MTA Outlines 5-Year, $32 Billion Capital Plan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has revealed how it plans to spend the billions of dollars the city and state have agreed to give the transit agency.
The bulk of the five-year, $32 billion capital plan goes to buying new cars for the subway system, Staten Island Railway and commuter railroads; adding thousands of new buses; adding positive train control to the commuter lines; and fixing tracks, signals, subway stations, tunnels and bridges.
At a board meeting Wednesday, MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast noted, "If we're going to see a million more people in the city by 2035 and you're seeing the growth of the city right now, we have to provide additional capacity."
The plan will have discernible results, but especially on the C line, according to Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.
"One thousand new cars to replace the old ones on the C that have been around since the '64 Worlds Fair," Russianoff said.
The plan also includes adding a second track to parts of the Long Island Rail Road, extending the Second Avenue subway to 125th Street and putting nearly $3 billion into fixing up subway stations.
The city agreed to contribute $2.5 billion to the MTA earlier this month. In a statement, Mayor Bill de Blasio called the plan "a huge win for NYC riders across the five boroughs."