MTA Short $1 Billion to Expand NYC Transit-System Cameras

  • Cost to upgrade cameras in transit system is $1.3 billion: MTA
  • MTA capital plan includes $250 million for new subway cameras

A subway train arrives at a station in New York.

Photographer: Gabriela Bhaskar/Bloomberg
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New York City’s transit network, the largest in the U.S., needs $1 billion to expand and update camera systems throughout its subways, buses and commuter rail lines, the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wrote in a letter to Congress.

The MTA calculates it will cost $1.3 billion for the surveillance upgrades across its transit system, but it’s short $1 billion, Janno Lieber, the agency’s chief executive officer, wrote in a May 2 letter to U.S. House members. The lawmakers had asked for information last month on how the MTA uses federal funds for safety programs.