After Complaints, M.T.A. Board May Abandon a Lhota Initiative As chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board in 2012, Joseph J. Lhota apologized for insults that arose over his scheduling change. The trouble began last September, with a modest proposal from Joseph J. Lhota, then the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority: What if the authority's board met 8 times a year instead of 11? It crested with a public deliberation that included accusations of lying, two exhortations to "be a man" - lobbed by Mr. Lhota, then 57, at a member of his board - and the board member, a 77-year-old Holocaust survivor, promising to "bring it on." Now, less than 10 months after Mr. Lhota apologized for his remarks, and 7 months after he resigned to pursue the Republican nomination for mayor, his plan appears likely to suffer the ultimate indignity: The transportation authority will probably go back to the way things were before he arrived. Since January, meetings have been held roughly every six weeks. But the schedule change seems to have upset the fragile machinery of the authority, befuddling employees, board members and transit advocates accustomed to a routine that had not changed "since the Pleistocene era," the agency's chief spokesman, Adam Lisberg, said. "My life's vibrations," said Gene Russianoff, the staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, "coincided with monthly meetings." On Monday, members of the authority's corporate governance committee will discuss turning back Mr. Lhota's schedule and reverting to the old way: meetings during every month except August. "It was envisioned that the new schedule would promote more efficient use of the time and resources of staff," according to a staff summary of the proposed change posted on the authority's Web site last week. That, however, has not proven to be the case. The summary noted that data was often compiled monthly regardless of when the board met. The longer intervals between meetings have introduced particular complications for rebuilding projects after Hurricane Sandy; with fewer meetings, it can take longer to secure required approvals from the board for procurements, the summary said. And agency statistics have been published inconsistently on its Web site since the change. In a phone interview, Mr. Lhota said he would support any scheduling change that the authority deemed necessary. "It's good that an organization like the M.T.A. has the flexibility to change," he said, adding that " "ritualistic" is probably the most important word to use here." While no changes have been made yet, Mr. Lhota's foil in the September board meeting, Charles G. Moerdler, appeared ready to claim victory. "I bear him no ill will," Mr. Moerdler said of Mr. Lhota. I just am not pleased that he couldn't control himself. Mr. Lhota, who often hailed the authority's improved transparency during his one-year tenure as chairman, told Mr. Moerdler at last year's meeting that his "blubbering" was "just a waste of time and a waste of effort." He then alluded to an article in The Daily News in which Mr. Moerdler was accused of parking illegally outside the Cornell Club by using a police-issued placard. "Enough of lying to this board," Mr. Lhota said. Mr. Moerdler said that Mr. Lhota had engaged in "character assassination," but added that he would not "challenge" him. "I wish you would," Mr. Lhota said. The chairman twice challenged Mr. Moerdler to "be a man," as the two began speaking over each other. "Oh, I'd be happy do it," Mr. Moerdler said. In your words, I will bring it on. When Mr. Moerdler said he stood by his comments "with respect," Mr. Lhota got the last word. "Respect is not mutual," he said. At a news conference after the meeting, Mr. Lhota apologized for his remarks, if not to Mr. Moerdler, attributing the flare-up to his own "Bronx upbringing." Mr. Lhota said last week that he had no comment about Mr. Moerdler. Even if the old schedule is reinstated, the fate of another part of Mr. Lhota's plan - twice-annual forums allowing riders to address the chairman and agency presidents in a town-hall setting - is unclear. The gatherings have never happened, in part because Mr. Lhota's departure left the agency without a permanent chairman. His successor, Thomas F. Prendergast, was confirmed last month. The new proposal includes a recommendation for "president forum meetings" similar to those conceived under Mr. Lhota. Mr. Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign, said he hoped the new schedule would include the forums. Even if it does not, he said, he would be grateful to have a few more meetings each year again, if only for educational purposes. "In the summer, we bring some of our students along," he said. It doesn't make the greatest impression.