Great: Officials Faked Thousands Of Subway Inspections

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According to an investigation by Barry L. Kluger, Inspector General of the MTA, a number NYC Transit supervisors forced maintainers to lie on vital signal inspection reports, threatening them with things like loss of overtime. But one signal maintainer argued that meeting the MTA's exacting standards was just too hard. He told the Post, "Instead of five signals to inspect [in a shift], they would give you 15. There's no way 15 could be done, but they would say you had to do it. It's like you think your car is fine after going to the mechanic, but they never looked at it."

The fibbing came after the MTA began to face pressure to meet federal standards that call for railway switches and signals to be inspected monthly. The signals are used to keep appropriate space between trains, and a faulty signal could cause unnecessary delays or even a dangerous crash, like Washington D.C.'s June 2009 commuter-rail crash. High-earning Signal Department supervisor Tracy Bowdwin resigned a few weeks ago according to the Daily News, but the Post reports she was demoted following the scandal.

All of the signals have since been reinspected and found safe, and Kluger thanked subway officials jumping on the case. “Because of the seriousness of the issue, rather than wait for the investigation to be completed, we’ve been providing NYC Transit with oversight on an ongoing basis,” he said, adding that officials acted with “prompt and immediate attention to ensure the safety and integrity of the signal system." Straphangers weren't to pleased to learn about the corner cutting. One said, "Of course anytime there are questions raised about safety, you have concerns.... You should be able to trust the people doing these jobs." But this is the MTA we're talking about—maybe the feds should have sent their own guys to do the job.

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By Jaya Saxena in News on November 20, 2010 10:00 AM

Comments [rss]

m015094

Pro union people are pro laziness. The weak get fired, but not in union-town.

tippelskirchi

Goddamn, this is messed up even for the MTA/TWU. If the investigation's claims are true there shouldn't be any doubt: these managers should be fired. This is gross negligence that could have easily been criminal negligence. If "demotion" is the only repercussion here, we New Yorkers had better raise hell.

bikerrich

"oh you can't scare me, i'm stickin' to the union, i'm stickin to the union, i'm sticking to the union.......

Såkandulæredet

It's better this shit was found out about now, than after a serious crash.

pinball29

Is there ANY process in this city that isnt tainted by corrupt union members who feel entitled to do whatever they think is necessary to further their own agendas, even if it includes lying, cheating and stealing. Building inspections, school rehabs and lunch contracts, police quotas and lying on reports, embezzlement, bribery, the list goes on and on.

And yet, ordinary citizens are ticketed and harassed for minor infractions under 'quality of life' measures.

Fire them all.

rcltrh

Fire everyone who filled out a false report, then fire the managers told them to do so and revoke any pension amount that they didn't contribute to with their own money. This qualifies as gross negligence and should be a fireable offence even under union rules. Replace them with cheaper newhires - surely there are some qualified unemployed people right now who would gladly accept the jobs and do them correctly. That would help with the budget as well as safety. Even hire a few extra lower paid workers and cut out the overtime for everyone else altogether. Someone needs to grow a pair and actually manage this out of control fiasco called the MTA in a manner that any business should be run. By January next year customers will be paying $200 a month with this crap and shitty service still happening if they don't.