Walder, head of MTA, resigns from job

Jay Walder, who took the MTA's top job 21 months ago with the goals of slashing costs and fast-forwarding innovation, said Thursday he is resigning from the nation's largest public transportation system.

Walder, 52, stunned MTA board members, employees and commuters with word he will relinquish posts as chief executive and chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Oct. 21 to head the Hong Kong-based Mass Transit Railway, or MTR, which has an average weekday ridership of nearly 4 million.

An aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the governor would immediately begin a national search to name Walder's replacement. Typically, the candidate is given a five-year term. The aide said there is no time line for selecting a new MTA chief.

Walder, a former MTA employee, returned to the agency in fall 2009 from England, where he earned a reputation as a prudent transit visionary as managing director of finance and planning at Transport for London from 2001 to 2007. His annual salary at the MTA is $350,000.

"This is an exciting opportunity for me to lead a publicly traded, multinational corporation," Walder wrote in an email to MTA board members. "Nonetheless, it is a bittersweet moment for me personally. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you over the past two years. . . . I have appreciated the support of the board as we took the often difficult steps that have been necessary."

Cuomo -- whose nominee to succeed Walder is subject to State Senate confirmation -- called his departure "a loss for the MTA and for the state."

"Jay Walder has shown true leadership at the helm of the MTA and been a fiscally responsible manager during these difficult financial times," Cuomo said. "Riders of the MTA are better off today because of Jay's expertise, and the reforms he initiated will benefit all for years to come."

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

Following the resignation of his predecessor, Elliot Sander, Walder was chosen by then-Gov. David A. Paterson to inherit a financially crippled MTA, which faced an unprecedented $900-million budget gap even after a $2.3-billion bailout from the state.

Walder vowed to overhaul the MTA and "make every dollar count." Toward that end, he eliminated about 3,500 jobs, renegotiated contracts with vendors and consolidated functions across the MTA's agencies -- which include the Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Bus, New York City's subways and buses, and most of the metro area's bridges and tunnels. Walder's initiatives were expected to save the MTA a total of $3.4 billion by 2014.

The MTA currently has a balanced budget, officials said. The most recent financial plan, released in February, projects a $247-million shortfall in 2012. An updated plan is expected next week.

"I think he rose to the occasion required by the times," said Patrick Foye, of Sands Point, the MTA board member from Nassau County. "He objectively and prudently cut. It was painful, but Jay did what had to be done to stabilize and improve the system."

Mitchell Pally, of Stony Brook, the MTA board member from Suffolk, said Walder has been “a breath of fresh air for the entire MTA family, especially Long Island. He’s taken great interest in the issues affecting the Island.”

Noting Walder’s depth of experience with transit systems, Pally said, “I was tremendously supportive of what he was trying to accomplish. I think most of the members of the board were. He really wanted to try to do some new and innovative things.”

While keeping his eye on the bottom line, Walder pushed for investments in new technology, including countdown clocks on subway platforms and a new “smart-card” fare collection system now being tested at some stations. He refused to dip into money reserved for capital improvements to make up for operating budget gaps.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, calling Walder “a world-class transportation professional,” heralded his innovations and shepherding of such projects as the No. 7 line’s extension and creation of rapid-transit bus lines.

“He is a first-rate leader with big ideas, and I will miss collaborating with him,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “He is the type of person we can’t afford to lose, and his departure is a real loss for New York City, the metropolitan region, the state and the country.”

Walder made some enemies along the way — for example, when he called last year for the deepest service cuts in MTA history and the layoffs of hundreds of workers. He supported the unpopular payroll tax on businesses in the 12-county MTA service area that goes toward supporting the agency. And his refusal to continue to make up for Nassau County’s funding shortfall to Long Island Bus led to the county’s withdrawal from the MTA and privatization of the bus system.

“I remain hopeful that the next chairman will take the proper steps to improve accountability for taxpayers and riders alike,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement.

LIRR Commuter Council Chairman Mark Epstein, while crediting Walder for bringing “some fiscal responsibility” to the MTA through cost-cutting, said he hopes the MTA’s next chief “will keep in mind that the MTA’s consumers are its riders, and you cannot properly and fairly serve those riders with service cuts, fare increases and a decreased state of good repair of the system.”

“The LIRR is an integral part of the MTA, and its riders deserve its respect,” Epstein said.

Anthony Simon, general chairman of the LIRR’s largest union, the United Transportation Union, struck a similar chord.

“We need to get back to basics and restore the respect, trust and communication between labor and management at the MTA,” he said.