The following statement can be attributed to Lisa Daglian, Executive Director, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC):
“Starting the 2025-29 Capital Plan on January 1st is critical for riders who are counting on necessary state-of-good-repair work to continue uninterrupted. Without it, equipment failures, power outages, and track problems become more likely with each passing day. A delay would also push back the purchase and delivery of new subway cars, train cars and buses, which are sorely needed across the system. If the MTA doesn’t act immediately we could be put at the end of the line, waiting years for them. Nothing gets cheaper the longer you wait.
“PCAC strongly believes that the capital plan put forth by MTA leadership rightly prioritizes the essential projects that will allow Metro-North, the Long Island Rail Road, the Staten Island Railroad, buses, and the subway to operate safely and reliably. Reducing the plan would be very painful for both the system’s riders and the region’s economy.
“While we share New York’s legislative leaders’ concerns about the considerable funding gap for the next plan, we respectfully urge them to withdraw their objection while they address that issue in the forthcoming budget.”