A lack of funding could derail the MTA's capital plan

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $68.4 billion capital plan, approved last week, is full of items on the Long Island Rail Road's essential to-do list. There are upgrades and improvements to switches and signals, bridges and substations, stations and train cars. Accessibility gains and long-overdue repairs are also on the menu.

All told, the LIRR would get $6 billion of important work within the 2024-2029 capital plan — work that would allow the railroad to deliver riders to their destinations safely and on time, accommodate wheelchair users, and keep the system from deteriorating. An additional $800 million is earmarked for critical regional investments toward long-awaited goals. Among them: laying the groundwork to electrify the Main Line to Yaphank and the Port Jefferson branch, developing a new rail yard at the former Lawrence Aviation site, upgrading the South Fork Commuter Connection, and more. In any other year, this capital program would be worthy of applause.

At this time, however, even such an optimistic proposal can't be celebrated because about half the capital program's funding remains a question mark. Without that money, there will be a limited budget for repairs and upgrades. There certainly will be no electrification. Without that money, the capital "plan" is a capital pipe dream. Gov. Kathy Hochul's suggestion this week that the plan's total cost could be lower is also cause for concern since any reduction could mean forgoing needed maintenance.

Hochul's last-minute halt to congestion pricing removed $15 billion from the current capital program, and put funding for the next one in limbo. With no alternative funding proposals on tap, it's anyone's guess how — and whether — the MTA would get its dollars.

Yes, efforts to combat fare and toll evasion are helpful. But generally, that money goes into the authority's operating budget. Even the $700 million lost to fare evasion last year amounts to just 4.7% of congestion pricing's $15 billion, and just 1% of the new capital program. And yes, the MTA should spend its money wisely and crack down on excessive overtime or waste, yet that won't close the gap, either.

Federal, state and city officials must commit to fully funding the MTA's new capital plan. If congestion pricing does not return, state lawmakers must come up with the dollars. LIRR riders must understand the consequences of inaction. If federal, state and city officials don't address the shortfall quickly, the MTA capital plan won't be real. It'll sit in a drawer while the region's public transit system declines, on-time performance slacks, key improvements remain undone, and incidents of disabled trains, broken signals, downed wires and other problems return. 

Only with a commitment to maintaining and upgrading subways, buses and commuter rails, and the funding to back it, will the LIRR — and the rest of the system — stay on track.