MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber
Marc A. Hermann / MTA
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The tip of the yr is at all times a time for reflection, and I’d wish to take this chance to look again on how far the MTA has come, not solely within the final 12 months, however since 2021, once I turned Chair and CEO.
We completed that yr with a median of two.3 million weekday subway riders. At present, we’re frequently hitting 4 million, even on Fridays, and final Thursday, 4.5 million riders took the subway, essentially the most on a single day in virtually 5 years.
It wasn’t way back that folks have been telling us the subway was lifeless, that we needs to be interested by shrinking the workforce and slicing service. We stated no method – by no means wager towards New York. We wish to run much more service.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature responded, stepping up with crucial funding for MTA’s working finances that helped us ship best-in-a-decade subway service and a billion rides this yr, weeks sooner than final yr.
However to maintain that momentum, we have to make the identical form of investments in infrastructure. That is one thing I’ve been speaking about for effectively over a yr, for the reason that launch of MTA’s 20-Yr Wants Evaluation.
Everywhere in the transit system, elements and belongings courting way back to the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration have to be introduced into the twenty first century – just like the substation on the heart of final week’s main service disruption in Brooklyn. Hundreds of consumers have been stranded for hours after a hearth tore via a 90-year-old electrical facility. We will’t let this preserve taking place.
That’s why we proposed a 2025-2029 Capital Plan that prioritizes State of Good Restore work, upgrades to behind-the-scenes services which are invisible to riders (till they aren’t) however nonetheless crucial to our capacity to ship nice service.
I’ll admit, it doesn’t make for the sexiest gross sales pitch, however this the truth of the scenario, and I’ve been making the case to lawmakers, even going to Puerto Rico to fulfill with them on the annual SOMOS convention.
No one desires to stay via one other Summer season of Hell like in 2017, or worse, the extent of relentless infrastructure issues and persistent delays we’ve been seeing throughout the river. We had such a robust comeback post-COVID not as a result of we’re luckier, however as a result of decision-makers right here acknowledged the significance of mass transit.
Now it’s time to step up once more, and I received’t cease till the brand new Capital Plan to enhance and defend service reliability is finalized and totally funded.
Janno Lieber is MTA chair and CEO.
