This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/nyregion/torontos-transit-chief-named-to-lead-new-yorks-troubled-subway.html

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Amid Crisis, Toronto Transit Chief Is Named to Run New York Subway Toronto Transit Chief Is Tapped to Run New York’s Ailing Subways
(about 2 hours later)
With New York’s century-old subway system facing a crisis, transportation officials on Tuesday turned to a veteran transit leader, Andrew Byford, credited with turning around Toronto’s once beleaguered system to take over the city’s buses and subways. With New York’s century-old subway system engulfed in a crisis brought about by years of neglect and poor political decisions, a transit official from outside the United States was named on Tuesday to take over the management of the city’s subways and buses.
Mr. Byford’s appointment as the president of New York City Transit comes on the heels of a series of changes in leadership at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the subway system, aimed at restoring accountability and changing a culture that for years has left the subway without adequate funding or support. The decision to name Andrew Byford, the chief executive of the Toronto Transit Commission, the president of New York City Transit followed a series of recent changes in leadership at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the subway. The aim has been to restore accountability and change a culture that for years has left the system lacking adequate funding or support.
Even as the subway’s antiquated infrastructure, including its signal systems and tracks, was breaking down at an increasing rate, the money spent on maintenance has remained essentially the same, when adjusted for inflation, as it was 25 years ago, according to a recent investigation by The New York Times. The subway has also been hampered by a high turnover rate — Mr. Byford will become the agency’s fifth full-time leader in the last 10 years.
During a news conference in Toronto, Mr. Byford called his new posting “arguably the toughest job in transit right now.” While he earned wide praise for restoring Toronto’s once-troubled transit system, Mr. Byford may find himself hostage to forces that have in recent years proven beyond the control of any one official, with the political whims and calculations of elected officials, including governors and mayors, driving critical financial decisions that have resulted in today’s woeful state of affairs.
Mr. Byford will take control of an agency that has often proved intransigent and opaque and dominated by a political dynamic in which elected officials have often used the transportation authority to serve their political priorities at the expense of investing sufficiently on the nuts and bolts that could have averted the crisis that has engulfed the transit system. Joseph J. Lhota, the chairman of the authority, said Mr. Byford had been on the radar of transit officials for years — dating back to his participation in a 2014 commission appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to examine how the authority could be improved. But despite producing recommendations that are now considered essential, like investing in basic infrastructure, the commission’s findings were largely ignored. Still, when Mr. Cuomo put together a similar panel this summer, Mr. Byford was once again included.
Those decisions have helped create a situation in which just 65 percent of weekday trains reach their final destination on time, the lowest rate since the transit crisis of the 1970s. Unlike the ’70s, when subways covered in graffiti became emblems of urban decay and the city faced a financial meltdown, the current problems are all the more galling to riders and advocates because they come at a time when the city is booming and flush with tax revenues. From the outset of the search for a new leader three months ago, Mr. Byford was a top contender. He has been considered a rising star in the transportation world with a deep resume that includes stops in Sydney and London before he went to Toronto, where, Mr. Lhota said, his record of achievement convinced officials that he was up to the task.
Exacerbating the problem and making solutions harder to come by, City Hall and Albany remain divided over how to address both the short- and long-term financial needs of the subways — a dynamic that Mr. Byford will likely have to learn to navigate quickly in order to reverse the subway’s decline. “He knows how to change the culture of an organization,” he said. “We were looking for a certain level of transit expertise combined with the political skill and moxie.”
Mr. Byford is a British-born alumnus of both London and Sydney’s transit networks and this will not be his first time dealing with a system in turmoil. When he was named the head of the Toronto Transit Commission, known as TTC, it was facing widespread criticism for delays and overcrowding. Mr. Cuomo met with Mr. Byford after he had received the backing of the Transportation Authority and was blunt about the challenges he would face, a conversation that Mr. Lhota said reinforced what Mr. Byford already knew.
“He is an astute student of what New York City has done and not done,” Mr. Lhota said.
Mr. Byford, in a brief telephone interview, said he was impressed by the passion both Mr. Lhota and the governor brought to the subway’s plight, but was under no illusions about the situation he is inheriting.
He was circumspect when asked about controversial topics, like congestion pricing — a plan to charge drivers in the most crowded parts of Manhattan as a way to increase subway financing — and said he wanted to avoid getting enmeshed in political feuds.
“I leave the politics to the politicians,” he said. He viewed his job as being an advocate for “sustained and sustainable” funding, but was “agnostic” about how that should be achieved.
Mr. Byford will take over an agency with a reputation for being intransigent and opaque and dominated by a political dynamic in which elected officials have used the Transportation Authority to serve their political priorities at the expense of focusing on the far less glamorous nuts and bolts needed to reliably operate an antiquated subway.
Those decisions have helped create a situation in which just 65 percent of weekday trains reach their final destination on time, the lowest rate since the transit crisis of the 1970s. Unlike the 1970s, when subways covered in graffiti became emblems of urban decay and the city faced a financial meltdown, the current problems are all the more galling to riders and advocates because they come at a time when the city is booming and flush with tax revenues.
Making solutions harder to reach is the sharp divide between Mr. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio over how to address both the short- and long-term financial needs of the subways — a conflict that Mr. Byford will likely have to learn to navigate quickly if he is to start making tangible progress.
He declined to weigh in on the matter on Tuesday, and Mr. Lhota said he viewed it as his role to “insulate” Mr. Byford from such fights.
But during a news conference in Toronto, Mr. Byford acknowledged the challenges ahead, calling his new posting “arguably the toughest job in transit right now.”
Mr. Byford also acknowledged the subway’s role in the life of the city, saying that it “has driven New York City to become the bustling, successful metropolis that it is,’’ and added that it was his “responsibility to modernize the system and bring it to the high levels of performance and customer service that New Yorkers truly deserve.”
He said he first rode the New York City subway in 1994 when he was on his honeymoon and “marveled at its complexity.”
It dwarfs the system he currently oversees.
While Toronto’s transit system — the third largest in North America — carries about 1.7 million riders every weekday on its network of subways, streetcars and buses, New York City’s system serves nearly six million daily riders just on the subway.
In Canada, he oversaw 14,000 employees, while in New York he will manage about 50,000 workers.
Mr. Byford is a British-born alumnus of both London and Sydney’s transit networks, and this will not be his first time dealing with a system in turmoil. When he was named the head of the Toronto system, known as TTC, it was saddled with delays and overcrowding.
“There’s a recognition that the TTC, which was once an absolute jewel in the province’s crown, has lost its way through lack of investment and, I’d say, political influence over the last 30 years,” he said in an interview with Toronto Life in 2015.“There’s a recognition that the TTC, which was once an absolute jewel in the province’s crown, has lost its way through lack of investment and, I’d say, political influence over the last 30 years,” he said in an interview with Toronto Life in 2015.
Over the last several years, he has been credited with modernizing the system and paying more attention to addressing consumer need. Over the last several years, he has been credited with updating the system and paying more attention to addressing the needs of riders and being a transparent communicator, something Mr. Lhota has stressed is important to restoring the subway’s credibility.
In 2017, the TTC was awarded the American Public Transportation Association award for Outstanding Transit System of the Year. One of the key innovations Mr. Byford oversaw in Toronto was the rollout of open “gangway” cars, which are separated by open, accordionlike passageways rather than doors. New York City is embracing the car design as way to create more room for subway riders and alleviate packed trains.
Toronto’s reputation as a livable city with good transit has helped it grow to more than 2.8 million people, on par with the population of Chicago. Mr. Byford’s plans for enhancing Toronto’s service culminated in an award this year from the American Public Transportation Association for Outstanding Transit System of the Year.
Still, the challenge he faces in New York will likely dwarf what he has faced in the past. “Generally I have enjoyed Byford’s era at the TTC for bringing a view that was not part of ‘that’s how we do things here,’” said Steve Munro, a longtime transit advocate in Toronto. “He will definitely be missed as an articulate, trusted face of the TTC, especially as we are about to go through both municipal and provincial elections with the latter likely to bring in a less transit-friendly government.”
Toronto’s transit system — the third largest in North America — has about 1.7 million riders each weekday on its network of subways, streetcars and buses. New York City’s system serves nearly six million daily riders on the subway alone. Nevertheless, Mr. Munro said that over the years, Mr. Byford had become somewhat less receptive to criticism, perhaps as a result of becoming entrenched in the bureaucracy he was brought in to change — a danger that could prove even harder to avoid in New York’s sprawling transit agency.
Veronique Hakim led New York City Transit from the end of 2015 until earlier this year, when she was elevated to the executive committee of the M.T.A. Since her departure, several leaders have been placed in charge of the organization on an interim basis, most recently Timothy Mulligan. While giving him overall good marks, Mr. Munro said that the TTC has been working on a “ridership growth strategy” for about two years without producing anything concrete. Officials have explained the delay by saying they want to “get it right,” he said. But he suspected that “political considerations” might also be at work.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who controls the transportation authority, declared a state of emergency in June to help speed measures to deal with the crumbling subway system and directed Joseph J. Lhota, the authority’s chairman, to oversee the plan. “On the political front, the CEO’s position has not been easy, but Byford has managed to hold his own against a critical audience,” he said. “Mind you, I think the Toronto media, pols and public activists are pussycats by comparison, and he may be in for a surprise.”
Under Mr. Lhota, officials have stepped up work to address some of the root causes of delays: overcrowding, sick passengers and track and signal problems.
Mr. Lhota announced an $836 million action plan to tackle the most urgent needs, including expanding rapid response teams to fix track problems; assigning emergency medical technicians at crucial stations to deal with passengers needing medical assistance; and directing riders to less crowded areas of a platform to make it easier for them to get on and off trains.
“Our transit system is the backbone of the world’s greatest city and having someone of Andy’s caliber to lead it will help immensely,’’ Mr. Lhota said in a news release. “In order to truly stabilize, modernize and improve our transit system, we needed a leader who has done this work at world-class systems and Andy’s successes in Toronto are evidence that he is up to this critically important task.”
But an ongoing dispute between Mr. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio over financing threatens to undermine the emergency plan. The state has agreed to pay for half of the bill and has asked the city to pay for the other half. Mr. de Blasio has refused, saying the city already provides enough money for the subway.
Mr. Byford will oversee some 50,000 employees who are a part of NYC Transit and “the immediate and long-term modernization of one of the oldest and largest transit systems in the world,” according to the M.T.A.
“New York City’s public transit system has driven New York City to become the bustling, successful metropolis that it is, and it’s an honor to be trusted with the huge responsibility to modernize the system and bring it to the high levels of performance and customer service that New Yorkers truly deserve and rightfully expect,” Mr. Byford said in a statement.
One of the key innovations Mr. Byford oversaw in Toronto was the rollout of open “gangway” cars, which are separated by open accordionlike passageways rather than doors. New York City is embracing the car design as a way to create more room for subway riders and alleviate overcrowding.
Officials plan to order up to 750 of the cars to run on the subway’s lettered lines.
Mr. Byford began his transit career at the London Underground and spent over 14 years there, eventually overseeing three of London’s busiest subways: the Central, Bakerloo and Victoria Lines.
Later he became the chief operating officer of Australia’s largest transit system in Sydney. He has been in charge in Toronto for the past five years. Transportation officials said his international experience will give him an advantage in bringing new ideas to the agency when he assumes his role in January.
“Transit in a city as diverse as New York presents a unique set of challenges, and Andy’s global leadership experience make him well-suited for the task,” said Phil Eng, the chief operating officer of the M.T.A. “I welcome him aboard and look forward to working alongside him as we strengthen and grow the transit system.”