Here's What The MTA's $51B Capital Plan Means For The Subway

NEW YORK — New York City's beleaguered subway system is in for a big cash infusion. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to invest more than $37 billion in the subways over the next five years as part of the massive capital plan it outlined Monday.

Subway upgrades account for the bulk of the MTA's $51.5 billion 2020-2024 Capital Program, the agency's roadmap for shoring up the region's transit infrastructure in the coming years.

The proposal, which will go before the MTA Board next week, includes long-awaited signal upgrades, an extension of the Second Avenue Subway and renovations that will make 70 stations accessible to disabled riders.

The program aligns with New York City Transit President Andy Byford's much-heralded Fast Forward plan aimed at resurrecting the Big Apple's public transportation system from frequent delays and declining ridership. Byford said the MTA's proposal "delivered beyond (his) wildest expectations."

"The system has been stabilized and this capital plan offers us an extraordinary opportunity to now modernize it and provide world-class transit options to New Yorkers in an unprecedented time frame, and as we move forward we will rise to that challenge on behalf of our customers," Byford said in a statement.

The MTA plans to pay for about half the plan — $25 billion — with borrowing backed by new revenue streams. About $15 billion of that will stem from congestion pricing, a plan to toll vehicles entering central and lower Manhattan that won't be implemented until at least the end of next year.

The plan also calls for $3 billion in funding from New York City and another $3 billion from the state government led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who controls the MTA. The transit agency also expects about $10.7 billion in federal funding to support the plan, including $2.9 billion for the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway.

The MTA released an 11-page summary of the program on Monday but has not made the full plan public with just nine days before its board is expected to vote on it. After the vote, the MTA will submit the plan by Oct. 1 to the Capital Program Review Board, a four-member panel that must give final approval.

The plan nevertheless drew praise from transit and business advocates for its ambition. "Riders were promised these improvements when Albany enacted congestion pricing earlier this year, and Governor Cuomo and the MTA have followed through in commendable fashion with the investments spelled out today," said Colin Wright, the communications director for TransitCenter.

But the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group, questioned whether the MTA would be able to get the work done on such an aggressive timeline.

"Fully implementing this new plan will require the MTA to accelerate rapidly the pace to execute projects," commission President Andrew S. Rein said in a statement.

Here's a closer look at what the new capital plan has in store for the subway.

Signal Upgrades

The plan would spend $7.1 billion to install modern signals on six key stretches of track. Only two subway lines — the L and the 7 — currently have the technology, known as communications-based train control.

That investment aligns with Byford's Fast Forward plan, which aims to install modern signaling across most of the subway system over the next decade, 75 percent faster than the old timeline of 40 years. The current signals are decades old and have been blamed for frequent delays.

The stretches due to receive upgrades include:

• The E and F lines from Union Turnpike to 179th Street/Jamaica Center
• The N and W lines from Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard to 57th Street-Seventh Avenue
• The F line from 21st Street to 57th Street (at Sixth Avenue)
• The A and C lines from Jay Street-MetroTech to Euclid Avenue
• The G line from Court Square to Hoyt-Schermerhorn
• The 4, 5 and 6 lines from 149th Street-Grand Concourse to Nevins Street

More Accessible Stations

The plan calls for $5.2 billion to make 70 additional subway stops accessible to disabled riders in compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. That would achieve Byford's goal of ensuring that no subway rider is ever more than two stops from an accessible station.

Only about a quarter of the subway system's 472 stations are accessible. Disabled straphangers have criticized the MTA for years for its failure to accommodate riders who cannot use stairs. A group of them sued the transit agency in May for renovating stations without installing elevators.

More Second Avenue Subway

Some $4.5 billion would go toward extending the Second Avenue Subway line from the Upper East Side into East Harlem with three new stations at 106th, 116th and 125th streets and a connection to the Metro-North Railroad.

The first phase of the long-awaited subway line opened in January 2017. The new stations are expected to serve about 300,000 riders a day across the entire line and reduce congestion along the Lexington Avenue lines, according to the MTA.

The MTA would cover about half the cost of the extension while the federal government would foot the rest of the bill, according to the transit agency.

Station And Track Fixes

Transit officials plan to repair about 175 stations at a cost of $4.1 billion under the capital program. The fixes would include the replacement of 78 elevators and 65 escalators, transit officials say.

Another $2.6 billion would go toward replacing 60 miles of track and installing 20 miles of "continuous welded rail," which will make rides quieter and reduce the number of broken rails, the MTA says.

Buses Get Some, Too

The plan also includes some $3.5 billion to shore up New York City's bus sytem, which has hemorrhaged riders and struggled with slow speeds in recent years.

The capital plan includes the purchase of more than 2,400 new buses and the replacement of the oldest vehicles in the fleet, according to the MTA. It also calls for more so-called traffic signal priority equipment, which helps buses get through green lights more easily.