FILE – An MTA New York City Transit conductor on board a subway train.
REUTERS
State legislative leaders should oppose a renewed Transport Workers Union (TWU) push to require two-person crews on every subway line that currently uses them, argued a constellation of good government and business groups in a Wednesday letter.
In the missive, the coalition urged State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and three chairs of relevant committees to shoot down the TWU Local 100-backed effort to prevent the MTA from expanding one-person train operation (OPTO) to more subway lines. Most subway lines currently operate with two-man crews, except for the three shuttle services and certain lines during off-peak hours.
The letter was authored and signed by leaders of Reinvent Albany, the Citizens Budget Commission, and NYU’s Marron Transit Costs Project, among other groups.
The groups, many of which also opposed the bill’s previous incarnation, argued lawmakers should reject it because it would put the city’s subways at a disadvantage compared to other systems around the world.
“This legislation would prevent the MTA from adopting the industry standard and realizing operational efficiencies as it deploys new trains designed to work with the billions of dollars of advanced signal technology being installed throughout the subway system,” the letter reads.
The MTA is also fiercely opposed to the legislation. New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow aired similar arguments to the coalition of groups during last month’s MTA board meeting. The fight is taking place as the TWU and the MTA negotiate a new contract, with the current one expiring on May 15.
The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Parker and Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman in their respective chambers, is aimed at protecting the jobs of conductors, who would be replaced by automated systems under OPTO, leaving train drivers as the only humans operating subway trains.
Proponents, including disability advocates, say the legislation is necessary because conductors are essential to helping passengers safely exit trains during emergency situations.
Both houses of the state legislature approved a previous version of the bill last year, which would have also required the MTA to return to two-man crews on trains already using OPTO, but Gov. Kathy Hochul ultimately vetoed it.
In the letter, the authors contended that two-person train crews are not required on any U.S. transit system besides the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), which connects Manhattan with the far eastern parts of northern New Jersey. They also cited a Marron Institute report from last year that found that fewer than 6% of 400 rail lines worldwide use two-person train crews.
Furthermore, the groups said legislators should not approve the bill because the MTA should be in charge of its own operational strategies and the agency has already committed billions of dollars to modernizing its signal systems, which are designed to save money by allowing for OPTO.
“Mandating specific staffing levels by law also risks squandering the billions in capital investments to modernize subway signals that are being spent by the MTA and NY State government,” they said.
TWU International boss John Samuelsen ripped the coalition’s arguments as “absolutely ludicrous.” He also contended that it does not make sense to compare the New York City subway system to others around the world and that two-person train crews are necessary to safe evacuations.
“At the end of the day, even if I didn’t have the very logical, serious rebuttal to the MTA, the TWU is not going to roll over,” Samuelsen said. “We’re not going to give up the fight.”