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Metapod_Used_Hardon t1_jdj0psp wrote

Asking honestly, why do people like Byford? I don’t really know much about his accomplishments. Seemed like he had good ideas, but he wasn’t around long enough to do much with them.

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fuchsdh t1_jdjwuu8 wrote

Stuff like the continued ADA station rollout, contactless payment, and signal modernization were things that he spearheaded. The trains in 2017 were an absolute shitshow, and he managed to turn it around. He wasn't a magic bullet—the MTA remains a terribly inefficient organization, and fact that Cuomo could effectively strip him of authority to undermine him demonstrates the limits of what he was able to accomplish—but the city would absolutely be worse off without his term here.

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JuniorAct7 t1_jdug9wm wrote

The Save Safe Seconds Campaign greatly improved on-time performance and proved some of the deterioration in service was actually just overly aggressive signal timers and speed limits rather than whatever else the MTA made its scapegoat. Probably his best initiative and still paying dividends.

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