XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.democrats, alt.home.repair   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: pothead@snakebite.com   
      
   On 2024-09-19, Adams Follies  wrote:   
   > 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.   
   >   
   > The documents note the agency loses $300 million a year to subway fare   
   evasion, and that half of the people who enter without paying use the exit   
   gate. It’s not clear how new fare gates will address this.   
   >   
   > The plan for the new fare gates comes days after police officers opened fire   
   on an alleged fare beater in Brooklyn, injuring bystanders and another officer.   
   >   
   > One of Hochul’s pet projects, the Interborough Express line that would   
   connect Brooklyn and Queens via a light rail running on mostly existing   
   tracks, would get $2.75 billion through the plan. Officials said that would   
   cover about half the project's    
   cost and would allow it to fully design the Interborough Express and complete   
   the necessary environmental reviews needed to begin construction.   
   >   
   > The MTA also plans to upgrade subway signal systems — which are nearly a   
   century old in some places — on stretches of the N, Q, R, W and J lines —   
   as well as the elevated lines in Rockaway. The signal work would also address   
   two Brooklyn subway    
   bottlenecks in Crown Heights and the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, officials   
   said.   
   >   
   > Still, the MTA can’t move ahead with roughly half the projects in the plan   
   until lawmakers come through with the $33 billion the agency's leaders have   
   asked for.   
   >   
   > “We will review the MTA’s proposal for the upcoming five-year capital   
   plan and fight to secure as much funding as possible,” Hochul said in a   
   statement. “That includes pressuring Washington to deliver additional   
   infrastructure dollars and    
   working with our partners in the Legislature and City Hall to determine   
   priorities and capacity during the upcoming budget negotiations.”   
   >   
   > https://gothamist.com/news/mta-pitches-654-billion-capital-pla   
   -to-save-mass-transit-in-nyc   
      
   Add 20 years to that timeline and maybe, just maybe, it will be completed.   
   I wouldn't count on it though.   
   --   
   pothead   
   Kamala Harris Word Salad Special Of The Day   
   Served Complete With Venn Diagram Dressing   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)