Why is the MTA in debt?

For the last 40 years, the MTA has taken out loans to help pay for new tracks, stations, trains and buses — and maintain the ones it already owns. Money from fares, tolls and taxes pays back the lenders, plus interest. That business model worked until the pandemic sent ridership plummeting.



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The subway was affected by a lack of funds, signal slowdowns, and degrading infrastructure. The buses were also affected by a lack of funds, but individual routes had additional problems including low frequencies, slow speeds, and winding routes.

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About the report on MTA Fare and Toll Evasion Losses to the MTA's operating budget are staggering, with nearly $700 million in revenue not collected in 2022 alone. This includes $315 million lost in bus fares, $285 million in subway fares, $46 million in bridge and tunnel tolls, and $44 million in railroad fares.

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The current crisis: MTA is projecting a $2.6B annual funding gap in the near future. After debt restructuring and operating efficiencies are implemented, they still expect the gap to be $1.2B. The table below illustrates the 2019 actual and 2023 expected revenue.

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This daily revenue is from the following sources: * US$19.8 million from dedicated taxes, local taxes and state taxes. * US$17.5 million from passenger ticket sales for public transport use. * US$ 5.5 million from bridge and tunnel tolls.

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A variety of factors drive MTA's cost structure, including the age and size of the system, 24/7 operation, and the difficulty maintaining so many different — and older — models of train cars and other equipment, said MTA Communications Director Tim Minton.

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It's broadly assumed that New York State controls the MTA: indeed, Cuomo said as much last December, upon opening the first three stations of the Second Avenue Subway.

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New York MTA's multi-decade state monopoly model is no longer producing good transit service. New York City's transit has been in a perpetual “summer of hell.” Media outlets coined this phrase in 2017 to describe the state of different regional services, with their maintenance backlogs and decay.

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Over the past five years, 4,592 MTA injury cases have been resolved, forcing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payouts of over $431 Million in MTA lawsuit settlements.

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MTA is a corporate entity separate and apart from the State of New York (the State), without any power of taxation frequently called a public authority. MTA has the responsibility for developing and implementing a unified mass transportation policy for The City of New York (the City) and Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, ...

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The report also found that the MTA lost $690 million to fare evasion in 2022. Joana Flores, an MTA spokesperson, said the AI system doesn't flag fare evaders to New York police, but she declined to comment on whether that policy could change.

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The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

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