NYC transit system five-year plan rejected

The five-member New York State Capital Program Review Board has vetoed the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan which the MTA said would renew, enhance and expand the transportation network with a US$32 billion investment. The largest element of the program is safety and reliability projects worth US$22.2 billion to renew the MTA’s mass transit network. It also proposes investing US$4.3 billion in new technology, communications systems and railroad infrastructur
October 10, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The five-member New York State Capital Program Review Board has vetoed the New York 1267 Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan which the MTA said would renew, enhance and expand the transportation network with a US$32 billion investment.

The largest element of the program is safety and reliability projects worth US$22.2 billion to renew the MTA’s mass transit network.

It also proposes investing US$4.3 billion in new technology, communications systems and railroad infrastructure and US$5.5 billion to expand the MTA network through major investments.

In a letter to MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast, 1780 New York State Department of Transportation commissioner Joan McDonald said she was vetoing the plan "without prejudice to any particular element of project." McDonald stressed that DOT still believed in "continuing the dialogue" and that a plan was an absolute necessity.

MTA officials say they have plans for securing about US$17 billion of the US$32 billion and will look to other funding partners, including the federal and state governments, to meet the shortfall.

Related Content

  • US braces itself for congestion pain
    February 6, 2020
    Mary Scott Nabers, author of Inside the Infrastructure Revolution: A Roadmap for Building America, looks at how different US states are embracing the need for public transport investment
    Read More
  • USDOT outlines steps for managing Highway Trust Fund shortfall
    July 2, 2014
    US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx has written to state transportation departments and transit agencies outlining steps the Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon be forced to take to manage the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. In both letters, Secretary Foxx outlined the Department’s proposed plan while emphasising the need for Congress to act in order to avoid such a shortfall. “There is still time for Congress to act on a long term solution,” said Secretary Foxx. “Our tr
    Read More
  • Governors urge Congress to act on transportation funding
    January 31, 2014
    The National Transportation Coalition, a US bipartisan group of governors, is calling on Congress to take immediate action to avoid a looming national crisis – the expiration of national highway funding. Seventeen Governors have signed a letter urging congressional members to act and avoid a potential nationwide transportation funding crisis. The Highway Trust Fund, the funding mechanism that drives the US investment in transportation infrastructure, is facing its fifth revenue shortfall since 2008. Mo
    Read More
  • New York green light to re-signal subways
    October 18, 2019
    New York’s authorities are to solicit proposals for re-signalling the city’s subways. The move comes hot on the heels of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s proposal to invest $51.5 billion in the city’s subways, buses and railroads over the next five years. Rachel Haot, executive director of the Transit Innovation Partnership, a public-private initiative between the MTA and the Partnership for New York City, says: “The MTA deserves credit for stabilising the system over the last year but tr
    Read More

Highlighted Content