Thomas J. McLernon was an American transportation executive who served as general manager of the

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...

and the

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Lehigh Valley Railroad

McLernon was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. He spent the first thirty years of his career with the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...

. He began with the railroad in 1920 as a messenger and then served as a clerk, yardmaster, freight agent, and finally as the superintendent of all stations. In 1934 he organized and was elected president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad's first local of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks.

New York City

In 1955, McLernon became the general manager of the New York City Transit Authority. During his tenure, McLernon was able to eliminate the system's deficit. He also ordered the installation of automatic coin turnstiles in the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

Boston

In May 1960, McLernon was named general manager of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. He was given an 11-year contract and took office on July 1. During his tenure, McLernon battled the MTA's advisory board, the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

, and the Carmen's Union, which went on strike twice during McLernon's time in office. On August 4, 1964, the MTA was taken over by the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. McLernon was chosen to manage the new system. On December 30, 1964, the MBTA board of directors elected to terminate McLernon. Director Robert P. Springer criticized McLernon for having "no concept that the job of management is not the job of a dictator", for mismanaging authority personnel, and for having a "vendetta with the Carmen's Union". He stated that the board chose to terminate McLernon after "his own subordinates disagreed with him and came to the board". McLernon in turn criticized the MTA/MBTA board for not giving him a "free hand to run the system", which prevented him from addressing the major problems besetting the MTA/MBTA. He also criticized the MBTA employees for being loyal to the Carmen's Union and not to "the organization that pays them".

New Jersey

After leaving Boston, McLernon moved to

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange is a historic suburban Village (New Jersey), village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He worked in the railroad division of the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

and the New Jersey State Department of Commutation. He retired in 1970 and that same year moved to Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey. Following his retirement, McLernon worked for many years as a transportation consultant. McLernon died on May 14, 1986, at his home in Spring Lake Heights. He was 80 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLernon, Thomas 1986 deaths Lehigh Valley Railroad people Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority people People from Jersey City, New Jersey People from South Orange, New Jersey People from Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey New York City Transit Authority people