$68.4 Billion Plan is the Largest State of Good Repair Investment in MTA History With More Than 90% Dedicated to Rebuilding and Improving the System
First Plan Informed by Exhaustive 20-Year Needs Assessment
MTA Construction & Development Has Already Begun Preliminary Work on Nearly Half of Projects
Following passage of funding for the MTA’s 2025-2029 Capital Plan in the New York State budget, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board today approved a proposed plan to be resubmitted to the MTA Capital Program Review Board in Albany. The $68.4 billion plan continues to be a historic investment in state of good repair work that ensures the region can continue to rely on the metropolitan New York City subways, buses, railroads, bridges, and tunnels for decades to come.
The proposed plan continues to include targeted investments to rebuild, improve, and expand the MTA system and is the first in MTA history to be informed by the most detailed system-wide evaluation the Authority has ever undertaken, the Twenty-Year Needs Assessment.
MTA Construction & Development (MTA C&D) is ready to hit the ground running and deliver this capital work better, faster, and cheaper following final approval of the capital plan. Nearly half of work in the proposed plan has been initiated through internal processes at MTA C&D. The agency has already begun initial work on major projects in the 2025-2029 Capital Plan including modern signaling along the Fulton and Liberty Lines on the , the preliminary design phase of the Interborough Express, and resiliency efforts on Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson Line.
“Credit to everyone at the MTA who worked so hard to get us to this milestone,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “It is the first capital plan based on a comprehensive review of the condition of this priceless system and if the first to truly and unapologetically say we are prioritizing a state of good repair.”
“I’m thrilled to report to the Board that we have funding to move forward on the $68.4 billion 2025 – 2029 Capital Plan,” said MTA Chief Financial Officer Kevin Willens. “Funding transit, whether operating or capital should be treated like a core government service like water, sanitation and healthcare. It is an investment in infrastructure that is critical to the economy of the city and the state.”
“We’ll continue to do our part and identify savings as we have over the past few years as we move forward to implement this plan,” said MTA Co-Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel. “Today marks a major milestone for the MTA. Having a fully funded capital plan protects the operating budget because it reduces the risk of additional borrowing."
"This is the most rigorously vetted capital plan in MTA history, and we're ready to deliver better, faster, and cheaper," said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. "It's time to bring this system into a state of good repair. We can't wait to get started."
Other critical areas of investment in the proposed plan include an order of 2,000 railcars, making 60 stations accessible, modernizing 75 miles of signals, installing modern fare gates at 150 stations, overhauling the Grand Central Artery, updating customer information screens, enhancing security elements, rebuilding more than 80 power stations, and upgrading train shops and yards.
Since the Board approved an initial proposed plan, MTA C&D has revaluated which work can be moved in-house resulting in significant cost savings. The in-house team has proven its capabilities by building out its platform barrier construction and installation work. So far this year alone New York City Transit has installed barriers at 19 stations and remains on track to install barriers at 100 stations by the end of the year. Additional capital plan work that will be carried out by in-house forces include component work at stations, substations, shops, and yards.
In MTA C&D’s 2024 Year in Review and 2025 Strategic Plan, the agency found it had saved $3 billion on capital project delivery in its first five years. These savings have allowed the proposed 2025-2029 Capital Plan to deliver far more for riders than previous capital plans, while costing 4% less in inflation-adjusted dollars than the current 2020-2024 Capital Plan.