NYC’s Transit System Needs $115 Billion of Repairs and Upgrades

(Bloomberg) — New York City’s transit system should prioritize repairing its current infrastructure rather than investing in expansion projects, a new report from a fiscal watchdog group advises. That’s because the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s overall capital needs totals about $115 billion, far exceeding available funding. 

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

The size of that spending plan should be about $62.4 billion 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, a nonprofit organization that analyzes New York City and state finances. MTA officials have said the next capital program would be larger than its current $51.5 billion multi-year budget.

The CBC’s budget estimate also includes a funding deficit projection of $36.4 billion, 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—2029 budget later this month and submit it to the state legislature by Oct. 1.

Staggering Needs

The MTA’s overall infrastructure needs are staggering. The CBC calculates it would cost as much as $115 billion 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 $92.2 billion 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—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 $15 billion for the MTA. That tolling plan would charge most motorists $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, expanding last year’s payroll mobility tax increase to businesses outside of New York City, extending the mansion tax beyond the city, boosting fares and tolls above the planned 4% hike, and higher fees on driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations, according to the CBC report.

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