We will seek a grant from the SMART Authority to cover the MTA's funding gap
In 1981, the MTA halted all expansion projects until the transit system could be brought back into a state of good repair. The goal was to restore all system components so that they could start being upgraded on a normal replacement schedule-before they started to fail. The next year, the MTA launched its first five-year capital plan-an attempt to establish long-term priorities for renewing our deteriorated transit system. Since that decision, New York's transit network has undergone a renaissance. The dedication of the MTA's leadership and staff have made it one of the core components of New York City's recovery.

But even with the progress that has been made, the MTA system is still nearly $15 billion away from a state of good repair, only $5.5 billion of which has a dedicated source of funding-leaving a gap of $9.5 billion that will begin in 2010. More than 60% of our subway stations remain in disrepair. Fan plants, which remove smoke from tunnels during fires and other emergencies, won't be fully upgraded until at least 2028. Almost half of our tunnel lighting does not meet current lighting safety standards, or have additional power sources to stay on in case of a blackout. Last October, there were 514 weekday train delays due to "signal trouble."

Obsolete equipment has capacity consequences as well; older signal technology allows fewer trains to be run safely on the same track than modern systems. Modernizing these could dramatically improve service on crowded lines such as the E train. The MTA has invested $288 million to test its first computerized signaling system on the L line-including electronic messaging boards alerting passengers of train arriving times-but we are billions away from modernizing the full system.

The challenge is that the MTA is chronically under-funded. Every five years, it develops a capital plan and then has to ask the State for the funding sources to cover the costs. We believe that achieving good repair is as fundamental as expanding the system, and will seek to have the SMART Authority provide the MTA with a one-time grant to cover its unfunded need to achieve a full state of good repair.

Progress (as of 4/22/08):
In the 2008-2013 capital program, the MTA proposed more than $20 billion in its core program, of which $4.9 billion (26%) is dedicated to bringing the system into a state of good repair. This includes rehabilitation of 44 subway stations and 10 more on Metro-North and the LIRR. It also includes system-wide track rehabilitation, repair of overhead and undergrade bridges, flood control improvements, and modernization of power substations.