Require MTA Data Transparency

Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "metropolitan transportation authority open data act".

§ 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that the release of data, in a format that is easily accessible, understandable and usable by the public, can increase civic engagement with government. In addition, in an authority providing a public service and operating an enterprise as vast as that of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, transparency in data is in the public's best interest. It is the intent of the legislature that the authority and its subsidiaries release as much data as is feasible in open formats, so that the public can access that data, analyze it, and engage with the authority with suggestions and solutions to improve its operations.

§ 3. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 1279-j to read as follows:

§ 1279-j. Open data reporting. 1. The metropolitan transportation authority and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including the New York city transit authority and the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority, shall fully comply with the provisions of Executive Order 95 of 2013, "Using Technology to Promote Transparency, Improve Government Performance and Enhance Citizen Engagement," and shall provide the New York state office of information technology services and legislature all data as defined in this section.

2. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD11226-02-9

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(a) "open data website" shall mean the website data.ny.gov or such other successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the state, as deemed appropriate by the New York state office of information technology services under Executive Order 95 of 2013, or any successor agency or order;

(b) "data" shall mean final versions of statistical or factual information that (i) are in alphanumeric form reflected in a list, table, graph, chart or other non-narrative form, that can be digitally transmitted or processed; (ii) are regularly created or maintained by or on behalf of the metropolitan transportation authority, its subsidiaries and affiliates and are controlled by such entities; and (iii) record a measurement, transaction or determination related to the mission of the metropolitan transportation authority, its subsidiaries and affiliates. The term "data" shall not include image files, such as designs, drawings, photos or scanned copies of original documents; provided, however, that the term "data" shall include statistical or factual information about image files and geographic information system data;

(c) "data set" shall mean a named collection of related records maintained on a storage device, with the collection containing data organized or formatted in a specific or prescribed way, often in tabular form; and

(d) "publishable MTA data" shall mean data that is collected by the metropolitan transportation authority, its subsidiaries and affiliates where the authority, subsidiary or affiliate is permitted, required or able to make the data available to the public, consistent with any and all applicable laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, resolutions, policies or other restrictions, requirements or rights associated with the publishable MTA data, including but not limited to contractual or other legal orders, restrictions or requirements. Data shall not be publishable MTA data if making such data available on the open data website would violate statute or regulation, including, but not limited to, disclosures that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, endanger the public health, safety or welfare, hinder the operation of government, including criminal and civil investigations, or impose an undue financial, operational or administrative burden on the authority or its subsidiaries or affiliates.

3. As required by Executive Order 95 of 2013, the metropolitan transportation authority shall designate a data coordinator, who shall:

(a) have authority equivalent to that of a deputy commissioner or the head of a division or department;

(b) have knowledge of data and resources in use by the entity; and

(c) be responsible for the compliance of the authority, its subsidiaries and affiliates with the order.

4. The authority and its subsidiaries and affiliates shall make their publishable MTA data available on its website and the open data website as follows:

(a) The authority shall create a catalogue of publishable MTA data within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this section;

(b) The metropolitan transportation authority shall within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this section, submit to the legislature and publish on its shared internet website a schedule for making its publishable MTA data publicly available. Such schedule shall provide for updating the data catalogue as appropriate; and

(c) The metropolitan transportation authority shall create schedules for publishing all publishable MTA data within three years of the effective date of this section.

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5. The metropolitan transportation authority, its subsidiaries and affiliates shall not be prevented from publishing data in advance of the dates set in their schedules.

§ 4. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of section 1263 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter 425 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The chairman shall establish committees to assist him in the performance of his duties and shall appoint members of the authority to such committees. Among such committees, there shall be a committee on operations of the New York city transit authority, the Manhattan and Bronx surface transit operating authority and the Staten Island rapid transit operating authority; a committee on operations of the Long Island Rail Road and the metropolitan suburban bus authority; a committee on operations of the Metro-North commuter railroad; a committee on operations of the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority; a committee on finance; a committee on capital program oversight; a committee on technology and open data; and a committee on safety. In addition to such appointed members, each of the non-voting members referred to in subparagraph two of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section shall serve on the committee on capital program oversight, the committee on finance, the committee on safety, the committee on operations of the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority, and the operations committee relevant to the commuter council that recommended such member. The alternate non-voting members shall each serve on the respective operations committee relevant to the commuter council that recommended each member. The committee on capital program oversight and the committee on safety shall include not less than three members, and shall include the chairpersons of the committee on operations of the New York city transit authority, the Manhattan and Bronx surface transit operating authority and the Staten Island rapid transit operating authority, the committee on operations of the Long Island Rail Road and the metropolitan suburban bus authority, and the committee on operations of the Metro-North commuter railroad. The committee on safety shall convene at least once annually and each committee chairperson, that is a member of the committee on safety, shall report to the committee on safety any and all initiatives, concerns, improvements, or failures involving the safety of: (1) customers; (2) employees; and (3) the public at large, in relation to authority facilities and services. The capital program committee shall, with respect to any approved or proposed capital program plans, (i) monitor the current and future availability of funds to be utilized for such plans approved or proposed to be submitted to the metropolitan transportation capital program review board as provided in section twelve hundred sixty-nine-b of this title; (ii) monitor the contract awards of the metropolitan transportation authority and the New York city transit authority to insure that such awards are consistent with (A) provisions of law authorizing United States content and New York state content; (B) collective bargaining agreements; (C) provisions of law providing for participation by minority and women-owned businesses; (D) New York state labor laws; (E) competitive bidding requirements including those regarding sole source contracts; and (F) any other relevant requirements established by law; (iii) monitor the award of contracts to determine if such awards are consistent with the manner in which the work was traditionally performed in the past provided, however, that any such determination shall not be admissible as evidence in any arbitration or judicial proceeding; (iv) review the relationship between capital expenditures pursuant to each such capital program plan

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and current and future operating budget requirements; (v) monitor the progress of capital elements described in each capital program plan approved as provided in section twelve hundred sixty-nine-b of this title; (vi) monitor the expenditures incurred and to be incurred for each such element; and (vii) identify capital elements not progressing on schedule, ascertain responsibility therefor and recommend those actions required or appropriate to accelerate their implementation. The capital program committee shall issue a quarterly report on its activities and findings, and shall in connection with the preparation of such quarterly report, consult with the state division of the budget, the state department of transportation, the members of the metropolitan transportation authority capital program review board and any other group the committee deems relevant, including public employee organizations, and, at least annually, with a nationally recognized independent transit engineering firm. Such report shall be made available to the members of the authority, to the members of the metropolitan transportation authority capital program review board, and the directors of the municipal assistance corporation for the city of New York.

§ 5. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 1269-h to read as follows:

§ 1269-h. Ridership reports. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) "type of fare media used" shall refer to the type of ticket used to purchase the authority's railroad, bus and subway services, including, but not limited to:

(i) single-ride tickets;

(ii) unlimited-usage weekly tickets;

(iii) unlimited-usage monthly tickets;

(iv) tickets purchased via the authority's shared internet website, mail and ride programs or mobile phone applications;

(v) student tickets;

(vi) tickets for senior citizens or people with disabilities; and

(vii) all other kinds of fare media used by the authority on its services;

(b) "fare data" shall refer to ridership data recorded by MetroCards, OMNY, railroad tickets, or any other fare media used by the authority on its subway, bus and railroad services;

(c) "origin and destination data" shall refer to the amount of round trips taken between any two railroad, bus and/or subway stations within a given timeframe, as measured by fare data; and

(d) "joint ticket" shall refer to a single ticket or fare medium allowing a passenger to ride on both a railroad and subway and/or bus service operated by the authority in a single trip.

2. No later than eighteen months after the effective date of this section, the authority shall take all practicable measures to collect, compile and publish four ridership reports for its services. One ridership report shall be for the stations of the New York city subway, one shall be for the bus lines operated by the authority, one shall be for the stations of the Long Island rail road and one shall be for the stations of the Metro-North commuter railroad. Such ridership reports shall be updated on a weekly basis, except for the report on buses, which shall be updated on a monthly basis.

3. The ridership report for the New York city subway shall include, but not be limited to:

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(a) ridership per subway station, which must be sortable by rank, year, month, week, date, hour, type of fare media used, and direction, for stations with separate entrances for each direction;

(b) a listing of the amount of people boarding at each subway station after transferring from a bus line, which must be sortable by bus route, borough, rank, year, month, week, date and hour, direction, and type of fare media used;

(c) a listing of the amount of people boarding at each subway station after transferring from a different subway station, which must be sortable by borough, rank, year, month, week, date and hour, direction, and type of fare media used;

(d) a listing of the amount of people boarding at each subway station after transferring from a Long Island rail road or Metro-North commuter railroad train, sortable by rank, year, month, week, date, hour, and type of fare media used;

(e) origin and destination data between all pairs of subway stations, sorted by rank, year, month, week, date and hour;