Dear Editor:
Friday, February 21, was the last day at work for outgoing NYC Transit Authority President Andy Byford. It will be interesting to see if interim NYC Transit Authority President Ms. Sarah Feinberg and her permanent successor will be successful in preserving both funding and implementation of projects and programs championed by Andy Byford’s Fast Forward: The Plan to Modernize NYC Transit subway and bus system. Let’s hope that $19 billion worth of funding support in the current $51 billion MTA 2020-2024 Five-Year Capital Plan remains in place.
We will have to wait and see if the $19 billion balance of funding needed to complete this plan will be approved in the next MTA 2025-2029 Five-Year Capital Plan. There will be some clues of what the future holds when the MTA releases the updated MTA 2020-2040 20-Year Long-Range Capital Needs Plan. It was supposed to be released in December 2019.
Why has the MTA delayed release for two months? Are they waiting for it to be approved by Governor Cuomo before making it public?
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
