The MTA has long fought public sentiment that it is wasteful and not to be trusted, a perception many elected officials have been quick to capitalize on. Recent news, such as a raise for executive director Elliot Sander and free EZ Passes and transit passes for board members, certainly doesn’t help. At a time when the agency is facing giant operating and capital deficits, it needs to beef up its credibility with the public. Below are a few ideas about how MTA officials and leadership can boost its approval ratings and start to regain the public’s trust.
1. Give back Elliot Sander’s raise. No one disputes that Sander works hard for the MTA, but a raise in times of fiscal crisis is confusing and further separates the MTA leadership from many New Yorkers who are struggling to pay the bills.
2. Publicly fight the big battles (like getting millions more for transit from the state) and concede on the smaller ones (like free transit passes for board members). Some battles are worth the fight, others are not.
3. Appoint board members who care about the transit network and will act as good spokespeople for the agency. This suggestion is for the various officials who recommend MTA board members for appointment, including the NYC Mayor, the Governor, County Executives, and labor and transit advocates. Those that hold the power should be proud of the system and ride it frequently, even if it means they have to pay the fare.
4. Follow through on public promises. In March 2008, the MTA promised a $46 million package of service improvements — then delayed the improvements at a board meeting three weeks later. Yesterday the NY Times reported that the agency will implement a scaled-down $9M package of improvements instead. No one trusts people or agencies who promise one thing and deliver another.
5. Pre-empt issues of accountability. The Straphangers Campaign’s Gene Russianoff has said the MTA could help its public perception by proposing its own reforms, like creating an MTA Independent Budget Office.
6. Show riders what the agency has accomplished over the past few decades, and what it wants to accomplish now. Sander often contrasts today’s MTA with the unreliable and unsafe transit network of the 1970s and 1980s. He should keep it up – but the agency should also do a better and more specific job of answering the perennial question: “What have you done for me lately?” Furthermore, advocates have too often led the charge when it comes to things like breaking out the benefits of the agency’s capital programs; the MTA should be taking the lead and publicizing worthwhile and exciting projects within the subway system. (As the Chicago Transit Authority does – see image above and note below.)
7. Continue to connect with riders. Last year, Sander made headlines for the simple gesture of talking with commuters on a July morning at Grand Central Terminal. The MTA’s subway Rider Report Cards were enthusiastically received (at least based on the numbers of people who filled them out), and an interactive workshop on the fare hike was well-attended, as was the inaugural “State of the MTA” address this year. These public events and initiatives help chip away at the notion that the agency is isolated from its customers. Other things, like better communication about service changes, friendlier station attendants, a 311 type complaint line, and a more user friendly website, could also help in this regard. (For example, Transport for London has real time service updates for each subway line on its homepage.)
Your column is nothing more than self-serving drivel. Are you just stooges for the Strapangers and their “what ever the question, the answer is don’t raise the fare” approach to mass transit? Why should Sander give back his raise? Bread is going up, gas is going up,rents are going up, but Sander’s 3% raise is some sort of mortal sin? Bloomberg, not the MTA, killed the service enhancements. Why not beat up on him? Oh that’s right, you are too busy cozying up to him. And, it’s the MTA’s responsiblity that board members are rich jerks? Who apppointed them? The billionaire and millionaire politicians. Even the union reps are a joke. The MTA should just tell the politicans to shove it; if they just did what they needed to do, everyone would be better off.
[…] Slevin at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Mobilizing the Region blog suggests seven ways in which the MTA can start to restore some credibility. Her suggestions should be considered and implemented by an increasingly beleaguered transportation […]
Blogs can be impersonal and it’s important to maintain a level of civility when posting comments. If you have something to say, say it, but please do so without insulting organizations or people.
Regarding the substance of Merkman’s post, we agree that both the city and state should find more revenue for our transit network. Yes, ultimately it is the politicians who are to blame for the MTA’s financial problems (see recommendation #3), but the MTA could certainly do a better job explaining its goals, accomplishments, and generally communicating with the public. Sander’s raise is certainly deserved. The point of the first recommendation is to point out the public perception of his raise and the problems it creates for the agency.
So, Merkman, are you disputing the idea that the MTA has some credibility issues?
…Have you been reading the news lately?
No, Red, Merkman did not say that the MTA is perfect, he said that Slevin’s column is self-serving drivel and he did not go far enough. Knowledgeable transit activists have far more important criticisms than that. Both Tri-State and Straphangers (which is merely Gene Russianoff using his Ralph Nader-PIRG employees) are establishment groupies who have backed every one of the MTA’s bogus construction projects, not one of which would survive honest cost/benefit analysis and most of which involve commuter rail when most people who work in Manhattan by far use subways and buses. Neither one objects to the fact that the MTA is willing to postpone subway station renovations and, more importantly, fire-proofing the subway signal relay rooms (two major fires in three years), but is going ahead with the unneeded LIRR East Side Access, the worthless puny 2-track Second Avenue Subway, and the unneeded (and hopelessly inadequate) #7 subway extension. They both, like the pathetically self-important and equally worthless and unrepresentative Regional Plan Association, will back any idiot project the MTA comes up with as long as someone will listen to them. And none of these “transit activists” voiced any objection when the MTA announced that it would only be increasing rush hour fequency on its most-crowded L line from 4 minutes to 3-1/2 minutes when its capacity is 2 minutes. If anyone reading this comment wants to know what knowledgeable transit activists think and what subway riders really want, you can e-mail me at jwchase11377@yahoo.com and give me a postal address (Yahoo’s e-mail program will not let me include files in an e-mail and I have some maps I think you will want to (and should) see. Meanwhile, I have an old lapel pin that says it all: MTA – More Transit Abuse.
Posted by Jefferson Chase, TRIP-2-WORK+