NEW YORK — Andy Byford, the president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s subway and bus agency, New York City Transit, has resigned.
Politico first reported the resignation, which was confirmed at the beginning of today’s MTA board meeting.
In a statement, Byford said, I’m very proud of what we have achieved as a team over the past two years and I believe New York City Transit is well-placed to continue its forward progress now that the MTA has a record breaking $51.5 billion Capital Program in place. I’m very grateful to [New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, [MTA Chairman Foye and members of the Board for giving me the opportunity to serve New York and to head up North America’s largest transit system.”
He previously submitted his resignation in October — reportedly over disagreements with Cuomo — but later rescinded that decision after being convinced not to leave by MTA leadership. [See “NYC Transit chief resigns, then reconsiders,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 21, 2019.]
John Raskin, executive director of transit-passenger advocacy group Riders Alliance said in a statement that “Subway and bus riders are grateful to Andy Byford for his historic service at New York City Transit. In two years, Andy made subways faster and more reliable, he tackled longstanding challenges to improving bus service, and he crafted the first plan in a generation that would truly modernize the transit system.”
Raskin added, “No matter who runs the transit system day-to-day, ultimately Governor Cuomo is in charge of the MTA, and riders will be holding the governor accountable for the quality of our transit service.”
Byford was appointed President of New York City Transit in January 2018.
He had been Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission during that agency’s transformation. Previously, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Rail Corporation in Sydney, Australia, and Operations Director and Operations and Safety Director with Southern Railway and South Eastern Trains Limited in England. He started his 40-year career with the London Underground.
— Updated at 11:50 a.m. CDT with Riders Alliance statement
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