MTA CEO touts mega projects

Less than a week after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced its five-year capital plan, MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander delivered the first annual state of the MTA while articulating the agency’s ambitious, long-term vision for the next 40 years.
Sander touted mega-projects including a second AirTrain service that would transport riders from the Woodside Station to LaGuardia Airport and the expansion of the proposed Second Avenue subway that would act as a trunk line for new service to Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
“I think by and large his proposal was a strong one that had vision and shows that the MTA is a living breathing organism rather than a bureaucratic agency,” said State Senator John Sabini, who is the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate’s Transportation Committee.
In addition to the large-scale projects, Sander spoke about other capital improvements that Queens would benefit from if the state legislature approves a congestion pricing plan. Congestion pricing proponents believe it would raise $4.5 billion from a 30-year bond issue during the first five years the project is implemented.
Sander touted immediate increased service during rush hour on the E and F trains as well as six new bus routes and more frequent service on 13 others in Queens as examples of how Queens commuters would benefit from congestion pricing.
However, Queens Assemblymember Rory Lancman, who has opposed congestion pricing from the beginning, does not believe these improvements are enough for Queens commuters.
“Even if every project in the MTA Capital Plan came to fruition, which history and experience tells us won’t happen, Queens commuters who by necessity drive into Manhattan will see virtually no expansion of their mass transit options,” Lancman said. “Congestion pricing takes most from those of us in Queens, but gives next to nothing in return.”