New demands for MTA reform after Post reveals $400M LIRR waste: ‘No blank check’
Activists are demanding that Albany lawmakers include major reforms to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in any rescue package for the financially struggling agency after a New York Post investigation revealed nearly $400 million wasted annually by its commuter railroads.
The series revealed how mismanagement and costly labor deals — predominantly at the Long Island Rail Road — result in the nation’s highest fares, limit service and consume funding that could otherwise support subway and bus service.
“It just can’t be a taxpayer bailout of a system that we know can provide quality service at a lower cost,” said Andrew Rein, the executive director of the Citizens Budget Commission, one of the most prominent good government groups in the Big Apple.
“Lawmakers should not be writing a blank check,” he added. “They should be insisting that the MTA and its unions come through with more of the solution.”
Officials at the transit behemoth — which runs New York City’s buses and subways, in addition to the LIRR and Metro-North suburban lines — estimate its budget gap in 2023 is approximately $800 million and could hit $1.6 billion in 2024 and beyond.
The Post’s series highlighted the extraordinary costs the LIRR puts on the system by having almost twice the number of conductors it needs and far more than Metro-North would need to operate the same service.
Just getting the LIRR’s costs and efficiencies in line with its commuter railroad twin would save the MTA at least $200 million annually, the paper found.
Additionally, the series revealed how the agency may saddle itself with higher costs and commuters with longer trips by ordering slower and overweight trains for both the LIRR and Metro-North.
The MTA said Wednesday that chairman Janno Lieber appointed Metro-North’s chieftan Catherine Rinaldi as the interim head of the LIRR last year to help begin to bring down costs by “ensuring best practices and efficiencies are shared at both [railroads].”
Agency spokesman, Sean Butler, added: “The MTA is not waiting for collective bargaining to deliver cost reductions, which is why $100 million in savings was found this year and an additional $400 million per year starting in 2024.”
However, the MTA has yet to publicly detail the source of many of those savings.
“As the MTA seeks much-needed new sources of state aid, it is reasonable for lawmakers and taxpayers to expect for efficiencies and more transparency,” said Rachael Fauss, a longtime MTA watchdog at good government group, Reinvent Albany.
“The MTA’s fiscal cliff must be resolved this year, and we hope new state revenues will be complemented by greater efficiency to ensure the state is investing in improved service, not just plugging budget holes,” she added.