Dorian Geiger
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering using aerial drones to track its 6,000-bus fleet — sparking outcry from transit union leaders, who call the plan a “fishy” spending waste.
The agency’s Department of Buses issued a document requesting information from vendors by Dec. 18 outlining how drones could be used to create a “real-time map” of bus locations and vehicle traffic patterns along service routes.
“DOB wishes to address the challenges of maintaining accurate and up-to-date vehicle location tracking for both its buses parked within depot buildings and outside in uncovered parking lots,” reads the document.
Union leaders argue that drones would be ineffective compared to the service line dispatchers who currently monitor bus lines, keep track of the vehicles in the yards and make sure all of them “are safe for public service.”
“How do you accomplish something like that with a drone? What does a drone know?” Michael Carrube, president of the Subway-Surface Supervisors Association, which represents more than 3,000 transit workers, told The Post.
“A drone sees a bus running down a line and what is the drone doing? It does nothing. That supervisor out in the field is what moves the system, which moves the public from point A to point B — not a drone,” Carrube said.
Philip Valenti, president of the Transit Supervisors Organization/Transport Workers Union Local 106, which represents around 700 bus dispatchers, called the MTA’s drone plan “suspicious.”
“To me they’re suspicious because they get into these multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts with these vendors and they don’t work out,” Valenti told The Post.
The MTA already uses a program called Yard Tracker to keep tabs on its bus fleet — and Valenti said it has failed to accurately monitor vehicles parked inside the 28 bus depots.
“Every time they embark on a new piece of technology, it never works. It’s a disaster,” Valenti charged.
He said the MTA should be investigated for spending waste.
“To me there should be an internal investigation trying to find out why they spend all this money on these types of programs, and they’re never working out for them. To me, something fishy is going on, some ulterior motive,” Valenti suggested.
Carrube agreed, saying the MTA’s move to drones could risk another expensive misstep, further contributing to the transportation agency’s reputation for mismanaging funds.
“This is something that goes on continuously, and they just continue to waste money,” Carrube said.
“Yet the MTA cries that they are broke. They need more money, they need more money,” he said.
“And, you know what’s going to happen with congestion pricing? When they get all that money, nothing’s gonna change. The subway is still gonna be the subway,” he added, referring to the controversial plan to charge drivers a $9 toll to enter Midtown in order to fund the MTA’s capital improvement projects.
The document released by the MTA does not specify a cost for the potential drone program.
A spokesperson for the MTA said the drone program could actually result in cost savings for the city.
“NYC Transit is researching savings opportunities related to fleet management and there are zero new costs associated with the review,” the statement said.