Decision To Be Made on Roosevelt Island Tram Modernization At Tomorrow's RIOC Board Meeting

Roosevelt Island Tram Image from J Blough

RIOC is reporting that:

a Board of Directors meeting will be held on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. at the Good Shepherd Center, 543 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York, for the purpose of transacting such business as shall come before the Board.

Items on the new business agenda include:

1. Aerial Tramway Modernization Project: Authorization to Enter
Design/Build and Operating & Management Contracts (Additional
Materials to Follow – Board Action Required)

2. Authorization of Extension of Contract with Doppelmayr CTEC,
Inc. for Operation and Management of the Roosevelt Island
Aerial Tramway (Board Action Required)

3. Presentation by the Trust for Public Land of Design Update for the
Southpoint Public Open Space Project

I asked former RIOC Board member Mark Ponton his thoughts on the Tram Modernizaton agenda item.

Question: how do you think the vote will go on the issue of tram
replacement?

Answer I think there'll be a least one "no" but I think the majority
will go for the replacement.

Question: Why do you think that?

Answer: I think a number of the board members have themselves convinced that this is a technical decision and since most of them don't have a technical background or technical leaning they'll fall for the old chestnut of "erring on the side of caution". This is not a technical decision at all. It'll turn into one if the board votes to go ahead but right now it's a very simple business decision. It's no more technical than buying a belt, a shirt, or a winter jacket. The basic question is no different than the one you'd ask yourself which is "do I really need this?" If your answer is "yes" then presumably you know why you have the need. If your answer is "no" then you know why it's "no". That doesn't say you're not going to get the jacket anyway it just says you've admitted to yourself you don't need it but for whatever reason, including that you just feel like getting it, you're going to get it anyway. That's all we're dealing with here; just that simple issue. We have a report from the three most prestigious engineering firms in the United States and maybe the world that says, given regular routine maintenance, there's not only nothing major on the tram that needs replacing or upgrading now but there's nothing they can see into the future that will need it either. So the basic question is: "do we go ahead anyway?"

There's also an element in what people have been brought up to believe. We've been told almost since birth that new is better than old. That means there's a natural focus on the tram's age as opposed to an analytical examination of its capability. But, if we go by the data we have, it says that we don't need to do anything. That tells me since there's no need that exists, we shouldn't fabricate one. For example, a
really pertinent question a board member might ask would not relate to whether or not the new tram cabins should be made of aluminum instead of carbon fiber but instead the question should be "why are we doing anything at all to a vehicle that has served us almost flawlessly for the past 30 plus years?", and in the opinion of experts has all thesigns of continuing to do so

We can also take a look at the functional (not the technical) differences that there'll be if we make the changes that are planned. A quick look seems to show what appears to be a vast difference. A closer look will show that in a practical sense there'll be almost be no difference at all. So, in my opinion, we ought not to be massively inconveniencing thousands of island residents for a year in order to end
up with something that's essentially what we have now.

The interesting thing to me is how somebody has gotten the board members convinced that this is a technical decision when in fact it only becomes a technical decision if by the avoidance of simple questions and by casting a vote to proceed, the board makes it so

RIOC President Steve Shane writes of the Tram Modernization Project in his 10/11 Main Street WIRE column (PDF File):

The funding agreement is signed and delivered. The two expected bid responses were received September 16, distributed to our engineering consultants, Parametrix, LIRO, and Professor Testa, for their independent evaluation, and were the subject of a full day’s interview for each responder. Final rating and ranking will be done in time for a recommendation to be on the Board agenda of the 23rd. A presentation was made to the community by each responder at a Town Hall meeting on October 2. Contract execution is to follow and the overhaul process
begun, with closure anticipated in April or May 2009. The closure will be not more than six months, based upon the bids, and will be contractually undertaken by the awardee.RIRA representatives and the most vocal critics, as well as individual members of the Board, were invited to participate in the review process. I believe this process to have thoroughly exposed the entire matter to full community review and involvement, and should leave no questions unanswered. Our outside consultants have thoroughly vetted the proposals and are satisfied with the engineering solutions. We have reviewed the financial qualifications and contacted those listed as prior references. We are ready.