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S04654 Summary:

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S04654 Floor Votes:

S04654 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         4654--A
 
                               2013-2014 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                     April 17, 2013
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sens.  GOLDEN, ADDABBO, AVELLA -- read twice and ordered
          printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Trans-
          portation  -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation  to  creating  a

          New  York  city  transit  authority safety advisory panel to study and
          report on safety from terrorist acts and to provide for  a  moratorium
          on  the  closing of token booths and minimum staffing levels on trains
          operated in passenger service in the New York city transit system
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "transit authority passenger security and safety act".
     3    § 2. The public authorities law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
     4  1204-f to read as follows:
     5    § 1204-f. Minimum staffing of trains operated in passenger service. 1.
     6  The  legislature  finds  that the presence of train conductors and train

     7  operators on subway trains operated by  the  authority  is  particularly
     8  essential  to  the safety of passengers when emergencies arise including
     9  when trains are in tunnels under bodies of water  or  on  bridges,  when
    10  trains  are  long  or  composed  of numerous cars, and during periods of
    11  heavy passenger volume.
    12    2. The authority shall insure that at least one train operator and one
    13  conductor shall be deployed on each and every train in passenger service
    14  which meets one of the following conditions:
    15    a. The train is made up of more than four railroad cars or is  greater
    16  than three hundred sixty feet in length; or
    17    b.  The train serves passengers on a line that passes through a tunnel

    18  under a river or tidal estuary or on bridges; or
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00746-03-3
        S. 4654--A                          2
 
     1    c. The train is operating in passenger service on  a  line  where  the
     2  potential  passenger load on the train at any point in time is in excess
     3  of seven hundred fifty passengers.
     4    §  3.  The  public  authorities law is amended by adding a new section
     5  1205-b to read as follows:
     6    § 1205-b. New York city transit authority safety advisory panel.    1.
     7  a.  There  is  hereby created the New York city transit authority safety

     8  advisory panel, to study, monitor and make recommendations with  respect
     9  to  the  public  safety  from terrorist threats and criminal mischief in
    10  passenger stations of the authority, its  subsidiaries  and  the  Staten
    11  Island rapid transit operating authority.
    12    b.  The  New  York  city transit authority safety advisory panel shall
    13  consist of seven members appointed by the governor, of whom two  members
    14  shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the temporary president of
    15  the senate and two members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of
    16  the  speaker  of  the assembly. The members of the New York city transit
    17  authority safety advisory panel shall be selected from the law  enforce-

    18  ment,  emergency response management, worker and rider advocate communi-
    19  ties and shall include at least three  members  who  are  commuters  who
    20  regularly use the transportation services of the authorities referred to
    21  in  paragraph  a  of this subdivision. The chairperson shall be a member
    22  selected by the membership of the committee. Vacancies  occurring  shall
    23  be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.
    24    c.  The members of the New York city transit authority safety advisory
    25  panel shall receive no compensation for  their  services  but  shall  be
    26  reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance
    27  of their duties.
    28    2.  a. The New York city transit authority safety advisory panel shall

    29  undertake a study to evaluate  the  range  of  strategies  available  to
    30  ensure  the  safety of the public, including its ingress and egress from
    31  passenger stations, and all means of  deterring  terrorist  attacks  and
    32  criminal mischief. Such study shall be submitted to the governor and the
    33  legislature, and made available to the public, within three years of the
    34  effective  date  of this section. Such report shall be made available to
    35  the public immediately following its submission to the governor and  the
    36  legislature.
    37    b. No token booths within the passenger stations of the authority, its
    38  subsidiaries  or  the  Staten  Island  rapid transit operating authority
    39  shall be closed or partially closed, except for purposes  of  repair  or

    40  renovation  or  in case of emergency, until the later of July first, two
    41  thousand fifteen or the date of the submission of the  advisory  panel's
    42  report to the governor and the legislature.
    43    3.  The  New  York  city  transit  authority safety advisory panel may
    44  request and shall receive from any department, division, board,  bureau,
    45  commission, agency, public authority of the state or any public subdivi-
    46  sion  thereof  such  assistance  and  data as will enable it to properly
    47  carry out its activities and to effectuate the  purposes  set  forth  in
    48  this section.
    49    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.