Lhota lays out fast-track fix
DARES BLAZ TO HOP ONBOARD
MTA CHAIRMAN Joe Lhota unveiled a more than $800 million emergency subway repair plan Tuesday that promises to put the brakes on nightmarish delays and derailments within one year.
Lhota’s short-term subway turnaround calls for fixing 1,300 of the most failure-prone signals, expanding the number of cars overhauled per year, and dispatching 31 specialized teams to accelerate track repairs.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will also roll out trains with some seatless cars in a pilot program on the 42nd St. shuttle and the L line designed to move more people per ride.
The new measures amount to the first phase of what transportation officials say will be a herculean effort to upgrade and modernize the 113-year-old system.
“We’ve got to take this system and get it out of the late 19th century and get it into the 21st century as quickly as we can,” Lhota said at a news conference in lower Manhattan.
The subway fix won’t come cheap.
The MTA is seeking $456 million in operating funds — half from the state and half from the city — along with $380 million in capital funding.
The MTA will have to hire an additional 2,700 people to deliver on its promise to stabilize the system within a year.
Lhota added that the longterm plan, which will focus on modernizing the entire system, will require an additional capital investment of about $8 billion.
Mayor de Blasio praised Lhota’s plan — but said the state should pick up the entire tab.
“This is on behalf of the people in the City of New York,” Lhota countered. “We need to come together and be partners in this.”
The subway system’s years of neglect have come to a head in 2017 as riders have been forced to endure what has felt like an endless cascade of derailments, breakdowns and long delays.
Soon after Lhota took over the MTA last month, Gov. Cuomo ordered him to produce a “reorganization plan” within 30 days.
The vision Lhota laid out Tuesday places a focus on tackling the problems that account for nearly 80% of all subway delays - including signal, track and power issues, along with fires and water in the subway beds. Its key points include Launching a massive effort to eliminate trash and ponding in the tracks that includes sealing leaks with chemical grouting and scrubbing 40,000 street grates.
Dispatching 31 track repair teams to target the most problematic sections of the system.
Tripling the number of “combined action teams” in a bid to cut response times to signal, rail and track problems from 45 minutes to 15 minutes.
Expanding the number of train cars overhauled per year to 1,100, up from 950.
Adding 20 prepositioned teams to 12 locations to improve response times amid train car malfunctions.
Adding additional cars to the C line and others that have stations long enough to accommodate them.
Ramping up the inspection and repair of train car doors, which are responsible for 40% of car breakdowns.
Providing clearer real-time information to riders during incidents.
l Installing prepositioned teams of emergency medical technicians at stations that see the highest numbers of sick patients, to reduce delays caused by ill riders.
Cuomo immediately signaled his support for the proposal — and tweaked de Blasio in the process.
The two have been locked in a long-running public spat over who bears responsibility for fixing the crumbling subway system.
“The plan outlined by Chairman Lhota is substantive and realistic,” said Cuomo, who added that he will agree to the 50-50 funding split.
“As a lifelong New Yorker, I know how essential the subway service is to people’s day-to-day lives. I am all about getting results. Now is not the time for pointing fingers, but for moving forward — together as New Yorkers.”
De Blasio called the plan “a step in the right direction,” but made clear that he’s not willing to pony up any additional funding.
Hizzoner said the cash the MTA is asking for to cover operations — $456 million — is the exact amount the state has diverted from the MTA in recent years.
“That money is available right now. It’s in the State of New York’s reserves,” de Blasio said in a news conference at the City Hall subway station.
“That’s the way to solve that problem.”
Lhota shot back at de Blasio in a Tuesday evening statement. “It is befuddling that the mayor praised the MTA repair plan, but said he would not agree to fund it 50-50 with the state,” said Lhota, who had earlier vowed to seek the needed funding from the state Legislature if necessary.
“One-half of a repair plan won’t make the trains run on time.” WHEN MTA Chairman Joe Lhota on Tuesday released an emergency subway turnaround plan that costs in excess of $800 million, he said that he’s focusing on the most critical, commute-ruining delays that make up 79% of all late trains:
The plan got the green light from subway rider advocacy groups.
“I think it’s got a lot of good ideas, and I think the public is going to be pretty responsive to these ideas,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.
“You have to worry about what the public’s gonna say,” Russianoff said. “What are the riders gonna say? These two guys can’t work it out? My commute is miserable, and I’m counting on their leadership to fix this problem.”
And Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen said he was glad to see that Lhota’s vision mirrored several parts of the plan he provided to the Daily News last week.
“We’re gratified the MTA in many areas has agreed with the men and women who know the subway the best — transit workers,” Samuelsen said. “We
Medical emergencies, sick passengers Fire Car malfunctions Station equipment malfunctions Water damage
The other 21% includes delays from trespassers on the tracks, work crews in tunnels or unruly riders holding up trains. can and will do our part to end this reliability crisis. Our elected officials now have to step up and provide the necessary funding to get the job done. No more political games. No more shirking responsibility.”
During his underground news conference, de Blasio received a firsthand glimpse of how straphangers feel about the subway. “Fix the trains!” Lainie Durnin of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, yelled at the mayor while he was speaking with reporters.
She hopped on a Brooklynbound R train that was held for a few seconds so that de Blasio and his team could enter. “It’s horrendous,” Durnin said of her commute as de Blasio stood nearby.
“I think it’s a little bit on both (de Blasio and Cuomo),” she said. “If the governor was on the train, I’d be yelling at the governor.”