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Feds Send MTA $6 Billion To Keep "Secret Sauce" Flowing
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jan 12, 2022
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Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jan 12, 2022
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The MTA received its final payment of federal relief aid from Washington Wednesday — a check for $6 billion, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who helped secure the funds, said was “the largest federal grant in transit history ever.”
“The subway system, in short, has been saved from its once COVID-catalyzed brink of death and has now been given new life, despite omicron, because the money will be there for the subway,” Schumer said.
The money is part of more than $16 billion the MTA received from several federal COVID relief aid packages, and the agency is counting on it to balance its budget over the next four years.
“Our subways, buses and railroads are the secret sauce that keeps the region moving, helping to rebuild New York’s dynamic economy while battling climate change," MTA Acting Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber wrote in a statement. "This funding helps the MTA continue to provide top-tier service and, in the near term, avoid fare increases."
While the MTA suspended 24-hour service for one year during the pandemic from May 2020 to May 2021, it resumed regular service since, despite the high cost of running those trains for half the number of paying customers. In another effort to win back the public — at great expense to the agency — the agency also agreed not to raise fares this year, despite the fact that a 4% increase could have brought in an additional $90 million.
The latest funds “will help stave off transit-pocalypse for riders and our region, which is still being pummeled by COVID,” according to a statement from Lisa Daglian, who represents the riding public at the MTA board with the group the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee.
”Even before omicron, riders were facing a bleak future with potentially significant fare hikes and service cuts once federal money dries up,” she said. “With ridership back to the worst-case scenario thanks to COVID surges, riders need this influx of operating funding to maintain service more than ever.”
This relief aid is not part of funding from President Biden’s infrastructure bill. Schumer noted this funding will help pay for the MTA’s operating expenses, so it can focus on other improvements, like adding new signals, and big projects like the next phase of the Second Avenue subway.
The Federal Transit Administration has provided $56 billion in COVID relief aid to transit systems across the country.
And even with the federal funds, it may not be enough to support the agency if ridership doesn’t bounce back faster. With the omicron surge, subway ridership was back down to about 45% of pre-pandemic levels on Monday, compared to recent highs of 60% on weekdays.
“The concern now is that the federal dollars may not stretch as far if the ridership continues to be depressed at a lower level than the MTA has projected,” Rachael Fauss, senior research analyst with the group Reinvent Albany, wrote in a statement.
Tagged
we the commuters
pandemic
MTA
new york city
chuck schumer
subway
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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