XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.democrats, alt.home.repair   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: nobody@yamn.paranoici.org   
      
   The MTA on Wednesday released an ambitious $65.4 billion plan to keep New   
   York’s mass transit system from falling into disrepair — but agency   
   officials said they still need Gov. Kathy Hochul and other lawmakers to find   
   new money to cover more than    
   half of its cost.   
      
   The proposed capital plan, which would run from 2025 to 2029, doesn’t center   
   on new rail lines, but instead on work to simply keep the city’s creaky   
   subway and bus systems up and running.   
      
   “There are assets within this system that are in real danger of failure,”   
   Jamie Torres-Springer, the MTA’s president of construction and development,   
   said at a press briefing Tuesday.   
      
   Both the plan's release and the MTA's dire warning come as Hochul’s order to   
   halt congestion pricing in June leaves a $16.5 billion funding hole in the   
   agency’s current capital plan, which runs from 2020 to 2024. The money from   
   the proposed Manhattan    
   tolls were required by law to finance mass transit upgrades, and the governor   
   has not announced how she plans to replace the money.   
      
   The MTA said it's identified some funding sources for its next capital plan,   
   like federal subsidies and bonds. But the agency’s Chief Financial Officer   
   Kevin Willens on Tuesday said the plan has a funding shortfall of at least $33   
   billion. That means    
   Hochul and state lawmakers have to find upwards of $48 billion for the MTA   
   when they return to Albany next year, or else the agency will have to scale   
   back its work.   
      
   “We take them at their word that they will be addressing that funding in one   
   way or another at the appropriate time,” said Torres-Springer.   
   “[Legislative leaders] have also been clear and the governor has also been   
   clear their intention to fully    
   fund the MTA's capital needs in the next five-year plan.”   
      
   Torres-Springer noted about a quarter of the agency’s 8,000 train cars are   
   “beyond their useful life” and train breakdowns are “one of the things   
   that cause those cascading delays that cause a significant issue.”   
      
   She said she hopes to spend $10.9 billion on new trains, the top expenditure   
   in the plan. That would buy 1,500 modern subway cars to replace some of the   
   fleet's oldest cars, which date back to the 1980s. Officials said old cars run   
   about 40,000 miles    
   before breaking down, compared to the MTA’s newest A trains, the R211s,   
   which can run 200,000 miles before having an issue.   
      
   What's inside the MTA's new capital plan   
   $10.9 billion for 2,000 new train cars   
      
   $7.1 billion new accessibility work, including elevators and ramps for at   
   least 60 subway stations   
      
   $1.1 billion for fare evasion-proof subway gates   
      
   $5.4 billion to modernize aging subway signals   
      
   $2.75 billion to advance work on the Interborough Express light rail line   
      
   $7.8 billion to fix crumbling stations   
      
   $9 billion to repair dilapidated elevated tracks and tunnels   
      
   $4 billion to upgrade the MTA’s aging electrical systems   
      
   The MTA also plans to order 500 new commuter railroad train cars to replace   
   the ones brought back into service at the recently opened Grand Central   
   Madison terminal, which are 40 years old and have seats that are held together   
   by duct tape.   
      
   While the agency earlier this summer stopped work on adding elevators to 23   
   subway stations due to Hochul’s congestion pricing pause, the agency plans   
   to make accessibility upgrades to at least 60 more subway stations through the   
   new plan.   
      
   If all of those projects are completed, half of the city’s subway stations   
   would be accessible. That would help keep the agency on track to meet its   
   legal requirement of making 95% of the system accessible by 2055.   
      
   The plan also focuses on much upgrading less visible parts of the subway, like   
   its aging electric system. It also aims to repair crumbling roofs at the MTA's   
   train depots, where subway cars are maintained.   
      
   One project included in the plan that would be highly visible to the public is   
   a pitch to spend $1.1 billion on new fare gates, which would be rolled out at   
   150 of the city’s 472 subway stations. MTA planning documents note the new   
   gates would “   
   reduce fare evasion and improve accessibility.” MTA renderings show new   
   gates with tall glass doors and no device for swiping a MetroCard — only an   
   OMNY reader.   
      
      
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