DiNapoli: MTA must find new sources to mitigate lost congestion pricing revenue

September 12, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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CITYWIDE — THE MTA MUST FIND BILLIONS IN NEW FUNDS even as the state tries to resolve the $15 billion gap in revenue that the pause in congestion pricing has caused, says a new report from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released on Thursday, Sept. 12. The report presented the challenges and potential funding scenarios facing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) as it prepares to submit its 2025-2029 Capital Program. The report names possible sources to fund the MTA’s substantial capital needs and emphasizes areas of work expected to receive funding in its next capital program.

The MTA has an overwhelming list of capital needs, but paying for them has been made more difficult by the loss of billions in revenue it had anticipated would fund its previous $54.8 billion 2020-2024 capital program. As the MTA reconsiders which capital projects to fund and which to postpone, DiNapoli’s report estimates there are over $21 billion in projects that potentially relied on congestion pricing revenue and are under review, but that can be reprioritized by purpose State of Good Repair, dealing with Line Structures, Depots and Yards: $1.78 billion; normal replacement of railcars and buses: $2.75 billion; system improvements like accessibility and signal modernization: $5.65 billion; network expansion (notably the Second Avenue Subway (SAS): $5.23 billion and other administrative and various costs: $5.67 billion.

The MTA must work with its federal partners to move funding to those projects that will remain in its capital plan and update its agreements on SAS to retain matching funds with a future revenue source.

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