Paul Bubny is editor of Real Estate New York
NEW YORK CITY-The Metropolitan Transportation Authority intends to become "best in class" among large older transit systems worldwide even as it focuses on accommodating population growth in New York City and the metro area. Elliot Sander, MTA executive director, detailed a seven-pronged program for realizing this goal at a luncheon today sponsored by the Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York. Sander also told the ABO audience that the authority would soon unveil a long-term vision for meeting increased demand over the next 25 to 40 years, thus helping to retain major employers in the city.
MTA's efforts to surpass the transit agencies of London, Paris or Toronto will focus on work force development, institutional transformation, customer service, finance, safety and security, sustainability and projects and programs, Sander said. He noted that the authority has successfully resolved would-be labor disputes over the past several months, and just received a report from a blue ribbon panel chaired by Richard Ravitch, former MTA chairman, with 61 recommendations on developing its 67,457-employee work force. Sander urged ABO members to read the report, which is available on MTA's website.
"A flatter, leaner, more integrated MTA" is the bottom line of the institutional transformation initiative, Sander said. Since its creation in 1968, he said, MTA's organizational structure has been "frozen in ice," but efforts to change this are under way, such as the recently announced consolidation of some back office functions.
A forthcoming series of webinars, informative electronic signage at the MTA's subway stop in Penn Station and the establishment of a single telephone number to contact MTA's various transit operations are among the customer service initiatives the authority has undertaken since Sander took office in January 2007.
In the area of finance, MTA's goal is to save 1.5% per year on its budget, for a 6% savings at the end of four years. Along with bolstering its detection system to improve rider security, MTA has also taken steps to improve its employees' safety. In December, MTA New York City Transit released a study identifying areas in which track safety could be improved.
A blue-ribbon panel's report on sustainability is scheduled for release on April 14, just before Earth Day, Sander said. The authority intends to take a leadership role in greening its operations.
Sander predicted "a very intense four to eight weeks" leading up to March 31, when the federal government's commitment of $354 million to implement congestion pricing in the city will sunset. He stressed the importance of getting a congestion pricing plan approved in Albany before then. Sander acknowledged that while congestion pricing does not resolve the question of paying for the MTA's large-scale expansion projects, it will create a revenue stream that would support the issuance of bonds.
As for those projects, Sander told the audience that he and Gov. Eliot Spitzer have identified the Second Avenue Subway and the Long Island Rail Road's "East Side Access" to Grand Central Terminal as the most important. The extension of the No. 7 subway line to the Far West Side would follow, along with creating a one-seat ride to and from JFK Airport. The Regional Plan Association has said that if these projects are completed, the region's population growth can be accommodated without further congestion on the highways, Sander said. He added, however, that if he had to delay or curtail these projects to allow sufficient funds for maintaining the MTA system in a state of good repair, he would.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
