Transit Bigwigs Address State of the Train & Bus Systems

On Friday October 25, the poobahs of New York City and state public transportation held a 90-minute a roundtable event with transit beat reporters at the West Farms Bus Depot in the Bronx— a properly serious setting for a variety of serious subjects.

Present were MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, newly appointed New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow, MTA Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara and Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi.

Lieber, for his part, laid out what amounted to a state of the system presentation, detailing were the MTA is now, where it should be in a few years, and what issues he believes are most important given the precarious state of the MTA’s current finances.

Among the highlights:

The system’s ridership is continuing its post-COVID rebound with around 4 million riders using the subways and buses in NYC in the middle of the week, a figure that bumped to 4.3 million on a recent Friday. But all the transportation lines have not fully recovered the riders they lost during COVID. The numbers translate to 80 percent of pre-COVID subway rides, and 90 percent for buses.

The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North ridership had also only attained an 80 percent level, Leiber said.

The conference came only a day after NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a report that said the MTA’s financial numbers are in worse shape than previously anticipated in large part because Governor Kathy Hochul in June suddenly paused the congestion pricing tolls that were to go into effect at the end of the month.

The comptroller report says increased overtime costs and the slow rebound of transit ridership is pushing the agency toward a budget shortfall of $176 million by next year, which could grow to $1.5 billion in a worst case scenario. .

Metro-North President Rinaldi noted that reverse commuting had helped boost ridership levels, and one day this month had even seen a 104% increase over pre-COVID levels.

That was the good news.

The $1 billion in tolls that the agency expected to receive was going to enable the MTA to borrow up to $16 billion to finance long term capital repair projects. The comptroller report says increased overtime costs and lower than anticipated rebound from COVID is pushing the agency toward a budget shortfall of $176 million by next year, which could grow to $1.5 billion in a worst case scenario.

There was also other bad news: rampant fare evasion which Lieber said demoralizes New Yorkers. Although the private, non-MTA, security guards have been posted outside the emergency gates of some 60 subway stations, have reduced fare evasion by 30 percent, with limited resources, there’s only so that can be done.

On the buses, where nearly half of all riders don’t pay a fare, unarmed Eagle team members target clusters of fare evaders, with some staff in uniform, others not.

As for serious crime in the subway system, Lieber said the numbers are down 60 percent compared to 2023 and even down 12 percent compared to the pre-COVID year of 2019, even if it doesn’t always feel like that

Within the MTA’s Bridges and Tunnels unit, there is toll evasion by vehicles. To curb these actions, a joint participation of local, state and Port Authority police this year mounted 44 operations so far, with 600 arrests and 23,000 summonses issued to drivers trying to avoid tolls.

As for fare increases, of course they’re coming.

Since 2010, Lieber revealed, regular small increases of 2% matched inflation, with 4% fare upticks every other year. Sorry to say but 2025 is due for a fare increase, with a rate to be determined.

Transit President Crichlow noted that these increases have helped the MTA’s budget to provide more service on 11 subway lines, deeming these biannual inflation-adjusted increases fair.

On the subject of the highly controversial congestion pricing program in Manhattan, it remains on hold, with $500 million having already been spent for infrastructure after a four-year study. As for its possible return, “I remain hopeful,” said Lieber.

Such optimism is necessary when addressing the 500-lb gorilla in the room, a.k.a. the MTA Capital Program.

The magic number needed for the next five years is $68 Billion, a figure which includes keeping all the MTA’s operation in a state of good repair, albeit with a $30 Billion gap which the legislature needs to provide.

Lieber stressed that the physical structure cannot deteriorate, graffiti cannot abound, train breakdowns cannot happen in large numbers as had happened in the past. Investments over the last 40 years have made the infrastructure far better.

Despite this, there are also many cases where further rehabilitation must occur. Grand Central Terminal, for example, was completed 111 years ago and the surrounding Park Avenue infrastructure, is replete with water, salt and chemical damage that needs to be fixed. The Park Avenue viaduct needs to be replaced as well. It’s a project that will need $1.5 billion to complete.

Elevated structures, tunnels, track, fixed power systems and signals are also in need of replacement, with 2000 cars approaching or over 40 years of use, need to be retired. More ADA compliance is also mandated—a valuable change to the system but not a cheap one to implement.

“We have to have the capital funding,” Lieber noted urgently.