New York Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has been rolling out his transition teams over the past week, announcing the transportation team today. There are some puzzling omissions. As Andrea Bernstein at WNYC points out, there are virtually no representatives from the advocacy community. The full list, as announced in a press release, is below:
- Kendra Adams, Executive Director, New York State Motor Truck Association
- Dave Barger, C.E.O., President and Director, JetBlue
- Eugene Berardi, Jr., President and CEO, Adirondack Trailways
- Lillian Borrone, Chairman, ENO Transportation Foundation
- Martin Dilan, New York State Senate
- David Gantt, NYS Assembly
- Robert Gioia, former Chairman, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority
- Gail Grimmett, Senior Vice President, Delta Air Lines
- Peter S. Kalikow, former Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
- Gary Labarbera, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
- Cheryl McKissack, Recording Secretary, Women Builders Council
- George Miranda, Vice President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, President, Teamsters Hispanic Caucus
- Mitchell Moss, Director, Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, Henry Hart Rice Professor Urban Policy and Planning at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
- Andrew Murstein, founder, Board Member, and President of Medallion Financial Corp
- Vincent Polimeni, Founder, President and C.E.O., Polimeni International, LLC
- Denise Richardson, Managing Director, General Contractors Association of New York
- Jay Simson, President, American Council of Engineering Companies of New York
- Rodney Slater, former Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation
it looks like the professionals, the politicians and those who benefit from transportation spending are represented. Empire State Association of Railroad Passenger, the Straphangers Coalition and other advocacy groups would be very useful additions as would a representative of the railroad industry. The Electric Railroaders Association also has knowledgeable members on public transportation. Those from the groups I mentioned (other than possibly the railroad industry) actually use public transportation and are aware of constraints and problems no one in Cuomo’s list probably know.