A former London Underground manager hired to fix New York’s transit system has incurred the wrath of angry commuters at a stormy public meeting over filthy trains, cancellations and rising fares.
Andy Byford and other chiefs faced a barrage of criticism from passengers and even staff over the state of the city’s public transport network.
One sanitation worker singled out Mr Byford, the former group station manager at King’s Cross/St Pancras, and said proposed cuts in cleaning staff would make the subways filthy.
Mr Byford calmly took notes as anger was directed at him and 14 other city transit bosses during Tuesday night’s two-hour session.
Members of the public accused them of “bigotry” for raising the price of rides for the disabled, and said people were “disgusted” by a proposed fare hike of 25 cents to $3 for a single bus or subway ride.
The rise is being considered along with service cuts to plug a $1 billion (£784 million) deficit by 2021 amid falling passenger numbers.
On top of that, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs the New York transport system, needs $60 billion (£47 billion) for a massive repair programme.
Mr Byford is head of the New York City Transit Authority, a branch of the MTA. He was brought in to fix the ailing network in January.
In March he laid out a $38 billion (£29 billion) master-plan to fix the system but it has not been funded yet by New York City and state officials.
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The sanitation worker, wearing his MTA uniform, told Mr Byford: “Currently trains are sanitised every three months but by eliminating these jobs you’re creating a cesspool of disease on those trains. And you want to raise the fare? Unbelievable.”
He added: “Don’t blame the folks wearing the orange vests, blame the folks wearing the suits on this stage.”
One passenger, Shameek Robinson, said: “It’s like rolling dice, you don’t know if you’re going to get stuck in a tunnel. I don’t know any business model where you can charge more for a worse service.”
Other passengers complained about rats at stations, giant pools of water when it rained and homeless people defecating on platforms.
Protesters outside the meeting held up signs saying “Make Bezos pay for elevators and ramps”, referring to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, set to get a tax break for new offices in the city.
MTA head Fernando Ferrer, defended the fare rise, saying that without more money New York would have a “dying” transport system”.
