Officials are requesting the next federal aid package to include $3.9 billion in emergency funding, as Chairman and CEO Pat Foye said COVID-19 is creating a significant hardship on the agency.
The MTA released a new third-party economic analysis by McKinsey & Company examining the expected impact on the MTA's operating budget, which projects the full impact of the pandemic to reach up to $8.5 billion in 2020.
The analysis examines how ridership will be impacted this year when the system begins to rebound and projects a massive drop in toll and farebox revenue between $4.7 billion and $5.9 billion, a significant decline in dedicated state and local tax revenues between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, and a huge growth in costs associated with customer and employee safety of up to $800 million.
"I am requesting that the next federal legislation include an additional $3.9 billion to stem the immediate financial hemorrhaging in the MTA's 2020 operating budget," Foye said. "In a few short weeks, the crisis in New York has dramatically worsened, and we are projecting significant additional losses as a result of the extraordinary economic downturn facing the region and nation."
The MTA secured nearly $4 billion in federal funding through the CARES Act in March, but Foye says the crisis has since worsened dramatically in New York, dwarfing initial estimates and requiring a new and detailed economic analysis.
Ridership has declined 93% on subways, 95% on Metro-North and 97% on the Long Island Rail Road, with bridge and tunnel crossings declining 62%.
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