WEBVTT - MTA CEO Janno Lieber Talks NYC Blizzard

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>I made a joke earlier to Paul Sweeney, how are

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<v Speaker 2>you getting home on Tuesday? How do you get picked

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<v Speaker 2>at work? And I got silence from Paul. You don't

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<v Speaker 2>really know right now?

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<v Speaker 3>I don't In New Jersey, Transit will wait on them,

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<v Speaker 3>but I suspect I'll be spending another evening in the metropolis.

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<v Speaker 2>We will get an update now from a gentleman with experiences.

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<v Speaker 2>This a legit major storm experience. General Lieber joins us

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<v Speaker 2>now with the MTA Jenna. What's your biggest headache right now?

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<v Speaker 1>Listen? We got service running. You know, the challenges are

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<v Speaker 1>are well known. We got to keep our snow fighting equipment.

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<v Speaker 1>We got jet engines, snowblowers operating on the subways, literally

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<v Speaker 1>on clearing the tracks, especially in the outdoor areas. The

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<v Speaker 1>challenge of you know, buses moving around is the same

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<v Speaker 1>as any vehicle. But we are meeting the challenge, Tom, Paul.

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<v Speaker 1>We are. We're running subway service, albeit on a little

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<v Speaker 1>you know, reduced frequencies. We got buses out there. Metro

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<v Speaker 1>North is operating on a reduced schedule. The one piece

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<v Speaker 1>of our system that is on suspension is the Long

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<v Speaker 1>Island Railroad. It's no secret that Long Island's getting hammered,

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<v Speaker 1>and that wasn't the same place to operate. But otherwise subways, buses,

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<v Speaker 1>commuter rail operating, how does.

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<v Speaker 2>The wind play into it? I mean, I'm calling it

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<v Speaker 2>a snow it cane. I get the temperature, snow is snow.

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<v Speaker 2>But like the wind on the various trunks that you have,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean underground, it doesn't affect it. But how do

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<v Speaker 2>you adapt to the wind?

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<v Speaker 1>Generallyver the issue with wind mostly is actually the impact

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<v Speaker 1>it has undrifting. What you know when you have for example,

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<v Speaker 1>we have some areas in the subway system that are

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<v Speaker 1>what we call an open cut that's like a little valley,

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<v Speaker 1>a depressed area below grade, but it's still open to

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<v Speaker 1>the sky, and snow tends to accumulate, and the wind

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<v Speaker 1>pushes the snow into those areas. The drift on the

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<v Speaker 1>commuter railroads sometimes we'll cover the third rail our source

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<v Speaker 1>of power. So that is and obviously for people who

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<v Speaker 1>are driving buses and even trains, the visibility issues associated

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<v Speaker 1>with wind. That wind is the dominant factor in determining

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<v Speaker 1>when we can bring back Long Island railroad service at

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<v Speaker 1>the east end of our system.

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<v Speaker 3>So what is the latest thinking, John about the Long

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<v Speaker 3>Island Railroad here, because, again, as you've mentioned, and we've

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<v Speaker 3>heard from the weather folks, that's really bearing the brunt

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<v Speaker 3>of the storm.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Well, we did an orderly shut down last night

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<v Speaker 1>at about one am. The goal is always to get

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<v Speaker 1>everybody home. We did that last night with some extra

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<v Speaker 1>service late late, and now we're going to be focused

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<v Speaker 1>on orderly resumption of service, hopefully in time to operate tomorrow,

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<v Speaker 1>when you know, the world will will be getting a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit back to normal. So that's the approach that

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<v Speaker 1>we take, say fifty first, you know, and taking account

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<v Speaker 1>of where the snow accumulations and the drifting may have

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<v Speaker 1>impacted on service. You know, one thing to bear in

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<v Speaker 1>mind is in our big train yards, that's where we

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<v Speaker 1>tend to get you know, the biggest drifting issues, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know sometimes that inhibits your ability to put cars

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<v Speaker 1>into the system into service. So we'll be digging out

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<v Speaker 1>from in the yards and making sure that again the

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<v Speaker 1>third rail and the tracks themselves are clear of snow.

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<v Speaker 2>We continue with General liber MTA share quality time from

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<v Speaker 2>his crisis center, Paul Sweeney, General liber Jenna.

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<v Speaker 3>So all your personnel, the critical personnel of the MTA,

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<v Speaker 3>how do you manage getting those folks to where they

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<v Speaker 3>need to be, because, boy, they have to get there

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<v Speaker 3>just like the rest of us.

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<v Speaker 1>It's part of the deal when you sign up to

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<v Speaker 1>work for the MTA that you may have to come

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<v Speaker 1>in under extreme circumstances. When the rest of the world

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<v Speaker 1>is being told to stay home, our workers are being

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<v Speaker 1>told to come in, and they do. They they worked

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<v Speaker 1>through the night, They worked heavily. Yesterday we got seventy

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<v Speaker 1>thousand employees at the MTA. Thousands of them have been out.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of them have slept in you know, in bus

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<v Speaker 1>garages or in rail the rail control center where our

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<v Speaker 1>head of Subways spent the night at the bus command center.

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<v Speaker 1>It's part of the deal working for the NTA. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I talked to Governor Hokel in the last

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<v Speaker 1>you know, in the last hour or two and uh

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<v Speaker 1>and and she's really focused on on you know, a

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<v Speaker 1>tip of the hat to the to the workforce.

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<v Speaker 2>A General Lever. I love artificial intelligence. It can ruin

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<v Speaker 2>your day. General, you gotta help me here with the

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<v Speaker 2>one point eight million dollars per inch? Myth Now, this

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<v Speaker 2>is a department of sanitation. Did every inch of snow

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<v Speaker 2>costs one million dollars? What's your every inch of blizzard

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<v Speaker 2>that costs the MTA? Do you have a number? Even

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<v Speaker 2>if you don't tell me, do you have a number

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<v Speaker 2>in your head?

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<v Speaker 1>I'll tell you the absolute truth. I have no idea whatsoever.

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<v Speaker 1>It's that you've given me new metric. We use analytics

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<v Speaker 1>here like crazy to evaluate how well we're doing, hopefully

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<v Speaker 1>to operate more efficiently every day. You know revenue you

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<v Speaker 1>know costs per car mile, cost per revenue mile for

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<v Speaker 1>its subway and bus and commuter rail. You've given me

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<v Speaker 1>a new metric to study. But right now I have

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<v Speaker 1>no idea what to say to you.

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<v Speaker 3>John Old. This is the second big, big winter storm

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<v Speaker 3>of the season. It's arguably one of the biggest storms

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<v Speaker 3>we've had in decades in this area. How's your system

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<v Speaker 3>kind of holding up? Is there a cumulative effect where boy,

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<v Speaker 3>we can't We really don't want to have a third

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<v Speaker 3>or a fourth storm this season.

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<v Speaker 1>Honestly, the challenge is is you know the same every time,

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<v Speaker 1>which is you have to get the snow off, You

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<v Speaker 1>have to make sure you have enough people to operate fully.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to chain all the buses, you have to

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<v Speaker 1>move car you know, subway cars around and put them

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<v Speaker 1>in the tunnel, store them in the tunnels. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not that we we we every storm makes it harder.

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<v Speaker 1>To the contrary, you know, for better where we're getting

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<v Speaker 1>better at preparing for these because we've had repetitive storms

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<v Speaker 1>and we're going to continue to try to get better.

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<v Speaker 1>In the air of climate change, we're dealing with all

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<v Speaker 1>kinds of extreme weather events. You know, right now we're

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<v Speaker 1>forgetting about torrential rainfall and and uh and rising sea levels,

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<v Speaker 1>but those are issues for the MTA as well.

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<v Speaker 2>What does the morning look like, let's say four or

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<v Speaker 2>five a m. Tuesday morning. Mister Lieber, can you say

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<v Speaker 2>back to normal?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know about normal, but listen, our friends in

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<v Speaker 1>at the Department of Sanitation are clearing not just the

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<v Speaker 1>streets but the bus stops. That's really important, something that

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<v Speaker 1>I know the Mayor wants to do better at compared

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<v Speaker 1>to the first time around, so that our bus people

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<v Speaker 1>who depend on buses will be able to get on

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<v Speaker 1>and off them without having to climb climb over a

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<v Speaker 1>four foot mind of snow. Who shot that's an important issue.

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<v Speaker 2>That's brilliant. Who actually picks up, shovel and shovels a

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<v Speaker 2>bus stop? Who is that person?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, it's a lot of it's it's folks who work

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<v Speaker 1>for the Department of Sanitation. They're supplemented. This is City

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<v Speaker 1>of New York as opposed to MTR but they're supplemented

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<v Speaker 1>by Parks Department workers. And they're actually hiring folks off

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<v Speaker 1>the street for extra shovelers this time around. So I'm

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<v Speaker 1>very hopeful that that particular challenge will be addressed, and

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<v Speaker 1>we're we're gonna be clearing not just the tracks, but

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<v Speaker 1>also our yards as I mentioned, which is where trains

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<v Speaker 1>tend to get stuck. Uh And and there are you

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<v Speaker 1>know a lot of complex switches that can inhibit things

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<v Speaker 1>if they're not properly in order.

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<v Speaker 2>One more question, Paul, you were you were impressed by

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<v Speaker 2>the buses.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, just walking to work this morning, I saw some

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<v Speaker 3>of the buses here. Talk to us about the buses

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<v Speaker 3>because boy, there, I haven't seen too many snowplows out

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<v Speaker 3>yet because the storm is still raging here. How do

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<v Speaker 3>the buses adapt here?

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<v Speaker 1>It's it's old fashioned stuff, Paul. It's we put chains

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<v Speaker 1>on every on the tires of every bus, and that

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<v Speaker 1>that that gets done in the days leading up to

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<v Speaker 1>the storm, when we know it's coming. You know, forecasting

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<v Speaker 1>is getting better and better, we chain the entire fleet,

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<v Speaker 1>and we take all the articulated buses, which are you know,

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<v Speaker 1>tend to move around a little more in slippery conditions.

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<v Speaker 1>We take them out of service, and we make plans accordingly.

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<v Speaker 2>General, thank you so much for taking precious time this morning.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the MTA of New York City as they

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<v Speaker 2>deal with the storm, as I'm sure we're seeing in

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<v Speaker 2>Philadelphia and Boston.