Letter: Why the need for MTA duplication

It would be nice if the author would provide even a tiny bit of detail to explain “all statistical and factual information” re: the Open Data Act. A quick internet check reveals the act would “direct the MTA to release all of its public data, including information regarding its budget, finances, ridership, routes, and service, in open data formats on the state’s open data portal, http://data.ny.gov, and on its own website.”

Meandering further into internet land, it appears that that the MTA is already publishing a good deal of information; https://new.mta.info/transparency/grant-management  takes you into six grants recently rewarded to the MTA by the FTA. More so, https://new.mta.info/agency/construction-and-development and https://new.mta.info/capital/2020CapitalProgram reveal construction and the MTA’s capital plan. There is way too much to list in a letter appearing in this publication.

It would be nice if the author would provide details as to what he feels the MTA is lacking in when it publishes its data.

The author is in favor of having all the information the MTA transmits to the FTA appear on the agency’s own website. The author does not specify what agency; I’m assuming it’s the MTA. I’m also assuming the FTA would make much of this information available. The amount of data must be gargantuan. What exactly is the purpose of reposting information that is supposed to be already posted in the open data portal also posted on the MTA’s website? Isn’t this is a huge duplication of effort? Isn’t the author always on his soapbox about waste, inefficiency and duplication of effort?