Subway Cuts Jobs, Costs While Attempting to Maintain Service

MTA officials are planning on eliminating the jobs of more than 240 people in order to shave $40 million from its annual budget. The staff reduction will constitute almost one half of 1% in the MTA's headcount, which oversees Metro-North, the LIRR, and NYC Transit. The savings will be recognized through the consolidation of multiple overlapping jobs by creating a centralized control center.

Annual savings of $40 million among such a small group of people means that each job was averaging more than $160,000 per annum. There is a one-time cost for consolidating the tasks, which has a price tag of about $235 million. And the relatively small reduction in headcount probably doesn't mean that any track workers their jobs.

The annual budget reductions come as riders are about to endure another fare hike, which was not well received publicly upon its approval. Perhaps the ceremonial lopping of 240 jobs was meant to satiate New Yorkers' hunger for improvements in service or agency efficiency. We'll see.

Simultaneously, the MTA is looking for a successor to its antiquated Metrocard swipe technology, which is almost 20 years old. The agency wants to replace it with swipe-less technology it's been experimenting with .
Recycled Metrocard artwork #5, by dM.nyc at flickr

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By Dave Hogarty in News on January 28, 2008 5:25 PM

Comments [rss]

eyekantspel

the 160k a year figure undoubtedly includes hidden costs that employers bear, like taxes, health insurace & pension.

rhodamine

$160K+ a year? apparently, im in the wrong field!

eyekantspel

this is interesting: at 68,000 employees, MTA has more employees than some state governments.

http://www.bcnys.org/whatsnew/2007/0305stlocal.htm

NY has about as many as CT, NJ and PA combined.

of course, NY has more people than any one of those states. But combined, there are about 25 million in NJ, PA and CT and about 20m in NY

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0004986.html

NY covers about the same amount of geographical territory as PA and CT combined http://www.cylist.com/List/400300899/

you'd think NY would have some economy of scale to require fewer, not more employees.

eyekantspel

So how many people exactly do you want these guys to fire? 68 thousand people to keep up a system that gives over a billion rides a year.

That's not too shabby.

How about 18,000 to start off with?

I think I could probably figure out how to make the trains run with 50,000 people:

8,000 to pick up trash/maintain the tracks, 8,000 to run the trains and token booths, 4,000 to manage the first 16,000 and 30,000 for miscellaneous other stuff, like picking out art, making charts and graphs, studying metrocard alternatives and cell phones and figuring out how much to raise the fares.

Yeah, if cutting 240 saves 40m, another 15,760 would probably save about two billion dollars, which would help fund nice uniforms for the remaining 50,000 employees.

JMH

Toby von Meistersinger wrote:
There is something smarter than smart cards, it is called proof of payment. It works in Europe and in various places in North America, but it requires inspectors to make sure you have paid.
Proof of payment is a bad idea. The MTA would have to hire more people, not fewer; you'd still have a bottleneck at now-obsolete turnstiles; and loads of people would still get away with not paying, because there's no way there'd be enough inspectors to actually get the job done effectively.

solidago wrote:
Why do we need a successor to the Metrocard? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I've got my swipe down good and I can't imagine a more quick and easy system short of some transponder that just broadcasts our identity and balance - which would be rather creepy.
While you and I and many others may have our swipes down pat, there are plenty of people who take a bunch of tries (and that's not saying anything about the idiots who don't realize there isn't any money on their card). And have you ever tried to work your way to the turnstiles at the end of a Mets game? It's FULL of people who don't know how to swipe a card.

Also, though this is just conjecture, I have a hunch that the card reader slots must eventually get grimy and stop working properly. If you went with RFID smart cards instead, I think the lack of moving/exposed to the elements parts would make the system more durable.

solidago

Why do we need a successor to the Metrocard? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I've got my swipe down good and I can't imagine a more quick and easy system short of some transponder that just broadcasts our identity and balance - which would be rather creepy. They should focus their efforts on cutting worthless union staff - maybe the post office is hiring. Government monopoly + unions = the most worthless and apathetic workers not employed by Duane Reade.

berniegoetz

I hope those racist idiots who wrote "black power" on their dry-erase board last year and then refused to sell a metrocard to a white man are the first to lose their jobs.

Kevin Bracken

in some cities like toronto, we can't even swipe our monthly cards on surface vehicles like buses and streetcars - we simply show them to the driver. if we had a system like the metrocard, it would almost completely eliminate transit fraud.

Toby von Meistersinger

There is something smarter than smart cards, it is called proof of payment. It works in Europe and in various places in North America, but it requires inspectors to make sure you have paid.

It also would have the advantage of speeding up bus trips, since riders could board from all doors and you don't have to wait for people to pay at the fare box.

eyekantspel

that's a fair point spiritof76. I suppose that the observation that it was close to one half of 1% immediately had me thinking in increments of .25

JMH

Simultaneously, the MTA is looking for a successor to its antiquated Metrocard swipe technology, which is almost 20 years old. The agency wants to replace it with swipe-less technology it's been experimenting with.
They've had Smart Cards for PATH fares for a few years now (not to mention in other cities). Why should it be so difficult for the MTA to get this implemented?

Jenni

wait, didn't they just spend $2.5 million on new uniforms for mta workers?

Spirit of 76

oh, and their calling 240 out of 68,000 "almost one half of 1%" is exactly what's wrong with the MTA. It's actually .35%, meaning closer to one quarter of 1%.

Don't they teach fractions in school anymore? .35% is just over 1/3 of 1 percent.

Toby von Meistersinger

They could probably save way more than $160,000 per annum by firing some lawyers, consultants and managers.

Toby von Meistersinger

They could probably save way more than $160,000 per annum by firing some lawyers, consultants and managers.

fotoaddict

rides != money directly don't forget..

A decent jump in # of rides occurred when the all you could ride passes came online a few years ago..

The MTA should be forced to provide more detailed information as to their finances though. the ~10 slide powerpoint they put out whenever there's a fare increase is so simplistic it's insulting..

And you have to love that they're experimenting with something that other cities have used for 5+ years system wide. Is it really that much harder to swipe off a FOB than a card? I'm assuming both send a number back to the central office that returns with a yes/no response.. ?

ed_Extinct

MTA subways, buses, and commuter rail lines provided an estimated 2.6 billion rides in 2007, a figure not achieved since the 1950s.

Thar is a SHIT LOAD of money!

Dave Hogarty

That was my phraseology [5]. I guess I was trying to be optimistic in my math.

eyekantspel

correction, .35%, which is closer to one quarter of 1%.

eyekantspel

oh, and their calling 240 out of 68,000 "almost one half of 1%" is exactly what's wrong with the MTA. It's actually .0035%, meaning closer to one quarter of 1%.