Live from 347 Madison Avenue: MTA Meetings Webcasts

The MTA has embraced Internet technology once again to offer the public streaming webcasts of public meetings at its midtown Manhattan headquarters. Thanks to Governor Spitzer's "Executive Order 3," which requires all public agencies to broadcast meetings by July 1, the MTA is investing just over a hundred thousand dollars to set up and maintain the technology. MTA executive director and CEO Elliot Sander said, "The MTA shares Governor Spitzer’s focus on transparency and access, and we are thrilled to be able to offer this service before the mandated deadline." Of course, Sander is a Spitzer appointee.

Today, the MTA has seven meetings, including ones about capital construction, NYC Transit, finance, and safety & security. The webcasts will be archived for 30 days (after that, DVDs will be available). The press release notes the MTA is making the webcasts available to its employees ("at an additional one-time cost of $16,000 and $7,000 annually") which seems like a given, but whatever. It's definitely a nice step forward to let the public and MTA employees in on what happens.

The public can attend meetings and ask questions, but you need to register beforehand in person. And last year around this time, the MTA rolled out its TransitTrax podcasts.

Photograph of Metrocard Man and family at the Mermaid Parade by Toby von Meisterslinger