MTA amends Rules of Conduct in bid to unseat homeless

The MTA has updated its Rules of Conduct for both the LIRR and Metro-North.  The new changes took into effect very quietly and with no opportunity for public comment, and entered into force on April 29, 2020.  The MTA is allowed to establish rules governing the conduct and safety of the public "as it may deem necessary, convenient or desirable" for transportation-related purposes under §1266(4) of the NYS Public Authorities Law.  The rules are codified under 21 NYCRR 1097.  The MTA is not required to get approval from anyone for its rules (as long as they stay within the boundary of what's legislatively authorized), and the MTA's rules trump local ordinances, but they can't supersede state or federal law.

The new rules are buried on the MTA website, and the agency summarizes the changes as follows:

• New provision providing that 90 minutes is the maximum amount of time in a day a person can use benches, chairs or other furniture in the public or ticketed passenger-only areas of any terminals or stations. [MNR Section 1085.4(e); LIRR Section 1097.4(e)] [New provision does not prohibit staying in stations more than 90 minutes, just prohibits using benches, chairs and other furniture in stations for more than 90 minutes.]
• New provision providing that persons may remain in shelters on train platforms no more than 90 minutes.  [MNR Section 1085.4(f); LIRR Section 1097.4(f)]  
• Existing Railroad rules forbid lying down on the floor, platforms, stairs and landings at stations and terminals.  Amended to add prohibition against lying down on tables, benches, chairs, other furniture or counters at stations and terminals. [MNR Section 1085.5(a); LIRR Section 1097.5(a)]
• Existing Railroad rules permitted consumption of alcoholic beverages and carrying open alcoholic beverage containers on trains, platforms, terminals and stations.  Amended to remove specific areas where consumption of alcoholic beverages is permitted and instead gives the Railroads discretion to determine where and when to allow such activities.  [MNR Section 1085.5(d); LIRR Section 1097.5(d)]
• Existing Railroad rules prohibit smoking on trains, at terminals, stations, and outdoor ticketing, boarding and platform areas.  Amended to clarify that this prohibition includes e-cigarettes.  [MNR Section 1085.5(o); LIRR Section 1097.5(o)]
• New provision prohibits sitting on platforms, stairs, tables, counters or landings at stations and terminals.  [MNR Section 1085.5(r); LIRR Section 1097.5(r)]
• New provision prohibits wheeled carts greater than thirty inches in length or width at stations and terminals, except for authorized deliveries and strollers with children.  [MNR Section 1085.5(s); LIRR Section 1097.5(s)]
• New provision prohibits performing any act that interferes with the provision of transportation services, obstructs the flow of traffic around facilities, platforms or conveyances, interferes with access to an escalator, stairway, elevator or train, or otherwise interferes with the safe operation of Railroad trains and facilities.  [MNR Section 1085.5(t); LIRR Section 1097.5(t)]

The changes are similar in nature to changes recently made on NYC Transit and are a thinly veiled attempt to dislodge homeless people from the system by making it illegal to use station facilities for longer than a certain period of time (thus allowing the police to hassle, fine, or arrest homeless individuals hanging around stations).  Violators of these rules is an offense and may be subject to a fine of up to $50 and/or imprisonment of up to 30 days.

While there's nothing all that wrong about the rule changes on their face—neither NYCT nor the railroads should be serving as de facto homeless shelters—the MTA does not seem to have taken care to make sure that paying passengers who actually need to use the services don't wind up as collateral damage...  While a 90 minute time limit for station waiting facilities might be no big deal on NYC Transit (where subways come no less frequently than every 20 minutes when the system is running) on the railroads, service is significantly less frequent to the point that many stations have gaps well above and beyond 90 minutes...  Under these new rules, genuine paying passengers who are unlucky enough to have to travel at a time where the MTA provides such poor service to their station would be prohibited from being able to sit while waiting for their train or use shelters or waiting rooms to wait out of the elements.

This is especially true during the overnight hours, when the homeless problem is the most acute.  During the overnight hours, 100% of LIRR stations have at least one gap in service of 90 minutes or more...even NY-Penn Station has a 96 minute gap between trains on weekday mornings.  Many stations have gaps in service well in excess of that.  But even if you exclude the overnight hours and look just from 6:00a from midnight, there are still 79 stations with a gap in rush hour service of 90 minutes or more (19 stations in the peak direction, 78 stations in the reverse-peak direction).  During the off-peak periods, there are 52 stations with a gap in service of 90 minutes or more on weekdays, and 53 on the weekends.  Metro-North is not as bad, with large gaps only really seen on the branches and outer extremities of the system (e.g. Wassaic).

This is not the only area where the railroads' backdoor efforts to control homelessness and loitering have come at the expense of paying passengers...  The LIRR is very stingy with station waiting room hours at most stations—even those that they just recently spent millions of dollars to renovate—and they have resisted calls to expand waiting room hours due to the risk of loitering.  This winter, the railroad reduced waiting hours even further, cutting back opening times at 14 stations pre-pandemic.

Hi James, the Patchogue waiting room is open until 1:00 PM on weekdays. The hours of operation were limited to prevent vandalism and loitering but we will note your feedback as station supervision works to make improvements. ^AC

— LIRR (@LIRR) February 10, 2020

In some cases, the railroad has resorted to removing benches entirely, leaving paying passengers to stand while waiting for their train:

The @LIRR @MTA couldn't control loitering at the @LongBeach11561 station so they removed the benches instead. @johnasbury @liheraldnews #LIRR #LongBeach pic.twitter.com/0rPPCtrsmt

— Jeff Wice (@JeffWice) March 19, 2019

Homeless individuals camping out in waiting rooms can be
an unfortunate sight during winter (Photo: @MelissaY1/Twitter)

While, again, the MTA should not be expected to be a provider of social services to homeless people at its stations, the LIRR in particular has been the subject of criticism for its poor handling and oversight of homeless outreach programs at its facilities.  In a 2018 report by NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, the LIRR was cited for not having proper oversight measures in place to make sure that Services for the UnderServed (which the railroad gave a 5-year, $860k contract to perform homeless outreach services) was actually doing their job.  The OSC found that, based on their observations, homeless people at railroad facilities were not receiving the services the needed, and SUS was "failing to assist homeless people to the extent possible under its Contract responsibilities", including cases where those tasked with engaging with the homeless didn't even bother getting out of their car or walking around facilities to see if there was anyone they could offer assistance to (and then later falsified reports to make it look like they did).

The rule changes, which again were made under the radar and without any opportunity for public input, also include changes to other provisions that can't really be considered to be urgent (like changing the rules on alcohol consumption, which is a subject that could be worthy of adjustment, but should probably be the subject of some sort of public debate first, instead of covertly sneaking in a change during the middle of a raging pandemic when people are obviously distracted).

The MTA should be taking steps to address homelessness to the extent it can, but it needs to do a much better job of making sure that paying passengers don't wind up as collateral damage.  Pushing out the homeless from the system is one thing, but the agency has to take care they don't push the paying passengers out with them...