The Company

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America’s largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City through Long Island, southeastern New York state and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. The MTA’s operating agencies are MTA New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, and MTA Bridges and Tunnels. MTA supports 8.6 million commuters every weekday.

The Challenge

A Long, Paper-Intensive Approval Process

At one point, an MTA lease agreement required 28-30 steps for review and approval. Large amounts of documents had to be printed and stored in bins.

The Solution

Yardi Retail Manager

Yardi Retail Manager automated MTA’s key retail metrics and leasing activities, making it easy for leasing agents to evaluate current and future occupancy with a visual dimension that includes floor plan graphics. The fact that MTA was already using Yardi Voyager to track and report on all of its properties, right-of-way easements, subway entrances and inspections made adding the new solution a seamless experience.

The Story

Fewer Steps and Better Service

By integrating all aspects of the leasing process into Yardi Retail Manager, MTA cut five to seven steps from its lease approval process, saving time for staff members to devote to other essential tasks.

Dashboards provide complete deal pipeline visibility along with deal oversight and approval functionality, making it easier for teams to collaborate on properties, deals and prospects. Deal timeline tracking embedded within the process automates transaction approvals and execution.

Yardi Retail Manager also eliminates the need to print documents for handwritten signatures. “Our team can transmit documents electronically, making communication more efficient and bring MTA closer to its goal of becoming a paperless operation,” said Yonah Bergstrom, associate director of MTA, who oversaw the organization’s move to Yardi Voyager in the late 1990s and oversaw four major Yardi technology upgrades in 22 years.