New York MTA Says No More Borrowing, Will Cut Costs Instead

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced it will not be borrowing any new money to fund repairs on the NYC transit system in an effort to cut costs, reports Michelle Kaske for Bloomberg CityLab. “The MTA had $47.7 billion of debt, including $25.7 billion that’s repaid from farebox and bridge and toll revenue, as of March 20, according to MTA documents.”

Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chief executive officer “he is confident that the MTA can find efficiencies to avoid shelving or postponing much-needed upgrades.” The agency will be able to use $1.2 billion freed up after the administration took over the Penn Station redesign project and has already reduced spending by bundling some capital projects together.

According to Kaske, “The MTA’s capital plan includes upgrading subway signals that are almost a century old, renovating Grand Central Terminal’s train shed, rehabilitating aging power substations and purchasing thousands of new rail cars.”