The MTA’s proposed $68.4 billion Five-Year Capital Plan for 2025-29 will deliver better, more comfortable commutes for residents in both the Big Apple and its suburbs, according to the Regional Planning Association (RPA).
The RPA, a nonprofit organization focused on improving quality of life in the tri-state area, released a report Tuesday examining the proposed funding plan’s goals and detailing how, if approved, it will make commuting easier for New Yorkers. State lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are currently weighing funding the capital plan.
How so? The report states mostly by providing fewer train delays thanks to future infrastructure improvements and addressing safety concerns.
What’s in the capital plan?
The MTA’s capital plan, which is separate from the agency’s operating budget, is designed to improve and expand the aging transit system. Afterall, the subways in NYC are over 120 years old.
Signals from the 1930s need updating. Substations need reconstruction to prevent power failures. Accessibility and safety enhancements are needed to advance station functionality.
Although the state’s Capital Program Review Board rejected the plan on Dec. 24, 2024, the RPA wants it to go forward.
“The MTA’s Capital Plan is good for the economy and will allow a safer and comfortable experience for every transit user,” said Rachel Weinberger, co-author of the RPA report titled How MTA’s Next Capital Plan Will Benefit All New Yorkers. “It’s no secret that New York’s transit system is the largest in the nation, supporting the most job-dense region in the U.S. Having a plan in place that addresses its most pressing problems that impact rider experience and economic output should be at the top of our region’s priorities.”
The benefits for the local economy are multi-faceted, Weinberger and fellow authors of the report described. Their research highlights that the plan is estimated to generate $106 billion in economic output and create 72,000 jobs on average over the five years across New York State.
But, getting back to the benefits for commuters, the report suggests that the capital plan as it is is expected to “address customers’ priority transit needs,” such as safety, reliability, frequency, waiting times, and crowding.
Among the plan’s goals, the MTA will install at least 75 miles of modern signals on various lines. The agency plans to order more rail cars to reduce delays, such as the new open-gangway-style trains that just arrived on the G line.
There are many other goals, too, including ongoing accessibility projects at stations, general repair work at more than 150 subway stations and 25 railroad stations, as well as more zero-emissions buses and installation of charging stations at bus depots.
‘An investment in the people’
Although the NYC Independent Budget Office recently said the MTA must resolve the plan’s funding gaps or submit a new plan in light of its Dec. 24 rejection, the RPA’s analysis found that the plan demonstrates its benefits for the 5.5 million people who use the subways, buses, and commuter trains each day.
“Funding the MTA Capital Plan is not simply an investment in the MTA,” said Chris Jones, co-author and senior research fellow at the RPA. “It is an investment in the people that rely on it daily, and in everyone who are part of the region’s thriving workforces and economy. This capital plan is one that recognizes and respects the time of its riders, remains committed to increased safety, and reimagines what the experience for those visiting, working, and living in New York could look like.”
MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber underscored the importance of funding the agency.
“This report underscores what we’ve been saying all along – the aging $1.5 trillion transit system that keeps millions of New Yorkers moving and the regional economy humming must be preserved and upgraded,” he said. “Starving the patient to death by underfunding is not an option.”
Read More: https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/
