Good afternoon. I’m Kara Gurl, Planning and Advocacy Manager at the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, PCAC.
Last month, we were cautiously celebrating the upcoming start of Congestion Pricing and the Governor’s pledge to fully fund the MTA Capital Plan. After three weeks, the data shows it’s working! And importantly, money is finally coming in to fund the remaining projects in the 2020-24 Capital Plan. We hope to hear more soon about when it will start to be bonded.
But we also received some alarming news in the final days of 2024: the Legislature threw us a curveball when they rejected the 2025-29 Capital Plan. This disappointing move put riders at the center of political negotiations in Albany; it’s up to our elected leaders to ensure that transit is invested in and the Capital Plan fully funded.
We’re thankful that Governor Hochul has proposed that the state and city each fund $3 billion of the Plan, but it’s important to note that this is $1 billion less than anticipated from each. Federal government funding is also key, though we are in a precarious place with the new administration.
Above all, we’re counting on legislators and the Governor to put their heads together and propose concrete, dedicated, and recurring capital funding streams that riders and the MTA can count on. The good news is that PCAC has done the work for them: our upcoming report details nearly two dozen funding options for Albany to pick from, although some sources are clearly more equitable than others.
We cannot afford to see cuts to the 2025-29 Capital Plan, which is almost entirely made of critical State-of-Good-Repair, resiliency, and accessibility projects—and the transformative IBX. They can’t wait, and if the MTA is required to amend the plan, we urge you to prioritize the projects that keep the system’s daily operations running.
As detailed in the Partnership for New York City’s new report on the Economic Impacts of the MTA’s 25-29 Capital Plan, the Plan will generate an estimated $106 billion of statewide economic output over five years, supporting an average of 72,700 jobs. We need a fully funded Capital Plan to build a better region. Thank you.