MTA Reorganization That May Cut 2,700 Jobs Gets Board's OK

NEW YORK — The MTA Board approved a plan Wednesday to reorganize the transit agency that could cut as many as 2,700 jobs from its ranks. The board voted to approve a consultant's proposal to consolidate some of the sprawling transporation authority's key functions ahead of a July 30 deadline but just a week after the full plan was made public.

The proposal, developed by the consulting firm AlixPartners, will centralize the MTA's capital planning, engineering, human resources, communications and other functions while leaving day-to-day service to its individual operating agencies.

"Now that the Board has approved these recommendations, the work of transforming the MTA into a world-class organization that provides its customers with the service they deserve begins," MTA Chairman Patrick Foye said in a statement.

The changes could lead to the elimination of 1,900 to 2,700 jobs, starting with unfilled positions and staffers who choose to leave, the MTA said last week. But it would at the same time bring in new executives such as a chief transformation officer to implement the overhaul and a chief operating officer to oversee service on the ground.

Urging the board to vote the plan down, transit advocates raised concerns about the rushed process used to move it forward and the implications of splitting engineers from the agencies responsible for day-to-day operations.

"If the Legislature and Governor mandated a reorganization of the education system and this were the process being followed, there would be a public outcry to take a step back and vote no," Rachael Fauss, a senior research analyst for the good-government group Reinvent Albany, said in testimony to the board.

The board's hands were tied, as it was required to approve the plan under a state law Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed last month. But members who voted for it cast it as subject to change. Cuomo appointee Larry Schwartz called it "a working, living document."

"It’s a blueprint," said board member Robert Mujica, who is also Cuomo's budget director. "We have to make the changes going forward, but it’s not the first step, and it’s also not gonna be the last step."

The plan may help improve the MTA's bleak financial prospects. It could lead to as much as $530 million in yearly savings in the coming years, Foye said. It would also reduce the MTA's looming long-term deficit from $1 billion to $430 million in 2023, according to amNewYork.