MTA's Board 10 Times Richer Than Its Riders, Report Says

NEW YORK — MTA Board members raked in more than half a million dollars last year while riders had scrape by with about 10% of that, according to a good-government group's new report on the transit agency.

The board's median annual household income in 2018 was $555,000, nearly 10 times the $58,000 median income of MTA riders, says the sweeping report that Reinvent Albany released Wednesday.

The MTA's governing body also comprises a far smaller share of women, people of color and New York City residents than its ridership, the report shows, indicating the board is out of touch with the people it's meant to serve.

"(T)he MTA Board failed to reflect the riders it served across every demographic — age, residence, income, ethnicity, and gender," the report reads.

The analysis of the board's demographics was just one piece of the 171-page report, which makes 50 recommendations for improving the MTA's accountability, transparency and credibility. One of them says that the MTA should publish updated demographic data about its riders, including income, race, age and geographic locations.

The MTA Board oversees the New York City region's entire public transportation network, including the subways, buses, suburban commuter railroads and several bridges and tunnels.

It has a diffuse structure, with voting members appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who controls the MTA — Mayor Bill de Blasio, and suburban county executives. Non-voting members are picked by rider advocacy groups and labor unions.

According to Reinvent Albany, just 41% of the board actually lived in the city last year — less than half the rate of 89% for the MTA's riders. Women made up 52% of the ridership but just 18% of the board, the report shows, while non-white people accounted for just 18% of board members but 55% of MTA riders.

The board was also older than the riding public — the median age of its members was 66 years, compared with 43 years for MTA riders, the report shows.

Reinvent Albany's analysis is based on the board's composition as of June 2018. That means it's somewhat outdated, as several members have since left their posts. One of them is Scott Rechler, a real-estate executive who had the board's highest 2017 income at about $17.6 million, according to the report.

But some disparities remain in the board's membership. Only six, or about 31%, of its 19 current members are women, according to information on the MTA website. And just nine, or about 47%, appear to live in New York City.

A spokesman for Cuomo noted that the state budget passed last month included an MTA reform that aligns board members' terms with the authorities who appoint them.

"The MTA’s management problems have existed since the agency was created because no one has been in charge and they have been accountable to no one," Cuomo spokesman Patrick Muncie said in a statement. "The Governor laid out a very aggressive agenda to reform the MTA, which the legislature passed, and it will lead to a reorganization and change the way they do business."