Nathaniel Ford: Thanks for coming in.

Eve Batey: Oh, thank you for having me.

NF: By all means. I guess this will be an opportunity for you to get to know me and find out what I think is important and some of the challenges we’re facing, and get some idea of what we’re going to do to try and tackle.

EB: Our readers and we are so pleased that you are actually taking the time to talk to us.

NF: It’s kind of interesting because I think historically, in terms of transit bosses, or transportation bosses, we tend to somewhat be reluctant. You know, in terms of – we’ve got a lot of things going on, but kind of reluctant, but I think with this generation and our ridership being so demanding and everyone wanting to hear from us.

I think it’s a good opportunity for us to really share some of the good and share some of the bad, but more importantly to give you the opportunity to see that we’re really passionate about what we’re doing. Nobody takes a job or an opportunity like this if they’re not sure they can deal with the challenges and the issues. I don’t think you’re in it for the money. You’re not in it for a whole lot of praise.

EB: For the glamour.

NF: Not for the glamour! These are not glamour jobs, these are really difficult, challenging positions.

You’re only as good as your last rush hour. But I think of at least in terms of my being here, you know, I’m a second generation transit person. My father just retired from New York Transit after 44 years there, I’ve got a sister who lives there, and I’ve got a brother-in-law who works there, and probably a host of cousins and uncles that some point worked there, passed through there.

So for us it’s sort of a family business and family opportunity. We’ve been able to raise our children and my father, grandchildren, that kind of thing. We love it.