At the request of Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has created a 22-member advisory board of experts to tackle resiliency, growing ridership, and the other challenges that come along with the shifting trends.
“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,” stated MTA CEO Tom Prendergast on Tuesday.
As the MTA prepares its five-year Capital Plan to be submitted for review by the state October 1, the experts have been tasked with overseeing five subcommittees to make recommendations.
In May, Cuomo called for the panel to be created to help make sure the regional transit system was “ready for the challenges of the next century.”
Former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and former Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey will co-chair the commission. The experts represent a variety of interests: business, construction, planning, transit, finance, and advocacy groups.
The commission will host public sessions with opportunities for the public to comment. They will submit a report with short and long term recommendations to the MTA before October 1.
Reinvention Commission Members:
· Co-Chair Ray LaHood, Senior Policy Advisor, DLA Piper
· Co-Chair Jane Garvey, North America Chairman, Meridiam Infrastructure
· Rohit Aggarwala, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
· Richard Anderson, President, New York Building Congress
· Kate Ascher, Associate Professor, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
· Andy Byford, CEO, Toronto Transit Commission
· Isabel Dedring, Deputy Mayor for Transport, London
· Alain Flausch, Secretary-General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
· Dall Forsythe, Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Finance, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
· Craig Gotsman, Professor, Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute, New York City
· Gary LaBarbera, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
· Kevin Law, President and CEO, Long Island Association
· Robert Lieber, Chairman, ULI New York
· Enrique Peñalosa, Former Mayor of Bogota, Colombia
· Robert Puentes, Director, Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute
· Denise Richardson, Managing Director, General Contractors Association of New York
· Gene Russianoff, Staff Attorney, Straphangers Campaign
· Veronica Vanterpool, Executive Director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
· David Waboso, Director, Capital Programmes, London Underground
· Mark Willis, Executive Director, NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy
· Larry Wolinsky, Chair, Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress
· Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO, Partnership for New York City
· Robert Yaro, President, Regional Plan Association
· One additional member to be announced
