Yahoo Finance NYC MTA Needs to Cut $17 Billion After Toll Pause, State Comptroller Says
(Bloomberg) -- New York City’s transit network will need to slash $17 billion from its multi-year capital plan after Governor Kathy Hochul paused a congestion pricing initiative that would have directed billions to upgrade infrastructure, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city’s subways, buses and commuter rail lines, is set to detail at its monthly board meeting Wednesday which capital projects need to be deferred to not only fill a $15 billion deficit but to also preserve billions in federal funds. The amount of the infrastructure improvements that need to be suspended should total $17 billion, according to a report DiNapoli released Tuesday.
“The MTA will be forced to put off badly needed investment in expansion and improvements to the system,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Those choices will directly affect riders. The situation compels the MTA to provide an honest and transparent accounting of what it can afford and which capital projects it will prioritize and why. The MTA’s decisions should ensure the basic maintenance of the system — safety, reliability and frequency — until it identifies realistic and sustainable replacement revenue.”
The MTA is the largest public transportation provider in the US. The congestion pricing plan was going to raise $1 billion annually that the MTA would borrow against to provide $15 billion to rehabilitate subway signals from the 1930s, add elevators to more stations to make them accessible and to extend the Second Avenue subway to Harlem. Hochul earlier this month put the tolling initiative on an indefinite pause, citing concerns for small businesses and working families.
MTA officials have warned the agency will need to focus on state-of-good-repair projects to maintain safe and reliable service without the congestion pricing revenue or an alternative funding source. That means shelving work that would modernize a more than 100-year-old public transportation system and help to attract more riders.
The transit agency is also working to retain federal funds on certain projects. DiNapoli’s $17 billion estimate includes cuts needed to avoid the MTA losing $2 billion of federal money that’s tied to the Second Avenue extension and part of the current capital plan, according to the report.
“We’re working hard to preserve as much of our federal funds as much as possible,” Kevin Willens, the MTA’s chief financial officer, said Monday during a monthly meeting of the transit agency’s finance committee.
(Updates with additional information throughout.)
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