By Philip Newman
Thomas Prendergast, who once served as president of the Long Island Rail Road, is the new president of the New York City Transit Authority, which operates the city’s buses and subways.
He succeeds Howard Roberts, who resigned Nov. 4 in a shake-up of transit leadership following the takeover of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by Chairman Jay Walder, a Queens native.
Prendergast, 57, has more than 30 years of transportation experience and takes over the Transit Authority after servingas chairman of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority in Vancouver, British Columbia.
His first day at the Transit Authority is scheduled for Dec. 3.
Prendergast, a native of Chicago, began his career at the Chicago Transit Authority and was with the Federal Transit Administration before joining the New York City Transit Authority in 1982.
He rose through the ranks, eventually running the subway system from 1990 to 1993. He served as president of the LIRR from 1994 to 2000, having been appointed to the post by MTA Chairman Peter Stangl.
“It is a tremendous honor to return home to lead the outstandingmen and women who run one of the world’s great transit systems” Prendergast said. “I look forward to working with Jay Walder to implement customer service improvements that New Yorkers deserve. Running New York City Transit is one of the great challenges and honors in the profession and I will bring all of my energy and passion to the job.”
Prendergast has a bachelor’s in socio-technological systems engineering from the University of Illinois and is a graduate of the Harvard Program for State and Local Government Executives.
Roberts, who came to the city Transit Authority from the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority, had been widely credited for assigning separate managers for subway lines and introducing the Rider Report Cards, which straphangers use to rate aspects of the subway system.
He had been head of buses and subways for 2 1/2 years. He is eligible for a severance packagetotaling $300,000.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
