MTA to APTA: We're leaving

MTA will cease membership in the American Public Transportation Association believeing that it is not worth the $400,000 it pays in annual dues. Ths article will be of interest to all US public rail transport companies.
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MTA its our way or highway , in many of things ...

I read a few articles on this, and it seems like MTA has some valid complaints. I can see others following, and I see a potential hear for a more regional association that could lead to more cooperation as well.

Reading the article makes me think Metro-North is fortunate that the States of NY & CT, not Amtrak, are the owners of the New Haven Line.

Heartily agree; I've often wondered if relieving themselves of their portions of the NEC would help some of the crushing capital costs. Then I remember how NJT is a second-class citizen. MNRR is fortunate to own all of its ROW (I'm including the CtDOT portion since they operate it for CtDOT anyway). Until they regularly start running Penn (and one train a week during football season doesn't count), MNRR is really the master of their own domain. MTA overall is fortunate, including LIRR with the exception of Harold to Penn.

Melaniphy gone.
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HEARD IT HERE FIRST: Days after the American Public Transportation Association announced that its CEO, Michael Melaniphy, was abruptly resigning, MT got first bat at a conversation with APTA Chair Valarie McCall and acting president and CEO Richard A. White. The duo declined to comment on the specifics of the resignation, reports of leadership in-fighting, as well as allegations that the organization was spending exorbitantly in the time preceding the shakeup. “We are moving forward. … What we don’t want to do is to get into the weeds of what people may be saying,” McCall insisted. (Read: Non-disclosure agreement.) But they did give some indication of the steps the organization will take in coming months to get back in the good graces of members — and amid talk of “focusing on the future” and “one of those things that will make us stronger as an organization,” they also hinted that they recognize spots where the longtime institution may have gone wrong.
— On the plan going forward: They’ve got several task forces aimed at looking at issues such as the organization’s governance and finances. And most of all, they said, they’re listening to members’ concerns. Reform will be high on the list of discussion items at two major APTA meetings planned for the coming weeks. “I think the main thing we’re focused on right now is listening to our members, listening to our stakeholders, and reinforcing our value,” McCall said. “It’s about looking at where we can focus our strengths … to be better aligned with our members.”
— On that stinging MTA letter: White said the organization was already aware of many of the issues outlined before the letter was sent — and the response to those concerns, he said, “have been in motion for a while.” White also intimated that they’re hoping MTA reconsiders its exit after APTA rethinks the structure of its membership dues, funding model, and spending priorities, and MTA officials “look at those options.”
— On finances: One task force will be focused specifically on how the organization is collecting and spending money. (The MTA’s letter complained that the number of meetings resulted in “the public perception of these conferences as 'wasteful boondoggles'"; before quitting, the MTA paid APTA $400,000 per year.) “It’s all on the table to be evaluated, both the dues and the registration costs,” White said. “We want to make sure we don’t have a tin ear on the kinds of things that members are saying that we need to address.”
— On the governance structure: One of the MTA’s big knocks on APTA was the notion that the organization's board and executive committee failed to adequately represent legacy transit systems, and also lacked the geographic diversity of the organization’s members. White acknowledged that criticism. “We got a little out-of-balance over the last few years, and we didn’t so intentionally,” White said. “But the unintended consequence was that an imbalance got created … and it needs to be dealt with soon, and it’s going to be dealt with soon.”


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