The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to overhaul and consolidate its operation to cut costs. But New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the current plan won’t balance the MTA’s budget or close its funding gaps.
DiNapoli says the MTA’s latest financial plan projects budget gaps that grow from nearly $400 million in 2020 to nearly $1.6 billion in 2023.
That’s assuming the overhaul is a success and the MTA adopts a strict budget reduction program. The gaps are much larger if the MTA fails to follow through with a plan to consolidate more than 40 departments into six agencies that focus on safety, reliability and service.
DiNapoli says all of that will be hard to achieve if the MTA doesn’t fill the role of chief transformation officer to lead the transition.
He says the consequences of that failure will be felt for years and riders could face reduced services and unplanned fare hikes.
Fares and tolls are already scheduled to increase by 4% in March 2021 and again in 2023.
