Could the cancellation the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's membership in the American Public Transportation Association be the wakeup call the transit industry needs?
"The country’s largest transit agency is withdrawing from the country’s main transit trade association," according to an article on the TransitCenter website. The agency in question is the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which accounted for 35 percent of all transit ridership in the United States. "The idea of a transit industry association that doesn’t include the MTA is akin to an OPEC without Saudi Arabia," adds the post.
"The essence of the MTA’s complaint is that APTA is not worth the investment. In the letter, officials noted the agency pays $400,000 per year because of its size but in return has little influence within the organization," according to the post.
The post goes into more detail, revealingly, about the discontent also surrounding the way transit is funded at the federal level, with some transit organizations happy to applaud the silver linings of policies like the FAST Act instead of fighting for fundamental reforms in transportation funding. "These issues were not likely root causes of the MTA’s decision to leave APTA. But the agency’s withdrawal nonetheless presents an opportunity to re-examine the way the conversation around public transportation has developed both in Washington and peer-to-peer within the industry."
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