MTA audit finds excessive idling, risky driving habits among LIRR employees

“Unsafe driving and excessive idling raises public and employee safety... — “Unsafe driving and excessive idling raises public and employee safety issues as well as worker productivity concerns,” MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort said. Credit: Office of the MTA

By Robert Brodskyrobert.brodsky@newsday.com @BrodskyRobertUpdated January 18, 2024

Long Island Rail Road employees are idling in agency cars and trucks at excessive and concerning levels, raising questions about whether they are neglecting their duties, according to an audit released Thursday by the MTA inspector general.

The audit also found a high number of LIRR employees were engaged in potentially risky driving habits, including “harsh” acceleration and braking.

The IG issued a similar report Thursday tracking idling and driving concerns by MTA employees — the agency's third such examination of the two agencies in the past decade.

“Unsafe driving and excessive idling raises public and employee safety issues as well as worker productivity concerns,” MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort said in a statement. “Technology is available to monitor and reduce dangerous practices, and our team has offered viable suggestions for better implementation.”

WHAT TO KNOW

An audit found LIRR employees are idling in agency cars and trucks at excessive levels, as well as engaging in “harsh” acceleration and braking.
“Unsafe driving and excessive idling raises public and employee safety issues as well as worker productivity concerns,” MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort said.
The LIRR agreed with the watchdog recommendations and said it was working with other MTA agencies to establish a way to curb excessive idling and unsafe driving.

The LIRR agreed with all of the watchdog's recommendations and said it was working with other MTA agencies “to establish a consistent approach where possible” to curb excessive idling and reduce unsafe driving behavior.

"The MTA is implementing better practices, including enhanced oversight protocols, that are anticipated to be implemented by year’s end," MTA spokesman Michael Cortez said on Thursday.

The audit focused on 183 vehicles in the LIRR's highway fleet that were assigned either to specific employees or part of a pool available to multiple workers in one of 10 departments during March 2023.

Using a monitoring system known as FleetTrack installed in agency vehicles, investigators calculated that those vehicles were idling — defined by the IG as the periods when the engine was running for more than five minutes without the vehicle being in motion — an average of 19% of the time the car was turned on.

The FleetTrack transponder also collects information about a vehicle's location, mileage, speed and other operational data.

The LIRR's Communications Department, which has 24 vehicles, was the worst offender, idling excessively one-third of the time the engine was running, auditors found. The Track Department and Safety Department had the next highest ratios, at 24% and 21% respectively, the report found.

In addition to productivity and accountability issues, excessive idling also raises environmental and financial concerns, the report said.

LIRR employees must tap their employee ID card before starting agency-owned vehicles, though the audit said a high percentage of workers found ways to work around the system. The report does not identify specific agency employees.

“When OIG discussed its findings with LIRR officials, they explained that because some idling is acceptable — or even necessary — in emergency situations or to protect employees from adverse weather conditions, managers would need to focus on employees with above-average levels of idling,” the audit states. “The same is true for speeding and safety-related behaviors, which may indicate appropriate defensive driving.”

MTA policy states that drivers of agency-owned vehicles “must eliminate unnecessary idling and comply with applicable state idling laws.” The policy, however, does not define “unnecessary” idling.

Auditors also examined FleetTrack data for March 2023 on harsh acceleration and braking — behavior that “can waste fuel and might indicate unsafe driving habits,” the report said.

The Track Department, with 29 vehicles, led the way with a combined 603 harsh acceleration events, in which the speed increased more than 7 mph per second, the IG found. Auditors acknowledged that the increased speed could indicate times when a driver merged safely on a highway.

“While it might indicate that a driver is driving defensively and safely, it might also be a sign that the driver has been following another vehicle too closely,” the audit states.