New York City’s transit system needs US$115bil for upgrades

NEW YORK: New York City’s transit system should prioritise repairing its current infrastructure rather than investing in expansion projects, a new report from a financial watchdog group advises.

That’s because the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) overall capital needs totals about US$115bil, far exceeding available funding.

The MTA runs the city’s subways, buses and commuter rail lines and is working on a 2025 to 2029 capital budget to modernise a more than 100-year-old system.

The size of that spending plan should be about US$62.4bil and invest solely in keeping its assets in reliable working order, called state of good repair, according to a report from the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), a non-profit organisation that analyses New York City and state finances.

MTA officials have said the next capital programme would be larger than its current US$51.5bil multi-year budget.

The CBC’s budget estimate also included a funding deficit projection of US$36.4bil, according to the report.

The MTA and state lawmakers will be looking for ways to fund the next capital plan. The transit provider is set to release the 2025 to 2029 budget later this month and submit it to the state legislature by Oct 1.

The MTA’s overall infrastructure needs are staggering.

The CBC calculated it would cost as much as US$115bil over five years to fully repair and improve the existing system.

A report last week from Thomas DiNapoli, the state’s comptroller, estimated the MTA’s total infrastructure needs at US$92.2bil over five years, including some expansion projects like extending the Second Avenue subway to 125th street.

“Allowing the MTA system – an essential part of our region’s economy – to crumble would be damaging to the whole region,” according to the CBC report.

“Still, New York must make wise choices about what projects to fund and how to pay for them.”

The MTA has been trying to make up for years of disinvestment and neglect.

It must rehabilitate Grand Central Terminal’s 110-year-old train shed, upgrade power substations, strengthen the system against flooding and extreme heat, and replace thousands of railcars that are beyond their useful life.

State lawmakers will consider funding solutions for the MTA’s 2025 to 2029 budget as they also address a shortfall in the current capital plan after governor Kathy Hochul in June temporarily paused a tolling initiative called congestion pricing that would have raised US$15bil for the MTA.

That tolling plan would charge most motorists US$15 to drive into Manhattan’s central business district.

The CBC recommends that Hochul move forward with congestion pricing to help raise money for the MTA.

Funding ideas for the next capital plan include additional direct appropriations from the state and the city and expanding last year’s payroll mobility tax increase to businesses outside of New York City.

They also inckude extending the mansion tax beyond the city, boosting fares and tolls above the planned 4% hike, and higher fees on driver’s licences and vehicle registrations, according to the CBC report. — Bloomberg