MTA unveils plan to fix aging transit system in NYC

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) unveiled a 20-year needs assessment, including a list of initiatives to address New York City’s aging transit system.

The upgrade intends to address the city’s aging infrastructure, evolving rider needs and climate change impacts, MTA said in its release. The new assessment provides a "comprehensive, unconstrained view of the system’s needs, rather than constraining it to meet an arbitrary budget target."

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said for New Yorkers, transit is like air and water — they “need it to survive.” The city’s success and survival depends on a “super high functioning transit system,” he said.

“For the last two years, the team has been looking at all those components and assets to determine where we are and what improvements are needed to preserve and modernize the system at the same time, taking into account the incredible changes that … we’ve undergone in the wake of COVID, changes in how people are using transit and [especially the] impacts of climate change,” Lieber said in a public meeting Wednesday.

The plan comes a week after the city’s subways and roadways were affected by severe rain and flooding. MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer said his team’s work on the assessment will serve as a blueprint for how the city will face future challenges.

The MTA system as a whole is estimated to be a $1.5 trillion asset. The team that created the assessment examined “every one of the nearly 6 million component assets” that comprise the transit system in New York.

There are 8,747 railcars, 5,840 buses, 1,907 miles of track, 1,092 rail bridges, 704 passenger stations, 429 power substations and other bridges, tunnels, maintenance shops and rail yards.

MTA wants to replace aging substations and update technology that would “enhance reliability, shorten waiting times, and reduce delays.” It also plans to invest in accessibility projects, like making sure that by 2045, 90 percent of all subway rides happen at stations that are ADA-accessible. By 2040, it plans to convert all buses to zero emissions.

Several stations, including Grand Central and Park Avenue, need to be reconstructed, while railroad tunnels, bridges, tracks and communication need upgrades. Routes along the Hudson River need to have “additional resiliency measures” to mitigate flooding, MTA noted.