An MTA bailout is a national imperative

People ride a subway during the coronavirus outbreak on April 13, in New York City. Ridership on subways and buses in Manhattan, the nation's largest public transportation system, is down dramatically as people stay home from work or find other ways of getting around the city.
People ride a subway during the coronavirus outbreak on April 13, in New York City. Ridership on subways and buses in Manhattan, the nation's largest public transportation system, is down dramatically as people stay home from work or find other ways of getting around the city.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Make no mistake: The present and future of the MTA is currently in jeopardy. We are facing a fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude. This pandemic has driven ridership off a cliff — subways, buses, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North are down 95%, and tolls from our bridges and tunnels have dropped by more than 60%. That adds up to roughly half the MTA’s annual revenue. The other half — a package of dedicated taxes that would usually provide over $6 billion to the MTA — appears to be in free fall.
While we are thankful for the aid directed to the MTA in the CARES Act, we need an additional $3.9 billion in immediate and emergency funding and we need it now. That’s not just our opinion. We hired a global consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., to review our projections. McKinsey estimates the full impact of the pandemic to be between $7 and $8.5 billion this year alone.
Staggeringly, we anticipate losing between $4.7 billion and $5.9 billion in fare and toll revenues this year, and that figure doesn’t even consider lingering potential impacts in 2021. Additionally, state and local taxes dedicated to the MTA are also likely to evaporate in the economic downturn facing the state and nation. The estimated loss: $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion.
That’s why we’re now requesting that Congress provide an additional $3.9 billion in emergency funding to stop the bleeding in our budget.
At the same time, we’re spending more than ever on efforts to aggressively disinfect our system to keep employees and customers safe — from stations and rolling stock, to workspaces and other MTA vehicles. And as ridership returns, we anticipate that these costs will only increase as we work to assure customers and employees that they are safe riding with the MTA.
But aside from the financial impact, there’s a human one, too. This pandemic is taking an unimaginable toll on our heroic workforce — who are pushing through their own fears and showing up every day in the name of public service. Tragically, 68 of our brave colleagues have died, and more than 2,400 others have tested positive for COVID-19. Another 4,400 are on home quarantine and thousands more are calling out sick. While we are starting to see more employees return to work, we’re still far from normal staffing levels.

There are no words to express our gratitude to the hardworking men and women of the MTA for moving other essential workers— doctors, nurses, first responders, grocery store and childcare workers — on the frontlines of this pandemic saving lives.

Our workforce has proved how essential the MTA is in serving the region daily, and our agency will be crucial in propelling the city, state and nation forward and out of this crisis, just as it continues to carry it through this difficult time.

Restoring financial health to the MTA is an investment in the economic vitality of the entire downstate region, which accounts for almost 10% of the entire country’s GDP. The nation won’t be able to bounce back without a strong New York leading the way, and that won’t happen without a strong public transportation system.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, we had achieved tremendous progress across subways, buses and the commuter railroads alike. Our historic Capital Plan was poised to deliver $51.5 billion worth of critical state of good repair investments and game-changing mega projects to bring the MTA into the 21st century. Its future is now in jeopardy as we face this cliff of fiscal calamity.

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