|
|
| MTA Board Says Outgoing Chairman Made The Best Of Financial Difficulties {video} (1106171) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > SubChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
MTA Board Says Outgoing Chairman Made The Best Of Financial Difficulties {video} |
|
|
Posted by Gold_12TH on Wed Sep 28 23:09:21 2011, in response to Hong Kong bound Jay Walder cites budget crunch for widespread service cuts during tenure, posted by Gold_12TH on Wed Sep 28 18:37:22 2011. Video link: http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/148044/mta-board-says-outgoing-chairman-made-the-best-of-financial-difficultiesMetropolitan Transportation Authority board members showered their outgoing Chairman and CEO Jay Walder with praise at his last board meeting in Midtown on Wednesday. "You are the best transportation operator on the planet," said MTA Board Member Mark Lebow. They highlighted his accomplishments -- harnessing technology to install countdown clocks and touchscreens below ground, and special bus lanes and real-time bus tracking above ground. Walder also oversaw a user-friendly web site. "At a time when public and private sector is in retrenchment, you were able to develop new initiatives that made a significant impact on the public and community," said MTA Board Member Patrick Foye. But it was the impact of the serious retrenchment he carried out that was on Walder's mind. Walder said he regrets making some of the worst service cuts in decades to close a $900 million budget gap. "The hand we were dealt was one that said that this was a very difficult time financially, and we had to focus a lot on dealing with those financial uncertainties," said Walder. Even with a smaller budget, transit advocates said Walder got projects done that had been on the drawing board for years. "He made some commitments to do things and he did them," said Bill Henderson of the MTA Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee. "And that's very important for riders and people to be able to trust the folks that operate the system." But not everyone is sad to see Jay Walder go. The MTA's biggest union cannot wait to see a new person in charge at the agency. "We want someone who has operational experience and we want somebody who's going to stand up for New York's working communities, rather than stand up for the interests that are trying to build these big projects," said Transportation Workers Union President John Samuelsen. Still, Walder praised the work of the MTA's 67,000 employees. "When we work in unison and we point in a direction and say we're going to get something done, the result is truly, truly incredible," said Walder. Sources say the governor's search committee was interviewing candidates on Wednesday to replace Walder, who announced suddenly in July that he was calling it quits. Walder is leaving on October 21 to run a multi-national transit company in China. |
|
(There are no responses to this message.)
|
|