Day After Transit Chief Byford Resigns, His Signals Guru Follows

A day after the head of New York City Transit Andy Byford resigned, the signals expert he hired last year followed suit.

Pete Tomlin is an internationally recognized expert at installing modern signals and he knew Byford from London and Toronto. That's why Byford persuaded him to take on the quote "New York Challenge." That is, installing computer-based signals on seven lines over the next five years. They had the money, $7 billion dollars. But Governor Cuomo, believed they weren't doing it right and frequently criticized the signals they wanted to use, in favor of ones he liked, which use wireless technology. Byford said he'd test it to see if its reliable, before committing. The MTA says Tomlin's departure was expected. Byford says he resigned because his role had been diminished, as the MTA's Capital Construction department is now in charge of signals, elevators and other projects.