BusTalk

[RailBus63]

Press Release - MTA Moves to Streamline Bus Operations

Press Release
May 7, 2008

Jeremy Soffin
Aaron Donovan
(212)878-7440

MTA Moves to Streamline Bus Operations
Next Step in Institutional Transformation Agenda
Improves Bus Service By Sharing Resources

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced plans to begin integrating the operations of its three bus companies to create the more seamless and efficient Regional Bus Operations. New York City Transit Bus, MTA Bus and Long Island Bus will each maintain its individual identity and funding, while a managerial restructuring will increase accountability and ensure consistency in serving the entire MTA region.

“By streamlining the management of our bus companies we will eliminate redundancies, improve efficiency and service, and save money,” said Elliot G. Sander, MTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. “This initiative builds on the early success of our subway general manager program, and we will continue to identify and implement ways to become more efficient and improve service for our customers. Unifying bus operations is also a big first step toward creating a truly regional transportation network and is a critical part of our institutional transformation agenda.”

Joseph Smith, Senior Vice President for Buses, NYC Transit, will oversee the new operation, maintaining his current title and assuming the presidency of both MTA Bus and Long Island Bus. Former MTA Bus President Thomas J. Savage recently retired after 37 years of service, and outgoing Long Island Bus President Neil Yellin accepted a promotion to Senior Vice President for Administration at the Long Island Rail Road.

“Tom Savage and Neil Yellin deserve enormous credit for their work at the helm of MTA Bus and Long Island Bus, and for months of tireless activity to help us achieve this new vision. Tom will be sorely missed and we’re lucky that Neil will continue to serve our customers at the LIRR,” said Mr. Sander. “Under Joe Smith’s leadership, I expect great things from our regional bus network.”

Smith assumes the new titles immediately and expects to fully implement the new management structure within 60 to 90 days. The consolidation is intended to yield savings for the MTA, and the extent of the savings will be identified in the coming months. MTA bus customers will begin to benefit from a number of improvements:

- an integrated Command Center and road operations providing a single point of contact for NYCT, MTA Bus and LI Bus customers in case of emergencies;

- a comprehensive travel information system with consistent, coordinated regional bus service information on the internet and handheld devices;

- more effective staging of resources to better address prioritized needs such as in the case of emergencies, bus shuttles, gaps in service, and other regional service requirements; and

- improved response time for all incidents.

“While most of the integration of the bus companies will happen behind the scenes, our top priority is customer service and MTA bus customers can expect to see improvements in the very near future,” said Mr. Smith. “We will leverage the best practices of each bus company by sharing business strategies, policies, and technologies to improve everyone’s ride.”

[The Port of Authority]

This is good news for LI Bus.

[RailBus63]

Just speculation on my part, but does the fact that Long Island Bus will 'maintain its identity' simply mean that it will keep only its name? NYCT bus management has wasted no time in shifting buses back and forth between the TA and MTA Bus depots, and given the sorry condition of the LI Bus fleet I suspect they will want to do something to shore up that operation. If I had to guess, I would expect that the LI Bus fleet will be renumbered soon to fit into the overall NYCT/MTAB numbering scheme, and that we will see an MTA press event before too long showing off a blue and white rehabilitated LI Bus Orion to show what improvements the MTA will bring to Nassau.

[ripta42]

The New York Times article about the restructuring mentioned that one of the immediate improvements to the LI Bus fleet is that they will use the same high performance spark plugs as NYCTA/MTA Bus. But beyond such maintenance changes, I don't see this as being much more than a shakeup of the org chart, at least for the next few years. Equipment will probably move around between LI Bus and NYCTA/MTA Bus, but that has been happening for decades.

[LLE Rebel]

I wouldn't bet on any buses coming to Nassau from the city.
Additionally, this is only an attempt to streamline management, starting from the very top.

[Mr RT]

I know where there is a bunch of slightly used RTS buses that LI Bus could have

[RailBus63]