New MTA Reform Demands After Post Reveals $400M LIRR Loss: ‘No Blank Check’

Activists are demanding that Albany lawmakers include major reforms to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in any bailout package for the financially struggling agency after a New York Post investigation found its commuter railroads are wasting nearly $400 million a year.

The series showed how mismanagement and costly labor deals — predominantly on the Long Island Railroad — lead to the highest fares in the country, limit service, and consume funds that could otherwise support subway and bus service.

“This simply cannot be a taxpayer bailout of a system that we know can deliver quality services at a lower cost,” said Andrew Rein, executive director of the Citizens Budget Commission, one of the best-known good government groups in the Big Apple.

“Legislators should not issue carte blanche,” he added. “They should push for the MTA and its unions to come up with more solutions.”

Officials at the transit giant, which operates New York’s buses and subways, as well as LIRR and Metro-North commuter lines, estimate a budget deficit in 2023 of about $800 million and could reach $1.6 billion in 2024 and beyond.

General view of a Long Island Railroad train
The Post recently found that the MTA’s commuter railroads are wasting about $400 million annually.
Christopher Sadowski

A series of posts by The Post highlighted the extraordinary cost that the LIRR imposes on the system, as it has almost twice as many conductors as it needs and far more than Metro-North would need to operate the same service.

The paper said that simply bringing the cost and efficiency of the LIRR in line with its commuter rail twin would save the MTA at least $200 million a year.

In addition, the series showed how the agency can burden itself with higher costs and longer commuters by ordering slower, heavier trains for both the LIRR and Metro-North.

The MTA said Wednesday that Chairman Janno Lieber appointed Metro-North chief Katherine Rinaldi as interim head of the LIRR last year to help start reducing costs by “enforcing the sharing of best practices and efficiency both in [railroads]”.

MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber
The New York State Senate confirmed Janno Lieber as Chairman and CEO of the MTA in January 2022.
Lev Radin/Sipa USA

Agency spokesman Sean Butler added: “The MTA isn’t waiting for collective bargaining to deliver cost savings, so $100 million in savings has been found this year and an additional $400 million per year starting in 2024.”

However, the MTA has yet to publicly identify the source of many of these savings.

“As the MTA seeks much-needed new sources of government assistance, it makes sense for lawmakers and taxpayers to expect efficiency and greater transparency,” said Rachel Fauss, a longtime MTA observer at good government group Reinvent Albany.

“The MTA’s fiscal cliff should be closed this year, and we hope the state’s new revenues will be complemented by greater efficiency to ensure the state invests in service improvements and not just plugging budget holes,” she added.

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