Message from the President

March 2014

By Bob Newhouser

Due to his busy schedule, Randy Glucksman will be stepping down as our longtime Bulletin news editor with publication of the March 2014 issue. Randy joined the ERA in April 1965 and has been contributing columns to the Bulletin since 1981, 33 years ago! Randy served as commuter news editor beginning in 1988 and as news editor since 1996, covering both commuter and urban rail transit news. In addition to working as a transit consultant in his other life, Randy was appointed to the Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council, elected chair in early 2013, and in June 2013 became chair of the MTA’s Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC). He will continue to contribute articles occasionally as his busy schedule permits.

Randy’s shoes have been so large to fill that his role will be taken on by two dedicated and talented ERA members beginning with the April 2014 Bulletin:

Ron Yee

Tri-State and Commuter News Editor

Ron will cover tri-state transit news and commuter rail news around North America. Ron retired from Metro-North in March, 2013, having worked there 30 years. He started as a supervisor of passenger counting, rising through the operations planning department to becoming manager at the Crew Management Center, and then becoming the on-board services officer managing 800 conductors. Ron has a masters in transportation planning and engineering from Polytechnic University. His longtime MTA commuter rail experience and travels to traction venues around the world make him well-suited for his new ERA role.

Alexander “Sasha” Ivanoff

North American & World News Editor

Sasha will cover current traction news around North America (outside of the tri-state region) and the world. Sasha is a 2012 graduate of the State University of New York at Potsdam, with bachelor’s degree in history and communications. He is a lifelong transit enthusiast. Sasha grew up near the Harlem Line in Brewster with fond childhood memories of taking Saturday trips to the city. He maintains his own blog, The Ivanov Report. We are impressed with his knowledge of transit current events outside the tri-state region.

Randy’s high-quality work was greatly assisted by many outside contributors. As we cheer on our new editors Ron and Sasha, we encourage those who have contributed to Randy’s column to keep those news articles and other contributions coming in! We have provided Ron and Sasha’s email addresses above.