STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2534
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 28, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
        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
    19    c. The train is operating in passenger service on  a  line  where  the
    20  potential  passenger load on the train at any point in time is in excess
    21  of seven hundred fifty passengers.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06504-01-9

        S. 2534                             2
     1    § 3. The public authorities law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
     2  1205-b to read as follows:
     3    §  1205-b.  New York city transit authority safety advisory panel.  1.
     4  a. There is hereby created the New York city  transit  authority  safety
     5  advisory  panel, to study, monitor and make recommendations with respect
     6  to the public safety from terrorist threats  and  criminal  mischief  in
     7  passenger  stations  of  the  authority, its subsidiaries and the Staten
     8  Island rapid transit operating authority.
     9    b. The New York city transit authority  safety  advisory  panel  shall
    10  consist  of seven members appointed by the governor, of whom two members
    11  shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the temporary president of
    12  the senate and two members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of
    13  the speaker of the assembly. The members of the New  York  city  transit
    14  authority  safety advisory panel shall be selected from the law enforce-
    15  ment, emergency response management, worker and rider advocate  communi-
    16  ties  and  shall  include  at  least three members who are commuters who
    17  regularly use the transportation services of the authorities referred to
    18  in paragraph a of this subdivision. The chairperson shall  be  a  member
    19  selected  by  the membership of the committee. Vacancies occurring shall
    20  be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.
    21    c. The members of the New York city transit authority safety  advisory
    22  panel  shall  receive  no  compensation  for their services but shall be
    23  reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance
    24  of their duties.
    25    2. a. The New York city transit authority safety advisory panel  shall
    26  undertake  a  study  to  evaluate  the  range of strategies available to
    27  ensure the safety of the public, including its ingress and  egress  from
    28  passenger  stations,  and  all  means of deterring terrorist attacks and
    29  criminal mischief. Such study shall be submitted to the governor and the
    30  legislature, and made available to the public, within three years of the
    31  effective date of this section. Such report shall be made  available  to
    32  the  public immediately following its submission to the governor and the
    33  legislature.
    34    b. No token booths within the passenger stations of the authority, its
    35  subsidiaries or the Staten  Island  rapid  transit  operating  authority
    36  shall  be  closed  or partially closed, except for purposes of repair or
    37  renovation or in case of emergency, until the later of July  first,  two
    38  thousand  twenty-one  or  the  date  of  the  submission of the advisory
    39  panel's report to the governor and the legislature.
    40    3. The New York city  transit  authority  safety  advisory  panel  may
    41  request  and shall receive from any department, division, board, bureau,
    42  commission, agency, public authority of the state or any public subdivi-
    43  sion thereof such assistance and data as  will  enable  it  to  properly
    44  carry  out  its  activities  and to effectuate the purposes set forth in
    45  this section.
    46    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.