By Philip Newman
It would require almost $30 billion to accomplish everything the new budget calls for and MTA board members appealed to city and state lawmakers to come up with money.
MTA chief Elliot Sander said that so far, even with revenue from congestion pricing, the agency would be $9 billion short of what is needed to cover the goals in the budget.
“The time is now,” said MTA board member Andrew Albert, referring to the many legislators who late last year offered financial help for the MTA.” Please get us the money we need.”
Among the budget items would be large-scale improvements costing $150 million in the Jamaica rail yards and $175 million in additional No. 7 service between Manhattan and Queens as well as the first phase of a new Metro-North commuter railroad link at Penn Station.
The MTA said using computers to control trains would allow both the 7 and the E lines to provide more trains in a given time period.
Under the budget, $767 million would be spent to provide expanded mass transit to attract more commuters. Such projects would include 12 new bus routes in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx; more service on 48 bus routes in Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx; 309 new buses; increased service on the No. 1, E and F subway lines; and longer trains on the C line.
The Second Avenue subway and the East Side Access to bring Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal are part of the list in the new budget. The MTA said both are behind schedule and over budget.
