MTA Unveils ‘Action Plan’ To Fix Subways

NEW YORK CITY, NY – MTA boss Joe Lhota on Tuesday unveiled a wide range of projects aimed at fixing the problem-plagued subways. They included ripping out subway seats and cracking down on litterbugs.

The cost – estimated at $836 million. – should be shared by the city and the state, he said. The call came even though Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city won't contribute any more funds to the MTA.

“We’re having a record number of customers,” Lhota said. “We also have aging infrastructure combined with a lack of capital investment in the long haul.

“These three issues alone are the reasons why the subway system is failing its customers.”

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He went on to outline a range of “short-term” projects, the result of a 30-day review launched as Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the MTA last month. The projects include:

• adding cars to trains “wherever possible”

• a pilot program to remove seats from the S and L lines so about 25 more people can fit per train

• asking the NYPD to issue more summons for littering – just 80 tickets were given out last year, Lhota said. An earlier suggestion that food be banned on the system has been dropped

• a new MTA app by the end of the year

• dedicating teams to deliver expedited repairs to signal problems, which were blamed for 30 percent of all subway delays

• expanding the hours of the MTA's repair shop from two shifts a day to 24/7 service

• sealing leaky parts of the system with grout and cleaning 40,000 street grates to deal with water-related damage and underground debris, which were blamed for 20 percent of delays

While de Blasio indicated on Sunday that the city would not contribute extra funds to the MTA – the latest spat in his feud with Cuomo during the commuting “Summer of Hell” – Lhota said he’ll ask the city and state to pay for at least the first year of repair work.

“I will work with (de Blasio) closely,” said Lhota, a Cuomo appointee. “I’m going to do everything I can to convince him that this is the right thing to do.”

Looking ahead, the MTA boss said once the repair work is done, the MTA has to modernize the subways with a new signal system and new cars. He estimated that work will cost $1 billion on top of the current capital budget.

He said the MTA will know more about how to pursue its long-term goals once its “genius” competition seeking ideas from innovators is over in the coming weeks.

At a press conference held shortly after Lhota finished speaking, de Blasio said the city would contribute to proposed measures like cracking down on litter and dealing with homelessness on subways.

But he doubled down against giving more funds to the MTA, saying, "I'm not ready to do that because the state has the money right now in its operating budget."

The mayor repeated claims that the state has diverted $450 million from the MTA to the state general fund - about the same amount Lhota on Tuesday suggested the city contribute to the subway repairs.

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Lead image of Joe Lhota speaking on July 18 by Shant Shahrigian/Patch.