“We’re trying to balance making sure people can get where they’re going and have good service with the need to do the work that makes the system better long-term,” MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber stated on Jan. 5, 2025, the primary day of congestion pricing.
Marc A. Hermann / MTA
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It’s a brand new 12 months, however the MTA has the identical aim for 2025: ship protected, dependable and reasonably priced service for the tens of millions of New Yorkers who journey mass transit every single day.
Precedence one has all the time been security. We’ve labored carefully with Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams and the NYPD to drive down crime to beneath even pre-pandemic ranges, and this 12 months, we’ve got extra buy-in than ever earlier than on reforming the felony justice system to maintain harmful people out of the transit system.
These adjustments – mixed with a continued sturdy police presence underground – ought to assist us transfer the needle and encourage extra New Yorkers to make use of transit.
However whilst we watch for extra information on the influence of the congestion reduction toll on journey patterns, avenue security, and air high quality, we’re not losing any time attending to work enhancing transit. Final week, we celebrated one of many first investments to return from {dollars} generated by congestion pricing: the acquisition of 265 new zero-emission buses.
And there’s much more to return – we at the moment have lively procurements for Second Avenue Subway Section 2, sign modernization on the Fulton Avenue line, and our subsequent package deal of ADA accessible stations, to call a number of upcoming tasks.
The brand new MTA’s mission is to make sure that each penny is spent properly. This isn’t the identical company that permit schedules and budgets balloon unchecked for many years.
The truth is, the MTA’s funds in actual phrases is 3% decrease now than earlier than COVID, even with important will increase to service on the subway and LIRR, transformative bus community redesigns underway or accomplished in all 5 boroughs, and the opening of a brand-new terminal at Grand Central Madison.
We need to guarantee riders expertise financial savings too – with OMNY fare-capping on the subway and buses, plus decrease fares on commuter railroads for intracity journey by means of the Metropolis Ticket program. And because of reductions applied throughout COVID, Metro-North and LIRR month-to-month ticketholders proceed to pay much less now than they did in 2019.
Right here’s to protecting that momentum going for a historic 2025.
Janno Lieber is MTA chair and CEO.
