MTA establishes transportation commission to study future needs

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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MTA New York City Transit / Leonard Wiggins

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has established a special advisory board of 22 experts who will make up the Transportation Reinvention Commission.

 

The Transportation Reinvention Commission was created at the recommendation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In May, Gov. Cuomo urged the MTA to consider changes in customer expectations, commuting trends and extreme weather patterns as it develops future Capital Plans, the multibillion-dollar five-year programs of MTA investments to renew, improve and expand the transportation network.

The commission will be chaired jointly by former U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and former Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey. They will oversee 22 commission members serving on five subcommittees, each examining a different element of the MTA system in light of the challenges facing the MTA. They include experts on the MTA network and service territory, as well as on other transport networks around the world. Commission members represent business, construction, planning, transit, finance and advocacy groups, creating a wide range of perspectives on how the MTA should face its future.

“The MTA has made incredible strides in rebuilding the network that makes New York grow and thrive, but we can never be satisfied with what we have done so far,” said MTA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Prendergast. “As we prepare the next Capital Plan to guide investment for the next five years, as well as future five year plans, we want experts, stakeholders and customers to offer their thoughts on how to make those investments work for decades to come.”

The commission will host public input sessions featuring presentations by subject matter experts, as well as opportunities for the public to comment. The commission’s report will provide its recommendations before the MTA submits its Capital Plan to the Capital Program Review Board by October 1. Short-term recommendations will inform the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Plan, while mid- and long-term recommendations will benefit investment plans well into the future.

A full list of the commission members can be found here. (link to : http://www.mta.info/news-transportation-transportation-reinvention-commission-infrastructure-governor-lahood-garvey/2014 )

 

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