurance,'' Mr. Scannell said. ''Their function is going to be to see that the correct repairs have been made. Our people stand to benefit by the 1 percent incentive, and this is a good, businesslike way of doing things.'' Hunt for New President
    • As Mr. Scannell worries about getting the tracks repaired, Governor Cuomo and the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have been looking for a successor to Mr. Simpson.
  • Robert R. Kiley, a former head of the mass-transit system in Boston, has been chosen chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Governor Cuomo announced yesterday.
    • Mr. Kiley, who will earn $150,000 a year, will take charge of an agency the Governor has relentlessly criticized since taking office. Most recently, Mr. Cuomo has characterized the M.T.A. as a ''fiefdom'' that was not accountable to anyone.
    • ''Bob Kiley will come to this position with all of the credentials that we were seeking,'' Mr. Cuomo said at an afternoon news conference during which he introduced Mr. and Kiley and his wife, Rona. ''As chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Boston area's full-service mass-transit system, for four years, he has proven experience running a major transit system and running it successfully.'' Mayor Koch, whose approval Mr. Cuomo had sought, immediately endorsed the Governor's choice. ''I'm very pleased,'' Mr. Koch said. ''I told him I'd be very cooperative, and that ultimately he'd grow to love the job.''
    • Stephen Berger, chairman of the finance committee of the 14-member M.T.A. board, was enthusiastic about Mr. Kiley's nomination. ''It's the best appointment the Governor's made,'' he said. ''I'm pleased as punch. We will now have an easier time getting a top- notch head of the Transit Authority.''
    • Mr. Kiley's appointment is not the first attempt to lure him to the M.T.A. Five years ago, he was offered and declined the post of executive director, a job that ultimately went to Mr. Simpson, who became head of the Transit Authority. Mr. Kiley will serve until 1987, filling out Mr. Ravitch's six-year term. 'The Ultimate Opportunity'
    • Mr. Kiley, who will be running a system 10 times larger than the one in Boston, conceded that although he had last ridden the subways more than a year ago, improvements in performance were sorely needed.
    • ''I think we need to develop a set of standards for service that are as specific as we can make them,'' he said. ''And then we have to begin to measure bus and subway service against those standards. There may have to be some changes. There may even have to be some belt-tightening.''
    • Any change in standards would have to be subject to some kind of ''public agreement,'' he said.
    • Mr. Kiley, who has been a consultant for the Metro-North Commuter Rail division of the M.T.A., professed his lack of familiarity with the authority's financial situation and avoided questions about fare increases.
    • Mr. Kiley distanced himself from a number of positions taken by Mr. Ravitch. Two weeks ago, when the Governor insisted that the M.T.A. board adopt a standard for purchasing steel made in the United States instead of overseas, Mr. Ravitch publicly disagreed with Mr. Cuomo. The board voted to adopt a standard, although it was less flexible than the one sought by the Governor.
    • Mr. Kiley was distinctly unwilling to embrace Mr. Cuomo's commitment to make renovated subway stations accessible to the handicapped. ''I'm committed to accessibility, but it's within the limit of dollars.''
  • Under Mr. Ravitch's plan, 1,300 subway cars and 316 commuter rail cars have been ordered. There are also less-visible improvements planned for tracks, signals, structures and maintenance facilities. In the first two years of the program, more than $3 billion was committed for improvements, ''more than all the money spent on capital improvements in the decade of the 70's,'' according to Stephen Polan, special counsel to the M.T.A.
    • Some transit officials worry that the Legislature believes that with Mr. Ravitch's plan well under way, the M.T.A.'s capital needs are taken care of. It would be up to Mr. Kiley to convince them differ ently by preparing a capital plan that will take the transit system into the 1990's.
    • The fare question could prove a difficult one for Mr. Kiley. Last winter, under an agreement with Mr. Ravitch, the Legislature approved a tax package intended to hold fares at 75 cents through the end of this year. Early next year, subway and bus fares are widely expected to go up to $1, and commuter fares are expected to increase 30 percent or more.
    • Given a looming deficit in the M.T.A.'s $3 billion annual budget, holding down the fare would be a major task for the new chairman.
  • The House Ways and Means Committee has backed the concept of giving tax breaks to employers for selling discount monthly subway and bus tickets to their employees.
    • New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has pressed for the plan, under which the employer would deduct the discount as a business expense and the employee would receive the cheaper ticket tax free, or as a fringe benefit.
    • Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of Manhattan and the third- ranking member of the committee, said the panel had agreed on Wednesday that an employer could provide up to a $15-a-month subsidy for each employee's mass-transit fares.
    • The discounted monthly ticket is part of a larger plan being studied by the M.T.A. to introduce a system of magnetically coded cards to replace tokens. Richard Ravitch, the outgoing chairman of the M.T.A., said in March that the agency hoped to introduce the card system as a way of cutting costs, curbing fare evasion and allowing the sale of discount tickets to boost ridership on New York City's subway and bus systems. 2 Versions Under Consideration
    • The M.T.A. is considering two versions of the discount ticket, according to Steven Polan, special counsel at the agency. He said the consulting firm of Arthur D. Little, based in Cambridge, Mass., had been hired by the M.T.A. to examine the technology and economics of such tickets on the transit system.
    • Using hypothetical numbers, the M.T.A. said the plans worked this way:
    • - Under one option, an employer would buy monthly tickets for employees for, perhaps, $40 each. Such a ticket would be sold to an employee for as little as $25 and would allow unlimited rides on buses and subways for the month. The employer would deduct the $15 subsidy to his employee as a business expense and the employee would receive the ticket as a tax-free benefit. This system is similar to one used in Paris, Mr. Polan said.
    • - Under the second option, the M.T.A. would sell a ticket with $45 worth of rides for $40 to the employer, who would then resell it with a discount of up to $15. Under this plan, the ticket would have no monthly time limit. The cost of each ride would be deducted mechanically from the face of the ticket as the passenger took the trip, Mr. Polan said. This option was in use in Hong Kong, he said.
    • Special machines would read the magnetic coding on the tickets and make the appropriate deductions, he said.
    • He emphasized that there was ''substantial business community interest'' in New York City for distributing fare cards or monthly passes through employers.
  • David L. Gunn System Is On The Edge of Peril
    • I've ridden the New York subway just casually, perhaps once a month, but my view as an ''operating man'' is that the system is in very serious trouble. I think you have the potential for a real disaster on your hands, where you will not be able to move the people. It's pretty obvious that for years the system has had downhill momentum. Richard Ravitch made large efforts to start putting capital back into the system, but the physical reality is that it is dying.
    • Just ride the system. The last train I rode, if it were in service in Philadelphia on my system, I'd have ordered the thing right off the road. The train had control problems; it was riding just abominably. There were lights out in half the train. On top of that the thing was covered with graffiti, and it was filthy.
    • I don't think people understand the length of time it takes to change all that. Not only do you have to have the money, but you've got to organize the forces to do it. You've got to have the skilled managers to lay the program out. You've got to have the skilled foremen to supervise the crews. You've got to have a skilled work force. And then you've got to have time.
    • I see the end result of years of neglect, and I'm guessing that behind that is tremendous neglect on the human side of the Transit Authority. Now, assuming you have the money - which I think is one of the major legacies that Richard Ravitch left - your top priority is to build a team that can rebuild that system.
    • I don't know if any mortal can save it. The political decisions to let it decay may well be irreversible. But you've got to try. You can't do everything. You've got to decide that you're going to make some things better and hope other things hold together. It takes two or three years, at least, just to identify and put in place the people you need to rebuild that system.
  • Fares on New York City's subways and buses and on commuter rail lines run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will have to be raised by the end of the year, according to Richard Ravitch, the M.T.A. chairman.
    • The exact size of the increases will not be known for more than a month, David Z. Plavin, the authority's executive director, said. But he said the price of bus and subway tokens, now 75 cents, must be increased to between 90 cents and $1 and ticket prices on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North lines must go up 40 to 50 percent.
    • Consideration is also being given, officials said, to raising the tolls on the seven bridges and two tunnels operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, a division of the M.T.A.
    • The increased fare estimates are based on an analysis of the deficit the agency will face next year, according to M.T.A. officials. Initial figures indicate that the Transit Authority, which operates the city's subways and buses, could have a $200 million deficit for 1984. The commuter rail lines are expected to have a deficit of $115 million to $135 million, Mr. Plavin said.
    • ''Basically there is going to be a substantial shortfall,'' he said. ''The board is going to do what it has to do to keep the system running and not get into deferred maintenance. I think they are going to say, 'We're ready to do what we have to do.' ''
    • Mr. Plavin said the largest portion of the shortfall in M.T.A. funds was an ''automatic deficit'' resulting from increasing labor costs and the cost of materials, principally steel and petrochemicals, which includes the cost of energy.
  • New York's subway riders can expect two to three years of ''frustration'' as major work on rebuilding the system gets under way, Robert R. Kiley, the chairman-designate of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said today.
    • In a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the M.T.A., Mr. Kiley pointed to a variety of issues on which he would concentrate and changes that could be expected when he takes control of the agency. Following are some of the items:
      • - The merger of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad with the Long Island Rail Road.
      • - A reorganization of the M.T.A. management, to make it more compatible with his style.
      • - An immediate and detailed review of how more than $8 billion for the rebuilding is being spent.
      • - The indefinite postponement of any moves to introduce automatic fare-collection systems.
      • - A close examination of work rules as an area where productivity gains can be made.
      • - A possible reorganization of the transit police department.
      • - An aggressive and continuing campaign against graffiti on subways and buses.
    • Although he said he was not prepared to offer a detailed list of his priorities, Mr. Kiley, whose confirmation is considered certain, said his initial views of the agency were based on discussions and briefings by senior officials at the authority, including Mr. Ravitch and Stephen Berger, a board member and the chairman of the finance committee.
    • ''Perhaps more than any other rail system in the country, the T.A. suffers from the accumulated decay of deferred maintenance,'' he said, referring to the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that runs the subways and most of the buses in New York City. ''New York was perhaps slow in getting off the mark when Federal assistance for mass transit began in earnest in the 60's. Boston was successful, for instance, in getting more than its fair share of dollars. 'Frustrating 2 or 3 Years'
    • ''New York has lost 10 years, which means that there's been 10 years' additional deterioration. And because the money is just starting to be spent on a massive basis, it's still going to be another three to five years before change is realized. The one exception to that is the Long Island Rail Road, where there has been some investment going since the Rockefeller years.
    • Mr. Kiley said he would begin exploring how to merge Metro-North with the L.I.R.R. Integrating the systems, he said, would be complex, because of conflicting labor contracts. On the other hand, he added, one goal of the merger would be a unified fare structure.
    • ''The question is, 'Is it organized in a way that is compatible with my style of management?' '' he asked. ''They're organized in a way that is very supportive of Dick Ravitch, and that's the way it should be. But I'm going to be much more inclined in the early going to get into the systems themselves that come under the M.T.A. umbrella. That means I'll have to spend time in them.
    • ''I want to have some sense of the Transit Authority, which is, by some estimates, the system in the deepest trouble. I want to have a sense of its people and problems, based on first- hand impression. I would not want to make a snap judgment about the president of the T.A. without getting a sense of it personally.''
    • In contrast to the enthusiasm with which M.T.A. officials embraced the prospect of automatic fare-collection systems for the commuter lines and subways, systems in such cities as Boston, Washington and San Francisco, Mr. Kiley said he would be reluctant to introduce extremely sophisticated technology.
    • ''I'd have to be convinced it would work,'' he said. ''I'd want to be very careful about the goal of totally automating the fare-collection system. I'm a little frightened of high technology getting out and roaming around like Frankenstein's monster.'' He said he would postpone consideration of the system for the time being. '$8 Billion Sounds Like a Lot'
    • ''Eight billion dollars sounds like a lot of money,'' he said, ''but when you're looking at a system of this size, it can go fast. It can just be dissipated. I just don't know the dimensions of the problem yet. It doesn't do any good to buy thousands of new transit cars, only to have them moving at 10 miles per hour in a system that can't support them.''
    • ''There is a perception that large parts of the transit system are insecure. Does reality square with that perception? It doesn't matter. It has to be dealt with, even if it's only a perception.''
    • Perhaps less disturbing than crime, but equally jarring, Mr. Kiley said, was the omnipresence of graffiti throughout the system.
    • When he headed Boston's transit system, Mr. Kiley earned a reputation as a tough bargainer with labor. He said that one of the areas he hoped to focus on was the content of the union contracts - ''biblical in size and just as dense'' - with the M.T.A.
    • Mr. Kiley reflected on what he hoped his legacy to the city would be. ''If I leave anything behind when it comes my turn to go,'' he said, ''I want to leave behind a management in the M.T.A. and its component agencies that can go right on, regardless of who the next chairman is.''
  • TA Chief Engineer-submitted report-July-suspend service at 7 West End stations, 8 Culver-9-month shutdown-speed repairs/cut costs-instead just off-peak-save 40%-from $28 million to $16.5 million-oppostion-petition drive
  • Half trains late-capital construction work, emergency track work-OTP-recent weekday-compared-1982-off 253% IRT, 475%IND, 580% BMT-of 6,400 trains-45%-2,884-failed to reach destination within 10 minutes-scheduled arrival-late-typical 1982 weekday-only 762-11%late-TA officials not surprised-red tag emergency track repair, capital construction; red tags reduced to 193-into heavy track work-most new material needed-current material shortages-could delay remaining rehab work-through an accelerated work program-number of tags should be reduced to 90-before December 31-if reached, system will be able to run efficiently without serious delays-as of September 30-TA committed $3.5 billion committed-
  • Even though Robert R. Kiley, the chairman-designate of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had yet to be confirmed by the State Senate, he was already warning subway riders last week that they would have to lower their expectations. ''They're going to have to put up with rebuilding the system,'' Mr. Kiley said in an interview four days after being selected by Governor Cuomo to succeed Richard Ravitch as chairman. ''It's going to be a frustrating two or three years.''
    • Among his plans, Mr. Kiley said, are an aggressive campaign against graffiti, a reorganization of the Transit Police and a merger of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad with the Long Island Rail Road.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will need $10 billion more than it is now spending to rebuild the subways and renovate commuter rail lines, the chairman-designate of the M.T.A. said yesterday.
    • An $8.5 billion, five-year reconstruction of the systems that began Jan. 1, 1982, is not sufficient to rejuvenate them, the nominee, Robert R. Kiley, said. He characterized the subways as ''a system in advanced decline.''
    • Mr. Kiley said that the management of the authority would have to be overhauled, that he expected to bring in new people and that the agency had been less than diligent in handling complaints from the public.
    • ''I have seen estimates that it will take $18 billion to bring the system back to class A railroad status,'' Mr. Kiley said in an interview after the hearing. ''We have to get in a position where we are spending $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year on rehabilitating and upgrading the system. I think we're looking at a 10- or 15-year process of rehabilitation and upgrading the system.''
    • Mr. Kiley said that because the authority was ''at or near the limit'' of how much it could expect from bonds backed by fares, ''there will be much more pressure on the Federal Government and other sources, including the state and the city, but especially the state.''
    • In assembling the current capital program, Mr. Ravitch won permission from the State Legislature to issue up to $1.3 billion in bonds backed by revenues from fares on the commuter railroads, subways and buses.
    • ''My impression is that he is a successful transit manager with a record of accomplishment and achievement,'' said Mr. Levy, a Republican of Merrick, L.I. Although he said he was unwilling to embrace Mr. Kiley's $10 billion figure, he added:
    • ''We understood we would have to go forward after the $8.5 billion. What the amount is, we will have to determine as we get closer.''
    • Frequently throughout the hearing, especially when Senators asked detailed questions about the agency's budget, the size of fare increases expected by year's end and the possibility of higher tolls on the seven bridges and two tunnels operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel division of the M.T.A., Mr. Kiley said he was still being brought up to date on operations.
    • He said in the hearing and later there were clear signs the management of the Transit Authority, which operates the subway and most of New York City's buses, needed to be overhauled. The job, he said, would be the ''absolute top priority'' of whoever is selected president of the Transit Authority.
    • ''The track situation that popped up this summer is a symptom of a problem that could suggest the need for greater depth and breadth of management,'' Mr. Kiley said. ''The problem could be at mid-level or top-level management. There are symptoms out there that suggest there are underlying causes that have to be dealt with.''
    • In midsummer, after a rash of subway-car derailments, the Transit Authority placed ''red tags,'' signs indicating repairs were needed on particular stretches of track, at more than 500 spots. Trains were required to slow to 10 miles an hour, disrupting service.
    • Mr. Kiley also said he planned to reorganize the public-affairs division of the Transit Authority, to make it more receptive to public opinion and to require the agency to provide more information about changes in service.
    • ''There's a tendency to tell people after you have done something, and people get angry because they haven't had a chance to participate, whether it's changing bus routes or schedules,'' he said. ''We're going to have to be a lot better at anticipating people's needs. The people have good ideas. You have to have a mechanism to ask them.''
    • One suggestion Mr. Kiley offered was holding more hearings for riders to voice their opinions about changes. The M.T.A. now holds hearings and is arranging a series on increasing fares.
  • At a confirmation hearing last week before the Transportation Committee of the State Senate, Mr. Kiley said he would overhaul the authority's management and added that a restructuring of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that runs the city's mass transit system, would be the ''absolute top priority'' of whoever is chosen as its new president. ''The track situation that popped up last summer,'' he said, referring to a rash of subway derailments and delays, ''is a symptom of a problem that could suggest the need for greater depth and breadth of management.''
    • Mr. Kiley also promised to be more sensitive to complaints from riders but said he would be ''one tough hombre'' when dealing with labor unions. Aware of the chairman-designate's reputation as a hard bargainer while head of the Massachussetts Bay Transportation Authority, labor leaders said they expected him to press the Legislature to bring Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road employees under the state's Taylor Law, which forbids strikes by government workers.
    • Having already acknowledged the inevitability of a fare increase, Mr. Kiley made a pitch for $10 billion in capital funds over the next 10 to 15 years. That was in addition to the $8.5 billion, five-year rebuilding program begun by outgoing M.T.A. chairman Richard Ravitch, which Mr. Kiley said was still ''very important'' but ''by no means the final solution to the problem.'' With the M.T.A. ''at or near the limit'' of its bonding authority, he said he would increase the pressure on ''the Federal Government and other sources, including the state and the city, but especially the state.'' Just how that will go over in Albany is far from clear, but Mr. Kiley is expected to be confirmed by the Senate with little or no opposition.

November 1983

[edit]
  • It is all part of an effort that Governor Cuomo has put together on behalf of a ballot issue, Proposal 1, authorizing the state to borrow $1.25 billion for transportation projects through a bond sale.
  • TA yesterday conceded-trains continue to be late-even if goals-tags-met-latest series consultants hired-NYCTA's track division needed to improve the way it inspected/planned track maintenance, increase stock-repair materials-TA had previously said-OTP could be restored to 85% end of year-still 128 tags-OTP-down to 55%-slowest trains-IRT-Ben Johnson-consultant hired-$50,000-examine track division operations-examined 20 key track segments from July to September-found many poor/very poor conditions-division-needed general improvements, establish a quality control system;
  • 58-page report released-state of rails-lacked track maintenance programs, inspection skills, materials to complete work-Ben Johnson-TA fell behind efforts replace 65 miles track/year-last 6 years-103 miles track replacement deferred-increased track failure-number of track failures-up from 46 1979 to 90-1983-directly tied to lack of planned maintenance; attacked quality of work-work not always complete/done incorrectly-poor work greatly-shortened life span-newly installed rails not enough attention paid by supervisors to maintenance projects-dedicated force-not called upon for routine emergencies-time spent-only programmed track maintenance-track problem partially attributed-cumbersome and antiquated work tools; criticized TA for not developing a long-term plan to replace rails; Simpson-said speech-subway system in a disarray-as TA succumbed to political pressure, made unwise, quick-fix decisions
  • Beginning next summer, one-third of New York City's buses will be cooled by a method the Transit Authority abandoned years ago: open windows.
    • The authority announced yesterday that it was ending its effort to keep the air-conditioning units on 1,400 of its older-model buses in working order and would ask passengers simply to open the windows. Maintenance efforts will be concentrated on keeping the remaining 2,337 newer-model buses cool.
    • As for the troubled subway system, which in terms of service just went through one of its worst summers on record, there have been signs of improvement, officials said. The number of ''red tags'' - at which motormen had to slow their trains - was reduced from 442 in July to 128 in late October. On-time performance, which had been 42 percent in August, was now up to 55 percent.
    • ''We're coming back,'' said Daniel T. Scannell, the acting president of the Transit Authority, ''but not as fast as we would like.''
  • The proceeds of the bond issue would be used for the most part to rebuild state roads and bridges. The Governor, who is the bond issue's chief advocate, contends that 8,100 bridges and 24,000 miles of road are in poor condition. Opponents contend that such construction should be financed by gasoline taxes and not by borrowing.
  • Incorrect inventory reports-TA failed consistently to order enough replacement parts-even when supplies low-inaccurate inventory reports-slow down red tag program-Sidney Schwartz-most vendors not delivering emergency replacement reparts on schedule-
  • The Transit Authority's prediction that subway service could return to normal by the end of the year was questioned yesterday by an inspector general, who cited a shortage of parts to make repairs.
    • The official, Sidney Schwartz, inspector general for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, also said the schedule, which leaves more complex jobs for the end of the program, raised doubts about its timetable.
    • These factors, he said, ''may impede the T.A.'s ability to reduce the number of red tags to its goal of 90 by Dec. 31, 1983.''
    • However, Daniel T. Scannell, acting president of the Transit Authority and acting chairman of the M.T.A., the Transit Authority's parent, said everything was on schedule. ''We are still looking forward to meeting the goal of having the red tags removed and having on-time performance raised to the early summer levels by the end of the year,'' he said.
    • Subway performance, never considered to be outstanding, took a serious turn for the worse in late June, after the system experienced its 12th derailment of the year. Officials initiated a review of the subway's 723 miles of track and pinpointed more than 500 ''red tag'' areas, where trains were ordered to slow down because of poor track. As a result, on-time performance dropped, from 85 percent in May to 42 percent in August.
    • Transit officials undertook a $24 million emergency program to reduce the number of red tags and increase on-time performance.
    • In an 11-page report on the program, Mr. Schwartz said considerable strides had been made in eliminating the number of red-tag areas. As of Oct. 18, he said, 397 red tags had been removed and 184 remained.
    • The authority's goal is to reduce the number to 90 by the end of the year. Mr. Schwartz said the work that remained was the most difficult in the program.
    • ''Jobs covering larger segments of track or requiring more extensive labor or parts were scheduled for the final two months of the program,'' he said.
    • He said that additional problems had been discovered during the the repairs and that four derailments had occurred since June, bringing the total to a record 16 for the year.
    • According to the report, the Transit Authority did not have minimum inventory to make repairs before the emergency. ''This critical shortage of parts contributed to the delays in eliminating red tags and forced the T.A. to employ special purchasing methods in its red-tag program,'' the report said.
    • The special purchasing program has not kept pace with the need for parts, the report said. In September, there were 65 percent of the necessary ''C'' plates, which are used secure tracks, according to the study.
    • The Schwartz report was the second issued this week that criticized the Transit Authority for its inventory policies. On Sunday, City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin said that the authority's bus division provided a ''textbook example of how not to manage inventory.''
    • Mr. Goldin said the authority had purchased more than $14 million in obsolete or excessive parts. He said that an average of 70 buses sat idle each day because needed parts were out of stock.
    • Both audits called for new procedures in acquiring parts and for a review of the delays that have occurred. In separate responses, the Transit Authority said it had either begun or would begin to make changes
  • In an effort to limit increases in subway, bus and commuter railroad fares early next year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering raising tolls on the Triborough Bridge and five other crossings to $1.50 from $1.25.
    • Under the plan, the bridge revenues would be used to hold a fare increase on subways and buses to 90 cents, averting a threatened $1 fare. The fare is now 75 cents. On the Metro-North Commuter Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road, the bridge revenues would be used to keep the increase below a projected 50 percent.
    • Fares on New York's subways, buses and commuter lines last rose in July 1981. Tolls on the bridges and tunnels run by the M.T.A. last went up in April 1982.
    • The idea of linking mass-transit fares and tolls on the M.T.A. bridges and tunnels was outlined by the authority's executive director, David Z. Plavin. ''What we would do is try to keep the system in balance,'' he said in an interview. A final decision will be up to the full board of the M.T.A., which is expected to meet late next month on the question of tolls and fares. Public hearings on the increases are scheduled before the board meeting.
    • The Triborough authority remains the only M.T.A. subsidiary that makes a profit. In 1983, about $150 million in excess Triborough money is expected to go to mass transit. Other Triborough revenue is used to repair the bridges and tunnels and to pay the debt service on revenue bonds sold to investors by the M.T.A.
    • A 25-cent increase on the Triborough bridges and tunnels would raise an additional $50 million, according to Mr. Plavin. This money could be used to reduce the $200 million deficit for the subway and bus system, as well as the $100 million combined deficit for Metro- North and the Long Island Rail Road.
    • The $50 million would be divided evenly between the city and the suburban lines, but it would have a greater impact on the commuter lines because their budget and deficit are far smaller than the those of the city's subways and buses. The commuter budget for 1984 is expected to be $1 billion, while the city system's is expected to be $2.5 billion.
    • An increase in the subway, bus and commuter fares has been expected for nearly a year. The M.T.A. conducted public hearings on an increase late in 1982, but did not go ahead with the proposal because the State Legislature approved a regional corporate franchise tax. Revenues from the tax enabled the authority to operate through 1983 without a fare increase.
    • Officials in Albany and New York do not expect the Legislature to approve any new transit taxes this year. As a result, the M.T.A. had been expected to turn to the fare boxes on the subways, buses and commuter lines box to make up the difference. Under the plan outlined yesterday by Mr. Plavin, the authority may also dip into another revenue source over which it has control - the bridge-and-tunnel toll basket
  • Six months ago Richard Ravitch, then chairman of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, reported that the state agency was giving its ''highest priority'' to eliminating the token in the city's subways and buses in favor of an automated fare collection system using plastic cards. The authority's newly named chairman, Robert R. Kiley, has urged that work on the project continue.
    • Although no timetable has been set for introducing the new system, the M.T.A. has budgeted $150 million over the next four years to pay for it.
    • Such a system would give the M.T.A. more flexibility in pricing transportation services - possibly permitting the introduction of quantity discounts or lower fares at night - as well as the ability to sell passes through big banks and employers. It would also save the agency an estimated $30 million to $50 million a year by permitting it to lock the gates.
    • The agency said that two independent studies, commissioned at a cost of $200,000, have concluded that passengers would be willing to pay $7.50 for 10 rides and as much as $20 and $50 for longer-duration tickets.
    • Michael B. Gerrard, special counsel at the M.T.A., said Mr. Kiley and the board could make a decision ''on whether and how to proceed'' as early as next spring.
    • As an independent agency, the M.T.A. in theory is not bound by city or state policy in awarding any contract. But when Governor Cuomo voiced opposition last fall to the use of foreign steel by state agencies, the M.T.A. reversed plans to use Korean steel in a $32.9 million bridge project and agreed to place the order in this country.
  • Maintenance crews-diverted for routine emergencies; Sidney Schwartz-failure to spot track problems routinely, inadequate inventory of spare parts to make repairs when a problem is discovered-Bellamy-thinks-lack of leadership-no full-time TA head since August-
  • Robert R. Kiley, saying he had no ''magic potion or panacea'' to offer, was confirmed today by the State Senate as the fifth chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • In the Senate debate, some legislators warned against any undue optimism that the system would suddenly be transformed with a new leader. Later, Mr. Kiley concurred. He said he planned to spend much of his time dealing with subway problems and added that changes ''won't happen overnight.''
  • Two of three subway trains arrived at their stations on time in the last week, Transit Authority officials said yesterday. While performance was far from adequate, officials said, the statistics represented considerable progress from a week in July, when one of three trains were on time.
    • ''We expect an even sharper improvement toward the end of the year,'' said Dennis Newman, chief of staff at the authority's subway division.
    • Daniel T. Scannell, the acting president of the authority, said the statistics showed that the subway system, after a summer of dismal performance, would recover by Jan. 1. He repeated his prediction that the on-time rate would return to its pre-summer level of 85 percent by that date.
    • Robert R. Kiley, the new M.T.A. chairman, said that ''there is still an awful lot of work to do'' to meet the Jan. 1 goal, but that ''if Dan Scannell says that it can be done, it is good enough for me.''
    • Mr. Scannell's prediction was questioned earlier this month in a report by the inspector general of the M.T.A., Sidney Schwartz. After evaluating the authority's workload and inventory of parts, Mr. Schwartz said the goal might not be met.
    • Performance on the subway system has been a major focus of attention at the M.T.A. since June, when a record number of derailments prompted officials to examine the system's tracks. A survey of the 723 miles of track found 629 trouble spots, which were given ''red tags'' to warn motormen to slow down to 10 miles per hour.
    • Mr. Newman, the subway division's chief of staff, said the number of red tags had been reduced to 119 and would be reduced even further, so that the year-end goal would be met.
    • Mr. Scannell, the acting president, said the authority had allocated more than $22 million to make the emergency track repairs and had hired eight engineers from the subway system in Paris to verify the work of the New York subway workers. Before a red tag is removed, he said, a member of the Paris team reviews the repairs and verifies that the track is safe.
  • State Comptroller Edward V. Regan said yesterday that an increase in New York City's 75-cent subway and bus fare could probably be held to 10 cents in 1984. Beyond then, however, he projected rapidly growing M.T.A. deficits that would require a fare of $1.25 in 1985, $1.50 in 1986 and $1.60 in 1987.
    • An 85-cent fare starting early next year, Mr. Regan noted, ''would be far less of a financial burden for transit riders than the 90-cent to $1 fare suggested in recent statements by officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.''
    • Arthur G. Perfall, assistant executive director for public affairs at the M.T.A., dismissed Mr. Regan's findings as ''nothing new.'' He said they were based on ''various assumptions and options that we have raised over the past few months.''
    • The report was based on a review of the proposed financial plan submitted to the State Financial Control Board last month by the Transit Authority, the agency of the M.T.A. that runs the city's subways and buses. The Comptroller's study, anticipating Federal subsidies, surplus revenues and savings not included by the Transit Authority, trimmed the authority's projected 1984 deficit from $232 million to $104 million.
    • ''Since the T.A. has estimated that each 5-cent increase in fare will produce $57 million of revenues annually,'' the reports said, ''a fare increase of only 10 cents would be needed to balance the T.A.'s 1984 budget.''
    • The Comptroller's study also faulted the authority for not achieving enough productivity savings from the ''management flexibility'' gained from the 1982 contract with its employees. And it said that there appeared to be ''serious slippage'' in implementing the authority's capital improvement program.
    • Mr. Perfall of the M.T.A. said the authority had been seeking to rectify problems - some beyond its control - in both the labor and capital improvement areas.
  • While Mr. Schwartz, who took office in July, has been writing reports critical of M.T.A. operations - from the way it hires outside lawyers to the size of the computer paper it uses - his presence has stirred confusion and resentment among some staff members of the transportation agency and opposition from many of its board members.
    • ''It's like the seven-year plague on the Egyptians,'' Mr. Scannell said. ''What he will contribute to make the system better is open to serious doubt. What we do know is that in pursuit of ferreting things out he makes inordinate demands on our people and on the time of our people. God knows when you're turning a service out every day, seven days a week, it taxes our resources.''
    • ''It seems to me there is a problem here,'' said Mr. Kiley. ''I think the problem is that it tends, in a strange kind of way, to take pressure off the agencies to do their own internal auditing. It will dilute accountability and responsibility for policing expenditures.''
    • ''I think it's important that the inspector general be independent,'' he said. ''It also seems to me that the reporting responsibility ought to go to the top authority of what is being inspected - that's the board. That's the way it works in the Federal Government.''
    • In an effort to suggest that Mr. Schwart's office is at worst unneeded and at best duplicative, M.T.A. officials have been circulating a list of more than 50 Federal, state and local oversight bodies that review the agency's operations. Among them are 11 House and Senate Committees, 6 state legislative committees, 8 Federal agencies and the New York State and City Comptrollers.
    • Nonetheless, Mr. Schwartz says that he, too, is somewhat uncertain what he plans to do. Indeed, to avoid tromping over old ground, Mr. Schwartz has asked the state and city comptrollers to let him know what sort of audits they have done or expect to do.
    • In the last 18 months, Harrison J. Goldin, the City Comptroller, has issued 16 audits of the Transit Authority on subjects ranging from surveys of the authority's elevated train structures to an analysis of inventory procedures for bus parts. The State comptroller, Edward V. Regan, has conducted eight audits of the M.T.A. in the same period.
    • Mr. Schwartz says he will need $5.1 million next year, 93 people including a press secretary and offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn to look over shoulders at the M.T.A. He suggested that his office had "a fivefold mission" made up f these points:
    • * To identify areas where performance might be improved or funds used more effectively.
    • * To receive and investigate complaints.
    • * To recommend remedial actions to be taken by the authority.
    • * To monitor implementation of its own recommendations and those of other audit agencies.
    • * To report where appropriate to law enforcement agencies information and evidence of criminal activities. Five Reports So Far
    • To date, Mr. Schwartz has released five reports, the most recent questioning whether the Transit Authority could complete track repairs on the subway system by the end of the year.
    • Mr. Schwartz acknowledged that he had encountered resistance from the Transit Authority in preparing his report on track repairs. "They asked us to restrict our scope because of we went into certain areas-- walking the tracks for instance -- it would hurt their efforts," he said. "I thought that was reasonable."
  • Some New York subway riders were so angered when their train was taken out of service recently that they refused to get off until the police came. Others who found themselves on a chilly day last week in a car whose air conditioning could not be turned off just sat and shivered, too demoralized even to try moving to another car.
    • Judging from his comments so far, Mr. Kiley would give a polite but frank answer. The M.T.A. commuter faces no yellow brick road but a fare increase and a long slow period of digesting new equipment, a new organization pattern, and, perhaps, a new route structure.
    • The M.T.A. faces two broad challenges. Its operating costs exceed its income from farebox receipts, from subsidies by three levels of government and from surpluses on tolls at Triborough bridges and tunnels. The likelihood of further subsidy from the state is now minimal; the transit taxes voted in 1982 to help hold the subway fare at 75 cents can only serve that purpose through the end of this year. Service may seem to get worse as the fare goes higher, but higher it must go - even if the increase depresses ridership. The second transit fact of life is that New York's residential and commercial neighborhoods have shifted since the first subway line opened nearly 80 years ago. Mr. Kiley and his new Transit Authority president will have to take a long hard look at the entire system and ask vital questions: What areas could use more service? Which could do with less? Could rearranged routes result in a better distribution of the load? The answers might yield important long-term economies. Mr. Kiley's predecessor, Richard Ravitch, worked hard with two governors and the Legislature for financing that frees the new chairman from the burden of immediately raising capital funds. With luck, he may avoid early crises that would divert him from the long-range planning that governments typically overlook. As never before, the M.T.A. needs to peer as far down the track as it can.
  • The 10-car train, made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan, represents the first addition to the IRT fleet in 20 years. In the next 30 days it will be tested on both East Side and West Side IRT lines before being put into regular service. The remainder of the order of 325 Kawasaki cars will be delivered in the next 14 months. Praise Somewhat Restrained
    • The Mayor also inspected the motorman's cab, which is designed so that it can be expanded to cover the width of the train. Mr. Kiley told Mr. Koch that this would allow for one-man operation since the motorman, rather than a conductor, would be able to open and close the doors on both sides.
    • Mr. Koch said that he thought one- man operation, which is opposed by the transit labor unions, was a ''terrific idea,'' and noted that the manning level on sanitation trucks had been reduced from three to two men.

December 1983

[edit]
  • The new chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that he planned to recommend that New York City's bus and subway fare be increased next month to 90 cents, a rise of 15 cents.
    • The chairman, Robert R. Kiley, said he also planned to propose fare increases of 20 to 25 percent on the Metro- North Commuter Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road for 1984. The fare increases would be the first in two and a half years on the buses, subways and commuter lines.
    • In addition, Mr. Kiley said, the authority's board will probably be asked to raise tolls on the bridges and tunnels of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an M.T.A. subsidiary, for the first time since April 1982. Tolls that are now $1.25 would be raised to $1.50; those at 90 cents would be raised to $1.00.
    • There had been widespread speculation that bus and subway fares would rise to $1 and that commuter railroad tickets might increase by 50 percent. When asked why he was recommending smaller increases, Mr. Kiley said those projections had been based on the possibility of a two-year budget for 1984 and 1985.
    • Mr. Kiley said he was able to recommend lower fare increases than originally suggested for a number of other reasons. He said that there had been ''underspending'' in some of the authority's operating agencies this year, that revenues had been higher than originally projected and that a program to increase productivity was showing results.
    • For these reasons, he said, the M.T.A.'s deficit at the end of 1983 would probably be about $160 million, compared with earlier estimates of $200 million or more. The authority's 1983 operating budget is about $3.5 billion.
    • Asked whether cutting back service had been considered, Mr. Kiley replied, ''There has been no consideration in cutting back service.''
    • ''All in all, now is not the time, given the condition of our system, to cut back on service to the public,'' he said. ''The M.T.A. will continue service at basically the levels it now carries, hopefully improving it through 1984.''
    • Many of the new subway and commuter rail cars ordered under the M.T.A.'s five-year, $8.5 billion capital improvement program will appear. The goal of eliminating all the ''red tag'' areas in the subway system - sections of track that were deemed in need of immediate repair - should be met early next year, he said, and improvement should be seen in the on- time performance of the railroads.
  • TRANSIT officials, looking at their ledgers, are once again insisting that fares on the Long Island Rail Road must go up. The rise, they say, must be in the order of 50 percent - an even greater proportion than the fare increase contemplated for New York City's 75-cent token.
    • The final touches are still being put on the 1984 budget, but the way things appear to be shaping up for the commuter railroads is as follows: The combined deficit for the Long Island and the Metro-North Commuter Rail Road, which serves Westchester and other northern suburbs, is $100 million in a combined budget of $1 billion.
    • To close this deficit, M.T.A. officials say, they will need the 50- percent increase in fares. Proportionally, the deficit is even greater than that on the city's subway and bus line, which would require a 33 percent increase - to $1 - to close the gap.
    • One thing that Long Island officials do not disupute, however, is that the Long Island Rail Road has made considerable improvements in service in the last two years. For example, on- time performance during the first 10 months of this year was 90 percent. For the same period in October 1981, it was 84 perrcent.
    • These improvements have been made by reversing a decade-long policy of ''deferred maintenance,'' during which much regular station, track and engine work was put off because of a lack of funds. The railroad has also benefitted from the M.T.A.'s capital-improvement program, which has begun to pour millions of dollars into L.I.R.R. facilities.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A., said that new maintenance and capital projects would not be cut back because of deficits. To make up the deficits in the past, he added, the M.T.A. has turned to the Legislature. In the last two years, the legislators have voted six new taxes to aid transit.
    • ''This time it is the commuters' turn,'' Mr. Perfall said.
  • Allegations unsafe conditions Flushing Line
  • Mayor Koch proposed yesterday that the Transit Authority set up its own administrative panels to prosecute fare evaders and others who violate its rules and regulations. Violators must now appear in the Criminal Courts.
    • Peter M. Wynn, vice president for finance and adminsitration at the Transit Authority, said that according to preliminary estimates the one-time cost of setting up the panel would be $1.15 million. On an annual basis, he added, administrative costs would be $4.2 million, which would be offset by $5.5 million in collected fines.
  • He said the M.T.A. had to depend ''too heavily on fares for operating revenues, more so than any other transit system anywhere in the country.'' He said he would like the state to restructure the way it finances mass transit.
  • The cost of a ride on the city's subways and buses was raised yesterday to 90 cents, a 15-cent increase. The new fare, to take effect next month, is the first increase in two and a half years.
    • The increase was approved by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also voted higher fares for its rail commuters and raised some bridge and tunnel tolls.
    • Fares will rise an average of 20 percent on the Metro-North Commuter Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road.
    • Tolls at four bridges and two tunnels operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority will go to $1.50, from $1.25.
    • In passing its 1984 budget of nearly $3.5 billion
    • Mayor Koch issued a statement supporting the board's decision.
    • ''The M.T.A., like all public agencies, must operate under a balanced budget,'' he said. ''If a fare increase is necessary to balance the M.T.A. budget, then a fare increase is necessary.''
    • M.T.A. officials said they expected the new fares and tolls to generate an extra $270 million.
    • Increases for some trips on the commuter lines will vary from about 18 percent to 24 percent because the authority is reviewing its fares to make riders on all of its lines pay about the same amount for the same distances.
    • Aid for Elderly and Disabled The elderly and the handicapped will once again be entitled to half fare 24 hours a day. For several years, they have had to pay full fare between 7 A.M. and 9 A.M. on weekdays. The return-ride coupon under the half-fare program will now be valid for three days instead of one.
    • On the commuter lines, the board voted to offer a reduced-fare, one-way ticket at a 25 percent discount in off- peak hours. Currently, the cut-rate tickets are only available if a person wants a round-trip ticket and plans to travel at off-peak times in both directions in a single day.
    • Early this year, Richard Ravitch, the former chairman of the M.T.A., had warned that the subway and bus fare could go to $1. He also warned that fares on commuter tickets might go up 50 percent.
    • But recently, the M.T.A. revised the deficit estimates.
    • At the meeting, Miss Bellamy argued that a 10-cent increase in the subway and bus fares was enough. She questioned the need for a $38 million reserve fund for track and structure work that appears in the budget.
    • She also argued that certain items in the 1984 operating budget should be moved into the capital budget. And she said the budget was too conservative in failing to count on receiving certain Federal financing
    • Last year, the 75-cent fare was saved by the State Legislature, which approved $270 million in aid, based on a new tax, for the mass-transit system. The tax was a surcharge on the profits of corporations. It was never expected to hold the fare through 1984.
  • A20 PERCENT fare increase is looming for Long Island Rail Road commuters in the new year, and one of the key reasons is high labor costs. How to cut labor costs is a nettlesome matter because of union contracts. The railroad has been seeking to deal with this situation by trying to increase the productivity of the work force.
    • Just how ticklish the labor situation can be was underscored last week in two actions: an apparent disagreement among three railroad unions as to which will have jurisdiction in the new $20 million Richmond Hill train yard, which led to unexplained delays of up to an hour or more in commuting Monday night, and a report by regional planners, who believe that the railroad is the key to the Island's economic welfare.
    • The cost of operating the L.I.R.R. approached the half-billion-dollar mark this year, with just over half of that - about $3 a passenger ride - coming from public funds, according to a study by the Regional Plan Association.
    • That cost could be cut sharply, according to the report, by a cut in the railroad's high labor costs and crew requirements.
    • He said those costs ran $49 a worker in 1983, 27 percent above Metro- North, 32 percent above the New York City Transit Authority and 53 percent above the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority.
    • ''And what is more disquieting,'' said Mr. Pushkarev, who wrote the 44-page report, ''is that while inflation went up 12 percent, the labor costs on the Long Island Rail Road went up 17 percent.''
    • ''And if we're looking toward a future,'' he added, ''where the subsidies will not be as forthcoming as they used to be, and where there will be increased resistance to higher fares, then the restraining the growth of labor costs will be a key political issue.''
    • He said the four-year study showed that not only were labor costs per worker very high, but also the number of workers required to operate trains was very high.
    • Mr. Pushkarev said that if L.I.R.R. labor costs were the same as the M.S.B.A.'s, and if the railroad's crew requirements were the same as Patco's, ''then the Long Island Rail Road would be a profit-making enterprise and would need no subsidies at all.''
    • Robin H. H. Wilson, president of the L.I.R.R., welcomed most of the recommendations in the report, but took exception to the criticism on labor costs and crew requirements.
    • He said he was very conscious that the line was heavily subsidized for capital spending and that ''our customers pay a substantial contribution toward our operations.'' But he said that productivity had increased and noted that the L.I.R.R. served more passengers per mile than competitive lines. And he added that the line operated more economically now than in past years.
    • Edward Yule Jr., general chairman of the 6,000-member United Transportation Union, also disagreed with the study's conclusion on wages and crew size.
    • ''People want to see conductors and trainmen on the trains,'' Mr. Yule said. ''They feel safer and know we're there if they need us.''
    • ''As it is, the crew size on the Long Island Rail Road has been cut back and they keep on cutting,'' Mr. Yule added. ''They go by some weird formula that I take exception to that says a conductor should take no more than 18 seconds to sell a cash ticket on a train. But I know as a conductor myself that if a passenger gives you a $20 bill and he asks you a question, it takes more than 20 seconds to make change and give an answer.''
    • 'As for wages, they are commensurate with our duties and well-deserved,'' he added. ''Nothing is given for nothing.''
    • A plan advanced by the report, which was based on a four-year study by the Regional Plan Association, was jointly released last week by Regional Plan and the Long Island Association.
  • "Throwing capital money about is not going to solve the problem if you don't have the organization to spend it and maintain it"-Gunn; doubted the durability of the red tag repairs
  • A proposal was announced yesterday that would make 27 subway stations accessible to the disabled and elderly and that would clear the way for the modernization of 88 stations throughout the city.
    • The plan, announced at a City Hall news conference by the State Senate's minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein, also called for the accessible stations to be connected by vans or minibuses.
    • A spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Arthur G. Perfall, said that the agency, in a major shift of position, would be willing for the first time to consider the question of whether elevators for the disabled should be installed in a number of stations as they are modernized.
    • Senator Ohrenstein estimated that it would cost $25 million to $35 million to equip the 27 stations with elevators and would cost about $55 million each year to operate shuttle buses for the disabled and the elderly.
    • Of that $55 million, the Manhattan Democrat said he expected about $17 million to be third party payments, such as Medicare or Medicaid, about $7 million in fares collected from riders and about $30 million in regular Transit Authority revenues.
    • Last year, Richard Ravitch, then the M.T.A. chairman, fought any attempts by lawmakers and the Governor to force the agency to make subway stations accessible to the disabled. Mr. Ravitch insisted that equipping subway stations with elevators was too costly and would cause enormous safety problems for riders using the elevators.
    • But Robert R. Kiley, the new chairman of the authority, has said he is more flexible on the matter.
    • ''We are in continuous discussions with the Legislature, the Governor's office and and all interested parties to try and resolve the issue, and hopefully we will reach some resolution in the near future,'' said Mr. Perfall, the M.T.A. spokesman. Officials at the M.T.A. said that Mr. Kiley's willingness to negotiate the matter represented a major shift in position for the agency.
  • An IND subway train derailed in Queens early yesterday, knocking out service for more than half a day on part of the A line in Far Rockaway. It was the 19th derailment this year, and the second in a week.
    • Last June, after a rash of derailments and a survey of the entire system, the authority instituted an urgent red-tag track-repair program for more than 500 trouble spots. Mr. Slovak said 47 red-tag sections had yet to be repaired.
    • The record number of subway derailments in a year was 21 in 1981; last year there were 12.
  • The Transit Authority is losing millions of dollars in productivity savings by failing to revise work quotas and rules as allowed by a 1982 arbitration ruling, according to an audit by the State Comptroller's office.
    • The audit said the Transit Authority was saving about $2 million a year through revisions made since the ruling. The report said it was possible for the authority, which has a total budget of $2.5 billion for 1984, to save as much as $125 million a year.
    • ''The potential for improvement here is enormous,'' the Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, said in the report. ''The T.A.'s own consultants have found that the productivity of workers in private industry is four times higher than that of T.A. employees for similar functions.''
    • Jeanne Edelson, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent agency of the Transit Authority, called the report ''sloppy.'' '
    • ''It ignores the scope of the environment that the T.A. is working in,'' Miss Edelson said. ''In absolute terms, the savings so far are not a lot. But these are not small problems.''
    • According to the report, the Transit Authority has made no effort to develop a comprehensive list of the inefficient practices it is now in a position to correct. These include such obsolete practices as allowing certain employees an hour and a half each day to fill kerosene lamps.
    • The report also said the Transit Authority's efforts to improve productivity had largely centered on letting labor-management committees consider changes. Those committees, the report said, have proved ''slow and cumbersome.''
    • Between June 1982 and September 1983, the report said, the committees considered only 25 work functions out of the hundreds performed by the Transit Authority's 38,000 hourly employees.
    • Since the arbitration ruling, the report said, only one formal action to revise a work rule has been established. The unions agreed to permit workers to report directly to the job site instead of to a central location. However, the action does not apply throughout the authority, and it is not permanent.

January 1984

[edit]
  • MNRCC IMPROVING THE WEARY TRAVELER'S LOT
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is running behind schedule in its effort to name someone to run New York City's subways and buses.
    • The surprisingly small pool of candidates and Mr. Kiley's inability to persuade his top choice to take the job suggest, in the opinion of some experts, that there is no light at the end of the Transit Authority's tunnels.
    • How tough is it to run New York's subways and buses? ''Suicidal,'' said David L. Gunn, who heads Philadelphia's mass-transit network. Mr. Kiley has been quite candid in expressing his hope that Mr. Gunn would accept the Transit Authority presidency and Mr. Gunn has been just as candid in declining. ''You're talking about putting someone in charge of a system that is near complete collapse,'' Mr. Gunn said.
    • His perspective, of course, is not shared universally. ''Is the system in New York so far gone or so unmanageable? Or are expectations so great that it's a killer job?'' Mr. Kiley asked. ''Those are the two poles. To some people that's a challenge.'' Mr. Kiley basically shares the view of his predecessor, Richard Ravitch, that an $8.5 billion capital program has made it possible to buy new subway cars and begin to upgrade the system.
    • Mr. Simpson, the former T.A. president, believes that he and Mr. Ravitch laid a solid foundation on which to build. ''The program we established with fleet modernization - and importantly one the public won't see, shop and barn modernization - gives essentially a sound blueprint to bring service back to the level the public will have confidence in,'' he said. But, he added, ''All of that is unfinished. Fleshing it out is a monumental task.''
    • Mr. Gunn views the problems as virtually unsolvable. ''People in New York think that you just get this capital program and you get the commitment to spend and that's all it takes,'' he said. One site Mr. Gunn visited on a recent tour was a subway car repair shop in Coney Island. ''I've never seen anything quite like it,'' he said. ''First of all the working conditions out there are just atrocious. I felt so depressed for the people in that shop. They're standing in muck. The roof leaks. They don't have the parts. The place has the atmosphere of absolute neglect. There is no hope there.''
    • There are formidable managerial obstacles preventing change, Mr. Gunn said. ''You have a supervisor-to- worker ratio that is a joke,'' he said. ''You have 1 to 40. That is so wasteful and so inefficient. You need 1 to 10. It's not that people don't want to work. People want to work, but you have to have leadership.'' The Transit Authority would have to be restructured to achieve supervisory control, Mr. Gunn said. Too many supervisors are protected by Civil Service, he said, which drastically curtails the prerogatives of the T.A. president. ''Supervision should be based on performance; it's not. The death of the Transit Authority is probably inevitable with the Civil Service system. You can pump capital in until you're blue in the face and you won't change it. What you have to do is create a management structure that can manage. If the city is not prepared to create that, there's not a whole lot that can be done.'' Mr. Gunn also said he ''wouldn't touch'' the Transit Authority job. ''It's a suicide mission. You don't control anything.''
    • The Governor and his staff share Mr. Gunn's concerns about transit management, if not his gloomy assessment. ''It's a very unfortunate choice of words,'' said Michael J. Del Giudice, Mr. Cuomo's secretary. But he added, ''You have an organization that's been there for years and has to be changed.''
    • The political environment in which the Transit Authority president must operate could also scare away potential candidates. ''It's the most complicated institutional and political complex in the United States,'' said Mr. Simpson. ''It's easy enough to get a consensus on the M.T.A. board. But what about the interests of the Mayor? How do you mesh them with the interests of the Governor? A guy that might be worth his salt is going to have to make his own assessment on whether the job can be done in that context.''
  • The program to repair New York City's deteriorated subway tracks has encountered a problem that transit officials say raises questions about work already performed and still to be done.
    • In the last few weeks, officials say, workers have discovered cracks in 20 new welds in recently joined rail sections. Over the past several years 86 miles of subway rail sections in the 723- mile system have been joined with 20,000 welds to smooth bumpy rides.
    • Transit Authority officials said they did not yet know how many other cracks there might be among the 20,000 welds. However they cited no derailments due to the newly discovered cracks.
    • Daniel T. Scannell, acting president of the Transit Authority, confirmed that 20 cracked welds had been found in the last few weeks and that they had raised concern among officials. Mr. Scannell said the breaks could have been caused by the recent wet and unsually cold weather.
    • Mr. Kiley, in a telephone interview, said a stepped-up track testing program would begin tomorrow to see if there were further cracks and to determine if the tracks were being properly supported by the roadbed.
    • Subway service had been widely disrupted by the so-called red-tag program, which slowed trains to 10 miles an hour at hundreds of points where tracks had deteriorated. Mr. Scannell said that the repair program, which is nearly completed, had made good progress, reducing the number of red- tag points from 633 last summer to 36.
  • A subway train got stuck on a lollipop the other day.
    • This is how a piece of candy brought an IRT Lexington Avenue train to a halt: As the train pulled into the 33d Street station, a passenger stuck a wet lollipop onto one of the doors. When the doors opened at the station, the candy lodged in the runners on which the door slides open and shut. The conductor could not close the door, so the passengers had to be removed and the 10-car train was taken out of service.
    • This year has begun as the year of the 90-cent fare (with the old 75-cent token still in use). In a system long accustomed to delays, 1983 will probably be remembered as the year of the derailment. There were 20 during the year, with the most recent one on Dec. 26 on the Broadway local. The record year for derailments was 1973, when there were 25.
    • Though 1983 did not turn out to be a record-breaker, derailments served as something of a signpost. By coincidence, it was after the 12th derailment that John D. Simpson quit as the Transit Authority president, and after the 13th derailment that Richard Ravitch resigned as the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • Although all of the 1983 derailments disrupted service, none resulted in serious injuries to passengers or crew members. ''Derailments became a cause cel ebre in 1983,'' said Hugh A. Dunne, the special assistant to the Transit Authority president. ''But at least they were all soft landings. All other systems worked to avoid anything catastrophic.''
    • When a train derails, passenger delays are usually extensive because the 74,500-pound trains must be lifted and put back on the tracks. But there are hundreds of other incidents each year, such as the lollipop caper, in which delays are measured in minutes rather than hours. For those waiting for a late train, however, the minutes might feel like hours.
    • Transit Authority records are filled with such delays and interruptions. The stories that follow were based on Transit Authority records for 1983.
  • A fault in the steering mechanisms of nearly half the city's 850 Grumman Flxible buses was found this weekend, but transit officials said they expected no ''major impact'' on today's rush hour.
  • David L. Gunn, the head of Philadelphia's mass-transit system, was named yesterday as president of the New York City Transit Authority, the largest subway and bus system in the country.
    • ''In the transit business there are neither miracles nor miracle workers,'' said Mr. Kiley, who has known Mr. Gunn since 1975 when they both worked for the Boston transit system. ''As we have seen in New York there are primarily problems and problem solvers. David Gunn is an extraordinary problem solver.''
    • Yesterday, Mr. Gunn said that despite what he considered to be very high risks he thought the job was the ''ultimate challenge'' in his profession and he had not been able to resist it. ''I wish that I could stand here and say that in a matter of time everything will be all right but I cannot do that,'' Mr. Gunn said at a news conference at M.T.A. headquarters, at 347 Madison Avenue. ''Success is by no means assured but I promise to do my damnedest,'' he said.
    • ''It's a very troubled system,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''Its physical plant and its equipment are in bad condition. And there are poor working conditions. This must produce a problem in terms of employee morale.''
    • The new president, who is 46 years old, will receive a salary of $140,000 a year, $30,000 more than John D. Simpson, who resigned in August after four years in the post.
    • Asked to name priorities in taking over the Transit Authority, Mr. Gunn refused to be specific, saying he did not know the system well enough.
    • There are still 253 buses sidelined while the authority waits for the spare parts it needs for repairs.
  • The two have worked together before. When Mr. Kiley became chairman of the Boston transit system in 1975, he appointed Mr. Gunn as director of operations, a job he held until 1979.
    • Mr. Kiley had made no secret of wanting to give the New York job to his former aide. Speaking of Mr. Gunn's performance in Boston, Mr. Kiley recalled: ''He was ubiquitous, especially when times were tough. The strongest impression I have of him is that he was there when he was needed.''
    • But as recently as last week Mr. Kiley appeared to have failed to persuade his old associate to take on the New York task. The deal was finally made, Mr. Kiley said, only after several long, earnest talks, including one on New Year's Eve..
    • By all accounts, Mr. Gunn thrived in adversity, markedly improving commuter service through strict attention to detail and by delegating authority to his staff, while demanding that they achieve results.
    • Mr. Gunn has criticized limitations on promotions that he says Civil Service regulations place on managers in the New York transit system and is considered a tough negotiator in union matters. He is no stranger to union disputes. He weathered a 108- day strike last spring by Philadelphia commuter rail line workers.
    • According to Deputy Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., Mr. Gunn's frankness is one of his greatest strengths.
  • Because of poor management, many employees do not work a full day in the subway car maintenance and cleaning shops of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the M.T.A. inspector general said in a report issued yesterday.
    • The inspector general, Sidney Schwartz, who is independent of the authority and reports to the Governor's office, based his findings on unannounced visits last fall to facilities of the Transit Authority, the Long Island Rail Road and the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority.
    • In one case, the report said, nearly half the shop's employees stopped working two hours early. In another, the report said, only one member of a seven-member crew was working.
    • The report said that the authority management had not made employees put in a full day. It also said that new work rules authorized for the Transit Authority by a 1982 arbitration decision had not been put into effect.
    • Various auditing agencies have been saying for almost a decade that many M.T.A. workers do not put in a full day's work. But management officials have often attributed this to established work quotas, saying they were powerless to force changes on the unions.
    • The 1982 ruling by an arbitrator, John E. Auccotti, abolished all previously established work rules of the Transit Authority in maintenance and cleaning shops, giving management the right to set up new ones. Mr. Schwartz said in his report that the authority had not taken advantage of that ruling.
    • ''This has been identified as an important issue by the new chairman and by David Gunn,'' she said. ''It is one of the first issues they will address.''
    • Last month, the State Comptroller's office issued a similar report that concentrated on the transit Authority. It said the authority's efforts to eliminate old work rules had accomplished very little. Most of the Trsnsit Authority's efforts centered on letting labor-management committees consider proposed changes, the report said.
    • Mr. Schwartz said that, based on the observations his staff made in one-time visits in September and October at seven facilities, he could assume that the poor productivity was costing the M.T.A. more than $1.2 million a year.
    • ''If it's only that,'' Mr. Schwartz said ''I'd say they were lucky.''
    • In the report, management officials from the Transit Authority said in response to Mr. Schwartz's findings that they were focusing their efforts on better-quality work. They said they would not press their employees into producing more if such gains were made at the expense of quality.
    • Mr. Schwartz recommended that the authority make sure that high-level managers were aware of, and made accountable for, the performance of first line supervisors. The managers should also make sure that workers are assigned a full day's work, the report said, and if that is not possible, the staff should be reduced and personnel reassigned.
    • The report said that at the L.I.R.R.'s armature shop, half the shift's employees had stopped working two hours before the shift was up.
    • L.I.R.R. officials, said in their response that there had been a dramatic rise in the quality of the work at that shop. They added that the failure rate of the components the shop repaired had been reduced.
    • The inspector general's report also founded that at the Transit authority's Coney Island repair and cleaning shops, nearly an entire gang of 26 workers had stopped working an hour before the end of their shift although a 10-car train in need of cleaning was in the shop.
    • The dirity train was being left for the next shift so those workers would have something to do, the report said. In some cases, it added, workers did not appear to have enough sponges and mops.
    • At the Bay Street maintenance shop on Staten island, more than half the 41 employees left their jobs half an hour early, the report said.
  • BUILDER OFFERS SUBWAY TUNNEL IN CITY ZONING DEAL

February 1984

[edit]
  • The inspector general of the Metropolitan Transporation Authority warned today that newly purchased subway and rail cars would rapidly deteriorate if the management of repair yards were not improved.
    • ''If nothing changes with regard to the way people work and the way people manage, we are going to be right back where we started from,'' the inspector general, Sidney Schwartz, said.
    • The M.T.A. is now testing the first 10 of about 1,375 Japanese and Canadian subway cars due for delivery over the next few years beginning this spring. An additional 316 cars are on order for commuter rail lines.
    • Mr. Schwartz said inspections of repair yards, including some surveys that had not yet been made public convinced him that many transit employees did not put in a full day's work and were not required to do so.
    • He said that unless this practice changed the M.T.A. would not be able to maintain the new cars. As a result the new cars will wear out quickly and complaints about faulty heat and air- conditioning units will return, he said.
    • Asked about the statement, Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A., said: ''He's right. It's been an ongoing problem.'' Mr. Perfal said the new Transit Authority president, David L. Gunn, had made the issue a priority.''
    • The office of the inspector general was set up as an independent agency last August, and Mr. Schwartz was asked to present a progress report today.
    • He told the committee that he had had difficulty winning full cooperation from M.T.A. officials, but that he was trying to work out the difficulties with Robert R. Kiley, the M.T.A. chairman.
    • Mr. Schwartz said that in some cases his staff had not been permitted to talk to individual M.T.A. employees without an M.T.A. official present, and that access to some documents had been restricted.
  • Major crime on the subways declined last year for the first time in four years, Transit Authority officials said yesterday.
  • A million-dollar program of the Transit Authority to fix doors, lights and loudspeakers in the subways fell far short of its goals this year, according to a study released yesterday.
    • In some categories - providing adequate lighting and explanations of delays - service got worse, the study said. It was conducted by the Straphangers Campaign, a consumer advocacy group financed by grants and riders' contributions.
    • According to the study, based on 4,000 subway trips by 81 volunteers between last October and December, the passengers' comfort showed little improvement over a survey last spring. The study said conditions were generally poor
    • Riders face, the study said, a 1 in 4 chance of getting on a car with a broken door, a 1 in 3 chance of a badly lighted car, 1 in 6 of not having a readable map and 1 in 7 of finding a mislabeled car.
    • The authority would not comment on the report. A spokesman, Donna M. Evans, said the survey was being studied.
    • In a memorandum dated Nov. 29, the authority reported that its surveys had shown a failure to meet its goals. The memo was sent to a committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent of the Transit Authority.
    • Last July, the Transit Authority found, 5.5 percent of the door panels in the subways were broken. In October, the figure was reduced, to 4 percent, still far short of the goal of 2.7.
    • Other goals were even farther off. Last July, 18.4 percent of the cars had inadequate lighting. By October, the proportion was reduced, to 16.5. The goal set by the authority was 4.5 percent.
    • The million-dollar initiative was announced last March by Richard Ravitch, then the chairman of the M.T.A. It was supposed to have created a team of 125 maintenance workers to work on the targeted problems - doors maps, lighting and loudspeakers.
    • Since last spring, the Transit Authority achieved improvement in four areas, the Straphangers survey said. There were 30 percent fewer broken doors and mislabeled trains and 45 percent fewer unreadable maps. The authority showed the most improvement in telling passengers why a train was going out of service - a 73 percent gain.
  • The brand new management of the city's transit system made a startling and tough decision early last week. Officials ended the four-year saga of finding defects in the city's 851 Grumman Flxibles - they took them off the streets permanently.
    • But that one decision has left the Transit Authority and its parent body, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, facing a host of decisions that officials say are not going to be made easily or quickly.
    • ''Some of the biggest mistakes made around this place have been a result of rushing into action without proper preparation,'' the agency's chairman, Robert R. Kiley, said afterward. ''I'd like to avoid that.''
    • Getting money for new buses could have a long-range effect on the city transit system, as the board may have to revise other purchase and repair plans to come up with funds.
    • A suit against the Grumman Flxible Corporation, maker of the problem buses - if the M.T.A decides to file one and if it is won - could bring money, but it could also take years to settle the case.
    • In the meantime the M.T.A. will have to come up with millions of dollars. The Grumman fleet cost $89 million in 1979. Replacing it now would surely cost more.
    • It is possible that the M.T.A. will decide not to replace the whole Grumman fleet. Because the Flxibles have been highly unreliable, the city has been maintaining a reserve fleet one- quarter the size of its regular fleet of 3,250 buses, Mr. Kiley said.
    • Keeping a large reserve fleet has turned out to be fortunate, since those buses are now saving the city from a truly severe shortage. The authority says it is delivering 90 percent of normal service. But transit officials say that keeping up a reserve fleet of older buses is costly and perhaps unnecessary if the city can get buses that are more dependable than the Grummans. The defects that have turned up in the Flxibles have ranged from cracked main frames to failure of the steering mechanisms.
    • Still, no matter how many buses the authority decides to buy, money will be needed. One possible source is the authority's capital budget. Mr. Kiley has said the board is considering this option.
    • But going that route would mean that some part of the authority's effort to rebuild its aging facilities would be lost.
    • City Council President Carol Bellamy, also a member of the M.T.A. board, says there is more than $50 million in the operating budget that might be used to bail out the bus fleet. Most of this $50 million is in reserve for subway track repairs, however, and other officials believe the money will be needed for that work.
    • Another possible source of money is the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In the past few years it has used some of its profits to buy about 225 buses for the city.
    • Bills are pending before the Legislatures in Albany and Trenton that would allow the Port Authority to buy such buses again, according to Peter C. Goldmark Jr., the agency's executive director. The bills, he said, do not set a limit on the number of buses that could be bought.
    • Selling the Flxible buses, if a buyer could be found, is not likely to bring the authority much money. When Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority sold most of its Grumman fleet two years ago, it got about $4,500 for each of its three-year-old Flxibles. Most were apparently sold for parts. The buses cost $99,000 to $121,000 new. U.S. Aid a Possibility
    • Although the city or the state, or both, could step in with emergency financing, so far there does not seem to be any indication that they will. However, Mr. Kiley said recently that there was some possibility that the Federal Government ''would become involved.''
    • Because the Federal Government was contributing heavily to the purchase of the buses and could hold back its share if its specifications were not met, the authority had little choice in buying buses, according to Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the M.T.A.
  • The effectiveness of the $8.5 billion program to upgrade New York City's subways and buses could be seriously blunted because of inefficient management, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday.
    • The chairman, Robert R. Kiley, said he needed to eliminate Civil Service and union membership for all supervisory and management personnel of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. agency that runs the subways and buses, to restore ''accountability.''
    • ''We cannot afford to have managers perpetually insulated from the consequences of poor performance,'' he said, speaking to a breakfast meeting of the Association for a Better New York.
    • Mr. Kiley said that of the Transit Authority's 49,000 employees, no more than 200 or 300 could be discharged at the will of the authority's president. ''That's not top-heavy management,'' Mr. Kiley said, ''That's no management at all.''
    • He could not say how many supervisory workers would be affected by his proposal, or when he would be ready with more specific ideas. He said that legislation might be needed to achieve his aims, but that he had none ready to be submitted. ''I wasn't asking for A, B and C,'' he said. ''I was saying there is a problem.''
    • Mr. Kiley said he intended to ask Governor Cuomo, Mayor Koch and the Legislature for support in ''restoring accountability.''
    • Union officials reacted angrily to Mr. Kiley's proposals, saying they would oppose any move to reduce their membership. Civil Service officials said it would take either a state constitutional amendment or a series of hearings - likely to take years - before any jobs could be made exempt.
    • Some of the M.T.A's programs to rebuild the city's aging transit system are behind schedule, he said. He mentioned specifically the car overhaul program, in which old subway cars are stripped down and rebuilt.
    • At one repair shop, the Coney Island yard, the goal for 1983 was to overhaul 143 cars, he said, but work on only 40 cars was completed. He noted that at the Coney Island yard, with 1,000 employees working around the clock, there was only one nonunion supervisor and he was protected by Civil Service.
    • ''No one can, and no one should, expect the transit system to improve while this impossible situation prevails,'' Mr. Kiley said.
    • The president of the 4,000-member supervisors' union, the Subway Surface Supervisory Association, said he was ''appalled'' by Mr. Kiley's statement. ''He hasn't even talked to us,'' said the union president, Anthony Abbate. ''You don't start off by saying that management is without any rights.'' 'Rather Powerful in Albany'
    • Jerome Lefkowitz, deputy chairman of the State Public Employee Relations Board, which regulates labor relations in the public sector, said he doubted that Mr. Kiley could get the legislative support he needed to deprive large numbers of managers of their right to unionize. ''I would be very sanguine about it because the unions tend to be rather powerful in Albany,'' he said.
    • The State Constitution requires that all state employee positions be filled by competitive examinations when practicable, according to Juan U. Ortiz, the city's Personnel Director.
    • Mr. Ortiz said there were two ways to change jobs that were already covered by Civil Service - a constitutional amendment or a series of hearings to prove that a competitive examination was not practicable. He added that the person in whatever job was changed would be able to keep Civil Service status until he or she left.
    • Mr. Kiley said the necessary ''reinvestment in the human infrastructure'' had to go beyond making managers manage. ''Employees should not be expected to work in dark, wet, poorly ventilated shops,'' he said. ''Nor should they be expected to produce quality work when they don't have the necessary tools or parts they need.''
    • Later he said that he had seen an example of ''anything goes'' recently when he walked into one of his shops. ''There were people working on their private automobiles there,'' he said.
    • Arthur G. Perfall, a spokesman for the agency, said the Transit Authority's goal for 1983 was to have 533 cars rebuilt by both in-house workers and outside contractors. Only 270 of the overhauls were achieved, he said.
  • The Transit Authority consistently failed to inspect its subway tracks properly before a series of derailments occurred last year, according to a report issued yesterday by the Inspector General of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The report said that on a weekly basis, 10 to 36 percent of the authority's track was not inspected at all and 80 to 95 percent did not receive the required two inspections a week.
    • Based on a review of Transit Authority files, the report also said that the agency had been aware of the need for major work at only 33 of the 512 danger spots that were eventually identified after the derailments prompted a special review of track conditions.
    • ''What is troublesome is that from our review it was clear that the tracks weren't being inspected up to the standards that had been set and yet apparently nobody was sufficiently exercised to say anything,'' said Sidney Schwartz, the Inspector General. ''There was no cry for more budget. The thing just sort of blew up when the public saw the derailments.''
    • ''It's just one more indication that management has not been effective over there,'' Mr. Schwartz added
    • Yesterday, a spokesman for the Transit Authority said the agency, which recently got a new president, David L. Gunn, agreed with the Inspector General's report.
    • ''Our track inspection procedures are clearly poor, and we are currently reviewing those procedures to determine what improvements can be made to them,'' the spokesman, Donna M. Evans, said.
    • After the special inspections last June, transit officials could not explain how the rails could have fallen into such disrepair.
    • The special track inspections were ordered shortly after the Transit Authority recorded its 12th subway derailment of 1983. By the end of the year, there had been 20 derailments.
    • After the trouble spots were found, trains were slowed to about 10 miles an hour over those areas until repairs could be made. This caused widespread delays throughout the 80-year-old system.
    • The board of the M.T.A, the parent body of the Transit Authority, authorized a $24 million emergency repair program.
    • Most of the red tags were reported removed by the end of the year. However, Mr. Gunn warned recently that there appeared to be a growing batch of ''baby red tag'' areas. Inspections by 112 Employees
    • According to the Inspector General's report, the authority divides track into 86 areas, each of which should be inspected twice a week according to the Transit Authority's own standards. As of Oct. 25, 1983, there were 112 trackwalkers to do this.
    • The report said that during some weeks between January and July last year, as many as 31 sections of the track failed to receive even one complete inspection.
    • The report said the authority was aware of problems in 33 of the areas later determined to be red tag.
    • In some cases, the report said, the problems had been recorded as early as December 1982 yet no corrective action was taken until after June 1983.
    • The study said the present system of informing management about track problems did not provide information in enough time to help prevent serious problems. Mr. Schwartz said it took up to three and a half months for management to get reports from trackwalkers.
  • The New York City Transit Authority said yesterday that its new Japanese subway cars had failed their first two performance tests because of minor problems with brakes and door switches.
    • The authority had hoped to have 325 of the cars running on the IRT Lexington Avenue line by the spring of 1985, but transit officials said they now considered this ''extremely optimistic.''
    • ''A four-to-six-month delay wouldn't surprise me in the least,'' the authority's senior vice president for operations, David F. Feeley, said.
    • The delay will mean the authority will continue using its present IRT cars, some of which were built in the late 40's.
    • Mr. Feeley said he was not alarmed that the Kawasaki cars had failed the two 30-day test periods. He said it was normal in the industry for new cars to fail their tests up to 10 times.
    • ''Actually, it's encouraging that our quality control is picking up the problems,'' he said. ''I would be very leery of the situation if the train had cleared the 30-day test right off.'' The authority received its first Japanese-made car last August at a ceremony that featured sushi and Japanese beer and was attended by 300 guests. Ten more Kawasaki cars arrived Oct. 5 and 6.
    • The cost of the new cars is subject to inflation escalators in the contract with Kawasaki. The cost of the 325 cars was recently put at $302 million.
    • The authority also has 825 subway cars on order from Bombardier of Canada. The first test of those cars is due next July. In four years, all 1,150 new cars are expected to be in service, replacing one-third of the IRT fleet.
  • Car doors opened on moving subway trains at least 32 times in the last 21 months, according to reports filed with the Transit Authority.
    • No single cause accounts for the door openings. The authority's records attribute them to a variety of electrical or mechanical malfunctions. In more than a third of the cases, the problem was never explained and the cars were eventually put back in service without repairs, the documents indicate.
    • In some of the incidents, just one door opened. In others, doors opened on as many as five cars. Some were witnessed by one or more passengers, others by train crews
    • The incidents, which were not publicized, came to light through an analysis of the records provided in response to a request after one such incidents last month.
    • Asked about the problem, the director of the authority's office of system safety, Thomas F. Prendergast, said the incidents were "treated very seriously."
    • He added that although they had "catastrophic potential," he considered them a "rare occurrence" since the authority's subway car door panels were opened and closed about 9.9 million times a day. Transit officials advise passengers never to lean on the doors. In some cars, aging stickers warn passengers about the problem.
    • The incidences of doors opening do not appear to be concentrated on any particular subway line, and both new and old cars seem to be affected.
    • A subway train is supposed to lose power automatically and come to a slow stop when a door is opened, transit officials said. But it was unclear from the reports, which varied in detail, how many times the trains had atually lost power.
    • Before May 17, 1982, when the first of the 32 incidents occurred, the authority did not store its records in a computer. Officials said they could not provide information about incidents before then. But Mr. Prendergast said that "based upon my knowledge, the problem is no worse or better than in the past."
    • Asked about the cars that appeared to have had no repairs made to them, he said it was possible that the records were incomplete. He said additional action might have been taken in some cases by the authority's quality assurance department.
    • Besides the 32 cases of doors opening on subways by themselves, there was one case in which an employee opened a door by mistake and one incident caused by vandals, the reports showed.
    • Transit Authority officials said subway car door systems were supposed to be inspected every 10,000 miles, just as the trains' brakes were. The car doors are also tested as part of the regular morning checkup that the system's 6,000 subway cars go through before they are put into service.
    • In recent years, the authority has stopped putting up the signs warning people not to lean on car doors. R. J. Hawkins, the supervisor of car maintenance, said, "It's like putting up a bull's-eye for the kids who do graffiti."

March 1984

[edit]
  • The Secretary of Transportation agreed today to a request from the New York City Transit Authority to have Federal inspectors examine the city's subway tracks.
    • The new director of the authority, David L. Gunn, asked for the inspectors last month.
    • He said he had found ''serious track problems'' and ''numerous deficiencies in our procedures'' of inspection and maintenance.
    • The inspection is to get under way within 10 days, said Bonnie Whyte, a spokesman for the Transportation Department. The number of inspectors is yet to be determined, Mrs. Whyte said. Mr. Gunn said he was willing to reimburse the Federal Government for the cost if necessary.
    • ''I want somebody who is not beholden to the Transit Authority - who is not connected with us at all - to assess the tracks and our procedures,'' Mr. Gunn said of his request. ''The Federal people are knowledegable and well trained.''
    • Last year, after a series of derailments prompted special inspections, hundreds of problem areas, known as red-tag areas, were identified on the tracks. At the time, transit officials were at a loss to explain how the rails could have fallen into such disrepair when they were supposedly inspected twice a week.
    • Mr. Gunn, who was formerly general manager of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, said he had also arranged for Federal inspectors to look at the tracks in Philadelphia when he first took over that system.
  • An analysis of authority records found 32 instances of doors opening by themselves since May 1982, when the agency started keeping computerized records of such incidents.
  • The water table in New York City has risen as much as 10 feet over the last 30 years, eroding some subway tunnels so badly that they may have to be rebuilt, transit officials said yesterday.
    • The Transit Authority is now pumping more than 13 million gallons of water a day from the system, officials said, but parts of the roadbed are nevertheless soaking in water.
    • ''The water rots everything - it corrodes steel, it rots out rail ties, it shorts out signal systems,'' said Morris Loshinsky, deputy chief engineer for the authority. ''You don't want it in the subway.''
    • About seven miles of the track - about 3 percent of the authority's underground route miles - are being carefully monitored and inspected, said Charles Kalkoff, the authority's vice president for rapid transit.
    • In the last 10 years, the authority has spent about $50 million strengthening subway floors, installing pumps and building sewer lines to steer water away from the tracks, officials said. But the water has continued to be a frequent cause of service disruptions.
    • Officials say work that is close to completion may be able to control the amount of water coming into the tracks. But stretches of the tracks, which were not designed to lie in water, have been weakened, they add.
    • Rebuilding those portions of the subway tracks - making them waterproof again - could cost about $1,000 a foot, Mr. Kalkoff said.
    • The authority has already spent about $20 million rebuilding the stretch of tunnel between 116th and 124th Streets on the IRT No. 2 and 3 lines. Before the work was done, inspections found that the tunnel's center support columns were floating on water in some places.
    • The authority is installing 410 pumps just north of that area.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted yesterday to rent some buses and rebuild others as replacements for the 851 Grumman Flxible buses that were permanently removed from service for safety reasons.
    • The authority's board of directors approved the moves at a special meeting, but put off making a decision about whether to buy 400 new buses. The board agreed to rent 150 used buses from Greyhound Lines Inc. of Phoenix at a cost of $4.5 million a year. Those buses should begin arriving in a few weeks, officials said. It also decided to have 300 to 350 of its own buses - all at least 12 years old - rebuilt at a cost of about $31 million. The first of those buses should arrive in June.
    • However, after a three-hour meeting, interrupted by an executive session, the board decided to wait before buying 400 new General Motors buses for $68 million, the third part of the plan put forth by the president of the Transit Authority, David L. Gunn. The members agreed instead to meet next week to discuss it again.
    • Without the purchase of the new buses, the Transit Authority, the M.T.A subsidiary that runs the city's buses and subways, would be unable to fill the gaps in service caused by the loss of the Flxibles, officials said.
    • ''Buying the new buses was one of the three parts of our plan,'' Mr. Gunn said after the meeting at M.T.A. headquarters at 347 Madison Avenue. ''Obviously if we don't get the 400 new buses, that leaves a hole.''
    • Since the loss of the Grummans - about one-fifth of the Transit Authority's total fleet - the authority has been running 3 to 6 percent short on its scheduled bus runs during rush hours. About 1.75 million people ride the city's buses each weekday
    • Mr. Gunn said his plan - if fully implemented in the next few weeks - would eliminate bus shortages in the city by late fall.
    • Despite repeated requests, the Transit Authority has not provided a detailed account of what the drivers of the Grumman buses have been doing since the Flxibles were taken out of service.
    • Officials said that there was already money in the capital budget for new bus purchases, and that the new plans would require only that the money be spent this year instead of over the next few years.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority revealed plans yesterday to put the hiring of 1,250 high-level supervisors under exclusive management control.
    • The M.T.A. chairman, Robert R. Kiley, also said he would try to have more than 5,000 supervisors excluded from union representation.
    • Both moves are part of a plan by the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. agency that runs the city's subways and and most of its buses, to make the supervisors more accountable.
    • Mr. Kiley said that he would ask Civil Service agencies to change the supervisors' status and that he would negotiate with the four unions representing the supervisors.
    • ''If discussions do not go well, if negotiations do not appear to be fruitful, then we must go forward with legislation,'' he said. ''It's quite likely that that is the route we will have to go.''
    • Union officials said they would oppose all of the proposals.
    • Mayor Koch issued a statement of support. Governor Cuomo also issued a statement agreeing with Mr. Kiley's conclusion about improving the authority, but he stopped short of endorsing legislation. Reclassifying and New Hiring
    • Under Mr. Kiley's plan, the authority will file applications with the City Personnel Director and the State and City Civil Service Commissions. All have jurisdiction over the supervisors. The applications would include requests for reclassifying certain jobs and allowing the hiring of some supervisors from outside the authority.
    • All but 270 of the 49,000 employees of the authority must be hired through Civil Service from such jobs as track workers or car cleaners.
    • Mr. Kiley said that he hoped to have most of his program, which would affect 10 percent of the employees, in place by the end of the year. Most of the incumbent supervisors would continue their Civil Service protection, he added.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted yesterday to spend $68 million to buy 400 new buses. The decision is part of a plan to replace the 851 Grumman Flxible buses taken out of service last month for safety reasons.
    • Delivery of the new buses - General Motors Model RTS-04's, a model that has been in service on New York streets for three years - should begin no later than Aug. 17, officials said.
    • The M.T.A. board unanimously approved the purchase - $66 million for the buses and $2 million for spare parts - as the final part of an emergency program to fill the bus shortage created by the withdrawal of the Grummans.
    • The other parts of the plan - leasing 150 buses and rebuilding 300 to 350 old buses - were approved last week.
    • ''We should be back to normal by the end of the year,'' David L. Gunn, the president of the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. agency that runs the city's buses and subways, said after a brief board meeting at M.T.A. headquarters at 347 Madison Avenue.
    • The chairman of the M.T.A., Robert R. Kiley, said a decision about what to do with the Grumman buses, which cost $92 million, would be made ''soon.'' He would not elaborate.
    • For one thing, no other municipalities in the country have followed New York in deciding their Grumman buses were unsafe, according to Weyman B. Jones, a spokesman for Grumman.
    • And at least one other bus company, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority of Springfield, Mass., has expressed interest in buying about 40 of New York's sidelined buses.

April 1984

[edit]
  • BARELY a year after turning the operation of the New Haven commuter rail line over to New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Connecticut officials say they are reconsidering the arrangement.
  • DAVID GUNN'S UNDERGROUND, FROM HIS NOTES
  • The use of subway slugs has risen 50 percent since transit fares went from 75 to 90 cents on Jan. 1, the Transit Authority said yesterday.
  • A major portion of the Transit Authority's five- year, $6.5 billion capital program will be delayed because the agency cannot supervise the work adequately, according to the authority's president, David L. Gunn.
    • Mr. Gunn, who took over the presidency two months ago, said he needed to postpone ''nonessential'' construction projects, such as a waiting area at a subway station, until the authority's management was reshaped, a process that he said might take a year.
    • He said he was reviewing the capital plan and could not yet be specific about which projects would be delayed or for how long. But, he said, it is unlikely that any new construction of barns, shops and garages will be authorized before the fall.
    • ''I don't want more construction projects without a management structure that can oversee them,'' Mr. Gunn said in an interview Wednesday. ''That would be putting the cart before the horse.'' Spending Money 'Wisely'
    • ''We've got to spend this money wisely, effectively, so we have something to show when we're through,'' he said. ''Right now, we have problems in trying to manage the projects already under way.''
    • The principal problem with executing the authority's capital plan, Mr. Gunn said, is an engineering department organized in such a way that no one has a broad overview of any project.
    • Mr. Gunn cited an incident at the Corona barn in Queens where new windows were about to be installed by one contractor while another contractor was planning to eliminate the windows the following year.
    • 'Everybody has some little piece of a project,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''But there is no overall sense of what is going on.''
    • The Transit Authority, which runs the city's bus and subway system, began an extensive effort to rebuild its aging facilities in 1980. So far, the agency has signed contracts worth $3.1 billion.
    • But the authority, while nearly tripling its spending in the last few years, has not changed its management structure or added significantly to its personnel, Mr. Gunn said. 'Some Breathing Room'
    • ''What you have here is an enormous capital program - maybe the biggest in the country - and nothing has happened within the Transit Authority to reflect the change in scope from spending a small amount of money several years ago to a massive amount now,'' Mr. Gunn said.
    • The slowing down of the capital plan, he said, is ''not a judgment of the worth of these projects.''
    • ''It's just trying to get some breathing room,'' he said.
    • Under the capital plan, the authority is supposed to sign contracts for an additional $1.1 billion worth of projects this year, including the rebuilding of the IRT Flushing line and two train-repair shops, at Coney Island and on 207th Street in Manhattan.
    • The reshuffling of the management - both a reorganization of the agency's engineering department and the recruitment of new employees - will take about a year, Mr Gunn said. He said it would not involve hiring great numbers of people.
    • ''I'm talking about developing a cadre of construction managers, not an army of clerical staff,'' Mr. Gunn said.
    • Mr. Gunn said he could not be sure how the delays would affect the time it would take to complete the capital plan.
    • ''The final result may actually be better,'' he said. ''It could end up being faster in the long run if we're not stumbling all over ourselves.''
    • Mr. Gunn said he would present his proposals to the board of directors of the Metropolitan Transpor tation Authority, the agency that oversees the Transit Authority, for approval in the next few months.
    • It is unlikely that the board would force Mr. Gunn to execute projects if he feels that the money would be wasted, according to Mortimer L. Downey, who oversees the capital program for the M.T.A.
    • 'That just wouldn't make sense,'' Mr. Downey said.
    • This year, the Transit Authority has allocated only $81 million of the $1.1 billion in the capital budget for this year, Mr. Downey said. Most of that money is for the purchase of new buses to replace the Grumman Flxibles taken out of service earlier this year for being unsafe. Extensive Changes Made
    • About 200 projects - from the renovating of repair shops to the rehabilitation of track and signals - are underway. Another 150 are in design stages.
    • Since he become president on Feb. 1, Mr. Gunn has made extensive changes in the management structure of the Authority. He has brought in two new senior vice presidents. He split the department that was in charge of track structures, power and signals. He broke up the vice presidency of finance and administration into three jobs.
    • His plans for reorganizing the engineering department will eliminate its present ''functional'' organization. Under that system, for instance, one group of people oversaw design work while another did inspections.
    • Mr. Gunn plans to reorganize the department to create ''program managers'' in charge of such areas as barns, shops and yards or stations. Under the program manager, there would be a project manager in charge of all the work being done at a particular site. That way, he said, coordination would be much improved.
  • The report said the derailment of a Brooklyn-bound IRT Lexington Avenue express in a tunnel under the East River was due to ''improper blocking and shoring of the skeletonized track.'' It said the train was going faster than it should have been and called for disciplinary proceedings against certain employees who were overseeing the track work.

May 1984

[edit]
  • A Federal inspection of about 100 miles of subway track has found no immediate safety problems, the president of the Transit Authority, David L. Gunn, said yesterday.
    • ''If anything had been found unsafe we would have shut it down,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''That was not the case.''
    • Mr. Gunn said the inspectors, who finished work last week and are preparing a written report, had found ''problems'' with the track but ''no disasters.'' He refused to elaborate.
    • He said the report was due in the next few weeks and would be made public.
    • At a hearing at City Hall conducted by the City Council's Transportation Committee, Mr. Gunn also outlined a program to improve the cleanliness of the authority's stainless-steel cars by the fall. Mr. Gunn, who as head of Philadelphia's transit system was credited with having abolished graffiti there, said he was working on plans to increase the frequency of washing for about 2,000 subway cars - about a third of the Transit Authority's fleet. Cars on IND and BMT Lines
    • He said the authority was refurbishing several car washes needed to do the job. When ready, he said, the car washes will use a combination of phosphorus and citric acid to clean the outside of the cars.
    • The stainless-steel cars run on the IND and BMT lines.
    • In the track inspection, by the Federal Rail Administration, about one- seventh of the Transit Authority's track was examined at a cost to the authority of $50,000.
    • A series of derailments last year had prompted special inspections that turned up hundreds of problem areas, known as red-tag areas.
    • At that time, transit officials were at a loss to explain how the rails could have fallen into such disrepair when they were supposedly inspected twice a week.
  • Accusing the Transit Authority of using ''Gestapo tactics,'' John E. Lawe, the president of the agency's largest union, said yesterday that relations between union and management had deteriorated seriously. At the same time, he reiterated his call for a union seat on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • ''The relationship is not as good as it was,'' Mr. Lawe said. ''It's bad.''
    • In some of his most strident language since David L. Gunn became president of the Transit Authority last winter, Mr. Lawe said the 36,500 members of his union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, would not be intimidated by the new management.
    • Mr. Lawe said that if a meeting between senior officials of the union and the Transit Authority set for this afternoon did not resolve differences there would be a ''showdown.'' 'Situation of Confrontation'
    • ''If we don't put it together at that meeting,'' Mr. Lawe said, ''I hate to say this, you are going to have a situation of confrontation.''
    • Mr. Gunn, however, said there were no differences with the union and said the purpose of today's meeting is to have the senior officers in the union meet the senior officials of the Transit Authority. He characterized the meeting as ''routine.'' Mr. Gunn insisted that his difficulties, and those of the Transit Authority, were with the lack of management.
    • ''I don't have a problem with the union,'' Mr. Gunn said.
    • Recently, however, senior Transit Authority officials have maintained that worker productivity remains far too low.
    • Several hundred employees at a subway car repair shop on West 207th Street in Manhattan have been disciplined in recent weeks. This, as well as Mr. Gunn's effort to remove union and Civil Service protections for supervisory personnel, have provoked considerable unhappiness within the various transit unions. Possibility of 'Showdown'
    • ''If management wants a showdown, they are going to get it,'' Mr. Lawe said. He did not elaborate.
    • Mr. Gunn replied that he expected workers to work.
    • ''If you have some recalcitrant people, you deal with them and let them know they're not going to poison the whole barrel,'' he said.
    • Mr. Lawe, who made some of his comments on the WCBS-TV program ''Newsmakers,'' insisted that the union had had a cooperative relationship with the former M.T.A. chairman, Richard Ravitch, and the former Transit Authority president, John D. Simpson.
    • ''In 1983, the system was better than it had been for years,'' he said. ''It's gone down again. It's gone down again because the men are not asked for their input. Management has turned down any offers we have made for cooperation.''
    • ''They come in here with their macho image,'' Mr. Lawe continued. ''They're losing the good will of our people with their Gestapo tactics.''
    • Mr. Lawe said he was referring specifically to the situation at the repair barn on West 207th Street, where there have been more than 210 disciplinary actions taken in the last two weeks. The actions were taken, according to the Transit Authority, against workers who took too long on their coffee breaks and were absent from their work posts at other times. Looking to Provide Advice
    • In renewing his call for a union seat on the board of the M.T.A., the Transit Authority's parent agency, Mr. Lawe said he would be satisfied if the union had a nonvoting seat to provide the board with advice on labor matters. Governor Cuomo has said he would give serious consideration to union representation on the board.
    • Mr. Gunn said that traditionally the union headed by Mr. Lawe has sought to play a more direct role in running the city's bus and subway system.
    • ''I operate the way I'm used to, which is management manages,'' Mr. Gunn said.
  • The board of directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted yesterday to sue the maker of the Grumman Flxible buses.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sued the makers of the Grumman Flxible buses yesterday, charging them with fraud and conspiracy to defraud.
  • The Transit Authority, which is seeking to give its management more control over employees, has received permission to hire 700 supervisors without using Civil Service exams.
    • The agreement, which is still subject to review by the city's Personnel Director and the State Civil Service Commission, would create 700 new job titles, most of which would be filled by current employees, transit officials said.
    • The 350 people already holding such jobs would retain Civil Service status until they leave. But their successors would no longer have Civil Service protection.
    • Most of the jobs that would be affected are senior positions at the various subway repair shops and bus depots - jobs that involve overseeing from 100 to as many as 1,000 workers. Of the 49,000 current employees of the Transit Authority, only 300 managers got their jobs without taking a Civil Service exam. The permission for the hiring was granted by the city's Department of Personnel.
    • The change has been sought by Robert R. Kiley, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transit Authority's parent body, as part of his larger plan to give the authority's top management a stronger hand in hiring and dismissing employees. Yesterday, it was met with renewed opposition from union officials representing supervisors who said their members were opposed to the changes.
    • ''It's destructive of the whole system,'' said John Carr, the president of the Transit Supervisors Benevolent Association. ''There are careers involved here. This takes you back to the spoils system.''
    • Mr. Carr said he would fight the move at a City Civil Service Commission hearing set for June 12.
    • ''Begining today, we have the capacity to start turning things around at the Transit Authority,'' Mr. Kiley said. ''I, for one, am convinced that in a relatively short period of time - and by that I mean a few years - we will have a revitalized transit system.'' System Being Rebuilt
    • In a related matter, the city's Department of Personnel also gave the Transit Authority the permission to promote and demote people at will between two categories of jobs in the lower-management ranks of the agency. The practice is known as ''broadbanding.'
    • There are 4,500 employees in the two ranks involved. Unlike the permission to hire the 700 supervisors, the broadbanding provision is not subject to further review.
    • Moss K. Schenck, the general counsel for the 4,000-member Subway Surface Supervisory Association, said the union was considering several options, including taking legal steps to stop the broadbanding move. Criticism From Union
    • ''Nothing that happened today will contribute one iota to make it a better system,'' Mr. Schenck said. ''It is provocative and inflammatory and the impact is unpredictable.''
    • Both actions were announced at a news conference at City Hall held by Mayor Koch and David L. Gunn, the president of the Transit Authority.
    • In March, Mr. Kiley had offered a three-part plan to ''restore accountability'' to the management ranks of the Transit Authority.
    • The plan included the two Civil Service changes announced yesterday. It also called for removing 5,000 supervisory personnel from the unions. The latter proposal, which would amount to abolishing the unions, would need legislative approval.
    • Mayor Koch, who had favored the Kiley plan earlier, endorsed the action yesterday.
    • Governor Cuomo has said he is awaiting a report on the Kiley plan from the M.T.A. Inspector General, Sidney Schwartz, before taking a stand. Koch Favors Accountability
    • ''All public officials concerned about accountability at the Transit Authority and better performance should support these measures,'' Mayor Koch said.
    • Civil Service regulations have made it almost impossible for the Transit Authority to hire supervisory people from outside the agency. The overwhelming majority of supervisory employees had to be hired through promotions from such jobs as track worker and car cleaner. The Civil Service regulations also demand a lengthy formal process before an employee can be dismissed.
    • Despite the changes, which would give the Transit Authority the right to go outside the agency to hire, transit officials said probably 90 percent of the new positions would be filled by current employees.
    • ''We are confident that people will take these jobs because they want the responsibility,'' Mr. Gunn said. No Estimate on Costs
    • Transit officials would not say how much the changes might cost.
    • Mr. Gunn said he was in the process of reshaping the management structure of the authority, department by department. He said he would be able to start hiring in a week or two, but the whole process of reorganization might take as long as a year.
    • The head of the city's personnel office, Juan U. Ortiz, said yesterday that the temporary approval of the plan ''by no means makes this a fait accompli.'' He said he would not make a final decision about the matter until after the June 12 hearing.
    • A spokesman for the State Civil Service Commission, Denyce Duncan Lacy, said it was impossible to predict how long it would take to get a ruling from the commission if the measure is approved by the city.

June 1984

[edit]
  • The Transit Authority took its 20 new Japanese subway cars out of service temporarily last night after a flaw in their circuitry caused some doors on one train to open without warning, transit officials said.
  • The city's Transit Authority could accomplish its goal of removing all 5,000 supervisors from union jurisdiction without legislation in Albany, according to a report to Governor Cuomo released yesterday.
    • The proposed change in the state's labor law is a key element of a plan sought by Robert R. Kiley, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for ''restoring accountability'' of supervisors. The M.T.A. is the Transit Authority's parent agency.
    • But the report urged the Transit Authority to take the issue to an administrative tribunal instead. It also called for negotiations with the two supervisors' unions.
    • ''It is our opinion that changes can be made in a Civil Service or union environment,'' the report said. The report was prepared at the Governor's request by Sidney Schwartz, the inspector general of the M.T.A.
    • Transit officials dismissed the report's conclusions as impractical and doomed to failure. Union spokesmen said they would fight all efforts, legislative and administrative, to change the current system. 'Prescription for Delay'
    • ''It seems to me that is a prescription for delay,'' said Bruce C. McIver, director of labor relations for the M.T.A. ''We are pushing ahead in our request for legislation.''
    • Henry Sheinkopf, a spokesman for the Subway Surface Supervisors Association, said: ''Who's next, the cops? That means the sergeants? The lieutenats? The captains? If we fall, everyone falls.'' The association represents 4,000 supervisors.
    • When Mr. Kiley first made his proposal, Mr. Cuomo urged him to make a good-faith effort to negotiate with the unions. Today, the Governor issued a statement saying Mr. Schwartz's conclusions ''are reasonable and warrant serious consideration.''
    • Michael J. Del Giudice, Mr. Cuomo's secretary, said the report ''seems to support what our general approach has been.'' He said the Governor ''wants to see how much progress can be made'' before considering legislation.
    • Mr. Schwartz argued that the supervisors could be excluded from the unions under the state's Taylor Law, which allows the exclusion of managers who make policy or take part in labor negotiations for management.
    • Earlier this year, the M.T.A. won approval to combine two levels of supervisors into a single Civil Service category. It also won temporary approval to hire 700 managers without competitive Civil Service tests.
  • New York City's bus passengers can expect to endure more hot, steamy rides this summer than they did last year, according to transit officials.
  • An agreement is near to make some of New York City's subway stations accessible to the disabled and to permit a $150 million station modernization program to proceed, according to participants in discussions on the issue.
    • The modernization plan has been blocked in the courts by groups representing the disabled.
    • Negotiations among representatives of the disabled, Governor Cuomo's office and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have been taking place for three months in an effort to shape an accord that would permit the authority to begin major reconstruction work on subway stations throughout the system.
    • Because an agreement would require the assent of the Legislature, which is expected to adjourn soon, the pace of the discussions has accelerated in recent weeks and an outline of an agreement has been worked out. For the first time in more than a year, both state and city officials as well as M.T.A. representatives have expressed optimism that a solution is in sight.
  • A Federal inspection of 100 miles of New York City's subway tracks has found 339 defects, some of which could lead to safety problems, according to a report released yesterday. It concluded that the system was badly inspected and maintained.
    • The report also said that Transit Authority trackwalkers missed trouble spots - particularly poor rail alignment - in their inspections because they had been inadequately trained and that maintenance supervisors appeared unconcerned about errors.
    • ''I think it confirms that we have a serious problem,'' said David L. Gunn, the president of the Transit Authority. ''It's an indication that the authority has not managed its affairs as well as it should have.''
    • The report, based on a two-week-long inspection last April, said the defects - from broken rail joints to loose bolts - posed no immediate safety problems, but that if procedures stayed the same, ''serious'' conditions could arise.
    • At that time, transit officials were at a loss to explain how the tracks could have deteriorated so badly when they were supposedly inspected twice a week.
    • The new report, by the Federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration, reviewed 32 segments of track chosen as typical of all of the authority's different track structures. Officials said flaws had been found in all types of track structures in each of the subway's lines.
    • The report said almost all of the 70 switches inspected were found to have defects. A switch is an area of track where a train can move from one set of rails to another.
    • Defects in switches accounted for 64 percent of the authority's derailments in the last three years, the report said.
    • Inspectors also found 100 defects that involved the poor alignment or measurement of the track. Since 1970, 39 percent of the track-caused derailments wereattributed to such defects, the report said.
    • The report also found training of track inspectors to be poor. It said the training failed to emphasize the distinction between safety defects and other defects. It said that there was no structured on-the-job training to follow classroom training, and that there was no manual to which a track inspector could refer for guidance.
    • In addition, the report said inspections were not working properly. Trackwalkers were not given enough time to do maintenance or follow-up work, it said, and they were inadequately supervised. Routine maintenance was poorly done, the report said.
    • ''The situation could lead to serious track conditions if improvements aren't made,'' said Ralph L. Stanley, head of the Federal agency, speaking at a news conference at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent body of the Transit Authority.
    • Mr. Gunn said he was pleased the report had found nothing that required the immediate closing of a section of track. ''I think that's very positive,'' he said.
    • He said he was in the midst of reorganizing the subway system's maintenance department and had already split it into two areas, one for power and signals and the other for track and structures.
    • Suggestions Under Review
      • Mr. Gunn said he would be reviewing the recommendations in the report over the next few weeks.
      • 'As we attempt to deal with the problems we have in the track area, this document will be very helpful,'' he said.
    • Among the recommendations in the report are:
      • - A new training program and more rigorous testing of track inspectors.
      • - A program to follow up on repairs and an expanded inspection of certain parts of the track.
      • - A quality control group to oversee all aspects of track inspection.
      • - Setting priorities for track work to make sure the most important problems were corrected first.
      • - Improved supervision of the work.
  • The New York City Transit Authority official who was responsible for accepting the authority's new Japanese subway cars has charged that he was ordered by superiors to find a reason to hold up approval of the cars ''or else.''
    • The official, John N. Cetenich, said in an internal memorandum that David L. Gunn, the authority's president, sent him a ''message'' in early March to ''personally find a way'' to halt the 30- day performance test of the Kawasaki R-62 model cars - in effect, delaying their arrival - ''for an indefinite period.''
    • Mr. Gunn denies the charge.
    • Mr. Cetenich also said a consultant to Mr. Gunn told him to stop the test ''before the 29th day . . . or else.'' Mr. Cetenich made his charges shortly after the consultant, A. Richardson Goodlatte, had succeeded him as chief of the department overseeing the procurement and maintenance of the subway fleet and had sharply criticized his work.
    • Mr. Goodlatte, too, disputes Mr. Cetenich's account.
    • The allegations are now under investigation by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent agency of the Transit Authority. The review has produced disparate accounts of who wanted to do what about the 325 Kawasaki cars and who said what at a series of meetings in March.
    • The cars had failed two tests by then but passed a third and final test soon after.
    • ''This thing is like 'Rashomon,' with everyone seeing it differently,'' said one official.
    • ''I never told anybody to stop the test,'' Mr. Gunn said in an interview.
    • ''It's been my position from the beginning,'' he said, ''that I was far more concerned with getting a good car into service than meeting some old deadline and whipping a new car into service. I said that to everybody. But if I didn't want the new cars on this property, they would't be here today. I've got that much control.''
    • Another transit official, who refused to be identified, said he, too, had been urged by superiors to find ways in March to halt the test.
    • ''The reason was simple,'' he said. ''The cars would be delayed till maybe 1985 while service became even worse. Then they would arrive and the new regime could take credit for something that was arranged long before they got here.''
    • The official said he had responded that it would be ''crazy'' to try to delay receipt of the cars. ''You want to declare war on Japan, you do it,'' he recalled saying.
    • Mr. Cetenich's charges reflect considerable tension between some new Transit Authority managers and some who held senior positions before Mr. Gunn took over in February.
    • Mr. Gunn and aides he has hired from outside the Transit Authority have been extremely critical of the condition of the subway system, while other managers have stressed the improvements - like the Kawasaki cars - that can be expected from the authority's two-year-old capital program.
    • The air-conditioned, stainless-steel Kawasaki cars, costing more than $300 million, are part of a $1.5 billion consignment of 1,375 new cars that will eventually replace 22 percent of the subway fleet.
    • The expenditure on new cars, including many that are being built in France and Canada, constitutes about one-fourth of the Transit Authority's $6.3 billion capital program that was begun in January 1982.
    • Daniel T. Scannell, the chairman of the Transit Authority Committee of the M.T.A. board, said that had the Kawasaki cars actually been held up without legitimate cause, ''it would clearly be a much more grievous situation than we have, but, even so, it leaves a residue of questionable conduct.''
    • Albert Dzingelis, the Transit Authority project manager for the Japanese cars, said he had attended staff meetings in March at which Mr. Cetenich said he had been directed to stop the performance test. No Valid Reason
    • ''We reviewed the matter and the contract and didn't see any valid reason allowing us to do it,'' Mr. Dzingelis said. ''The only way you could stop the test was for cause, failure of the equipment. You couldn't do it arbitrarily.''
    • Mr. Cetenich, who is now an assistant to Mr. Goodlatte, made his allegations in a memorandum on April 17, a day after Mr. Goodlatte told him that unless he developed a viable program for keeping graffiti off new and overhauled subway cars, he would be dismissed.
    • Mr. Cetenich countered that ''a divided work force continually under threat'' could not improve the transit system.
    • Mr. Cetenich declined to be interviewed. He did not explain in his memo why his superiors - who are contractually bound to carry out the tests in good faith - would want to postpone receipt of the Kawasaki cars, a key element in plans to upgrade service. Tests Are Standard
    • The contract between the M.T.A., on behalf of its subsidiary, the Transit Authority, and the Nissho Iwai American Corporation, a trading corporation representing Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. of Tokyo, provided that a train of the new subway cars had to perform perfectly for 30 days before any of the cars could be accepted. Such tests are standard, and failures, initially, are not uncommon.
    • The authority began the first 30-day test last Nov. 25, several months after the first Kawasaki car arrived. The test was halted on Dec. 12 when a minor door problem developed. The problem was corrected and a second test was started on Jan. 13. That test was stopped in three days because of brake trouble, which was repaired.
    • On March 19, 25 days into a third 30- day test, some exterior door indication lights on the test train struck a six-inch pipe flange in the Steinway Tube under the East River on the IRT's No. 7 Flushing line, and the test was suspended.
    • But when the fault was attributed to bad track and wayside conditions, not to the train, the test was resumed, in its 25th day, on March 26. Waiting on the Docks
    • The Nissho Iwai company complained that without the Steinway Tube incident, the test ''would have been successfully completed'' on March 24, permitting the shipment of 20 cars that company officials said had been waiting on the docks in Kobe, Japan, ''for some time.''
    • When Mr. Cetenich refused to agree to immediate shipment of the cars, Nissho Iwai threatened on March 26 to sue the Transit Authority for $107,000 a day.
    • Around this time, according to a Transit Authority manager who took part in various staff meetings in Mr. Cetenich's office relating to the R-62's, efforts were intensified to find any contractual loopholes or equipment flaw that would enable the agency to stop the 30-day test.
    • This interpretation was disputed by Jack Rogg, the division engineer for new car engineering for the authority, who participated in at least some of the meetings. Not Told to Stop Test
    • Mr. Rogg said their purpose was simply to make certain that there was not a legitimate reason for delaying receipt of the cars.
    • ''We wanted to be sure there wasn't something serious,'' he said. ''I wasn't told by anyone to stop the test, unless I felt it should be stopped.''
    • On March 31, the Kawasaki cars completed the 30-day performance test.
    • On April 2, Mr. Goodlatte, who is 44 years old, was named head of the authority's car equipment department, with the title of chief mechanical officer. From 1976 to 1979, Mr. Goodlatte was chief mechanical officer of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston, where Mr. Gunn was director of operations.
    • The car equipment department was reorganized along lines that Mr. Goodlatte had just recommended as a consultant, with Mr. Cetenich, who is 57 years old, being transferred to the department's northern division as assistant chief mechanical officer.
    • In his consultant's report to Mr. Gunn in early March, Mr. Goodlatte said that Mr. Cetenich, as head of the department, had made ''a good start'' at managing capital projects and other programs but that ''the present team is incapable of providing'' the level of managerial skill now needed.
    • Mr. Cetenich had joined the Transit Authority in late 1981 after preparing his own consultant's report on the department. 'Appalled' by Plans
    • On April 16, Mr. Goodlatte wrote a memorandum to Mr. Cetenich in which he said that he was ''appalled by the quality'' of Mr. Cetenich's plans for keeping subway cars free of graffiti.
    • Mr. Goodlatte offered to help Mr. Cetenich. But he said that if Mr. Cetenich could not perform this ''very basic management assignment,'' his resignation would be demanded.
    • The next day, in response to what he called this ''inflammatory'' memorandum, Mr. Cetenich made his charges about having been told to stop the 30- day performance test.
    • On April 20, Mr. Goodlatte wrote Mr. Cetenich that he had no intention of engaging in a ''memo war with you.'' Concerned About Quality
    • After denying that Mr. Cetenich had been threatened or asked to ''take any action which was not in keeping'' with his ''contractural obligations'' Mr. Goodlatte said both he and Mr. Gunn ''were and still are concerned about the quality and reliability of the new R-62 cars which are now being delivered at such a rapid rate.''
    • ''Having lived through new car procurements at two other transit authorities, the president and I are well aware of the difficulties which can occur when problems appear after large numbers of new cars have been accepted and placed into revenue service,'' Mr. Goodlatte wrote.
    • ''We recognized,'' he said, ''that the 30-day test was the authority's last chance to assess the quality of the R-62 before deliveries started at 20 cars per month.''
  • The Transit Authority wastes as much as $5 million a year paying subway-platform conductors who do not do their job, according to a report released yesterday by the State Comptroller's Office.
    • Spot checks of the conductors, who are supposed to patrol the platforms, provide travel information and guard passengers against accidents, showed that almost half could not be found at their posts.
    • ''Even when conductors could be found, job performance was generally marginal,'' Comptroller Edward V. Regan, said. ''We found outright idleness.''
    • The report, based on an investigation conducted between April and September last year, said the conductors frequently stayed in one place for long periods of time and avoided areas where there were passengers. Page-and-a-Half Response
    • The report also said payroll records appeared to be doctored. ''Sign-in and sign-out signatures did not match, suggesting there were forgeries,'' the report said. In one case, the report said, a worker's name had been misspelled, indicating he had not signed the card.
    • ''Basically, we agree,'' a spokesman for the Transit Authority, Peter Barrett, said. The agency issued a page- and-a-half response to the audit outlining what it was doing to correct the problem.
    • The authority, which runs the subways and almost all the buses in New York City, said it had increased supervision of the conductors and imposed stiffer penalties on workers who were absent from their posts.
    • Six months ago, Mr. Barrett said, an absent worker was likely to lose a day's pay. Now, the worker was likely to lose a week's pay. Disciplinary action has been taken against 15 conductors since the investigation, Mr. Barrett said.
    • The authority, which has eliminated 33 conductors' jobs, said that it was planning to cut 37 more by next November.
    • According to the 10-page state report, the authority has 326 full-time platform conductors. Last year, it spent $11.8 million on their salaries and benefits. The average salary plus benefits for a platform conductor was $33,600 a year, not including overtime.
    • ''We estimate the T.A. is paying about $5 million a year for platform services the riding public is not getting,'' Mr. Regan said in his report.
    • John E. Lawe, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, the union that represents the conductors, said he ''doubted'' the report. ''If theyre not working,'' Mr. Lawe said, ''management isn't doing their job. We don't condone not working.''
    • The conductors are sent to the busiest stations, usually with connecting lines, transit officials said. Their duties include managing passenger flow, helping take trains out of service and changing signs on trains. Supervisors Were Far Away
    • The report said that when investigators tried to verify the attendance of 101 conductors, 43 were found absent without explanations.
    • This was possible, the report said, because supervisors were often situated several stations away from the conductors, and they were not allowed to leave their posts.
    • Of the conductors found not on the job, the report said, five had time sheets that did not appear to have the proper signatures.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to proceed with the introduction of monthly subway, bus and commuter tickets that employers can sell at a discount to employees, the authority's general counsel said today.
    • Late Monday, House and Senate tax conferees approved a measure, long sought by the M.T.A., that would permit employees to buy inexpensive monthly transit tickets from their employers.
  • Mayor Koch blocked an agreement yesterday that would have made some of the city's subway stations accessible to the disabled and permitted the modernization of the city's subways to proceed.
    • The Mayor's decision came as representatives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Governor's office and a group representing the disabled were discussing aspects of the agreement, which called for installing elevators for the disabled in some stations.
    • Mr. Koch, in a written statement, said, ''I have concluded that it is simply wrong to spend $50 million in the next eight years - and ultimately more - in putting elevators in the subways.'' The Mayor said this had been his original position when the negotiations opened.
  • GIVING THE DISABLED ACCESS TO SUBWAYS:MAYOR VS. GOVERNOR
  • District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman of Brooklyn charged in a report yesterday that ''serious managerial deficiencies'' in the Transit Authority's purchasing unit had ''created the climate that allowed'' a bid-rigging scheme to operate.
    • In March, a grand jury charged a suspended purchasing official for the agency and a hardware supplier with grand larceny in connection with the purported scheme.
    • Yesterday's report followed an audit last year by City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin. Mr. Goldin said at the time that the audit showed that ''serious irregularities'' in Transit Authority purchasing practices - including possible bid- rigging - had resulted in ''exorbitant'' overpayments for supplies and parts. Mr. Goldin referred the suspected bid- rigging scheme to Miss Holtzman's office.
    • In making public her report yesterday, the District Attorney said that the Transit Authority spends $260 million a year on supplies and that it ''acts like a mini-Pentagon - with overpayment after overpayment.''
    • The report said that items were purchased ''for several times their price in local hardware stores'' and that ''no serious effort is made'' by the agency's buyers to seek out new suppliers.
    • In one case, the report said, the agency overpaid $87,000 on a contract by insisting on a specific brand of repair kits for the floors of subway cars. Less-costly repair kits offered by a competitor ''would have served the purpose equally well,'' the report said
    • It recommended such changes as expanding the list of approved bidders and adopting a uniform procedure for the review of bids.
    • A spokesman for the agency, Robert Slovak, said it had made ''substantial changes'' in purchasing practices, ''including some of the items in her document.''
    • In the bid-rigging case, a former supervising buyer for the Transit Authority, Stanley Jacobs, and Edward Lefkowitz, president of Burleigh Industries, a hardware supplier, were charged with grand larceny and other offenses. They have denied the charges and are awaiting trial.
  • NEW ACCORD REACHED TO PROVIDE SUBWAY ACCESS FOR THE DISABLED

July 1984

[edit]
  • The New York City Transit Authority has removed 125 subway cars from service because of a recent rash of fires in electrical equipment beneath cars, transit officials said yesterday.
    • So far this year, 120 subway cars have had fires in their group switch boxes, equipment that controls the acceleration of a car. Fourteen fires, five of them in the last two weeks, were deemed serious.
    • The 125 cars taken out of service for inspection have been identified by the authority as having maintenance case histories similar to those of the majority of cars that had fires, officials said.
    • ''We had a peaked rise in the number of serious fires, so we took a look at the records,'' said Thomas F. Prendergast, head of system's safety for the authority.
    • The loss of the 125 cars, of a variety of models and ages, was not expected to interrupt service, officials said. There are about 6,000 cars on line
    • Mr. Prendergast said a review of the fires showed that those cars had had a history of trouble.
    • ''Prior to the fires there had been a variety of switch box problems - dead motors, blown fuses, blown circuit breakers, things like that,'' he said. ''In other words, they were telling us that something was wrong, but we weren't addressing the problem properly.''
    • ''It's like if you had an air-conditioner in your home that kept blowing a fuse and you kept tripping the circuit breaker,'' he said. ''You could keep doing that, but if you don't do something you're not solving the problem.'' 250 Switch Box Fires a Year
    • The authority averages about 250 fires in group switch boxes a year, Mr. Prendergast said. Most only produce smoke; about 20 are classified as serious, because they require the evacuation of passengers or the help of the Fire Department to extinguish.
    • ''The group switch box has the greatest raw potential for a fire,'' Mr. Prendergast said. ''It controls the acceleration and deceleration by chanelling electric current to the motors. It's a very complex piece of equipment.''
    • Of the 125 cars with similar histories of problems in the group switch box, which sits under the middle of the car, he said, ''They'll be inspected and if they have a problem it will be fixed.''
    • He also said the authority would form a unit of trouble-shooters to concentrate on the problem.
    • ''Yes, we think we may have a problem, a maintenance type of problem,'' Mr. Prendergast said. ''We're going to make sure that our people have the training and the proper tools and the proper environment to do a good job.''
  • The Transit Authority said yesterday that more subway cars would be taken out of service for inspections in an effort to halt a series of fires, but it refused to say how many it would check.
    • Transit officials said the cars would be taken out of service as they were identified for having a history of problems in their switch boxes.
    • Last Friday, 114 cars were removed for inspections. The authority said Monday that 125 had been removed, but it revised the number yesterday.
    • Since the begining of the year, there have been 120 fires that began in switch boxes, which control the acceleration of the cars.
    • There are 6,150 cars in the fleet, and the authority said it needed 4,920 for peak hours. Mr. Barrett said the new inspections were not likely to disrupt normal service. On the 114 cars inspected Friday, the authority said that 63 had returned to service as of yesterday. Twenty passed the inspection, and 43 were repaired. Of the remaining cars, 31 were held for further inspections and 21 awaited major repairs.
    • The authority said that it decided to start looking at its records after five ''serious'' fires - fires that required the removals of passengers or the aid of the Fire Department - occurred in switch boxes in the last two weeks. The authority averages 250 fires in switch boxes a year, transit officials said, with most producing only smoke.
    • Along with the inspections, the authority has also said it planned to form a group of trouble- shooters to concentrate on maintaining switch boxes. The boxes, which are under the middle of the cars, are vulnerable to fires because they channel electricity to the engine, officials said.
  • The Transit Authority said yesterday that 41 more subway cars with a history of three or more problems in their acceleration control boxes had been removed from service for inspection as of late Tuesday night.
    • The authority, which began inspecting 114 such cars last Friday, is seeking to stop the rash of fires that have broken out in the control boxes, which are known as group switch boxes.
    • Of the 155 cars taken out of service so far, officials said 90 had been returned to service, some after repairs were performed. The rest await inspection or extensive repair. No disruption in subway service is expected, officials said.
    • According to a spokesman, Peter Barrett, the authority has also identified 500 other cars that will be inspected when the high-priority inspections are finished.
  • A lack of working subway cars forced the cancellation of a total of 60 rush-hour trains yesterday morning and evening, and transit officials predicted similar shortages over the next few days.
    • Officials said the decrease in the number of runs was a result of action taken last week to halt a rash of subway fires.
    • Although officials had said then that the removal of subway cars with a history of electrical problems would not cause a disruption of service, officials said yesterday that it had.
    • ''When we added that maintenance on top of the other maintenance that had to be done, it backed things up,'' said John Cunningham, a spokesman for the Transit Authority.
    • Mr. Cunningham said he could not predict how long the shortage would continue but said: ''For a day or two, the situation is probably going to remain the same. Obviously, it depends on how quickly we can get the switch- box problems taken care of.''
    • Transit Authority trains are supposed to make 557 runs between 7 A.M. and 9 A.M. and 557 more between 4 P.M. and 6 P.M., but 30 fewer were made yesterday in each two-hour period. The shortage was distributed over 10 lines on all three divisions. Only one line, the QB, was severely affected, officials said.
    • Since the beginning of the year, there have been 121 fires that started in switch boxes. Fifteen of them were deemed ''serious'' because passengers were evacuated or the Fire Department was called in. Six of the serious fires were in the last three weeks, including some in which passengers suffered minor injuries.
    • A review of the fires had shown that, in about half the cases, the cars that had caught fire had a history of electrical problems, such as blown fuses or dead motors.
    • As of yesterday, the authority had inspected 169 subway cars with poor histories: 79 are now awaiting repairs, 14 are awaiting track testing after repairs and 76 are back in service.
    • The authority has more than 6,000 subway cars and needs about 4,900 to deliver morning service. But, at any one time, about 20 percent of the fleet is in need of maintenance, officials said, and so the fleet often runs 1 or 2 percent short of cars. Yesterday, the fleet was more than 5 percent short.
    • Transit officials said the cars identified as potentially hazardous were of all models and ages.
    • Besides the ones already taken out of service for inspection, Mr. Cunningham said the authority had identified about 500 cars that had had two problems in the past two months with their group switch boxes.
    • Those will be inspected when the top- priority inspections are finished, he said.
    • For the past two years, the authority has averaged about 250 fires in group switch boxes a year, officials said.
  • Subway riders had a slightly better chance of finding working doors and lights this spring, but they were less likely to find readable maps and the right signs, according to a new survey.
    • ''We're not arguing with the Straphangers report,'' Jared Lebow, a spokesman for the authority, said. ''They're obviously a group that is concerned and we take it seriously.''
    • Since taking office last February, the president of the Transit Authority, David L. Gunn, has refused to set specific goals for improvement, saying he must reorganize the authority's management first.
    • ''It doesn't make sense to make predictions before we know we can back them up,'' Mr. Lebow said.
    • In an effort to curb graffiti, the Transit Authority has picked out 10 subway stations that it plans to repaint and then concentrate on keeping clean.
  • Insulation installed under the seats of 300 newly overhauled subway cars is flammable and will have to be removed, the Transit Authority announced yesterday.
    • The insulation, urethane foam, will be taken out of the cars over the next four to six weeks as they undergo their regular 5,000-mile checkup, according to the authority.
    • ''Our laboratory tests show that the material being removed will ignite when brought into direct contact with flame and will not extinguish itself until it is completely consumed,'' said Thomas F. Prendergast, the head of system safety for the authority. ''Although we believe it is unlikely that this material will catch fire in a subway car, we do recognize it as a potential hazard and therefore will have it taken out.''
    • Most of the foam - found on R-28, R-33 and R-36 cars that run on the IRT line - was installed in the last 12 months.
    • The authority bought the foam - enough to insulate 1,000 seats - for about $8,500 from the General Seating and Sash Company of Topton, Pa., in November 1983, transit officials said.
    • They said the Transit Authority had asked for ''fire resistant'' foam, but had got flammable foam instead. Officials said the authority would seek ''redress'' from the seller.
    • The authority decided to test the seat insulation because of television news reports on the foam's flammability.
    • As part of its assessment of seating insulation in the city's 6,000-car fleet, the authority found that there were two other types of insulation being used - fire retardant urethane foam and Fiberglas.
    • The authority tested all the materials under ''worst case conditions'' that simulated a subway car packed with passengers in a tunnel with no ventilation
  • Because of poor supervision, bad scheduling and a lack of parts, many employees are not working a full day in the maintenance shops of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to a report released yesterday by the M.T.A. inspector general.
    • The inspector general, Sidney Schwartz, based his findings on unannounced visits to shops and barns of the Transit Authority, the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad between January and March.
    • In several Transit Authority facilities, the report said, employees could not be found even though they had signed in for work. At other times, employees stood idle because there were no parts. And, in some cases, they stood idle because there were no subway cars in the facility to work on.
    • ''If we extrapolate the results of our observations on a straight-line basis,'' Mr. Schwartz said, ''unproductive time at these facilities alone costs the M.T.A. approximately $1.3 million annually.''
    • The report was Mr. Schwartz's second on-site review of productivity and efficiency at M.T.A. facilities. The first, issued in January, found similar practices at different facilities.
    • ''Since current findings closely match what we found earlier,'' Mr. Schwartz said, ''management should conclude that this is not another snapshot of the system but rather a full- fledged full-length movie.''
    • He said the one clear difference appeared to be that the Transit Authority had begun to take steps to implement changes. The authority has started disciplinary action against several employees whom the report accused of ''goofing off.''
    • ''We basically agree with all the findings and recommendations in the report,'' said a spokesman for the Transit Authority, John Cunningham.
    • The report cited incidences of Metro- North employees at Grand Central Terminal stopping work early and some L.I.R.R. employees at the Flatbush Avenue yard being absent for about 20 minutes with the foreman unable to explain their absence.
  • A plan to install elevators in some subway stations to make them accessible to the disabled was approved yesterday by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The plan, supported by Governor Cuomo but called wasteful by Mayor Koch, was vigorously debated before the board passed it, 9 to 4.
    • The legislation needed to put the plan into effect was signed by the Governor on Tuesday. It was part of a compromise forged through extensive negotiations involving the M.T.A. over the last two months.
    • The plan was designed to allow the agency to proceed with a $150 million modernization program for about 50 stations. A state court, ruling in a lawsuit against the M.T.A., blocked the program two years ago because it did not provide for access to the disabled, as required by state law. Details of the Plan
    • Along with spending $5 million a year for the next eight years to install elevators in some stations, the plan calls for the M.T.A. to equip 65 percent of its bus fleet with wheelchair lifts. The authority also is to contribute $5 million a year to a city-operated van service for the disabled, which has not been established yet. The plan will not take effect until the lawsuit against the M.T.A., which was brought by the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, is settled.
  • Franklin Havlicek's July 7 Op-Ed article, about ''Curing the Ills'' of the mass transit system, was generally correct in pinpointing fallen labor productivity as a major problem. The productivity of subway workers, measured in operating costs per passenger mile, has indeed declined by more than 1 percent annually since 1968, and if worker productivity had remained consistent, subway fares could indeed still be about 50 cents.-Nadler
    • However, Mr. Havlicek's call for salary incentives based on cost savings as the major answer to decreasing productivity misses the point, assuming as it does that the chief reason for reduced worker productivity is laziness and lack of adequate motivation. While these factors may have played some role, they are not, and never were, the major problem.
    • Worker productivity in any industry is largely determined by the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers' tools. This, of course, was the main point of the industrial revolution, and the main reason for the relative prosperity of 20th-century America is that with modern machinery fewer workers working fewer hours can produce more.
    • The subway workers' tools are the subway cars, the signaling equipment, the repair facilities. As the physical plant was allowed to deteriorate for lack of adequate capital investment and proper maintenance, worker productivity, as measured by operating cost per passenger mile, had to decline. Operating cost per passenger mile will decline every time a train must be taken out of service because of faulty breaks and every time service must be suspended or slowed because of bad track conditions.
  • New York City's subway system, starting to undergo its most extensive overhaul since it was completed 50 years ago, is inflicting on its riders a catalogue of miseries that promises to get worse before it gets better.
    • The beginnings of a well-publicized multibillion-dollar capital program two years ago raised expectations that conditions would quickly improve. But as a new leadership tries to pull the system from the depths, officials are finding that they cannot effectively spend so much money so fast. And they expect a level of service interruptions that will appall riders already accustomed to pacing crowded platforms and peering down empty tracks.
    • For more than a decade, the subways have been a system in radical decline - with antiquated tracks, flawed rolling stock, water seepage in tunnels, a sharply rising crime rate, vandalism in the storage yards and on the lines, filthy and noisy stations and trains, misguided financial and management priorities, chronic purchasing deficiencies, entrenched but often unproductive labor practices, a defensive bureaucracy, political maneuvering and routes that have been undermined by changing demographics.
    • ''The subway system is having a nervous breakdown, not to mention all the people who struggle with using it,'' said Robert R. Kiley, the new chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the man responsible for overseeing mass transit in the city.
    • ''Even if the nervous breakdown is partly a problem of perception and frazzled nerves,'' he said, ''and even if there's medicine you can provide for the patient that makes it a little easier over the short run, a nervous breakdown usually signifies much deeper problems. And I think we've got them in the subway system.''
    • Only some of the system's problems - stations fouled with filth, rampant graffiti, trains that seem to lift off the tracks because of loose rails - are visible to the rider. Others can be detected in statistics:
    • - Twenty years ago, the average distance a subway car traveled between failures was 34,294 miles, about as good a record as transit experts expect. Today's fleet traveled only 8,619 miles between failures in 1983, one-quarter the previous distance.
    • - A decade ago, the number of trains forced to bypass stations to avoid trouble on a line was 12,720. In 1983, it was 33,945.
    • - Last year, 3 of every 10 trains failed to finish their runs within five minutes of the scheduled time - the worst on- time performance in recent years.
    • With three times the route miles and number of stations as its nearest counterpart, the Chicago rapid-transit system, New York's subway system has no equal in the country. It carries three-quarters of the nation's rapid- transit passengers and dwarfs such older systems as those in Boston and Philadelphia and such newer ones as those in Atlanta, Washington and Baltimore.
    • Yet the city's subways are struggling with a legacy of questionable management decisions on matters large and small. Next year, the Transit Authority expects to open an elaborate station at 21st Street in Long Island City, Queens, marking another stage in the 63d Street-East River tunnel project, which will cost about $800 million. But if the line is not extended farther into Queens - plans remain unsettled after 16 years - it is expected to carry no more than 200 passengers an hour in peak times.
    • In the 1970's, as jobs evaporated in the city and many riders turned to express buses and private cars, the subway system lost almost one-quarter of its ridership. Indeed, a system that once accommodated more than two billion passengers a year now carries half that number along virtually the same routes.
    • Meanwhile, the gap between subway operating costs and passenger revenues - which opened in the mid-1950's and is now about $500 million a year - continues to widen, expanding the need for subsidies and exerting pressure on the fare.
    • David L. Gunn became president of the Transit Authority, the arm of the M.T.A. that runs the subways and buses, last February. He says it will take three to five years before the public sees ''noticeable improvements in service'' - and then only if the agency accomplishes management and labor reforms that are as controversial as they are broad. And he says increases in the fare, which has risen three times since 1980 and is now 90 cents, are as certain ''as that God made little green apples.''
    • The basis for any progress, especially the purchase of new cars, will have been laid by the $6.3 billion, five-year capital program that began in 1982. But the effort to return the subway system to ''a state of good repair,'' M.T.A. officials say, will require an additional $7 billion in capital funds between 1987 and 1991. To raise such large sums on top of large sums will be a challenge.
    • Nearly every day, the system is plagued by major incidents - from breakdowns and fires to derailments - that inconvenience thousands of riders who rarely know why a train is late or whether the train they catch is the scheduled one.
    • On one recent morning, a signal failure on the IRT No. 2 line north of Simpson Street in the Bronx resulted in 28 late trains. Hours later, a loss of motor power on the IND D line at the Seventh Avenue station led to 8 late trains; 7 others were classified as abandoned by the Transit Authority. This means they either bypassed stations or had their scheduled run canceled. Within 10 minutes, burning cables on the No. 2 line south of 110th Street resulted in 19 late trains and 27 abandonments.
    • On another morning, switch failure on the IRT No. 4 line at Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn led to 22 late trains and 26 abandonments. Hours later, brakes failed to charge on an IND F train at Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, resulting in 44 late trains and 18 abandonments. The previous day, 110 trains were late and 27 were abandoned because of a broken rail on the BMT B line on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. More Delays in Store
    • Other causes of delays - often involving a dozen or more late or diverted trains - include malfunctioning doors, track fires and fires in undercarriage switch boxes, track circuit failure, debris on a roadbed, locked wheels, dropped shoe beams, sick or injured passengers and even bomb threats.
    • And a more fundamental source of delays is waiting in the wings. In a letter to the Citizens Budget Commission, the Transit Authority's executive vice president, George Miller, wrote, ''The capital program itself will contribute to massive delays and service interruptions while track is replaced and other infrastructure components are rebuilt so that the system may one day function normally.''
    • A Legacy of Disrepair For the New Regime
    • In a system where some rail supports predate the opening of the first subway in 1904, where some pumps were installed directly after their use in the construction of the Panama Canal and some signals are a quarter-century beyond their estimated useful life, incidents like these are predictable.
    • Many of them stem from neglect of the physical ''infrastructure'' of the subway, which, at some points, is nearly 200 feet below ground and, at others, nearly 100 feet above it; from the purchase, in the 1970's, of sophisticated cars that never measured up to the reliability of earlier ones, and from a policy decision to defer maintenance while developing new routes to Queens and elsewhere at a cost of more than $1 billion.
    • Such were the problems inherited by Mr. Kiley last November, when Governor Cuomo chose him to succeed Richard Ravitch as chairman of the board of the M.T.A. Mr. Kiley hired Mr. Gunn, who had been director of operations of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston between 1974 and 1979, when Mr. Kiley was chairman there. It was the first time since the establishment of the M.T.A. in 1968 that both its chairman and the president of its largest subsidiary, the Transit Authority, were from outside New York.
    • 'Stopping a Runaway Locomotive'
    • Before Mr. Gunn accepted his $140,000-a-year position - he called it ''a suicide mission'' - he had been general manager of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority in Philadelphia. While New York has 230 route miles of track, Philadelphia has 24 miles, Boston, about 30. To New York's 6,150 subway cars, Philadelphia has 375, Boston, 392.
    • Mr. Gunn was widely credited with reversing, though not eliminating, deplorable transit conditions in Philadelphia. But the difference between his task there and in New York, he said in January, was the difference between ''stopping a runaway truck and stopping a runaway locomotive.''
    • If the system is ''a great bulking confederacy with numerous private treaties between labor and management,'' as Stephen Berger, an M.T.A. board member, characterized it, many of those old arrangements - in the shops, on the lines and at Transit Authority headquarters at 370 Jay Street in Brooklyn - are now being questioned.
    • ''The T.A. has always been a fortress that nobody on the outside ever really knew,'' said Ross Sandler, a former transit adviser to Mayor Koch. ''It's just breathtaking to see Gunn coming out and saying how terrible it is.''
    • No sooner had Mr. Gunn taken office than he began talking about the need to ''regain control'' over the agency and its 40,000 employees. Others began talking about whether Mr. Gunn - a 46-year old, Harvard-educated bachelor who does not own a car, rides the subway to work and eats homemade egg salad sandwiches at his desk - was being tough or just naive.
    • The Months of Trying To Regain Control
    • The next months brought new tensions with labor - the worst in years, in the union's view - over style as well as substance.
    • First, Mr. Gunn killed a long-range ''strategic plan'' of operations that had been in preparation for more than a year. Every department of the Transit Authority is now contributing to a new plan that, Mr. Gunn said, will not promise more than he can deliver.
    • With Mr. Kiley, he proposed the removal of Civil Service and union protection from top supervisors, to give management greater freedom in ''hiring and firing, rewarding and punishing.'' Still a long way from being realized, the proposals won little overt support from political leaders, apart from Mayor Koch, and were quickly denounced by union officials, who warned of the ''dictatorship of the Kiley-Gunn axis.'' In April, Mr. Koch himself complained that transit officials were too slow to increase productivity in the system's maintenance shops, where lack of replacement parts and lax work habits have impeded efficiency. The Mayor also questioned whether the best use was being made of the capital program, and indicated his desire for material results.
    • Mr. Gunn, however, had already ordered a re-evaluation of that program - the prime achievement of the M.T.A regime under Mr. Ravitch - but not with a view to speeding it up. Slowing Down the Program
    • In his letter to the Citizens Budget Commission, Mr. Miller of the Transit Authority suggested that aspects of the program had been hastily conceived or poorly laid out, and that the agency would have trouble managing it successfully
    • ''It is our present near-term goal to literally slow that program down in order to establish control over it,'' he said.
    • Such is Mr. Feeley's reputation for militancy that when he came to Philadelphia, workers dubbed him ''the Boston Strangler.'' When he left, the president of the transit workers' union in Philadelphia, Roger Tauss, likened him to ''a zombie - he comes at you straight ahead.''
    • ''You know those zombie movies,'' he said, ''where the zombies keep coming at you?''
    • Employees in New York are as likely as not to find Mr. Feeley making unannounced inspections of transit facilities in the middle of the night. They may find themselves disciplined for lateness or for sleeping on the job, infractions that some managers had previously tolerated. Or they may, as one ranking manager did, receive a memorandum from A. Richardson Goodlatte, the new head of the car-maintenance department, saying that the quality of an employee's work is ''appalling'' and could lead to dismissal.
    • Moments before a recent interview, Mr. Gunn made a tour of his headquarters building. Word spread quickly. On an elevator, one worker warned another to ''go down and get rid of that girlie magazine on the second floor.''
    • ''They'll say that's all we do,'' he added. Chain of Command
    • The magazine was not spotted by Mr. Gunn, but he was fuming when he returned to his office on the 13th floor. During the installation of a computer, he said, wiring had been draped over light fixtures in a room, ''just sloppy as hell, a disgrace.''
    • It was the kind of disarray, he said, that was ruinous of the ''sharp, precise organization'' that he thought most employees wanted and that, with their help, he intended to forge.
    • ''There's a strange psychology around here,'' he remarked, ''that, if you just get the right person to give the right order, the system will be O.K. and not much else has to change. Well, I can issue orders till I'm blue in the face, but unless you have an effective chain of command translating the order into a meaningful program, it's not going to work.
    • ''People lose sight of the size and complexity of this transit system and it's troubled history over the last 30 to 40 years. It's a sorry history. If the political structure had made sure there was good management and given it consistent funding, I think much of what we face today could have been avoided.''
    • How the Trouble Became So Profound
    • By 1940, when the city purchased the privately operated IRT and BMT lines and fused them with the eight-year-old, municipally owned IND line, the subway system was regarded not only as a great engineering feat but also as a reliable, clean and safe means of transportation. A critical element in its favor, according to transit experts, was the high caliber of its employees.
    • ''The old Irish labor force - the mechanics, the engineers - was Depression-trained and, in some ways, overeducated for the jobs,'' said Boris S. Pushkarev, author of ''Urban Rail in America'' and vice president for research of the Regional Plan Association. ''The system had the pick of the best at a relatively low price.''
    • The system's ridership, which peaked at 2 billion a year in 1930 before falling off to 1.75 billion four years later, climbed during World War II and, in 1947, just before the original fare of a nickel was doubled, was back up to 2 billion. The city's population, according to the Census Bureau, was then close to 8 million.
    • By 1953, after a postwar adjustment that included an exodus to the suburbs, increased car use within the city, a drop in city employment and a fare increase to 15 cents, subway ridership embarked on a steep descent. By 1970, when the fare was 30 cents, it had leveled off at 1.3 billion.
    • The loss in ridership was only one sign of the trouble that would soon become profound. Half-Pay Pensions
    • In 1968, the city's transit system, as well as the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and the commuter railroads, were brought under the umbrella of a new regional Metropolitan Transportation Authority, led by Dr. William J. Ronan, an appointee of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller.
    • At the same time, transit employees were granted a retirement plan that included a half-pay pension after 20 years of service.
    • ''That plan hit us very bad,'' said Charles Kalkhof, who joined the system in 1950 and retired this month as the Transit Authority's vice president and general manager for subways. ''Suddenly, a tremendous rash of qualified people put in their papers and left the system - supervisors and hourly workers.''
    • According to some estimates by the agency, 70 percent of the skilled workers in the car-maintenance department retired between July 1968 and June 1970.
    • In 1969, for example, 28 percent of the electrical workers retired, as did 26 percent of the track walkers. In 1970, the figure for both categories was 21 percent; in 1971, the percentages were 12 and 13. The annual average for both categories in succeeding years has been 5 or 6 percent. Easier Entrance Requirements
    • When candidates for the jobs vacated at the start of the 1970's were found to lack the skills of the retirees, the Transit Authority relaxed entrance requirements.
    • ''In terms of professionalism, in terms of bringing the system to its knees, that was very much a turning point,'' Mr. Pushkarev said. ''At first, the Transit Authority tried to compensate with training programs. But that didn't have an immediate effect, and then came the city's fiscal crisis and the cutbacks of the mid-1970's. The agency couldn't cut conductors or booth agents. But it could cut maintenance workers, and it did.''
    • While the agency's total number of man- hours worked fell by 12 percent between 1973 and 1979, according to the Transit Authority, the hours worked in the car-maintenance department dropped by 33 percent. Between 1974 and 1976, training hours for transit employees declined by 77 percent.
    • Compounding the Woes: The R-44's and R-46's
    • Just as devastating was the purchase of 1,049 model R-44 and R-46 cars - the only cars the Transit Authority bought during the 1970's. They were technically more advanced than earlier models but had serious defects.
    • In September 1979, President Jimmy Carter came to New York and promised that when he and city and transit officials were through with it, the subway ''won't look a day over sweet 16.''
    • But a little more than a year later, the day before Mr. Carter was returned to private life, John Simpson, the new president of the Transit Authority, sat down at his desk in Brooklyn and wrote a five-page memorandum conceding that ''subway service is bad and getting worse.''
    • Problems of will and efficiency and initiative, as well as money, had overtaken the fleet.
  • On April 19, 1982, in what appeared to herald a new era in productivity in the city transit system, an arbitration panel ruled that ''work quotas, wherever they exist, shall be abolished.''
    • The ruling promised to end a costly practice that allowed many subway maintenance workers to achieve their quotas long before the end of an eight-hour shift and to do no other work for the day. It was a victory for transit managers who saw a direct correlation between quality of service and productivity at the 15 barns and shops where the fleet is inspected, repaired and cleaned.
    • But two years later, according to state auditors, transit officials and some of the employees themselves, little has changed. In many shops - in the pits and on the cranes, at the benches and around the big center aisles called ''Broadway'' - the ''cozy practices of the past'' endure, according to Robert R. Kiley, the new chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The story of why progress has been elusive - along with the story of why track conditions suddenly appeared so grave last summer, and why half of the system's track needs replacement or renewal, and why recycled instead of new parts are being used in a major program of car overhauls, and why graffiti have not been effectively removed or malfunctioning car doors fixed - is the story of an agency that seems incapable of overcoming its inefficiencies.
    • Behind the scenes - where, on the average, each of the 6,150 subway cars is sent to the shop three times a year - it is more than the familiar story of deficits and underinvestment.
    • It is a story in which productivity receives more lip service than scrutiny; a story of workers and custom, managers and power, technology and improvisation. And the fragile nature of it all was illustrated recently with the collapse of the agency's purchasing computer, which was underdesigned from the time it was installed in 1977 and which can handle only one-third of its required workload.
    • In a transit system where the cry of ''no stock, no stock'' can be heard in some shop on any day, - and whose ordering procedures were described by the official in charge of them as ''vintage 1930's, with Band-Aids'' - the computer crashed for three weeks last November and was at half-capacity until this spring. More than 10,000 purchase orders were backlogged as a battery of clerks turned to manual processing.
    • But handwritten records are not new to the transit system. Despite a $2.1 billion Transit Authority budget, the mileage and maintenance histories of subway cars are still kept on index cards at the barns to which the cars are assigned, complicating both management analysis and the task of employees who are transferred to other barns to perform unscheduled work.
    • The issue of work quotas, as sensitive as any in transit affairs, came to a head in 1982 only after senior officials recognized the increasing relationship between low productivity and higher fares. Transit officials, and the riding public, needed buoying. Subway ridership fell to a historic low of less than a billion passengers in that year - about the same as the previous low in 1917, when the system was much smaller.
    • The fare rose in 1982 to 75 cents but the percentage of trains that made it to key stations during rush hour and the frequency with which they were on time declined sharply. Service delays had more than doubled, from less than 30,000 in 1972 to 61,000.
    • 'A Full Day's Work'
    • In that atmosphere there was considerable urgency to reform practices that enabled employees to do as little as one-fourth of the work that would have been expected of them in private industry.
    • ''The Transit Authority,'' the arbitration panel said, ''is entitled to manage its work force effectively so as to obtain a full day's work for a full day's pay.''
    • Quotas had been a feature of the transit system since at least World War II, especially in the shops and the barns, which employ nearly one-fourth of the subway system's work force of 28,000 people. For many years, management favored the arrangement. By giving a worker up to 230 hours to repair a burned-out subway traction motor, or 5 hours and 33 minutes to fix a broken shoe beam - quotas that were not always met - management sought to insure a minimal level of productivity.
    • But in time, according to John E. Zuccotti, an arbitrator who reviewed the quota system in 1982, many maintenance employees construed the quotas as the maximum rather than the minimum to be done.
    • Even though the quotas were negotiated with the Transport Workers Union after 1972, instead of being imposed by management, Mr. Zuccotti wrote, ''there is no dispute that it was common practice for a worker who had achieved his quota to do no further work during his shift.''
    • In 1980, shortly after he became chairman of the M.T.A., the parent agency of the Transit Authority, Richard Ravitch ended the policy of deferred maintenance that had been instituted during the city's fiscal crisis in the mid-1970's. Although the maintenance force was returned to its previous strength, according to Transit Authority officials, 22 million man-hours of work had been lost. Squirreling Parts Away
    • In 1981, a study by H. B. Maynard and Company, a management-consulting concern, concluded that the ''loose quotas'' used at the Transit Authority's two main repair shops - at Coney Island and at 207th Street in the Inwood section of Manhattan - allowed workers ''almost four times as much time to perform work than would be allowed using performance standards from industrial-maintenance sources for comparable work.'' Because of this low productivity, the Maynard report said, the agency was annually paying millions of dollars in excess labor costs.
    • Nor, the report went on, was the worker entirely at fault. So bad was the supply problem that, instead of purchasing new parts for an assembly from ''an organized parts store, with proper inventory control,'' workers were expected to refashion old parts or devise new parts on their own. As a result, the report said, employees spent more time fixing old parts ''than the parts are actually worth'' or ''create their own hiding places for the hard-to-get parts.''
    • In April 1982, when the Transport Workers Union and the Transit Authority signed a three-year contract, officials successfully used the Maynard report, and a survey showing that management at all but 1 of 24 other major transit systems had the unilateral right to set production standards, to demand that existing work quotas be thrown out.
    • When management then instituted ''output targets'' at one of the shops, Mr. Zuccotti rejected a union challenge, leaving the situation much as it was before 1972.
    • In recent months, the State Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, and the M.T.A. Inspector General, Sidney Schwartz, each took a look at the aftermath of the Zuccotti decision. Neither liked what he saw. Only $2 Million Is Saved
    • Mr. Regan said that instead of the $125 million in productivity improvements that the M.T.A. said was possible within five years - savings, he said, that could cut 10 cents off a future fare increase - the Transit Authority had shown savings of only $2 million in 18 months and had made no real effort ''to identify the full scope of the inefficient practices it is now in a position to correct.''
    • ''For the transit rider,'' Mr. Regan said, ''this means having to put up with more train breakdowns, fewer doors opening and more heaters and air-conditioners out of operation - every single day.''
    • Mr. Schwartz found that ''while the arbitrator's decision was acknowledged in theory'' in the shops and barns, ''numerous employees were not working full and/or productive days.''
    • For example, at the Jamaica, Queens, car barn, where batteries for flashlights and headlamps were out of stock for 10 weeks, 25 car cleaners and 12 car inspectors stopped working 50 to 80 minutes before their shifts ended. At the Pitkin barn in Brooklyn, where water alone was used to clean cars because soap was out of stock for five weeks, 11 inspectors stopped working an hour before their days ended. At the Pelham diesel-repair shop in the Bronx, three employees could not be located until the end of their shifts, and another left early. But a review of their time cards, Mr. Schwartz said, ''showed that all four claimed eight hours of straight time plus four hours' overtime.''
    • ''I don't believe we've gotten much in the way of productivity,'' said Stephen Berger, chairman of the finance committee of the M.T.A. board. ''There's less slack in the shops than when I joined the board in 1979. But it's still significant.''
    • Union leaders concede that some employees are not working ''eight for eight'' - eight hours of work for eight hours of pay.
    • ''Human nature being what it is,'' said John Lawe, the president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, ''some men took advantage of the quota system and maybe 10 percent still don't do enough. But when the T.A. came up with these new targets, I told Ravitch that I wanted to cooperate. I told him, 'The men will beat you every day. You're not going to be there every day.' ''
    • 'Decay Set In, And Apathy Set In'
    • Like many workers, Mr. Lawe attributed the low productivity to such shop conditions as inadequate pit lighting, aisle space, ventilation and, most importantly, a dearth of supplies.
    • ''In the 1960's, this system was stocked to the teeth, which it should be,'' he said. ''Then decay set in, and apathy set in, and stock went out.''
    • There are many reasons for the shortages, and some have more to do with men than machines.
    • In 1981 and 1982, a seven-month strike at the Westinghouse Airbrake Company, the sole supplier of some 3,000 parts, led to 16-month delay in receipt of some of those parts. The loss of a bid folder in the Transit Authority's purchasing division resulted in a year's delay for other parts. This year, a shortage of kits for patching car floors stemmed from a Transit Authority decision to redefine the kits' specifications, after a five-month review of the bids responding to the original order. Ultimately, such red tape ensnares the workers. 'See What You Can Do'
    • ''What happens in the shops,'' said Nick Bouboulis, a union section chairman at the Coney Island repair shop, ''is that a supervisor who doesn't have parts will simply say: 'See what you can do, Joe. We've got to get that car out.' That's the famous words: 'See what you can do.' ''
    • Beyond its effect on routine subway maintenance, the lack of parts has repeatedly delayed a $600 million project to overhaul 3,000 cars and restore them to ''the peak of their lifetime performance.'' Along with the purchase of 1,375 new cars through the $6.3 billion transit capital program started in 1982, the overhauling was viewed as the key means of improving service in the 1980's. The average age of the fleet today, 20 years, is older than at any time in the last decade.
    • The overhaul project, conceived in 1978, was rescheduled four times before production began in March 1983. By last month, 276 model R-36 cars had received a million-mile overhaul. But not one of the cars was ''delivered to specification,'' according to David L. Gunn, who became president of the Transit Authority last February. George Miller, the executive vice president of the agency, said that because of a ''critical breakdown in the procurement system,'' 20 to 30 percent of the parts used in the overhauls were recycled.
    • Mr. Kiley, in a speech to the Association for a Better New York, said he had seen undercarriages of cars ''laboriously stripped down and being rebuilt with the same old nuts and bolts and component parts that had just been taken out - which is about the same as subjecting yourself to the trauma and expense of a heart transplant only to wake up and discover that the doctor put your old, damaged heart back in place.''
    • Compounding the problems in car maintenance is a shortage of diagnosticians and a tendency by some employees to keep private records of their work rather than note the work on index cards, which are in the process of being automated.
    • During an investigation last month of car fires, A. Richardson Goodlatte, the system's chief mechanical officer, found that only 100 of 6,400 maintenance employees could ''read electrical prints and trouble-shoot electrical faults.''
    • ''About half of these are hourly employees and all are unevenly distributed around the system,'' he said in a memorandum.
    • The Deterioration Of 832 Miles of Track
    • Another area in which inefficient practices have been grafted to a legacy of underinvestment is the condition of the track. While the subway system has 230 route miles in its 26 lines in four boroughs, many routes have parallel track. The total mileage is 832, including 705 miles of mainline track and 127 miles in storage yards.
    • As recently as 1982, in what an aide to an M.T.A. board member called ''a lot of smoke and mirrors,'' transit officials maintained that ''the existing track condition is satisfactory,'' posed no safety hazards and required no increase in funding. But when as many trains derailed in the first six months of 1983 as in all of 1982 - 12 - the dimensions of the crisis began to emerge.
    • For years the Transit Authority has employed track walkers who were supposed to inspect all the track twice a week, with each responsible for a six- to eight-mile section, and to perform such routine work as tightening bolts or replacing spikes. The track walkers used a system of red and yellow tags to alert supervisors to problems that they could not fix. A red tag meant immediate attention was required; a yellow tag, a less urgent condition. There were usually about 90 red-tag areas at any time.
    • In June 1983, transit officials conducted a special inspection that uncovered 512 red-tag areas. Only 6 percent of those areas had previously been given red tags, but some had been on file for more than five months without being fixed. Motormen were ordered to reduce their speeds in all red-tag areas to about 10 miles an hour and on-time performance plummeted. Misleading Reports
    • For a decade, while transit officials had published statistics showing that the subway fleet was on time almost all of the time, the official ledgers tended to mask reality. In computing its figure, the Transit Authority had excluded the many trains that were held up because of repair work on the lines or whose scheduled run was canceled before it started out or when it was in service, for mechanical or other reasons. Only the remaining trains were counted, and ''on time'' meant arriving at a final destination within four minutes of schedule.
    • Shortly after the red-tag crisis, the agency adopted a new formula for measuring on-time performance. It extends the four minutes to five but includes all scheduled subways. By this standard, performance in recent years was far worse than originally reported. In 1980 it was 83.3 percent, not 94.9 percent; in 1981, 84.8 percent, not 93.6 percent; and in 1982, 83.8 percent, not 93.1 percent.
    • In 1983, performance was 70.6 percent, not 94.2 percent. And from July through September, when slowdowns were at their worst, it averaged 49 percent.
    • It is now clear that while most of the track was being walked once a week before last summer, only a small portion was walked twice. And that situation persists. In a typical week this month, for example, 27 of the 86 sections of track were walked twice; 51, once; and 8, not at all. Delays in Noting Red Tags
    • ''A track walker spends a good part of his day doing everything but what he's supposed to do,'' said Gil Renschak, the Transport Workers Union vice president for maintenance of way. ''How far can you walk, how much track can you inspect, when you have to stop every two or three minutes for a train or to pick up a handbag or remove debris or answer a complaint or help put out a fire.''
    • Moreover, the track-walking system is riddled with some of the same problems that afflict other subway operations. The warnings contained in the red forms are supposed to be computerized weekly but often are not for months. Book inventories of replacement parts are often so inaccurate that actual stock can lag behind minimum requirements by as much as 75 to 99 percent. On occasion, 90 workers have had to share four drills or use manual hammers, while outside contractors on the system were using hydraulic spike hammers.
    • Federal inspectors who surveyed 100 miles of track here last month concluded that ''the quality of routine maintenance is poor'' and that ''supervisory concern for these errors is not apparent.'' Although the inspectors found no track that was unsafe, they identified 339 defective conditions, particularly in rail alignment.
    • Compared with the 20 derailments in all of 1983 - 13 of which were attributed to track conditions and 7 to car equipment - there have been 11 derailments so far this year, with 2 or 3 ascribed to track. After months of emergency repairs, there are now some 15 red-tag areas. But, instead of being fixed, many of the 512 red-tag areas from June 1983 were reduced to the status of yellow tags, which currently number 327.
    • The Symbols of Defeat: Broken Doors and Graffiti
    • And, still, the problem is bigger. According to officials of the Gunn administration, about 11,400 tons, or 58 miles, of track should be replaced annually - a quantity that was last met in 1975. Such was the deterioration, they say, that ''roughly half'' the mainline track needs ''complete reconstruction'' or ''extensive replacement of rails, ties and other components.'' In addition, they estimate that at least one-quarter of the structural spans that support 180 miles of elevated track have serious corrosion or cracking and defects from aging.
    • If the extent of bad track wasn't known until recently, the problem with inoperable subway-car doors, which are annually responsible for tens of thousands of service delays and much straphanger frustration, has long been obvious. But, according to Mr. Goodlatte, who became chief mechanical officer in April, a Transit Authority committee that was looking into the resolution of the door problem ''didn't even know how to explain it to me.''
    • ''It was a disgrace,'' he said.
    • Although car doors occasionally open when they should not, the usual problem is doors that do not open when they should. Transit officials say that broken door panels can be found in about 18 percent of subway cars - a much higher figure has been reported by groups representing subway riders - and account for one-third of all mechanical failures that interrupt service. Traction-motor problems and other electrical difficulties cause about 45 percent of failures; the brake system, 15 percent; and miscellaneous failures, 10 percent. Damaged by Riders
    • The problem with the doors, officials say, begins with poor design of door operator mechanisms, door relays and signal light relay systems, improperly hung doors, and faulty door tracks - all of which may require extensive modification. It ends, they say, with abuse by riders who slam or hold doors while they are closing, which can damage the door linkage in older car models or cause overheating of door engines and the malfunctioning of electrical relays, any combination of which can result in a broken door.
    • A train's departure is delayed until the motorman and the conductor see a light signaling that all doors are shut. To obtain the go-ahead signal when a door is malfunctioning, the conductor must turn off the door's operator mechanism and manually lock the door shut. That door will stay closed until it is turned back on. But this procedure, like others in a system where seniority rights can translate into junior employees maintaining such burdensome equipment as car doors, frequently goes awry.
    • A platform conductor at a busy midtown subway station explained that he and others in his position had received little pads on which to note the identifying numbers of cars whose doors weren't opening. Uncontrollable Graffiti
    • ''Month after month,'' he said, ''I wrote them up and gave them to my supervisor. But month after month, those same cars come through here without their doors fixed.''
    • Nearby, a train lurched into the station, its brakes screeching. Some of its 10 cars were clean, at least on the outside. The surfaces of others were obliterated by the graffiti that, even more than inoperable doors, represent abuse of the equipment and what transit officials themselves admit is ''a loss of control of the system.''
    • In one of the cars - which, according to maintenance records, was being swept and washed for two to eight minutes every few days - wild swaths of black and blue and red covered the walls and ceilings and stretched across the system maps, rendering them useless. The half-opened windows and cracked floors were streaked with grime; the floors littered with paper and soiled tissues.
    • For a decade after this car was bought in the late 1950's, officials say, it was probably free of graffiti. Virtually all cars were. When graffiti writing became a phenomenon in the early 1970's - encouraged, in part, by what a union official criticized as ''good write-ups for a new art form by teenagers who had to express themselves'' - only tentative steps were taken to combat it. And within a few years, according to a senior transit executive of that time, ''it got to a point where we couldn't cope with it.''
    • ''It was being put on faster than we could take it off,'' he said. Attitude of 'Why Bother?'
    • As of last March, when the Transit Authority completed its latest quarterly study, 90.3 percent of subway cars had interior graffiti, an increase of 12 percent since the first such report in January 1983. The percentage of cars with exterior graffiti - which, unlike the interior markings, are usually applied when the cars are in storage - was not tabulated.
    • Since 1980, transit officials have spent $12 million on removing graffiti from cars and stations and $17.5 million on fencing yards and barns with razor-ribbon coiling, whose purpose is often defeated by easy entrance through gates that are left open. An additional $100,000 has been spent on a team of six guard dogs, who appear to be an effective deterrent but patrol only the Corona yard in Queens.
    • Today, nearly 40 percent of the fleet is still stored along mainline track, where graffitists have ready access. Many car barns lack the kind of equipment that can remove exterior graffiti - which are supposed to be removed monthly when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees - and simple detergents, rather than chemicals, are generally used. For the bulk of the fleet, interior graffiti writing is scheduled for removal only when it is obscene or obscures signs, windows or maps.
    • In these circumstances, a foreman remarked, the prevailing attitude is ''why bother?''

August 1984

[edit]
  • The Transit Authority is at the midpoint of the $6.3 billion, five-year capital program that began in January 1982. With most of the effort so far spent on design and the letting of contracts, the impact of the program on the public has been relatively small. That will soon change, according to officials. The Gunn administration is working on many fronts: It is fighting to increase management control over the work force, it is considering a final decision on a controversial Queens subway project and it is devising ways to reduce duplicative subway and bus service on some lines and schedule subway service on other lines that have lost 30 to 60 percent of their ridership. And all the while, projects such as track renewal are being intensified. Mr. Gunn recently requested that spending for track replacement be increased by more than 50 percent, to $612 million, from $392 million. The track work, officials say, will combine with the replacement of aged trackside signals and the modernization of barns and repair shops to create service disruptions so severe in the daytime as well as nighttime that ridership may dip further. ''Just maintaining our current levels of ridership while major reconstruction is under way and operating problems are being addressed will be noteworthy,'' said George Miller, the executive vice president of the Transit Authority.'' Smooth execution of the track work, transit officials say, will be complicated not only by its scale but also by the inexperience of the work force: Nearly half the employees on the reconstruction will be new to the job. By raising the funds for the 1982-86 capital program, Richard Ravitch, the previous chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, offered the new transit leadership the potential for progress. But neither he nor John D. Simpson, whose presidency of the Transit Authority coincided with Mr. Ravitch's tenure from late 1979 to early last summer, turned around the operational problems of the subway system. Mr. Simpson, who is now a transportation consultant with the Fluor Corporation in Irvine, Calif., said in a recent interview that he had managed ''a modest upturn'' in the fortunes of the system, while ''keeping my sanity playing racquetball.'' But Mr. Ravitch, a lawyer and builder, said he was ''amazed that the system ran at all. ''It won't really change for the better,'' he said, ''until it is physically rebuilt and until the public stops dumping on it.'' As the new head of this troubled system, Mr. Gunn is eager to stress that his administration is not responsible for its failures. To underscore the difficulties he faces, he is fond of likening the Transit Authority to a supertanker: ''You turn the helm, so to speak, and it responds very slowly. It's not a sports car, the T.A. It's a large, cumbersome machine, and it changes direction very slowly.'' Meanwhile, the capital program is being scrutinized by a committee of agency vice presidents to improve coordination between design and construction projects, between in-house engineering staff and outside consultants and between operating departments and the public - especially as service disruptions increase. Ways are being sought to reduce the agency's dependence on technical consultants, who were paid $40.3 million in 1983 alone. In this process, some aspects of the capital program are being slowed, if not discarded, and others, such as station renovation and increased air-conditioning, are being assigned low priority. The prime focus is the restoration of the physical underpinnings of the system.
  • Our colleague, M. A. Farber, so convincingly described the dark side of New York City's subways last week, it seems implausible that anyone will ever find light at the end of the tunnel. No improvement is likely without even more capital to restore a starved, neglected railroad. But even more capital will be wasted if dispirited managers fail to get a grip on their mission. The dirt, discomfort and delays are only symptoms of a long decay that a civilized community should attack as intolerable.
    • New rail systems are running or abuilding in at least 10 American cities, with mixed results and promise. As they age, they, too, will discover that rail transit produces a debilitating tug-of-war between passengers and taxpayers and between transit workers and system managers. These struggles in turn tempt managers to skimp on maintenance - and politicians to run from the problem.
    • The bigger an urban mass transit system, the tougher the job of maintaining rights-of-way, rolling stock and stations. The older the system, the more likely that population and job shifts have removed a large part of the users. But the underlying problems are political, starting with the need for subsidies and the public's resentment of changes that might enhance efficiency.
    • Abandoning a station or a line, even reducing a schedule, is greeted as an act of official vandalism. Change in civil service rules is denounced because it rewards ability in the workshop, not in the examination room. Incentive pay is criticized as wasteful or dangerous to safety. In the ensuing fracas, hardly anyone is left to lobby for the public as a whole.
    • The consequences in New York have been tabulated by Inspector General Sidney Schwartz, State Comptroller Ned Regan and Mr. Farber. In the past year there were 61,000 train delays, twice as many as 10 years ago. A third of the trains ran more than four minutes late. At least 10,000 orders for spare parts and supplies were backlogged, for months, by computer failure. Repair shops are dirty, cold and ill equipped. More than 20 percent of the parts used for reconditioning had already surpassed their normal life. Only 100 of 6,400 maintenance em- ployees were qualified to read electrical prints. Passengers ride filthy trains, defaced by menacing graffiti. They often sit in the dark, pass through ill- functioning doors, walk corridors that reek of urine. Felony crimes are up 14 percent in a year. Smoking, spitting and fare-beating are common. How can a decent system evolve from the present shambles? Only by the imposition of management systems that offer incentives, discipline and pride in performance. By freeing the Transit Authority to choose, promote and dismiss supervisors. By letting it reduce and expand service as traffic justifies. By punishing political leaders who fail to rally a constituency for transit recovery. Change requires a recognition that much as New York needs subways, their survival is by no means assured. There are limits to the available tax subsidies. Grave accidents or collapses may make abandonments imperative. The public and its leaders and the transit system and its workers need to define their common interest. The subway cord that binds New York City must not end up strangling it. There is no higher municipal priority. There is no better measure of a Mayor and a Governor.
  • Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato yesterday announced a $35.9 million Federal grant for the Transit Authority that will be spent on day-to-day operations.
    • Kurt E. Schork, the M.T.A.'s chief of staff, disputed Mr. Amato's assertion that the agency was neglecting the crime problem, pointing to a $14 million program to build off-hour waiting areas for passengers.
  • A proposal to establish more than 1,100 Transit Authority supervisory jobs that would be filled without the use of Civil Service exams was approved by Mayor Koch yesterday.
    • The change in Civil Service status had been sought by Robert R. Kiley, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is the parent agency of the Transit Authority, as part of a plan to make management more accountable for its actions.
    • ''This measure is necessary to operate the buses and subway in the way the public demands and deserves,'' the Mayor said.
    • The proposal must now be approved by the State Civil Service Commission before it becomes effective. Mayor Koch urged the commission to review the resolution quickly.
  • TRANSIT SURVEY FINDS SMALL RISE IN COMFORT
  • New York City's subway system has been troubled in recent years by hundreds of fires that started in the same piece of equipment: an electrical switch box beneath the car floors.
    • A review of Transit Authority documents going back to 1978 and interviews with transit officials show that the authority has failed to take actions that might have prevented many of the fires.
    • The fires have injured hundreds of people and caused millions of dollars' worth of damage. Last year, there were almost 300 such fires; so far this year, there have been 163.
    • While experts say fires in the group switch box can have different causes, some difficult to control, this is what the documents and interviews found:
    • - The authority lacks maintenance workers who know how to find and fix electrical problems. As a result, cars with switch box problems have been repeatedly returned to service until they finally burst into flames.
    • - Specific recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board in 1981 after an eight-month study have been put into effect poorly.
    • - Other cities with similar switch boxes have found an effective solution - installing heat sensors that shut the boxes down when temperatures are getting dangerously high. New York's Transit Authority has not installed the sensors, which have been used successfully in Washington and Boston.
    • The Transit Authority began a campaign against the fires last month, saying that the sensors would be studied and maintenance and inspections would be improved.
    • ''We're being tougher on ourselves than we have been in the past,'' said David L. Gunn, the new president of the authority. ''The key to this problem is improving the quality of our maintenance and making sure that our people have the proper tools and training.''
    • It is in the group switch box, which is the size of a refrigerator and lodged under the middle of the subway car, that the flow of electricity from the third rail - about 600 volts - is tamed and channeled to control the acceleration and braking action of the car.
    • Although the authority says it does not have records of group switch box fires in the subway system before 1981, internal memorandums show that the total number of fires in the subway rose every year from at least 1976 on. The statistics, however, do not list group switch box fires separately until 1982.
    • The authority's records about the problem are scanty. Asked to produce documents on the subject, the authority delivered about 30 pieces of correspondence, dating from 1978 through February 1984, when Mr. Gunn took over the agency.
    • The documents show that in 1978 the authority was aware that workers repairing the group switch boxes were poorly trained. 'An Absolute Necessity'
    • A superintendent who had spent one month at the authority's East 180th Street shop in the Bronx that year reported that ''the lion's share'' of the equipment problems was ''directly attributable to poor workmanship and lack of training.'' The superintendent said that creating a training program was ''an absolute necessity.''
    • But no specific training programs for group switch box repair workers were instituted, authority officials said.
    • ''In the late 1970's, some monies began to be returned to the budget for training,'' said Jack Dempsey, now the head of rapid transit training for the authority. ''But there was really no formalized process in place and not much was getting done.''
    • For the period between 1978 and 1980, statistics on group switch box fires have begun to emerge. There were 10 ''heavy burn-ups'' on the IRT line in the last half of 1978, 19 in the last half of 1979 and 25 in the same period in 1980, according to the Safety Board.
    • It linked the trend at least in part to a 1978 cost-saving measure - a reduction in subway car inspections from every 7,500 miles to every 10,000 miles.
    • The board made a manual search of shop records to come up with its numbers. Although the authority apparently was not keeping track of switch box fires, it was aware of a problem.
    • Between 1978 and 1980, documents indicate, efforts were made to find mechanical defects that might be causing the fires. The authority was rewiring the group switch boxes in about 500 of the fleet's 6,000 cars because insulation around the cables was ''cracking and causing fire.'' It began to move one component - a ''J resistor'' - out of the boxes. Extra lubrication was tried.
    • The authority also started testing a shutoff valve for the air hoses that some group switch boxes had. When a fire occurred, the air hoses often burst and fanned the flames. To date, about 1,400 of the 2,795 cars with the air hoses have been equipped with the valve.
    • At the end of 1980, two major switch box fires occurred. One, on Dec. 10, destroyed the box, burned through the car's floor, melted car seats and distorted the car's underframe structure. The other, on Dec. 11, caused similar damage and forced the removal of passengers through emergency exits. One passenger was taken to a hospital because of smoke inhalation.
    • The Safety Board made an immediate investigation, finding that maintenance workers were ill-trained and that inspections were poor and infrequent. It concluded that those conditions had led to the four fires it studied.
    • One car involved had received the authority's most thorough inspection nine days before the fire. Another car had been ordered out of service by an inspector seven days before the fire but had stayed in service until the fire. A third car had been in a shop for switch box repairs the day before the fire.
    • The board made 13 recommendations, which included starting a training program, getting a computer system that would make up-to-date information on each car available and conducting more and better inspections.
    • Although the Transit Authority, in a letter dated April 21, 1982, agreed to almost every suggestion, transit officials and board investigators said recently that many of the authority's actions had not been good enough.
    • For instance, the authority's way of improving inspections was to institute a Class A inspection. But the new inspection after 5,000 miles - the previous inspection cycle started at 10,000 miles - did not include so much as lifting the cover off the group switch box. 'It's Nothing'
    • ''The A inspection is like going out to your car in the morning and looking at the gas gauge, checking the radiator and making sure the oil was up,'' said William C. Pugh, who was in charge of the Safety Board's investigation in 1981. ''It's nothing.''
    • Nor was the authority's computer system, though installed and working, used much. Until last month, information was routinely entered into the computer two to six weeks late and was incomplete, according to Mr. Gunn.
    • As for training, the authority established a five-day minicourse in 1982. As of May 1984, 272 of the 3,000 employees who work on, supervise or inspect group switch boxes had taken the course, Mr. Dempsey said.
    • The course did not include on-the-job training and apparently achieved little. On June 25 of this year, A. Richard Goodlatte, the authority's new chief mechanical officer, told his superior that fewer than 100 of the Car Equipment Department's 6,400 employees could read electrical prints.
    • In 1982, there were 217 group switch box fires in the subways. In 1983, there were 295. In the first six months of 1984, there were 120 such fires.
    • On July 6 of this year, after 11 major fires in June, the authority began taking cars with three or more switch box problems in the last two months out of service for special inspections.
    • The authority is trying to enlist the help of the makers of the switch boxes to train a team of trouble-shooters. Officials also said more frequent and strenuous inspections were planned.
    • ''The goal is to have a new system in by the fall,'' Mr. Goodlatte said.
  • Carolyn S. Konheim's letter in your Aug. 17 edition argues that ''accountability is the first rule of effective management.'' We have no argument with the basic concept.
    • But to then say that Transit Authority President David Gunn is the only one pursuing this goal is totally untrue. Even before Mr. Gunn took over his present duties, we in the Transport Workers Union presented him with a program of action in cooperation with the union and its members to keep the New York City transit system from falling apart. He has ignored our offer. We presented him with a plan to inspect and repair the cars - with worker accountability - to guarantee the repairs for 15,000 miles. He found a minor flaw and chose to ignore the suggestion of the men who know best how to get the job done.
    • Mr. Gunn wants to take away the union and civil service protections of most of his supervisory force. This is a phony proposal. Union membership and civil service protection never kept these supervisors from performing their tasks when our subways and buses were the most efficient in the world.
    • Mr. Gunn is no savior of the New York City transit system. The only way we're going to return the system to its former greatness is through a genuine partnership of labor and management, and provision of the parts and tools necessary to get the job done. JOHN E. LAWE President, Local 100 Transport Workers Union New York, Aug. 20, 1984
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates New York City's subway and bus system, is selling $135 million of revenue bonds backed by passenger fares plus subsidies from the state and city governments and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. The sale is part of the authority's five-year, $6.3 billion capital improvement program to improve mass transit service.
    • Underwriters led by Dillon, Read & Company tentatively offered the bonds yesterday with yields ranging from 7 percent for bonds due in 1985 to 10.50 percent in 1999 and 10.839 percent in 2004. The largest part of the financing consists of nearly $90 million of 10 7/8 percent bonds due in 2014, tentatively priced at 99 1/4 to yield 10.957 percent.

September 1984

[edit]
  • NEW YORK TO REIMBURSE U.S. FOR GRUMMAN BUSES
  • The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority refused yesterday to give the inspector general of the authority access to notes from an M.T.A. inquiry into its new Japanese subway cars.
    • The inspector general, Sidney Schwartz, had asked for the notes in a letter to the board two weeks ago that threatened court action if his request were denied.
    • Mr. Schwartz had already been refused the notes by the chairman of the authority, Robert R. Kiley, who cited lawyer-client privilege.
    • After being notified of the board's position, Mr. Schwartz agreed to meet with M.T.A. officials next week to seek a compromise. ''We will meet to discuss a possible resolution,'' he said, ''We don't know how it will be resolved.'' Restrictions Unacceptable
    • Mr. Kiley had offered to let Mr. Schwartz see the notes with certain restrictions, including a written agreement that no copies would be made of the notes and a pledge to refrain from summarizing, quoting or referring to the notes unless ''it is absolutely necessary to do so.''
    • Mr. Schwartz said he had found such conditions unacceptable. ''Clearly,'' he wrote to the board, ''these restrictions are not in keeping with the spirit or the letter of the statute creating this office.''
    • The inspector general's office was established last year; Mr. Schwartz reports directly to the Governor. This has been the source of some friction, and Mr. Kiley has said he is not happy with the arrangement.
    • The notes that Mr. Schwartz wants to see were taken by the Transit Authority's general counsel, Steven Polan, when he was asked to investigate allegations that the authority had instructed employees to find faults with new subway cars manufactured in Japan. 'Intimidating' Words
    • In his review, made public last June, Mr. Polan concluded that the allegations that an official had been told to find fault with the cars ''or else'' were unfounded.
    • Mr. Polan, however, said it was likely that ''intimidating'' words had been used in conversations with the official who made the accusation, John N. Cetinich.
    • Mr. Kiley said the board's decision, made in executive session before its regularly scheduled monthly meeting at M.T.A. headquarters, was unanimous.
    • ''We didn't really vote,'' Mr. Kiley said. ''But it's fair to say that there was a unanimous feeling.''
    • The statute that establishes the office of inspector general gives the office ''full and unrestricted access to all records, information, data, reports, plans, projections, materials, contracts, memoranda, correspondence and any other materials of the authority and its subsidiaries.''
    • Mr. Kiley said he had tried to accommodate Mr. Schwartz, noting the offer of access with restrictions. ''The inspector general had all the access, more than all the access he needed,'' Mr. Kiley said. ''He talked to all the same people we talked to. He went down the same trail.''
  • But earlier this year, the authority adopted an official policy toward the vans, deciding not to try to stop van services in areas where the authority either had no service or could not provide equal service.
    • ''If we can't give them the service,'' said Mr. Bernard, the authority's general counsel, ''then we're not going to object to it. But when we offer the same service, we will continue to oppose certification.''
  • ANOTHER PROBLEM IS CITED IN TRANSIT POLICE RADIOS

October 1984

[edit]
  • A subway car that burst into flame Thursday at the Borough Hall station in Brooklyn had been in and out of the repair shop dozens of times since July, the Transit Authority said yesterday.
    • The car had serious electrical problems and should have been removed from service, the authority said. But instead, in apparent violation of new maintenance rules, it was returned to the tracks over and over again, with minor repairs that failed to solve the problems.
    • The car, No. 9000, went back into service Thursday and completed half of its run before catching fire at 4:55 P.M., apparently when its switch box overheated. Two thousand passengers were removed from the train, and the flames burned out of control until the floor of the car melted.
    • The authority has been troubled by hundreds of fires this year. The Borough Hall fire was one of six that broke out Thursday, and there were three more yesterday. But the blaze at the Borough Hall station was one of the worst. If it had occurred a few minutes earlier, in the IRT subway tunnel under the East River, there could have been a major tragedy, authority officials said yesterday.
    • As reconstructed yesterday by the authority, the fire broke out in the group switch box under the center of the car. The switch box controls the 600 volts of power from the system's third rail. Switch boxes have been a major cause of subway fires.
    • Under a program started in July, any car with three switch-box failures in two months was to have been taken out of service immediately for special repairs. Car 9000 had nine such failures since July 5.
    • ''When I saw the reports on this car my initial reaction was one of anger and frustration that this had happened,'' David L. Gunn, the president of the authority, said yesterday. ''That car was screaming for help for three months.''
    • Mr. Gunn and other Transit Authority officials blamed the problem on poor training. ''This one got through the loop,'' said David F. Feeley, the authority's head of operations. ''In every case our people are not as technically competent as you'd like them to be.'' Since the authority began the switch-box program, about 1,400 cars with a history of such problems have been identified. Repairs have been made on about 1,000 of them. Most of the rest are in various stages of repair.
    • The saga of car 9000, as shown on Transit Authority computer printouts, began on July 5, 1984, when the 20- year-old car was brought to the 180th Street repair shop in the Bronx because it was not picking up power.
    • Over the next three months, the records show, the car was repaired dozens of times. In some cases, the repairs made were relatively simple - the air conditioning and windshield wipers were fixed, and glass panels in the doors were replaced.
    • But over that period, there were regular electrical problems with the car that were not repaired. In some instances, officials said, the work done was the equivalent of changing a blown fuse, without finding out what the real problem was.
    • In August, car 9000 went through one of the authority's most thorough inspections, known as a B inspection. But the electrical problems apparently were still not corrected. Five days after the car was released for service after that inspection, it was returned to the shop for a ''dead motor,'' the records show.
    • ''Throughout its history, just the symptoms were addressed,'' Mr. Gunn said of the car, ''not the disease.''
    • The Transit Authority has 1,400 inspectors who are responsible for identifying the kind of problems that plagued car 9000.
    • But officials said yesterday that many of the inspectors lacked training, and that there is a shortage of people who can read a car's repair history and understand what it means. Mr. Gunn said he assumed that this was why the car had slipped through the screening procedure.
    • ''It's not always a clear-cut thing,'' he said. ''You have to interpret the records.''
    • Training programs were set up last summer to alleviate the problem, Mr. Gunn said. ''Lack of training is not something I can change with an edict,'' he added. ''It takes time.,''
    • Although the authority has had computer terminals in the repair barns for several years, officials indicated that the computers may not have been used very much to identify problems of cars. This may also account for why car 9000 was not identified as having serious problems.
    • Until the campaign against switch- box fires, officials said, data fed into the computers were usually about three weeks old and therefore not always helpful.
    • ''This is an old institution,'' said David F. Feeley, the head of operations for the authority, ''People have habits and ways of doing things. It's hard to get them to change.''
    • Officials yesterday said that other attitudes might also have to be changed. ''There has been heavy pressure on this property to meet service requirements,'' said Mr. Gunn. ''I am going to have to emphasize that I would rather explain a shortage of service than stand up here and explain a fire.''
    • One question Transit Authority officials were struggling with yesterday was who was responsible for releasing the car without adequate repairs.
    • The authority is now structured in such a way that a car undergoing repair and inspection can be handled by dozens of different people. Officials said it would take days to trace the process that car 9000 went through.
    • Mr. Gunn said yesterday that the 6,000-car subway fleet would once again be reviewed to see if any other cars had ''slipped'' through.
    • Meanwhile, authority officials said, it is highly unlikely that car 9000 will ever be repaired and returned to service.
  • Transit officials rush to assert that though subway car fires seem to be occurring daily, they've been less frequent this year than last. The 1,500 so far in 1984, however, are still too many. And the most dangerous, the switch-box fires, have increased.
    • The Transit Authority's president, David Gunn, argues persuasively that the fault lies more with management than machinery, a point that makes the problem all the harder to solve. The question is whether the State Legislature can muster the will to help improve the management.
    • Top Transit managers well understand that faulty switch boxes pose a constant danger; they control the powerful electric current that drives a subway car. Beginning in July, the T.A. required removal of any car for special repair after its third switch-box failure. But car No. 9000 stayed in service despite nine failures, and officials are still trying to find out why.
    • The special repair program became necessary for an even more troubling reason: Two-thirds of the city's 6,000 subway cars are past due for major overhaul, and only recently have maintenance crews become productive enough to keep that backlog from increasing.
    • Transit officials acknowledge that disorganization is a major problem. Inspections are performed haphazardly by an uncoordinated group of inspectors. The T.A. leadership also says maintenance suffers from a shortage of workers with sufficient electrical expertise to diagnose problems properly.
    • Mr. Gunn wants to reorganize the inspection teams and staffs of maintenance garages. But he complains that civil service and union rules stand in his way. He also argues that the rules frustrate efforts to motivate workers and inhibit the recruiting of desperately needed new talent.
    • That's why he and Robert Kiley, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are campaigning for new legislation to remove many of the agency's middle managers from civil service and union jurisdiction. The surpervisors' unions, their survival at stake, object, and the proposal has had a mixed reaction in Albany.
    • Civil service rules were intended to depoliticize public agencies, not to strangle them. Unions should not stand between administrators and the managers who carry out their policies. The sparks flying from subway switch boxes make clear the need for a bold response, however unpopular in some quarters. Without it, car No. 9000 will become an apt symbol for the subway's continuing deterioration: lots of treatment for the symptoms, but no concern for the underlying disease.
  • TRANSIT OFFICERS RECEIVING CITY POLICE RADIOS
  • Transit Authority officials, trying to ease concerns about fires on the city's subways, yesterday announced plans to increase training for some 3,000 car inspectors.
    • The president of the authority, David L. Gunn, told the authority's board that inspection teams would be reorganized and that the training program for car inspectors already on the payroll would be expanded to 12 weeks from the current two weeks.
    • Newly hired inspectors will be required to pass a 16-week course, he said.
    • Last Friday, Mr. Gunn blamed ill- trained inspectors for a fire under a subway car that had a history of group switchbox problems but never underwent the necessary repairs.
    • ''People working on the cars just don't have the skills or the techinical know-how to identify when a car is having a serious problem,'' Mr. Gunn said.
    • An authority spokesman, John Cunningham, said the new training program ''would be in full swing by the end of 1985.''
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its largest supervisor union are negotiating over how many supervisors should leave the union to join management ranks.
    • Robert R. Kiley, the head of the M.T.A., last winter called for the removal of 5,000 supervisors from union jurisdiction, saying the city's bus and subway systems would not be run properly until managers could be ''held accountable.''
    • But his proposal, which would require state legislation, has been lying dormant as Governor Cuomo, who appointed Mr. Kiley to his job, has said he favored a negotiated settlement.
    • The M.T.A. and the union, the 3,800- member Subway Surface Supervisory Association, are still far from agreement, according to negotiators on both sides, but a compromise involving the removal of some supervisors in exchange for giving money to the union is being discussed. Legislative Spotlight
    • The negotiations got under way last week, at a time when the M.T.A. is about to get legislative attention. The State Legislature is expected to take up the issue of fare subsidies for the city's mass-transit system when it meets in a special session in about a month.
    • According to Bruce C. McIver, its director of labor relations, the M.T.A. is now asking that 1,000 supervisory positions be taken out of the union, through attrition. In exchange, the agency is offering to make a contribution to the Subway Surface Supervisory Association's health fund.
    • But union officials have refused the offer, saying they would only agree to 350 jobs being dropped from the union. ''We just won't go any farther than that,'' said Leonard Joyner, the union's treasurer.
    • The union's health fund is losing about $40,000 a month, Mr. Joyner said. No specific amount of money from the M.T.A. has been discussed, but language to the effect that the union fund ''would be made whole'' has been proposed, Mr. Joyner said. Cuomo Aide Is Intermediary
    • The two sides have yet to meet face to face. The Governor's top labor aide, Thomas Hartnett, has been acting as an intermediary.
    • ''We are not exactly at the table,'' said Ronald Tarwater, a spokesman for Mr. Hartnett, ''It's been sort of informal - a sort of shuttle discussion with us going back and forth between the two.''
    • The supervisor union has also asked to have its contract, which expires May 31, renewed automatically, with wages and raises tied to whatever the M.T.A. negotiates with its largest worker union, the Transport Workers Union, officials on both sides said.
    • The M.T.A. has found this demand unacceptable. ''Basically, I don't like to link contracts together,'' Mr. McIver said. ''We don't know what we'll be bargaining for.'' 'Harassment' Charged
    • Union officials also complained yesterday that an M.T.A. payment to the union's health fund, which was due Oct. 1, had not yet been issued. Mr. Joyner called the late payment, of $300,000, ''harassment.''
    • Mr. McIver said the check was late because of ''technical problems we had with the numbers.'' He said the check would be issued ''soon.''
    • The Subway Surface Supervisory Association represents supervisors - from bus dispatchers to repair-shop foremen - who work at the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that runs the city's subways and buses.
    • About 1,000 top-level supervisors are represented by other unions. Mr. McIver said the M.T.A. was not negotiating with those unions at this time.
    • Mr. Kiley, who took office last December, has made exempting large numbers of supervisors from Civil Service examinations and taking them out of unions his principal theme. The city has already agreed to the Civil Service changes, and the M.T.A. is waiting for a final ruling on the matter from the state's Department of Civil Service.
  • The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that he would seek to set up a magnetic fare-card system in the city's subways over the next four years.
    • The chairman, Robert R. Kiley, said he would ask the M.T.A.'s board of directors to approve the $40.8 million plan before the end of the year.
    • Under the plan, devised by Arthur D. Little Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., the M.T.A. would first issue credit-card- sized passes to the agency's employees and to students, many of whom ride free. If that worked well, the program would be expanded, Mr. Kiley said.
    • The M.T.A. has already allocated money to pay for such a system. Mr. Kiley's predecessor as chairman, Richard Ravitch, endorsed the concept of magnetic cards, and in April 1983 the M.T.A. board put aside $150 million to purchase and install such a system on New York's subways, buses and commuter lines. Mr. Kiley is now asking the board to spend part of that money.
    • ''There may be concerns about certain aspects of the plan,'' Mr. Kiley said, ''but this piece is really just about the subways and I don't think there will be any real objections.''
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the largest union it bargains with have agreed to a major reorganization of the way in which subway cars are fixed, Mayor Koch announced yesterday.
    • The agreement, reached over the weekend at Gracie Mansion, will allow the M.T.A.'s subsidiary, the Transit Authority, to organize six- member teams to do basic repairs on cars, a move that management has said will improve maintenance.
    • Up to now, car repair workers have been able to choose the jobs they wish to do through a process called ''the pick.'' Under this system, management must post the jobs, specifying the hours and the days of the week the worker will work. Then workers choose the job they want according to seniority.
    • Although the pick will still remain, workers will not be able to choose quite so specifically what they will do. Robert R. Kiley, head of the M.T.A., said the categories of jobs would be reduced from 18 to 6. An End to Public Feud
    • The agreement was the first sign of cooperation between Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union and Mr. Kiley. He and the head of the union, John E. Lawe, have been publicly feuding for months.
    • Under the new agreement, management will also be able to ask workers on a six-member team, once they are finished with their own assignments, to pitch in and help other team members.
    • For instance, an electrician who is finished with electrical work on a car could be asked to work on a broken door.
    • Each six-member team will be responsible for the upkeep of only two cars, making it clear who is responsible for the condition of the car.
    • Previously dozens of people worked on any one car.
    • ''It's important progress,'' said Mr. Kiley. ''There is still much to be done, but this enables us to get going on something without there being a long grievance procedure.''
    • The new agreement will affect about 1,400 car repairers called car inspectors. It will go into effect in about a month, according to the M.T.A.'s labor director, Bruce C. McIver. Mayor Reverses Position
    • Along with the Mayor, Mr. Kiley, Mr. Lawe and Mr. McIver, the union's secretary, Paul Caiozzo, and Deputy Mayor Stanley Brezenoff attended the meeting at Gracie Mansion on Saturday. The agreement was struck over coffee and cookies.
    • The Mayor, who earlier had refused to become involved in the city's labor negotiations, said he had joined the discussion on Transit Authority problems in running the subways after a talk last week with the authority's president, David L. Gunn. Mr. Gunn outlined the changes he wanted to make, and the Mayor offered to act as intermediary.
    • Mr. Lawe said the agreement in no way violated the workers' contract.
    • ''The only thing that we ever opposed was that they wanted to assign the work,'' he said. ''We still have the right to pick. Our seniority rights are intact.''
    • Though he still called the M.T.A.'s labor relations director, Mr. McIver, a ''union buster,'' Mr. Lawe said the meeting had represented a major change in the stance of the authority.
    • 'It wasn't a bad meeting on the whole,'' he said. ''I saw some signs that management was reaching out for us to get a dialogue going.'
    • Mr. Lawe said he had agreed to nothing that management did not have the contractual right to do.
    • The Transit Authority and the union, which represents 33,000 Transit Authority workers, are also involved in a dispute over the way car cleaners are organized.
    • Like the car inspectors, the car cleaners have been able to pick specific jobs, such as cleaning the windows of all the cars on Track 4, according to David F. Feeley, the head of operations for the authority.
    • ''It had developed into a quota,'' he said. ''That was all the guy had to do, and if there was only one car there, that was it.''
    • Management maintains that the workers should be able to pick hours and days off but that beyond that supervisors should be able to assign the cleaning work.
    • Union officials have opposed such a reorganization, but yesterday, Mr. Lawe said he believed an agreement on that dispute would be worked out soon. He said a meeting was scheduled for next Monday or Tuesday.

November/December 1984

[edit]

November 1984

[edit]
  • 63D ST. SUBWAY TUNNEL: MORE SETBACKS FOR A TROUBLED PROJECT
  • Deputy Mayor Kenneth Lipper yesterday sharply criticized the leadership of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and challenged management to set specific goals for improving the city's subway and bus service.
    • Mr Lipper, who read from a statement approved by Mayor Koch, said the M.T.A. was relying too much on legislative changes that might never arrive.
    • It is ''unsatisfactory for management to throw up its hands and say nothing is possible: or no responsibility can be placed on it, until extraordinary legislation is enacted,'' Mr. Lipper said. ''All government agencies and businesses must operate in imperfect worlds and are held accountable for relative performance within their own confines.''
    • The M.T.A. chairman, Robert R. Kiley, has made getting 5,000 supervisors out of union jurisdiction a major theme of his administration. Without the change, which would require state legislation, little improvement in service can be expected, Mr. Kiley has said.
    • When Mr. Kiley made his appeal for the legislation last spring, Mr. Koch - unlike Governor Cuomo - joined him in urging the change. Yesterday, Mr. Koch said he would continue to ask for the legislation, but he urged Mr. Kiley to ''try to find a way to do it better with the cooperation of the unions.''
    • ''While I shall continue to support those legislative changes that are required,'' the Mayor said, ''I also believe that we must do whatever is doable within the tools that are available. I don't see any dichotomy in pursuing both avenues.''
    • Mr. Lipper read his statement at a meeting of the State Senate Transportation Committee at 2 World Trade Center. The committee is reviewing Mr. Lipper's nomination by the Mayor to the M.T.A. board of directors.
    • At the hearing, Mr. Lipper also called on the M.T.A. to drop its ''confrontational'' style with the unions and negotiate changes it is seeking.
    • ''The workers are not and must not be made the enemy,'' Mr. Lipper said. ''I am convinced that without improving worker morale and cooperation, the toughest management can at best achieve only a mediocre operation and at worst produce a collapse of mass transit.''
    • The call for negotiating with the unions was made a week after the M.T.A. and the Transport Workers Union, the largest union the M.T.A. deals with, reached a key agreement on subway-car repairs. The Mayor was an intermediary in reaching the accord.
    • It is also two weeks since the M.T.A. and its largest supervisors union started negotiations on how many supervisors should be in the bargaining unit. The negotiations, Mr. Kiley said yesterday, are continuing.
    • His sole comment on Mr. Lipper's statement was: ''I believe that the Deputy Mayor will be learning a lot over the next few months, and I look forward to being part of the process.''
    • At the Senate hearing, Mr. Lipper urged the M.T.A. to start collective bargaining right away. He said the agency's approach to bargaining of ''demand after demand presented in a salami-slicing tactic'' was difficult for union leaders to deal with. Suggests 2 Improvements
    • ''I urge both sides to end their daily confrontations, to commence collective bargaining immediately and to put together a comprehensive package of reforms before the contract expires in March 1985,'' Mr. Lipper said.
    • He also told the committee the M.T.A. and its Transit Authority subsidiary could make two immediate improvements without changes in work rules: speeding payments to suppliers and improving spare-parts inventories.
    • ''In my due diligence for this hearing, I was particularly dismayed by the lack of follow-through on vital management functions well within its control,'' he said.
    • The Transit Authority vice president in charge of materiel, Charles R. Broshous, said yesterday that changes were under way in the department. This year's purchasing orders were double the number of orders last year, he said. He added that next year's budget would show ''heavy infusions'' of new managerial supervisors. Concurrence by Koch
    • Mr. Lipper also suggested a statewide 10 percent corporate surcharge to replace the 17 percent corporate tax in the 12-county M.T.A. region. The 17 percent tax expires this year, and the Legislature is expected to meet and consider renewing it before the end of the year.
    • The Mayor, who answered questions in his office at City Hall yesterday, said he agreed with Mr. Lipper's point of view and differed only over the tone of the statement. Mr. Koch said Mr. Lipper's remarks were ''a variant'' of his own thoughts.
    • Asked if Mr. Lipper's language was stronger than his, Mr. Koch referred to a tactic used by police investigators and said: ''Suppose you got good guy- bad guy. Nothing wrong with that,''
  • EXCERPTS FROM TESTIMONY BY DEPUTY MAYOR ON THE FUTURE OF THE M.T.A.
  • A contemporary fashion of Paris and other major cities will soon get its first showing in New York City's subway: magnetically coded fare cards and automated turnstiles will be tested throughout the system, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said last week.
    • ''It's a heck of a lot more convenient than standing in line waiting to buy a token,'' Mr. Kiley said. The proposal, which would cost about $20 million to test, must still be approved by the M.T.A. board.
    • The transit agency also made headway last week on restructuring the way subway car repair workers perform their jobs. M.T.A. officials and leaders of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union agreed to several significant changes, ranging from the method of assigning work to the responsibilities of each six-member repair team. The reorganization is expected to improve subway car maintenance.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached an agreement with its largest union on assigning work to subway-car cleaners, M.T.A. officials announced yesterday.
    • It was the second time in less than two weeks that the M.T.A. and the union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers, had settled a dispute over how subway workers are to be organized. Last week, the union and the authority agreed on subway-car repairs.
    • The accord on cleaning will allow management greater flexibility in assigning tasks, officials said. Rather than having cleaners pick a job such as only sweeping or only mopping, the cleaners will be asked to pick one of two work categories. Then supervisors will be allowed to assign tasks within the categories.
  • With Mayor Koch's help, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its union have now agreed to try a new approach. The effort deserves praise and close scrutiny.
    • The city Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that actually runs the subways and some bus lines, has no easy job. Its cars spend their idle hours in 13 scattered barns. Its labor contract specifies that car inspectors may invoke seniority to select the barn in which they work, the time of work and which of 18 specialties they'll perform. No single foreman has coordinated their work, adjusted assignments when work is completed or guaranteed that any car is ready to roll. Mayor Koch's intervention now promises a new routine. It provides for grouping the 18 specialties under three headings, making the individual choices less confining. Two specialists in each category will henceforth constitute an inspection and maintenance team, led by a single foreman. Each team will be held accountable for servicing two cars a day, and members will help others when their own tasks are done. The foreman will vouch for completion of a car job.
    • These modest-looking changes represent three important steps forward. They aim to fix managerial responsibility. They demonstrate labor's willingness to change old work habits where its contract can remain inviolate. And they show that Mayor Koch can apply his influence even in an agency that had appeared beyond anyone's political reach.
    • Not until all public services are made to be the responsibility of accountable officials can the voters expect action to relieve their discontents.
  • The Transit Authority said yesterday that no increase in New York City's bus and subway fare would be needed next year if the state continued its present subsidies.
    • In announcing its 1985 budget, the authority also promised wide-ranging improvements in service.
    • The new $2.74 billion budget - $167 million, or 6.6 percent, more than the current one - sets more than 300 goals for the agency, from keeping 90 percent of the subway lights and public-address systems working to reducing train shortages during rush hours.
    • To reach those goals, the budget outlines a reorganization that would shift large numbers of workers from office jobs into field operations
    • To keep the bus and subway fare at 90 cents, the budget assumes that the State Legislature will either re-enact the corporate surcharge tax, which expires at the end of the year, or replace the $185 million subsidy from it that transit officials expect in 1985. The budget would take effect Jan. 1.
    • In addition, the budget assumes that the authority will not have to repay a $38 million advance it got from the state before the surcharge tax went into effect in 1982.
    • To keep the fare at 90 cents, the authority will also have to achieve $59 million in savings, largely from increases in productivity in departments that are being reorganized and from a cutback in overtime, officials said.
    • Another factor in the authority's ability to hold the fare will be its settlement with its unions. The 1985 budget allows for a 2 percent wage increase when the labor contracts expire in March.
    • Asked whether that was a realistic estimate of what the unions would settle for, Mr. Gunn said only that 2 percent was what the city had assumed in making up its 1985 fiscal plan.
    • In announcing the budget, the Transit Authority made public 340 goals that it hoped to achieve by the end of 1985. Some were to establish training programs and improve the scheduling of repairs. These were among the other goals:
      • - Getting 90 percent of the destination signs on subway cars correct.
      • - Keeping 1,720 subway cars, 90 subway stations and 1,100 buses free of graffiti on a daily basis.
      • - Reducing the failure to announce reasons for delays by 35 percent.
      • - Reducing complaints about rude train personnel by 35 percent.
      • - Painting 500 subway cars, a 116 percent increase over last year.
      • - Reducing the washing cycle at subway stations from once every 17 to 21 days to once every 11 to 14 days.
      • - Reducing the level of sick-leave abuse by 50 percent.
      • - Reducing shortages of spare parts by 50 percent. Freer Hand With Supervisors
      • Mr. Gunn warned that the goals could be achieved only if the state's Civil Service Commission gave final approval to his request to hire 1,200 supervisors without Civil Service examinations.
      • The change in Civil Service status, which would give him a freer hand in hiring and dismissing supervisors, was ''vital,'' he said.
      • ''We have assumed that the state will come through,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''If we don't get those rights, the whole thing goes out the window.''
    • The commission has said it will consider the request before the end of the year.
    • Under the new budget, various departments are to be reorganized completely, ''with the common objective of assigning more specific responsibilities.'' The stations department, for example, is to be broken into geographic sections, with one manager in charge of all stations within each district. Large Personnel Shifts
    • The budget also creates new departments, such as systems safety, internal audit and planning departments.
    • There are large personnel shifts as well. The budget, for instance, reduces the office of the vice president in charge of rapid transit by 63 workers while increasing the car equipment department by 132 workers.
  • The chief fiscal spokesman for Republicans in the State Senate said yesterday that subway and bus fares in New York City should be raised to $1 - and commuter rail fares also should rise - as part of a package to balance the budget of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
    • The official, Eugene K. Tyksinski, secretary to the Finance Committee, also said that the Republican Senators, who control the Senate, oppose an extension of the 18 percent business-tax surcharge adopted in 1982 to subsidize city transit and commuter rail lines.
    • The M.T.A. said Monday that it believed it could balance its budget for fiscal 1985 without an increase in the 90- cent subway and bus fare. The projection made several assumptions: that the corporate surcharge would be extended beyond its Dec. 31 expiration or replaced with an equivalent source of revenue; that the M.T.A. could achieve productivity savings, and that the wage settlement with transit workers would be held to 2 percent, a figure the president of the Transport Workers Union, John E. Lawe, has branded an insult. Anderson Is Noncommittal
    • Senate aides said Mr. Tyksinski, who made his comments in interviews with Albany reporters, was on a political mission to float positions that Mr. Anderson and the Senators could later disown if negotiations made that necessary. They said the main goal of the Republicans at this point was to push Mr. Cuomo into making a detailed proposal on M.T.A. matters.
    • A 10-cent subway and bus fare increase would raise about $120 million annually. That is less than the share of the corporate surcharge tax that goes to the city subways and buses. They receive $185 million and the commuter lines about $100 million.
    • To the chagrin of business lobbyists, Senator Anderson proposed the surcharge in December 1982 to break a deadlock at a lame-duck session called to close an M.T.A. budget deficit.
    • The reshuffling of the five-year capital plan would affect almost every aspect of the city's aging transit system, from elevated track structures to shops and barns.
    • Under the new plan, more money would also be spent to rebuild bus depots and the Staten Island subway system. In addition more funds would be set aside for such items as air-conditioning, chemical car washes to remove graffiti, and improvements in television monitoring systems and other security measures.
    • Less money would go into rebuilding subway yards and buying advanced signal equipment. The authority would also modernize fewer subway stations, largely because of the need to provide access to the handicapped. And the plan for installing an automated fare system would be deferred.
    • ''The shifts are toward recognizing and dealing with some really severe problems we have now,'' said David L. Gunn, who has been president of the authority since February.
    • The new plan calls for almost doubling the major overhaul of older subway cars. It also calls for a 25 percent increase in cars scheduled to receive a less complete overhaul.
    • ''We've had massive deferred maintenance on the car side,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''There is no way we can buy enough new cars. The old stuff is going to be here for a while, and we've got to try and restore it.''
    • The revised plan calls for the author ity to buy about 780 buses over the next two years, up from 625. The extra buses, in addition to bus purchases this year, would make up for the 851 Grumman Flxible buses removed from service in February as unsafe, officials said.
    • While more subway cars would be rehabilitated, fewer stations would be. The authority would rehabilitate 41 stations instead of 56.
    • Mr. Gunn said that the same amount of money would be spent for station work - about $315 million - but that the cost of providing access to the handicapped under a recent agreement would permit fewer renovations.
    • The new plan must be approved by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent body of the Transit Authority. Transit officials said they expected to take the plan before the board next month.
    • The chairman of the M.T.A., Robert R. Kiley, said he expected the board to approve the changes. ''We've been consulting everyone along the way,'' he said. ''I'm pretty sure there will be a consensus.''
    • Although the amount of money to improve bus depots remains about the same - $400 million - the authority has shifted its strategy. It plans to rehabilitate the depots instead of building new ones.
    • Some of the bus depots are in critical need of repairs, transit officials said. In some cases floors have sunk more than three feet, so a bus can no longer be driven through an entrance. Walls are cracking, roofs leaking and bus lifts inoperative.
    • ''We can't wait around and rebuild some depots to a perfect state while others get nothing,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''It won't work. Some of those places are in such bad shape that you can't keep putting out service the way they are now.''
    • In many cases the projects eliminated from the rebuilding plan would be deferred in the hope that more money would be available after the current plan expires in 1986.
    • Among the projects that would fall into this category, and therefore be in jeopardy, would be the installation of a magnetic fare card system in the city's subways over the next four years.
    • The new plan proposes spending most of the money allocated for this project - about $50 million - on other projects because the fare card system could not be installed right away.
    • The plan assumes that the capital funds will be found by the time they are needed. But it is not clear where such money would come from.
    • Another big change in the plan is a $50 million increase in the budget for repairs to the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority. Under the old plan, the line - which carries 19,700 passengers a day - was to receive $33 million. Some Stations Crumbling
    • But, officials said, the line is in dire need of repair. The old plan provided money for such items as extending platforms, officials said. However, some platforms are themselves falling apart, undermined by nearby streams or simply crumbling with age.
    • To make the changes, the authority intends to cut about $300 million from its program to rebuild subway yards and improve track signals and communication.
    • In addition to shifting over $800 million in spending, the plan calls for a complete reorganization of the way capital projects are managed.
    • Under the new plan, a project manager would be in charge of a project - for example, the rehabilitation of a station - from beginning to end.
    • Previously projects were passed from one department to another as they went through phases, such as design or construction.
  • For the first time in years, the State Legislature has told the Governor that it is up to him to take the lead in dealing with the chronic deficits of the New York metropolitan region's subways, buses and commuter rail lines.
    • Governor Cuomo has accepted this, according to his spokesmen, and plans to meet today with legislative leaders to begin preparing for a legislative session scheduled to open next Tuesday.
    • Emerging from a budget forum in Albany yesterday, the Governor said he would present a transit plan by Friday. Mr. Cuomo was still weighing options yesterday with his staff, according to his secretary, Michael J. DelGiudice.
    • One key aide said the Governor was holding back, in part, so that lobbyists and legislators would have less time to attack whatever plan he proposes.
    • The central issue is a tax - actually a surcharge on the franchise tax paid by corporations in the metropolitan region. The surcharge is due to go out of existence at the end of the year.
    • That tax produces about $280 million a year for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Without this tax or an equivalent source of revenue, the M.T.A. would have a gaping deficit. With it, the authority says it can get through 1985 without fare increases.
    • In fact, unlike some past years, the authority, under its new chairman, Robert R. Kiley, has issued no dire warnings of imminent fare increases if the Legislature fails to act.
    • By this time two years ago, the previous chairman, Richard Ravitch, had set in motion the legal machinery of public hearings and other steps required for a fare rise, but Mr. Kiley has not done this. So even if the Legislature failed to act, it would be months before fares could legally be raised.
    • Mr. Kiley has said he thought threats of a rise in fares would not be believed.
    • The corporate tax surcharge was enacted in December 1982 at the most recent of a series of Albany sessions that have dealt with the chronic budget deficits of the M.T.A., the state agency that oversees transit in New York City and seven surrounding counties. At that session and at similar ones preceding it, Gov. Hugh L. Carey was often bypassed as Mr. Ravitch negotiated directly with legislative leaders
    • Even if the surcharge is replaced or extended, legislators said, the M.T.A. is still projecting a large 1986 deficit. Several Suggestions
    • If nothing is done about the 1986 projected deficit, it could require increases of up to 20 cents in the 90-cent subway fare and 25 percent in Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North fares.
    • There have been several suggestions that the Governor propose a plan now that deals both with the immediate problem of the surcharge and the problem of next year's M.T.A. deficit.
    • Among the options would be a rise in the surcharge to 20 percent from 17 percent, or an additional tax or even a fare increase next year so that the authority could build up a surplus to hold its budget in balance in 1986, aides to both the Governor and legislators said.
    • Mr. Cuomo said yesterday that he ''would surrender to a fare increase'' but would not propose one.
    • Another approach would be to deal with the surcharge expiration now and deal with the future problems of the M.T.A. later, probably during negotiations over the state budget next March.
    • Kenneth Lipper, a New York City Deputy Mayor, has said the surcharge imposed in the M.T.A. region should be replaced by a lower statewide tax.
    • The Retail Council of New York State, a lobbying group, said yesterday that the surcharge should be allowed to expire and that all future subsidies should come directly from the state budget. It proposed that this be accompanied by a ''modest'' fare increase.
    • The Permanent Advisory Council to the M.T.A. said yesterday that it favored a surcharge on state income taxes as more progressive, but could also support the corporate surcharge.
  • Governor Cuomo today asked the Legislature to extend for another two years a corporate tax surcharge that subsidizes subways, buses and commuter railroads in the metropolitan region.
    • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has said that extending the tax would allow it to maintain the 90-cent subway and bus fare and current commuter railroad fares through the end of 1985.
    • To Expire Next MonthWith the 17 percent surcharge due to expire at the end of this year, transit officials, legislators and business lobbyists have been awaiting the Governor's plan for providing the M.T.A. with the $280 million a year that the surcharge now produces. Mr. Cuomo presented his proposal to legislative leaders at a meeting here this morning.
    • Mr. Cuomo also dealt with a second issue of M.T.A. finances: He proposed that the agency be required to pay back $60 million that the state collected from a capital gains tax that was later rescinded. The state collected the money and gave it to the M.T.A. and then, when the tax was dropped, paid back the taxpayers.
    • But the agency never paid back the state and has been assuming that it would not have to next year. Mr. Fink said the debt should be forgiven.
    • The chairman of the M.T.A., Robert Kiley, said it would be ''very tough'' but not impossible for the agency to balance its books without the money.

December 1984

[edit]
  • No sooner had commuters gotten over their anger at the 90-cent subway and bus fare that went into effect last Jan. 1 than there was speculation it would soon go the way of the 75-cent token. But those fears were calmed last week when Governor Cuomo called for a two-year extension of a corporate tax surcharge that helps subsidize public transit in the metropolitan area. If the Legislature goes along with the proposal, fares on subways, buses and commuter railroads would not go up, at least until the end of 1985.
    • Those who have to pay the tax, the companies in the 12 counties served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, have said the 17 percent surcharge on business done in the region was approved in 1982 only as a temporary measure to help the M.T.A. balance its books without a fare increase. ''The business community doesn't want to pay the tax, and I don't want to impose the tax,'' Mr. Cuomo said. ''But what are the alternatives?''
    • Besides news that fares won't be going up, transit riders also like to hear about better service, cleaner cars and tougher security. That is what the Transit Authority said would result from sweeping changes it proposed last week in its $6.3 billion rebuilding plan. More money would go for new buses, the overhaul of subway cars and for the Staten Island transit system, among other things. But less would be spent on rebuilding subway yards and buying advanced signal equipment. The authority would also modernize fewer subway stations - a plan that would limit access for the handicapped.
    • ''The shifts are toward recognizing and dealing with some really severe problems we have now,'' said David L. Gunn, president of the Transit Authority. The changes have to be approved by the M.T.A., which oversees the Transit Authority.
  • Negotiations over the future of a corporate tax surcharge that subsidizes mass transit in the metropolitan region shifted today from whether the tax should be continued to how long it should be continued.
    • Business lobbyists, who publicly have opposed the tax, privately have said they will go along with it if its duration coincides with the state fiscal year, according to both the lobbyists and government officials.
    • This change, the business representatives believe, would tie the debates over financing for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which in recent years have occurred as isolated pre-Christmas political events, more closely to the condition of the state budget and state tax policies.
    • Governor Cuomo said today that he would accept this and that he would agree to extend the tax for 27 months, which would make its expiration coincide with the start of the 1987- 88 budget.
    • Warren M. Anderson, the Senate majority leader, today signaled his willingness to go along with an extension of the tax. He telephoned Mr. Cuomo this afternoon and told him that the continuation of the tax was ''worth coming to Albany to discuss,'' a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo said.
    • Aides to Mr. Anderson said, however, that the Republicans might be leery of tying the M.T.A. taxes to the state fiscal year because the Democrats might use this to seek more statewide financing for downstate mass transit.
    • Both houses of the Legislature are expected to reconvene later this week to take up the M.T.A. issue and to vote on pay raises for themselves, judges and top state officials.
    • There have been various proposals for extending the surcharge. Some Republicans have called for a one-year extension. Michael J. DelGiudice, the Governor's secretary, said the Governor opposes this because it would add uncertainty to the fiscal problems the M.T.A. already is facing in 1986.
    • Even if the surcharge is extended for two years or longer, the authority is projecting a deficit of $200 million or more for 1986.
    • A 15-month extension of the surcharge would make its next expiration coincide with deliberations on the 1986- 87 budget, and would throw the issue into the 1986 political campaigns, when there will be a gubernatorial race and the entire Legislature will be up for election.
    • The tax, enacted in 1982, lapses at the end of the year, and without it or some replacement, the M.T.A. says it will face a large deficit in its 1985 budget. The tax, a 17 percent surcharge on corporate tax payments for business conducted in the M.T.A. region, produces $280 million for subways, buses and commuter railroads. A $60 Million Question
    • In a related matter, legislators and Governor Cuomo were arguing today over when, if ever, the M.T.A. should have to pay back $60 million the state advanced it.
    • Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, said he had been ''getting different signals'' from the Governor and from the chairman of the M.T.A. over how crucial the $60 million is to retaining the 90-cent transit fare.
    • In the mathematics of M.T.A. budgeting, $60 million is about equal to the revenue produced in a year by a nickel of the subway and bus fares.
    • Governor Cuomo said last week that he understood the authority could get by without the money. But Robert R. Kiley, the M.T.A. chairman, said today that he did not think he could retain the 90-cent fare next year without the $60 million. Mr. Cuomo's secretary, Mr. DelGiudice, said this afternoon that the Governor would support allowing the authority to keep some or all of the money, if necessary, to keep the 90-cent fare. A Tax That Was Repealed
    • The money was advanced to the M.T.A. in expectation of revenues from a new tax designed to stop oil companies from shifting profits to avoid payment of New York State taxes.
    • But the tax was caught up in lawsuits and ultimately repealed as part of an agreement between the Governor and the oil companies.
    • The state included in its budget planning the expectation that the M.T.A. would repay the money. But the M.T.A. budget includes the expectation that the state will forgive the debt.
    • Mr. Cuomo emerged from a meeting of legislative leaders last Thursday saying that he believed the money should be repaid. He said he had asked Mr. Kiley for an assurance that he could retain the 90-cent fare even if the M.T.A. repaid the $60 million.
    • ''He said he could give me that assurance,'' Mr. Cuomo said.
    • But Mr. Kiley said he was at a loss to explain this. What he told the Governor, Mr. Kiley said, was that he could carry on for several months with the issue of the $60 million unresolved but that ultimately he would need the money to hold the fare.
  • Under President Reagan's budget proposal, the New York City transit system would suffer its biggest cutbacks in Federal assistance since Federal reductions made four years ago, officials said today.
    • The budget proposal would eliminate operating assistance for buses and subways. If Congress approves the proposals, this would bring either higher fares or increased state and local subsidies to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, agency officials said.
    • The transit agency received $108 million in operating assistance for this fiscal year, Mortimer L. Downey, the agency's senior budget official, said.
    • He said the new budget also proposed to curtail, and perhaps eliminate, Federal money for capital projects such as renovating subway stations and fixing track. The agency received $315 million in Federal funds for such projects in the current budget, for the 1985 fiscal year, he said.
    • Mr. Downey said that at first reading the budget appeared to indicate that grants for major capital projects, paid for by a trust fund built from 1 cent of the 5 cent increase in the Federal gasoline tax, were untouched. This year the agency paid for rebuilding portions of the Eighth Avenue subway system and electrification of a section of the Long Island Rail Road from the trust fund, he said.
    • But a budget official at the Federal Urban Mass Transportation Agency said that he believed that the Office of Management and Budget was seeking to reduce the capital projects financed from the trust fund.
    • Mr. Downey said the proposed reductions to the transit system were ''much bigger proportionately than Reagan's second, third or fourth budgets.''
    • Mr. Downey said that since 1981, the agency's Federal operating and capital funds had been frozen.
  • The alternative that was approved will cost about $222 million, Mr. Kiley said, and the M.T.A. must now find the money to pay for it.
    • He said that the board, which controls an $8.5 billion budget for long-term improvements to the city's aging transit system, had not considered using any of that money for the project.
    • ''Our primary goal must be to improve the existing system,'' he said. Fares to Be Retained
    • Mr. Kiley said that the M.T.A. would apply for Federal aid to build the subway extension, but that money for such projects had been cut in the Reagan Administration's proposed budget.
    • ''I don't think construction is going to start soon,'' Mr. Kiley said. It will take about eight years to build the rail connection, M.T.A. officials said.
    • At its monthly meeting, the M.T.A. board also gave final approval to 1985 budgets that will keep the current fares on the city's buses and subways as well as on the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
  • Federal inspectors yesterday ended a weeklong investigation of fires in the city's subway system, describing their findings but refusing to draw conclusions.
    • The inspectors who have been examining the 230-mile system - from the way the Transit Authority responds to fires to how it trains its employees - said a final report would be ready in several months.
    • ''We have documented to a startling degree the severity of the situation here,'' said Jim Burnett, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board. He said an analysis would take more time complete.
    • Mr. Burnett said the inspectors had found piles of garbage where they should not be and a lack of fire extinguishers. He also cited three instances where buckets of paint and other combustible materials were in dangerous areas and three places where grease was found leaking onto the track. A Closed Exit
    • In one area in the Bronx, he said, inspectors found an emergency exit that had been closed for repairs, but there was no indication in the tunnels that the exit was not usable.
    • ''People who sought to use that would have found a dead end,'' he said.
    • At a news conference at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, Mr. Burnett said the team - although not looking for rail problems - had found some dangerous conditions. In one area, a worn rail was found, he said, and there was a makeshift repair of the equipment that guides the train wheels through a switch at another.
    • The system has averaged more than 5,000 fires a year for the last several years. Most were minor and quickly extinguished. But earlier this year, Transit Authority officials grew especially concerned about the rising number of fires in a piece of equipment called the group switch box, which is underneath subway cars.
    • These fires, because they involve a piece of equipment that controls more than 600 volts of power from the third rail, become very serious very quickly.
    • Mr. Burnett made no comment on the way the authority was trying to tackle this problem. He did praise a new training program that the authority has established for the employees who repair the group switch boxes.
    • ''That is a bright spot,'' he said.
    • However, he said under present schedules, it would take seven years to train all the employees who should be trained.
    • David F. Feeley, the authority's vice president in charge of operations, said the authority would be looking at the schedule to see if adjustment were possible. He also said the authority would be reviewing its trash collection methods.
  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday approved an agreement with the city that will permit the sale of the New York Coliseum. Proceeds from the sale - an estimated $200 million - will be used to improve the city's transit system.
    • The agreement requires whoever buys the Coliseum, which is on Columbus Circle, to pay full city taxes on the property and to make major improvements to the nearby subway station.
    • Under the agreement with the city, the M.T.A. will get 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale, with 79 percent of that money going to the Transit Authority, the M.T.A. subsidiary that runs the city's subway and bus system. The rest of the M.T.A.'s share is to be used on facilities in the city that belong to the M.T.A.'s two commuter lines, the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
    • The city will get the other 50 percent of the proceeds. But it will give that money to the M.T.A. for improvement of the city's bus and subway system over a five-year period.
  • KOCH ASKS INQUIRY INTO SUBWAY FIRES

May 1985

[edit]
  • Four years have passed since a team of business executives went into New York City's bus and subway systems to conduct the most comprehensive study to date of how the Transit Authority functioned and how it could be improved.
      • Finding a sluggish and poorly coordinated agency, with records kept in ledger books, storerooms full of defective parts and monthlong delays in answering letters, the executives recommended nearly 400 specific changes.
      • Officially, the authority accepted most of the recommendations. But interviews with Transit Authority officials and workers and an examination of records found that most of the deficiencies the executives saw in 1981 were never corrected.
      • Management Problems
      • Behind the problems that confront the rider every day - late trains, dirty stations and graffiti-covered buses -lie problems of management that make the Transit Authority an agency that is unsure what it has in its storerooms and that still keeps many records on index cards.
      • It is an agency still struggling to decide who is in charge of what and to keep its 50,000 employees from working toward opposite goals.
      • Some of the executives' recommendations were followed. Others proved impractical. Indeed, the Transit Authority says at least one recommendation, a merger of two departments responsible for subway tracks, caused serious harm when put into effect.
      • Despite efforts to improve the procedures, officials acknowledge that major inadequacies have not been corrected. Among them are these:
      • * Parts shortages prevail. Every day, about 100 subway cars sit idle in shops and barns waiting for the parts needed to repair them.
      • * More than 35 percent of the calls to the department's information number go unanswered, a figure that does not include the callers who get busy signals.
      • * Storerooms remain clogged with thousands of items that have been rejected by the authority but never returned to the vendors.
      • * About 75 percent of the operating manuals that were obsolete then are still out of date.
      • * Entire departments, such as the personnel department, still rely largely on handwritten files.
      • The management problems are particularly crucial because the Transit Authority is in the midst of spending $6.4 billion to begin restoring virtually its entire system. The team of business executives made many recommendations on how that spending should be planned and executed. But transit officials and auditors of the agency say the authority has done poorly.
      • In the last year, auditors for the state have accused the agency of having been ''totally unprepared'' to oversee the restoration plan. Delays or cost overruns have already appeared in one out of every three projects under way.
      • The executives, organized by the Economic Development Council, an association of business leaders concerned with the city's future, spent months inside the authority.
      • Since they finished their report, the authority has changed leadership. In some cases, this has affected the status of recommendations. David L. Gunn, who became president of the authority in February 1984, said he had adopted some suggestions that his predecessor, John D. Simpson, did not act on.
      • Mr. Gunn has called for and got more managers that he could hire and dismiss based on his evaluation of their performance, without the restrictions of civil service or union rules. The business executives had favored such a move. Mr. Gunn has also accepted some recommendations that placed a greater emphasis on graffiti removal.
      • ''I wasn't particularly looking at the report when I came in here,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''But there's a lot of stuff in there that is plain common sense.''
      • Since the report was finished, the Economic Development Council has been absorbed by another nonprofit group, the New York City Partnership. The executives, who conducted the study while on loan from a half-dozen companies, have not returned to the authority to see what happened to their recommendations.
      • What follows is an examination of the authority's problems in several key areas singled out four years ago by the panel of executives.
      • Parts To keep the subways and buses moving, the Transit Authority stocks more than 115,000 items and distributes them among 45 storerooms across the city.
      • The executives found problems almost everywhere. Storerooms were clogged with faulty parts. The authority was ordering obsolete items. Computer systems were not working properly. Some storerooms did not even have shelves.
      • The problems, for the most part, still exist today. In a recent report, the head of purchasing, Charles R. Broshous, said the authority often ordered outdated equipment. Drawings, needed to explain to a supplier what the authority wants, were often nonexistent or unavailable, he said.
      • Mr. Broshous also reported that the authority was still doing a poor job of making sure unreliable suppliers were not used again. And he said the authority was still showing a ''limited'' ability to predict what parts it would need in the future.
      • In one case, the authority recently paid almost $500,000 to cancel a contract for a 40-year supply of a track part called a D plate. Mr. Gunn said ordering such an amount of almost anything was ''absolutely ridiculous.''
      • ''Technology may change next year and the D plate could be obsolete,'' he said. ''On top of that, if we go through with this order, we will be taking millions and tying them up in inventory.''
      • The executives had made more than 50 recommendations regarding parts, from buying new computers to rewriting purchase orders. The Transit Authority followed many of them. But in some cases the suggestions did not help, officials said.
      • The executives had urged the authority to buy a computer system to help order and keep track of its parts and to distribute them. The authority bought one.
      • But within six months, officials recognized that the new system was inadequate. They had acquired a computer that did not reorder parts when they ran out.
      • ''A good many problem areas stem from the fact that quick-fix solutions were implemented and never went beyond that,'' said Mr. Broshous, who is now trying to adjust the computer system. ''You need a longer view than just tomorrow.''
      • He said the adjustments should be made by October.
      • Customer Service In 1981, it took the Transit Authority an average of 20 minutes to answer a rider's telephone call for information and two months to answer a passenger's letter of complaint, according to the executives' report.
      • The backlog of letters had grown so large that the Customer Service Department eventually resorted to having the Brooklyn Union Gas Company help process some of the replies, at 35 cents a letter.
      • The executives made more than a dozen recommendations to straighten out the Customer Service Department. But some were undermined by a lack of staffing and others were only partly executed, according to officials of the authority, who acknowledge that most of the problems remain.
      • Last year, the officials said, more than 35 percent of the nearly 2 million calls made to the authority's information number went unanswered, not including the callers who got busy signals. And it still took a month to answer written complaints.
      • The report recommended increased staffing, but there are still only two writers to reply to the 400 or so letters that are received each week. And fewer people answer the round-the-clock information number now than before the report.
      • When the team of business executives began their study, the Customer Service Department's largest division, travel information, had 67 agents. Now there are 40 agents, and officials said they expected to lose more employees to retirement and maternity leave by the end of the year.
      • In addition to the department's low staffing levels, more than half of its employees have some kind of medical disability and have been transferred to the department because it is considered light duty. Such employees tend to take more sick leave than the average worker, which further reduces manpower, officials said.
      • Officials said that they hoped to replace lost personnel by the end of the year, but that they had no plans to expand the department.
      • Instead, they said, they are now trying to reduce the department's workload. Each week, more than 600 transit passengers appeal to the authority for what amounts to a written excuse for their being late to work. Officials said they hoped to cut back on these requests by automatically sending information about delays to the companies that require such excuses.
      • The executives also recommended that the authority trade in its antiquated switchboard for a computerized telephone system and a word-processing system to catalogue travel information and write letters.
      • The new equipment was supposed to speed the distribution of calls, get letters answered faster and allow telephone operators quick access to travel information. The authority bought sucha system. But many of the people who need access to it lack computer terminals.
      • Officials said last week that the department had received more terminals but that the equipment awaited installation.
      • Stations The team of executives found most of the city's 460 subway stations to be smelly and littered with garbage. They voiced numerous ideas on how the stations could be kept cleaner. The authority accepted few of those recommendations.
      • The agency rates most of its stations as ''moderately clean,'' but most riders' groups disagree.
      • ''I'm not sure there are any riders satisfied with the cleanliness of the stations,'' said Peter Skeie, coordinator for one riders' group, the Straphangers Campaign. With few exceptions, he said, ''the stations are rife with litter, dirt, garbage and, occasionally, rats.''
      • When the executives began studying the authority's cleaning efforts, the Stations Department's 1,100 cleaners were using such tools as garden hoses and brooms. The executives suggested that the authority review the workload, staffing and budget for cleaning materials to determine whether they were was adequate.
      • The authority did so, and afterward increased its trash pickup at stations from five to seven days a week. But it made few other changes. Since then, the number of cleaners has fallen, to 922, according to John Bromfield, who is in charge of the Stations Department.
      • However, Mr. Gunn has promised 90 clean and graffiti-free stations by the end of the year. To accomplish this, the department has hired more managers and has given each manager a smaller zone to oversee - a move designed to give ''each supervisor a manageable area to be responsible for,'' Mr. Bromfield said.
      • And recently, the authority bought some new equipment for the cleaners, including 75 new pressurized washers to replace the garden hoses and two new kinds of graffiti-removing solutions.
      • Most litter in the stations involves food, but the authority did not accept a proposal by the executives to prohibit the selling or consumption of food and beverages in the stations. ''Even if we didn't sell food, riders would still bring it in from the outside,'' Mr. Bromfield said.
      • Token Booths The Transit Authority's handling of one recommendation - tokens in 10-packs - is still the subject of controversy. ''From the very beginning, the project ran on local, not express,'' said Gene Russianoff, an attorney for the Straphangers Campaign. ''It took them 2 1/2 years to put 10 tokens in a plastic bag.''
      • Officials of the authority say it took so long because the agency did extensive market testing before it started to sell the 10-packs in September 1983.
      • But the executives' recommendation about selling 10-packs did not end with the token booths. The executives said the authority could save at least $25 million of the cost of distributing tokens if shops, banks and other retail establishments sold them, too.
      • But this has not been pursued effectively.
      • Although the authority has been testing a program to sell tokens at news stands within the subway system, there has been no plan so far to have banks and shops sell them.
      • James Corbin, who was recently hired as the authority's senior vice president for administration and personnel, said the authority would renew its efforts to have tokens sold in banks and stores and hoped to have a program in place by the end of the year.
      • Storerooms The executives found storerooms clogged with inadequate parts and supplies that had been rejected but never returned to the sellers. Some of the items had been there for years.
      • They blamed the problem on order forms that did not make clear under what conditions merchandise could be sent back to a supplier, and they suggested that the authority change the forms.
      • But more detailed forms did not solve the problem, said Mr. Broshous, the authority's head of purchasing. A recent survey by the authority found that it still had at least 800 rejected orders, amounting to thousands of parts, sitting in various storerooms.
      • The solution lay elsewhere, according to Mr. Broshous. ''The terms and conditions weren't as important as the way in which we contacted the vendor,'' he said.
      • Ten to 15 years ago, he explained, if a company delivered something to a storeroom and it was rejected, the storeroom supervisor would get on the phone and say, ''Come pick it up or we'll scrap it in 15 days.'' The implication was that the seller would not be paid.
      • But the system was changed. Instead of making the phone call, the storeroom filled out a form, sent it to the purchasing department and waited for the purchasing department to write to the seller.
      • ''You'd be lucky if something happened in six months,'' Mr. Broshous said.
      • In the past few months, the authority has restored the storeroom's power to contact suppliers directly. Mr. Broshous said he hoped this would clear up the problem by the end of the year.
      • Tracks In its recommendations to improve the authority's maintenance of its 710 miles of track, the team of executives did more harm than good, Transit Authority officials say.
      • At the request of the authority, the executives examined and endorsed a plan to merge two departments - one that oversaw the upkeep of the subway roadbed and one that supplied power to the rails. This was supposed to save money by eliminating similar jobs and improving coordination.
      • But the merger eliminated numerous track specialists, resulted in blurred lines of authority and left the tracks in serious disrepair, officials now say.
      • ''It was absolutely a total disaster,'' said Charles L. Stanford, the new chief engineer of the Track and Structure Department, which replaced the old Maintenance of Way Department.
      • Mr. Stanford blamed the merger of the departments for the ''red tag crisis'' of 1983, when the authority suddenly realized that more than 500 areas of track had fallen into dangerous disrepair. Trains crossing over them had to slow to 10 miles an hour.
      • Last year, the departments were divided again, with the Power Department renamed the Electrical Department. Since the change, the authority says, it has been able to restore twice-weekly inspections of all 710 miles of track.
      • Now the authority hopes to save money by automating the way it transfers power to the rails. Officials also hope that work being done to restore and modernize large sections of track will, in the long run, save much costly and temporary maintenance work.
      • Operating Manuals When the executives studied the Transit Authority's manuals of standard operating procedures - documents that are supposed to describe the rules, regulations and processes that govern a job - they found that about half of them were more than 10 years old.
      • There was no formal timetable for reviewing and updating the manuals, and no formal system for informing top management about how up-to-date the manuals were. Also, the executives found that the quality of the manuals varied and that the department in charge of producing them was understaffed.
      • But no extra people were hired and little was done until recently to speed the process of revising the manuals, said Donald Gill, the authority's director of administrative services.
      • Of the 80 or so manuals that needed to be revised, the authority says it has completed about 20. Most of the others awaiting revision are 5 to 10 years old.
      • Since he took over the agency, Mr. Gunn has changed the duties of the Administrative Services Department. It is no longer in charge of producing the manuals - the individual departments must do their own. Mr. Gill's office is supposed to function more as an archivist, lending expertise and some uniformity to the documents.
      • ''The idea is that individual departments would have a vested interest in improving their own manual,'' Mr. Gill said. ''They do a large part of the work now.''
      • He said that it was too early to draw conclusions, but that it appeared the new tactic had been successful. In the last nine months, the authority has produced nine new manuals, a pace double that of the previous 18 months.
      • Internal Audits The executives found the authority's internal auditing system to be inadequate. Many audits were simply canceled - ''primarily because of the use of audit manpower in the non-audit activities such as bank account reconciliations,'' the executives said.
      • They recommended that the Bureau of Special Audits be made a separate department and given more direct access to the president of the Transit Authority.
      • Transit officials said such an office had finally been created six months ago. It now consists of three people and has a budget to hire nine more by the end of the year.
      • The head of the office, James L. Tatum, said he was unsure when the department would be up to full force.
      • ''There is really no precedent for this department,'' he said. ''We're still defining the work we'll be doing and writing job descriptions and looking for the right people.''
      • Personnel The executives found the authority's personnel records to be scattered and duplicated at various offices, making their use costly and time-consuming.
      • To solve the problem, the executives recommended that the authority buy a computer that would store the information in one place and make it available to many departments. Such a system could be ready, the report said, ''in a relatively short time'' for the personnel department's use and then gradually expanded for payroll and operating departments.
      • But none of this happened. Personnel files continue to be maintained by various departments. Three months ago, the authority hired a consultant to help select a computer system, according to Mr. Corbin, the head of personnel. But Mr. Corbin said it was unlikely such a system could be in place before 1987.
      • Data Processing The executives found a lack of computer technology at the Transit Authority, and they were critical of the computer systems the authority had managed to get.
      • ''They were using key-punch systems that went out in the early 60's and machines that no one else was using,'' said Joel R. Jacks, who wrote the report for the Economic Development Council. He was later hired by the authority.
      • Mr. Jacks recommended that the authority create a centralized data-processing department that could set standards for purchases of computer equipment. He now runs such a department, and some improvements have been made, officials said. For example, the purchasing department, which once had to rely on three different computers, now has an integrated system.
      • But officials say that some mistakes have been made and that they are still struggling to bring the Transit Authority up to date.
      • While the data processing department was a good idea and will be preserved, Mr. Gunn said, it did create unanticipated problems. In several instances, the department came up with computer systems that did not serve the needs of those who had to use them.
      • For example, the authority took steps to get subway car histories -records similar to a person's medical file - into a computer system so that all the repair shops would have quick access to them.
      • But it sometimes took months to get the information into the system, and using the computer proved difficult for people unfamiliar with it. The result was that the repair workers rarely used it and instead continued to keep the histories on index cards of their own. The system is now being improved, officials said.
      • Equipment Rental The executives concluded that the Transit Authority could save at least $2 million a year if it ended a 20-year relationship with a Brooklyn company called Railroad Maintenance Corporation, which rented trucks and vans to the authority and carted its garbage.
      • But the authority has yet to save any money by doing this. The panel's recommendations have only recently been put into effect and the benefits are not likely to be felt until this summer, according to Mr. Gunn.
      • The executives concluded that it would be cheaper for the authority to own much of the equipment it rented from the Railroad Maintenance Corporation. They also said the authority was discouraging other companies from bidding on the contract held by the corporation because the specifications were vague in some places and in others demanded that a company have rarely used equipment on hand at all times.
      • Instead of taking action right away, the authority in 1983 extended the corporation's contract until this summer in order to study the situation further, officials said.
      • According to Mr. Gunn, the agency is now buying about 60 trucks and vans, as the executives had originally recommended. The contracts were rewritten and put out for bid earlier this year and a new company will start removing the trash this summer. Railroad Maintenance will continue to supply cranes to the authority because it was still the low bidder on that job, Mr. Gunn said.
      • The authority expects the changes to save $3.7 million a year.
      • Train Security The executives, after exploring the Transit Authority's inability to protect its 6,000 subway cars from graffiti and vandalism, made a dozen suggestions. They included repairing fences at train yards and having train watchmen roam the yards, not just stand at the gates.
      • Still, most cars remain covered with graffiti and are often subject to vandalism. Each week, about 1,500 panes of glass are broken or knocked out of subway car windows, costing more than $65,000 a week, according to the authority's latest survey.
      • Some steps, such as fence repair, were taken immediately. Others, such as requiring the removal of graffiti from cars within 24 hours, were initially rejected by the authority and have been resurrected only recently by Mr. Gunn.
      • He has promised that 1,700 cars will be clean and graffiti-free by the end of the year. So far, officials said, 850 cars have been kept clean.
      • Mr. Simpson, the previous Transit Authority president, rejected a suggestion that the transit police be more involved in protecting trains from vandalism. He said he thought passenger safety should take priority.
      • Mr. Gunn has had the transit officers take a more active role in protecting trains. Officers have been assigned to clean trains and have stepped up stakeouts of areas along the track where trains are stored overnight.
      • Transit Authority officials said they were optimistic about meeting their year-end goal, but were uncertain of how to keep all 6,000 subway cars clean. ---- Tomorrow: Despite recommendations by the executives, management problems have caused increasing delays in the Transit Authority's multibillion-dollar capital plan.
  • https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/28/nyregion/transit-system-fighting-flaws-in-5-year-plan.html When a team of business executives started studying the Transit Authority in 1981, the agency had barely begun its $6.4 billion capital plan to restore the city's crumbling bus and subway system. But the executives were critical of what the authority had done so far and suggested wide-ranging changes to insure that this huge influx of money would be spent correctly. Four years later, however, many cases of botched projects, cost overruns and poor supervision have been revealed by the authority and several of its auditors. As a result, about 30 percent of the projects are already over budget or behind schedule, according to the authority's own reckoning. Another 30 percent are ''in danger'' of being in trouble. Auditors have recorded mistakes ranging from buying a lighting system that did not fit into the space allotted for it and erecting a fuel tank on soil that would not support it, to paying $60 million to overhaul subway cars and gaining little improvement in their performance. To prevent such problems, the executives - organized by the Economic Development Council, an association of business leaders concerned with the future of the city - spent months studying the agency and making dozens of recommendations. The authority officially accepted most of the suggestions, but agency documents and interviews with officials indicated that the Transit Authority in many cases failed to institute the changes effectively. Asked about the problems with the plan, David L. Gunn, who became the president of the authority last year, emphasized that he inherited the vast majority of the projects already under way and said that he was taking steps to correct the errors. ''It's not over, either,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''Things will keep popping up, coming to light. We keep stumbling upon things that don't make a lot of sense.'' Shortly after taking office in February 1984, he announced that he would delay all ''nonessential'' work because he felt the agency was not capable of overseeing the plan properly. He says he has begun a reorganization of the authority's engineering department that will greatly improve the authority's ability to manage the five-year program. But with more than half of the $6.4 billion committed to contracts, Mr. Gunn said, the authority was still trying to get the program ''under control.'' What follows is an examination of problems in the authority's capital plan that the panel of executives addressed four years ago. Strategic Planning When the business executives began looking at the authority's capital plan, a plan that was supposed to be the salvation of the city's transit system, they found it consisted mainly of a list of projects - a new bus depot, a new power station, a new electrical shop. There had been no long-range planning, no setting of goals that the projects were designed to achieve. There were few written documents that explained why a project was worthy or how it would benefit the agency. The executives suggested that the authority, like most corporations, set goals and tailor spending and improvements to reaching them. They recommended a 15-year strategic plan. But such a plan, authority officials said, was never developed. The authority is still uncovering examples of different departments heading toward different objectives. Mr. Gunn said he had recently discovered that the authority was about to spend $12 million on a sophisticated track-signal system when the agency's car department had long ago discontinued the use of the corresponding technology in its new subway cars. Without the car technology, the track signals are useless. Mr. Gunn said he found out about the project by accident. The system was being installed as part of a large contract to rehabilitate two sections of track. ''We had put the track contract out for bid and it came back too high,'' Mr. Gunn said. ''I said I'm not giving you any more money and the guys in charge finally suggested that this could be cut. That equipment had been ripped out of the subway cars years ago. But the track stuff had never been stopped. I was amazed.'' Mr. Gunn said the authority would complete the five-year plan and would then develop a 15-year plan. Choosing Projects Besides long-range planning, the executives suggested that the authority start analyzing its choices of projects to determine, for example, whether it was more economical to build a new bus depot or rebuild an old one. But there is little evidence that the authority ever did this. In a report released three months ago, State Comptroller Edward V. Regan said he randomly selected 50 projects and found written evidence of cost analyses in only 13 cases. The other 37 projects were backed up by ''one-line descriptions and budget amounts,'' he said. The authority did follow the executives' suggestion to set up a division to deal with budget issues and analytical work. But in the end, the new division, the capital budget systems division, spent most of its time trying to meet deadlines on financial reports and applying for money from state and Federal sources. The division was also understaffed and overwhelmed by its duties, officials who were there from its inception said. ''Before us there had never even been a published capital budget,'' said Robert Buxbaum, who now heads the division. ''When the office was created it unleashed a flood of requests for financial information. We just didn't have too much time to analyze if projects were worthy and appropriate.'' To make intelligent choices about what to include in the capital program, the authority needed to have detailed plans for projects as well as consistent and accurate methods for predicting the cost of projects, the executives said. But according to Mr. Regan and the inspector general of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Sanford E. Russell, the authority has not managed to do this either. ''It is obvious that the T.A. was ill-prepared to take on a program of such immense size and importance to the people of New York,'' Mr. Russell said. Citing examples of poor planning, Mr. Russell reported an incident at the Linden Yard in Brooklyn, where he said miscalculations had cost $200,000. The authority had intended to build a large fuel tank, but after construction started, it realized that the soil could not hold the weight of the tank. Eventually plans had to be revised to include three smaller tanks. The authority, officials said, had never tested the soil. Mr. Gunn recently told the board members of the authority that the agency would have to pay an additional $500,000 for changes in a $4.3 million contract for the installation of lights at 13 stations. Without the changes, the lights would have been only 6 feet off the ground, making it difficult for many passengers to walk under them. To avoid these types of mistakes, the authority is hiring 300 additional engineers, officials said. Estimating Cost The executives urged the authority to develop a consistent and uniform method for estimating the cost of projects. It is important for the authority to make accurate estimates so that officials can use the information to make intelligent decisions about whether to pursue certain projects. But authority officials and its auditors acknowledge that the agency has done a poor job of this. ''There has been no standard format in the authority,'' said Michael C. Ascher, the authority's deputy vice president of engineering and construction. ''People used different escalating rates and didn't document why. Maybe it wasn't improper or wrong but you couldn't tell that from the documentation.'' The State Comptroller, who investigated this issue, also found that the authority did not have a uniform method for estimating costs. In addition, it had not maintained standard price lists and was using improper and inconsistent inflation factors when making estimates. As a result, Mr. Regan said, the authority has overestimated the low bids of 166 contracts approved since August 1984 by a total of $114.6 million, or 22.6 percent. The agency is now establishing uniform procedures and setting up a specific division to handle cost estimates, authority officials said. ''We have to leave the engineers to do what they do best,'' said George Ziegler, who heads the engineering deparment. The executives also recommended that the authority work out a very precise system for approving projects. The reports noted a ''need within the T.A. for better relationship between the operating objectives, operating performance and the capital program.'' Transit officials said one of the biggest problems with the restoration program was that the operating departments - the people who actually run the trains or repair the buses or answer the letters from customers - did not have enough involvement in the design of improvements. Officials said the operating departments were often asked to review and approve finished plans that included blueprints they did not understand. In one case, the authority built a sophisticated lighting system in a repair pit at the Corona subway barn in Queens but had to dismantle it because workers could not fit in the pit. ''Somebody at Corona approved that plan,'' Mr. Ziegler said. ''But I can't say that he understood that the lights were going to be 12 inches from the wall and what that would mean.'' ''You can't complete designs and say: 'Here. Sign off on that.' First, it's too late, and second, they can't read them.'' Officials said the authority would involve the operating departments in the design process at regular intervals. Tracking Projects The executives also said the authority should keep track of each project from inception to completion, whether it was the replacement of a rotting station roof or the building of a new power station. They also said the authority should establish a system to issue reports when deadlines were missed and early warnings of potential delays. But this was not done until a few months ago. And transit officials admit that the agency failed to adhere to a pre-existing policy to notify supervisors of projects that were more than two months behind schedule. ''It really didn't happen,'' said John Culhane, the assistant vice president of engineering, ''Every job went along its merry way.'' In the past, Mr. Gunn said, ''all they had was a way of keeping track of what money had been committed and how much had been spent. ''You could spend 90 percent of the money and have the job half done,'' he said. Under Mr. Gunn's restructuring of the engineering department, a single individual will be in charge of a project from planning to completion. In the past, the authority passed projects from department to department as they progressed. Mr. Gunn said that such a system left nobody in charge. In addition to the reorganization of the engineering department, which is still under way, the authority recently established a computerized reporting system, which issues monthly reports on green, yellow or red paper indicating whether a project is on schedule, borderline or behind schedule. ''Certain things you want in an organized fashion so that any fool, including the president of the Transit Authority, can understand what is going on,'' Mr. Gunn said. The executives also recommended that the authority develop a procedure to review completed capital projects and determine whether the proposed benefits of the project had been realized. But officials said that such procedures were never developed. In fact, ''closing out'' projects, officially finishing a job, has become a sizable problem. Although exact figures are not available, officials said, the authority has lost millions of dollars because of the logjam in closing out jobs that need only minor adjustments and official acceptance. The cost is usually in keeping consultants on the payroll to oversee these jobs, when little or no work remains. Officials said the authority developed a monthly reporting system on the status of ''close-outs.'' This, in conjunction with supervision by the project managers, should reduce the problem, officials said. As recently as two months ago, the authority had 263 such projects. ''We decided to review this and I asked how many were in the final stages, and I was shocked at 263,'' said Mr. Ziegler. ''I thought maybe 100.''

September 1986

[edit]

Auditors credit the improvements to a tightly run track inspection and maintenance program started two years ago by the Transit Authority President, David L. Gunn. The agency's chief engineer for track and structures, Charles L. Stanford, said the program cost $150 million a year out of an annual budget of about $3 billion.

Outsiders have been praising the improved track conditions. ''The Transit Authority has dramatically improved its track maintenance practices over the last year and a half,'' Harrison J. Goldin, the City Comptroller, said in an audit released in February.

Mr. Stanford attributed the improvements to five changes: more managers, more inspections, a computerized record of track inspections, better training for track inspectors and the purchase in 1984 of a $1.4 million car that can measure the alignment and gauge of the rails under the weight of a train. Neglect in 70's

The program came after serious neglect of the subway tracks in the 1970's, Mr. Stanford said. He said that when he arrived at the Transit Authority in 1984, there were 11 non-union, non-Civil Service managers for 5,000 workers employed in track inspection and repair. Today, there are 220 such managers.

The appointment of such managers, who can be dismissed if they do not reach goals set by the authority, has increased productivity, Mr. Stanford said.

In addition, each mile of the system's 709 miles of track that carry passengers is now inspected twice a week. A track inspector and a signal maintainence worker together inspect all switches once a month.

A report released in February 1984 by the Inspector General's office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said 80 to 95 percent of subway track was not inspected as often as twice a week and 10 to 36 percent of the track was not inspected weekly.

At that time, switches were inspected once every three months, Mr. Stanford said. Computer Organizes Records

In another change, starting last year, all track inspection reports are entered into a computer and defects are ranked in order of importance. This information is used for another innovation at the Transit Authority - the preparation each fall of preventive track maintenance programs for the coming year.

Training for track inspectors has been expanded to six weeks from four. Next week, track inspectors are to receive the first update of the authority's track inspection manual in two decades, Mr. Stanford said.

Search terms

[edit]
  • "1979 bond issue"
  • "subway"-zingo -brick -studio -(212) -realty

Legacies of the 70s/80s crisis, how it was handled

[edit]

Operational issues/deterioration

[edit]

Operational/safety issues left to fester-control line safety, braking rates --> 1991/1995 accidents, slowdown

A. Richardson Goodlatte, a Kiley-Gunn hire who headed up the Division of Car Equipment (back then often called “Cars and Shops”)

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/16/nyregion/mta-disputes-transit-official-on-japan-s-cars.html

Still behind on SOGR/repair work

[edit]

https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/SGR.pdf

https://www.google.com/books/edition/State_of_Good_Repair/ZKFZ4B7v-XIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=subway+1980s+recovery&pg=PA22&printsec=frontcover

Debt

[edit]

https://cbcny.org/sites/default/files/NEWS_NYT_7262008.pdf

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/479850372/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0275074010377110?casa_token=jgXxNMfBedAAAAAA:9xTsvuJd17oiURgBOxJnRsloHQoRg50rbyQQq4rAhaQfzhilXgtY0FMkMf2lxsiEfOR2LcytSmg

NYC's subway far behind from other systems around the world-not a world-class subway

[edit]

Job never finished, decline investment, delay capital program, less of an issue voters/pols

[edit]

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2037464412/C63CA06D2E9A4456PQ/530?accountid=7287

The Subway Crisis We’ve Been Writing About for 48 Years

2017-2018 transit crisis

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/nyregion/new-york-subway-system-failure-delays.html

https://signalproblems.substack.com/p/how-cheap-flights-changed-the-subway

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/11/15949284/new-york-subway-crisis

Parallels to DC's transit crisis

[edit]

https://wamu.org/story/15/10/05/can_metro_find_the_next_richard_ravitch/

People to talk to

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  • David Gunn
  • Richard Ravitch
  • Ross Sandler
  • Gene Russianoff
  • Mark Feinman
  • Joe Raskin, other transit historians
  • Other people in the MTA, i.e. Lee Sander
  • MTA employees who worked in the TA in the 70s/80s
  • People with Partnership for NYC

Sources to look at

[edit]

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Taking_the_Train/YfqP-qQFMDYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22deferred+Maintenance+Program%22+%22subway%22&pg=PA135&printsec=frontcover


https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/14971/dot_14971_DS1.pdf?

  1. ^ Transportation, New York (State) Legislature Select Legislative Committee on (1971). Annual Report.
  2. ^ Authority, New York City Transit (1953). Report.
  3. ^ York, Federal Reserve Bank of New (1981). Quarterly Review - Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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