by Barry M. Steinberg
Association for Public Transportation
It has been eighteen months since I have arrived at Massport. I had gotten a cold call from an executive recruiter. After 9/11, I wanted to get back into public service. It was a closed process.
In the process of assessing senior staff, I had to meet stakeholders. I had to develop a mission statement for Massport, even though there are laws [establishing it].
[Our purpose is] to enable and enhance economic growth. We have valuable facilities in Logan Airport, Hanscom, etc. that the Commonwealth has put together.
It is not our job to promote. That is for others. People do not come to Boston to visit Logan Airport, but yet they use it.
RISE
1 A concentration on values: Respect for the individual.
2 Personal Integrity. I have to be able to believe what my staff tells me.
3 Service. We provide public service.
4 Excellence. Massport is excellent in many ways.
Goals are important to me. I make very few decisions in a day. I make 1% maybe. Very few people want to do a bad job.
I define a box of four sides:
1 Operations that are world class: Safe, efficient and secure.
2 Investing in our facilities. If we are not investing in something useful where it can be used.
3 Keep our promises. We are a corporation. It funds itself through fees. We have to make a profit. When we make a financial commitment, we must follow through on them.
4 Citizenship. We are a public agency; we must be good citizens and neighbors. To our employees: If you're not sure what to do, do the right thing.
We have recently gone through a realignment, establishing profit/loss centers. The bridge is one, the airport is another, etc. Then we have staff.
We are aligning the books and numbers to make sure all these things work out. In terms of Massport people: In the aftermath of 9/11, a lot of everyday workers were criticized. Logan has a ‘care team': About a hundred volunteers. They match up with individuals or families undergoing tragedy. They served as liaisons with the families. Massport was criticized for things they shouldn't be criticized for. It became my commitment that we would become a leader in security in a big way.
The Transportation Security Agency was established, without staff, but set tough deadlines for activity. We had six months. We took a month-long process and accelerated it to two or three days. Contracts were put out to bid and awarded the same day. Equipment was installed in five months for the TSA. We combined customer service and security. Contractors came in from forty states. We scheduled it like a d-day operation. It is a great testament to the City of Boston.
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Questions and Answers:
Curtis Davis, moderator. We want to ask tough questions in a safe way. Possible themes:
Capital improvements: What is a diminution on your ability to provide such improvements?
A. The capital plan is on track. It is set in modules, so they can be moved up or back. The way they are financed, the Delta Terminal is mainly a Delta investment. Pre-9/11, they had gotten bond money. But they continued because they had confidence in Boston. This and other projects at the Airport were private money.
Another element is projects funded with federal money: Improvement of taxiways. [This is supported] with the Passenger Facility Charge. This goes to Massport, supporting bonds.
It is largely a cash-flow issue.
Q. Thomas Palmer, Boston Globe: What percent [of the project] is complete?
A Roughly 80%. But a lot of things are not visible. Underground fuel lines, power plant central heating and [overhead] walkways are completed. The Hilton Hotel is complete—with their money. Terminal E: The front half essentially is done.
Barbara
[We have worked on] a view of the future. Truck access. We have worked with Secretary Grabauskas and T General Manager Mulhern on the issue of the Beacon Park Yards. How to get freight to the Conley Terminal? We are just touching the surface of the problem currently.
The Port of Boston is often overlooked, but is a potential success story. We established a direct ocean link to Asia. This increased traffic five-fold.
We have a [circumscribed acreage of port facilities].
Barry M. Steinberg, Association for Public Transportation: What about rail access?
A. This is a balancing act. We have to find a way to get things to work. We want rail access at least to the EDIC area. If we lose rail access, it is going to inhibit Boston's port.
Romin Koebel, BU and APT: We need regularly-scheduled shipping to Europe.
A. We have that now. Ships are getting larger. We are at the end of a spoke-and-hub system. It is a chicken-and-egg: [One says] I want regular service. [The other says] But I want something to pick up and drop off. We are not going to be the biggest, but we have a rôle.
Q. Regarding East Boston, What is going to be your relationship to the community? Logan as a polluter.
A. Massport has invested more in environmental [friendliness] than anyone else. The bus fleet is compressed natural gas. With regard to the planes, we get them in and out [, which minimizes emissions.]
Rental car operation: We are making it more efficient. To have a consolidated garage. We are looking at this.
C. Davis: What is the driver that makes that module faster?
A. An expectation that something is going to get paid for. Or that the neighbors are going to be interrelated.
Q. Who says ‘charge' militarily?
A. I do. We have a certain pot of money, portions of which are dedicated to certain projects. What leeway do we have? E.g. security. Maintenance items to keep a facility up and running
-------- To move efficiently and use the runway space, there was a program…a lawsuit. The 14/32 issue.
Q. How and when do you do this?
A. There is going to be an internal meeting next week on this subject. We are going to keep our commitments. If we are going to propose something, it must be something workable.
A public agency should be trying to do something positive for the economy. To keep Boston a better place is critically important. Logan is not a stand-alone facility. It interacts with the nation and the world.
Thomas Palmer, Boston Globe: Is the transit connection to Logan on target?
A. 2005. The Silver bus is not going to go to the Blue Line. It is going to be a challenge to get people to the right place.
------- (1) It is good to see you are not abandoning the port. We need double-stack access.
(2) How does Massport intend to increase connectivity with other regional airports.
A. The airlines are not making money, so they don't have the ability to invest in facilities. We are a critical element. The Williams Tunnel.
Outside of San Francisco, more people come to the Airport by transit than any other airport.
Double-stack: It has to do with roads and bridges. I don't know much about it. When you ask shippers about it, you get double answers.
Q "Revolutionary Transportation" (limousine co.)
Convert fleets to more environmentally friendly vehicles. Taxis: If you want to mark yourself as heavy "green", do your thing.
Hanscom? A valuable asset, and it should get more use. We're trying to get more business out there. We are a corporation. We don't get tax dollars. So we have to make revenue. We have to get the economy going. The Port is losing money, and so is the Bridge.
Anne Fanton: The Silver Line. We want people to use transit alternatives rather than use rental cars. Do we have an information problem? When I come to the Lower Level, I see a sign "To Ground Transportation". Is there someplace a information facility?
A. Yes, but I also have a meeting scheduled today on this topic.
I have engaged a group for way-finding. The idea of building an airport on top of another airport is difficult. Bus as I told Doug Kinton, the time for excuses are gone. We need a coherent, unified signage program…I grabbed the ‘sign lady' when I was [about] and tried to go from one point to another. It is difficult.
90% of the people using Logan are flying in and flying out. In other words, not transferring. Only 10% are trying to fly in and connect to somewhere else. It is an ‘origin/destination' airport. We like it that way.
Finance, high tech and tourism use more airlines than anyone else. It is our front door. And people want their front door to look nice.
Q. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
We have a piece of property and people come in and do their business.
Massport is doing development.
Curtis Davis: There is a question of mission creep.
A. To the extent we can, we want to be good neighbors.
Christopher Hart, Adaptive Environments: Are you aware of the Heathrow pollution-free system?
[You should have an] open public dialogue about development. How do you see this changing?
A. First of all, I'm here. Any decision on a core block is the first step in another public process. I thing we have no lack of public process or public participation. Sometimes the public process result is something we don't like.