NEW YORK – Metro-North Inspector General Daniel Cort released an audit Wednesday that found that while concerning levels of risky driving are occurring at Metro-North Railroad, the agency has shown oversight improvement following two prior audits into excessive idling by its highway fleet, including cars and SUVs.
The latest Office of the inspector general audit of Metro-North studied prolonged idling and harsh braking and accelerating.
“Metro-North Railroad has taken seriously our findings of unsafe driving and excessive idling, and we are pleased with the agency’s efforts to improve oversight of its vehicles following our audits,” said Cort. “Risky driving behavior endangers the public and MTA employees, and we will be watching to ensure that Metro-North fully utilizes the technology it has to monitor its vehicle fleet.”
The audit of Metro-North vehicle usage and oversight followed similar audits of MNR vehicle usage conducted in 2012 and in 2018. The 2012 review identified weaknesses in MNR’s detection and response to excessive idling, resulting in harmful emissions and thousands of dollars of wasted fuel per month.
The 2018 follow-up report determined that while the agency had taken some steps to improve monitoring, deficiencies persisted.
OIG initiated another review in 2023, the results of which are being released today. It includes the following findings:
- Idling and safety-related behaviors are continuing to occur at concerning levels.
- MNR’s program to reduce excessive idling substantially fulfills OIG’s 2018 recommendations.
- MNR personnel should use FleetTrack technology more fully to monitor and report on risky driving behaviors.
In response to the audit, MNR has accepted all six of OIG’s recommendations and said it has already implemented two of them.
