MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber on Monday directed agency veteran Jessie Lazarus to oversee the $12 billion replacement of aging subway cars, bus fleet, and commuter rail liners.
Lazarus, who has served since 2023 as the MTA’s deputy chief of commercial venture, will be the head of the agency’s Rolling Stock Program. In the role, she will work with Lieber and MTA leadership across its various agencies around the acquisition of new rail cars and buses.
“With billions of dollars set aside for new subway cars, commuter trains, and buses in the new capital plan, we need strong leadership driving the decision-making,” Lieber said in a statement. “Jessie’s no stranger to big projects and complex commercial negotiations, and I have total confidence in her ability to deliver the best deal for the MTA and our millions of daily riders.”
Right away, she will manage a $12 billion portion of the MTA’s $65 billion 2025-2029 Capital Plan devoted to purchasing new rolling stock.
The plan calls for ordering 1,500 new subway cars to replace a slew of 40-year-old cars, about 22% of the system’s fleet, according the agency. It also plans to purchase 2,220 new buses and 500 new commuter rail cars for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North Railroad.
The oldest subway trains must be replaced because they are six times more likely to break down than newer ones, the MTA says. Additionally, they are not compatible with the new digital signal systems that the MTA is currently installing throughout the subways.
The new trains also have wider doors, brighter lighting, digital signage, and security cameras.
Lazarus and her team will focus more on performance metrics of new trains and buses than design, she told Bloomberg News. Her team will also work to boost competition among suppliers and focus more on domestic manufacturers.
“The subway cars, buses, and commuter trains that New York grew up on belong to a different era,” Lazarus said in a statement. “The new Rolling Stock Program will make sure the MTA’s multibillion-dollar commitment to the future of our transit system gives New Yorkers a smoother, greener, faster, more cost-efficient ride to explore the amazing places the MTA can take them for generations to come.”
In her previous position, Lazarus played a “critical” role in transitioning subway and bus riders from the MetroCard to the OMNY tap-and-ride program, according to the MTA. She also helped perpare agency prepare for ending MetroCard sales on Dec. 31.
Prior to joining the MTA, Lazarus worked for the car company Toyota after it acquired her previous employer — the spatial AI firm CARMERA. Before that, she was the city’s chief digital officer under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
