There has been much bad news about Nassau County in recent days – from high taxes to threats to our drinking water to the gross inequality in educational opportunities.
But there is one major piece of good news coming from a very unlikely source – the MTA. And with it the Long island Rail Road.
Yes, we know many problems remain, but check the record.
Construction on the third track, a 9.8-mile stretch from Floral Park to Hicksville that has been a bottleneck to rail traffic across the island, has been coming in on time, on budget and with a degree of transparency and communication not seen in past projects.
The long-delayed East Side Access project, which will connect Long Island Rail Road riders with Grand Central Terminal, thereby cutting a half hour to the commute for half of New York City-bound riders, is now on track and ready for operation in 2022.
Congestion pricing, in which motorists driving into midtown will be charged a fee expected to be in the range of $11 to $14, will help reduce highway traffic and air pollution by encouraging more people to choose the LIRR.
And most importantly the MTA has embarked on a transformation plan that will reorganize the agency’s operations for the first time in 50 years with the benefits reflected in a budget projected to deliver $1.6 billion in savings over five years and includes a capital plan that provides $5.7 billion in improvements to the LIRR.
All of which will mean shorter commutes, better service, more people using public transportation, less air pollution and improved property values.
It is difficult to understate the impact of an agency that carries 8.6 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide and more than 850,000 vehicles on its seven bridges and two tunnels.
Too good to be true?
That was the initial reaction to the changes outlined by MTA Chairman Patrick Foye and LIRR President Phillip Eng at an on the record Community Forum hosted last week by Blank Slate Media at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset.
And for good reason.
The MTA, which is responsible for most public transportation across the New York metropolitan area, including the LIRR, has long been a symbol of waste and incompetence.
In late 2017, a New York Times report titled “The Most Expensive Mile of Subway Track on Earth” found that the cost for each new mile in track needed for the East Side Access project had ballooned to $3.5 billion – “seven times the average elsewhere in the world.”
This, The Times found, was the rule, not the exception, with the MTA and took place at a time when the agency cut back on core subway maintenance “because generations of politicians have diverted money from the transit authority and saddled it with debt.”
The Times study went on to blame much of the East Side Access project’s overruns on a small group of politically connected labor unions, construction companies and consulting firms.
Foye, who took the reins at the MTA two years ago after serving previously as president of the New York Port Authority, did not dispute the agency’s past or dismiss the skepticism of those in the audience.
“The MTA has had its share of failures and fiascoes through the years,” Foye acknowledged.
But he and Eng pointed to the promise of a transformation that will consolidate functions among the five separate agencies under the MTA that include the LIRR, NYC Transit and the Metro-North Railroad.
The consolidation will include bringing five separate departments doing construction under one roof. The centralization effort has allowed for a reduction in 2,700 positions and a savings of $1.6 billion over 10 years to go with $2 billion in other savings over that same period.
Foye and Eng also pointed to new approaches now being taken by the MTA such as design-build, which have already made a difference.
This approach asks companies bidding to provide both the design and the price in the bid process, saving the MTA the time and cost of designing a project.
Contractors are then held accountable to being on time and working with impacted communities with financial incentives and penalties.
Eng cited the third track as an example of the design-build approach and its benefits.
Foye and Eng also offer Nassau residents further assurances with their ties to the area.
Foye lives in Port Washington and Eng was born in Williston Park, grew up in Mineola and graduated from Herricks High School. He has since moved to Smithtown but his mother still lives in Mineola.
So no one can say that the two do not understand the issues faced by Nassau County residents.
Eng also noted increases in both the LIRR’s ridership and its on-time performance. The LIRR served 89.8 million riders last year and is projected to carry 91.3 million this year – with an on-time performance of more than 90 percent.
Eng said he expected the number to increase to 100 million in the future as improvements are made – with additional improvements to on-time performance.
Riders, he said, can also expect major improvements to Penn Station and subways that will shorten commute times, make the experience better and for the handicapped more accessible.
Eng said that down the road he would like to see the use and experience of Jamaica station where much of the LIRR’s traffic goes through reimagined.
Nassau commuters, both those who drive and those who take the LIRR, have every reason to be skeptical. This is the MTA and the LIRR we’re talking about.
But so far this new version of the MTA has exceeded expectations and raises hope of major improvements that would make living in Nassau a better experience and more attractive.
Our recommendation is to borrow a page from President Reagan with the Russians and trust, but verify.
