Dear Governor Hochul,

Our groups ask that you sign A1442B (Carroll)/S4625A (Comrie), the MTA Open Data Act, into law. The legislation codifies Executive Order (EO) 95 of 2013 for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and is a common-sense step to increase transparency and improve efficiency at the largest state public authority.

The MTA is a massive agency that serves millions of riders every day, and has an $18 billion operating budget. However, the MTA has only published 76 datasets on the state’s open data portal.¹ In contrast, the NYS Department of Health currently has 563 datasets on the portal.² While the MTA has made strides in releasing real-time service data to third parties like Google, open data related to contracts and finances has lagged and financial information is largely provided in inaccessible PDFs.

The bill defines publishable data and requires the MTA to designate a data coordinator to oversee compliance, as required by EO 95. Within 180 days, the MTA must create a schedule for release of open data in the next three years, which is provided to the Legislature and the public, increasing public accountability of EO 95’s requirements. Receipt of this schedule will allow the Legislature to conduct better oversight of MTA data disclosure and more closely monitor the authority’s compliance with the law. In turn, this will provide greater public transparency of the MTA’s operations.

New York City has been a pioneer in open data, and a key contributor to its success has been the legislative mandate and robust oversight undertaken by the City Council, which regularly holds hearings on implementation. Additionally, the City Council has updated the law several times to strengthen it.³ With the MTA newly required to report to the State Legislature and public, it will be easier to hold the authority accountable for publishing open data, as seen in New York City.

We look forward to the MTA embracing the requirements of the MTA Open Data Act and reinvigorating its efforts to publish open data, and again ask that you sign A1442/S4625A to strengthen public accountability of the MTA’s open data implementation.

Sincerely,

Andrew Rein
President
Citizens Budget Commission

John Kaehny
Executive Director
Reinvent Albany

Noel Hidalgo
Executive Director
BetaNYC

Joseph G. Rappaport
Executive Director
Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID)

Susan Lerner
Executive Director
Common Cause NY

Jean Ryan
President
Disabled In Action of Metropolitan NY

Anne-Elizabeth Straub & Brandon Heinrich
Co-Coordinators
Transportation Equity Working Group, Downstate New York ADAPT

Laura Ladd Bierman
Executive Director
League of Women Voters of New York State

Todd Fettig
Executive Director
National Freedom of Information Coalition

Christopher Schuyler
Senior Staff Attorney, Disability Justice Program
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

Blair Horner
Executive Director
NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign

Diane Kennedy
President
New York News Publishers Association

Lisa Daglian
Executive Director
Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC)

Brian Fritsch
Manager, Advocacy Campaigns
Regional Plan Association

Betsy Plum
Executive Director
Riders Alliance

Jessica Murray
Organizer
Rise and Resist Elevator Action Group

Eric McClure
Executive Director
StreetsPAC

Renae Reynolds
Executive Director
Tri-State Transportation Campaign