NY MTA Needs $25 Billion More for Transit System Upgrades

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the nation’s largest mass-transit provider, faces a potential $25 billion funding shortfall on future infrastructure upgrades to improve subway service and strengthen its system against extreme weather events, according to New York’s comptroller.

The MTA, a state agency that operates New York City’s subways, buses and two commuter railroads, is set to release its 2025—2029 capital program by Oct. 1. If that spending plan is the same size as the MTA’s current $51.5 billion capital budget — and the agency has said it most likely will — it will need to deal with a $25 billion gap as certain revenue sources are already committed, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Thursday in his annual update on MTA’s debt profile.