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Urges adding $673 million more for NYC Transit repair and upgrade work

Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued a report that faults the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for jeopardizing the safety and security of riders by consistently delaying critical infrastructure work in New York City.

A Review of MTA New York City Transit “State of Good Repair” Capital Expenditures found that since 1982, when the first MTA Five-Year Capital Plan was issued, large disparities have emerged between the commuter railroads and New York City Transit (NYC Transit) in achieving what the MTA itself considers a “State of Good Repair.”

“New Yorkers are being shortchanged,” Thompson said. “The MTA’s efforts to bring the bus and subway system to a State of Good Repair have progressed slowly, raising concerns about rider safety and security. Service still has not reached the levels of reliability, safety and comfort New Yorkers require and deserve.”

“From outmoded electrical equipment to faulty emergency signals to dilapidated stations, New York City Transit still has much to accomplish in order to reverse the damage from widespread maintenance and repair deferrals,” the Comptroller said.

Thompson sent the report to Governor Eliot Spitzer and new MTA Chairman Elliot Sander.

“Given the Governor’s efforts to yield change in this State, this is a good opportunity to correct the inequities of the past,” Thompson said. “I am optimistic that the Governor and MTA Chairman will move to address the fact that New York City has been substantially shortchanged.”

The Comptroller pointed out that while the MTA reportedly confronts substantial fiscal challenges ahead it must recognize that NYC Transit has been historically underfinanced and that NYC Transit has routinely been denied a fair share of the funding necessary to remedy longstanding and mounting infrastructure problems.

“We must demand our fair share in New York City. I understand the MTA’s concerns about escalating costs but as it moves ahead and prioritizes Core Capital projects, the MTA must acknowledge that New York City has waited long enough, and we should not be set back even further. I am hopeful that the research my office has conducted over the last several months will help the MTA move ahead in a more reasoned, balanced way.”

Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, a transit advocacy group, addressed the problem at the Comptroller’s news conference.

“Comptroller Thompson's report warns city subway and bus riders that even as rising construction costs threaten critical transit repairs in the future, some of these repairs have already been falling behind schedule,” Russianoff said. “Do riders really have to wait until 2028 for tunnel fans to be brought up to a state of good repair? Or until 2027 for all the lines to have new signals?”

Russianoff added: “The new administration at the MTA is not responsible for delays in repairing the system.  I look to MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander to fight hard to keep the MTA's capital program as comprehensive and fair as possible.”

Over the last five years, Comptroller Thompson has highlighted the need for the MTA and NYC Transit to make its financial books more transparent, and issued audits revealing troubling conditions at many subway stations in the City.

The new report emphasizes that the MTA must increase capital spending on NYC Transit projects and accelerate its work. Among the key findings:

• Major NYC Transit physical assets, including bus depots, subway maintenance shops and signals that in 1992 were projected to reach State of Good Repair by 2000, 2005 and 2012 will not achieve that status until 2010, 2019 and 2027, respectively.

• Essential passenger safety equipment, such as fan plants, which remove smoke from tunnels in the event of fire and other emergencies, will not be in a State of Good Repair until 2028, 21 years later than projected in 1992. More than 40 percent of the B Division (lettered train routes) continues to operate with mostly original, 70-year-old signal system equipment and mid-20th century antiquated track switches, and older emergency fans do not meet current safety standards.

• As of 2006, only 55 percent of tunnel lighting – another critical safety item – had achieved a State of Good Repair, and full State of Good Repair will not be reached until 2022. In many locations, there still is inefficient, 1930s-era incandescent tunnel lighting original to the system.

• Service reliability has been reduced by outmoded signal systems and track switches.

• The MTA reduced New York City Transit’s share of the MTA Core Capital Program, which includes spending for State of Good Repair, Normal Replacement, and System Improvement projects, from 77.5 percent in the 1992-1996 MTA Capital Plan to 75.5 percent in the 2000-2004 and 2005-2009 MTA Capital Plans. That two percentage point reduction is worth $600 million over 10 years.

• In nearly every investment category, from rolling stock to track and structures, projected dates in the 1992-1996 Capital Plan for achieving State of Good Repair at the commuter railroads - Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad - have been largely met in direct contrast to NYC Transit’s record. This is due in part to the commuter railroads receiving a disproportionately large share of MTA Core Capital spending.

Thompson analyzed MTA Capital Plans to determine the pace at which work was addressed and completed in New York City versus outside of the City. The report notes, for instance, that by 1992, a decade after the first MTA Five-Year Capital Program was launched, the LIRR achieved a State of Good Repair in nearly every category.

Metro-North did not make as much progress in achieving State of Good Repair as the LIRR but still achieved that status in a number of investment categories well before NYC Transit. In contrast, by 1992, only three of 12 NYC Transit categories had been brought into State of Good Repair.

“Aging and obsolete infrastructure makes it harder to respond to growing ridership,” Thompson said. “Surging subway ridership has placed a substantial strain on the existing system. As job and population growth continue, even more riders will crowd onto the system. Crowded trains and stations have magnified the service consequences of failures that can result from outdated infrastructure and equipment.”

The Comptroller made five key recommendations:

• In the next MTA Five-Year Core Capital Plan (2010-2014), NYC Transit should receive an additional $673 million for Core Capital projects. Based on the 2005-2009 Core Capital Plan, the $673 million would lift NYC Transit to an 80% share of the MTA’s current $14.9 billion Core Capital Plan from the existing, inadequate 75.5% share.

• These additional funds should be used to accelerate critical New York City Transit State of Good Repair projects such as signal upgrades, fan plant modernization and other “hidden infrastructure” expenditures that improve reliability, security and safety.

• The MTA should seek U.S. Department of Homeland Security Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) funding to replace aging tunnel lighting and communications systems and other key security-related State of Good Repair projects.

• MTA operating agencies must provide full, periodic, public explanations for delays in bringing elements of the system into a State of Good Repair.

• NYC Transit should work more closely with affected communities, City agencies and utility companies to better manage an intensified level of construction activity that would result from augmenting NYC Transit’s share of MTA Core Capital funding.

The report notes that NYC Transit accounts for only about three-fourths of MTA Core Capital Program spending although it serves nearly 94% of MTA customers, including the MTA Bus Company and the Staten Island Railway. New York City residents are much more mass transit-dependent than suburban residents, and the cost of repairing and restoring the subway system is much greater than for the suburban railroads, because the City’s system is mostly underground.

“To help ensure that New York City continues to serve as an economic engine for New York State, and to help New York City compete with other global cities such as London, Shanghai and Tokyo, its entire transit system must be brought into good physical repair sooner rather than later,” Thompson said. “Much more remains to be done so that New York City residents can be confident that their trips can be timely and safe.”

You can view the report at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.