Hochul vetoes two-person subway crews mandate for NYC

Hochul vetoes two-person subway crews legislation that would have required a conductor and a driver on every New York City subway train, Gothamist reports. Hochul said one-person operation can be safe, and she warned the change could cost up to $10 million a year.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Why Hochul vetoes two-person subway crews?

In her veto message, Gov. Kathy Hochul said trains can be operated safely by one driver and kept the focus on the bill’s budget impact. She wrote that the proposal could cost as much as $10 million annually, potentially reducing service and limiting the MTA’s ability to benefit from capital investments in modern rolling stock and signals.

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What the bill would have changed for New York City subway trains?

The MTA’s contract with the Transit Workers Union (TWU) already requires two-person subway train crews on many trains, so the legislation would not have rewritten those existing requirements.

Instead, it would have required an additional worker on trains that currently run with only one operator, and it also would have applied to future lines. The broader debate over subway conductors and staffing has been covered by Railway Supply. State lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the bill in June.

TWU reaction, safety claims, and budget watchdog arguments

The union did not immediately respond after the veto. In September, TWU President John Samuelsen told Gothamist that having two workers per train is not just “a necessity for safety,” but also “wanted by the overwhelming majority of New York City working people.” On Thursday, Hochul said subway crime was at its lowest level in 16 years, and that overall major crime on the transit system was down 5.2% from last year and 14.4% from 2019.

After the veto, Samuelsen told The New York Times that Hochul’s decision was “classist,” and he suggested she could face backlash from transit workers during her re-election campaign next year.

Budget watchdogs praised the governor’s move: Citizens Budget Commission president Andrew Rein said she “did the exact right thing,” and he called one-person train operation “the global norm used by virtually every other transit system around the world,” echoing a Citizens Budget Commission letter to the governor.

Rein also cited an NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management review of 400 subway and commuter rail lines in 36 cities, which found that fewer than 6.25% used two-person crews.

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