The Chairman of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA, has urgently requested more than USD 4 billion in federal aid as is facing now facing financial calamity due to coronavirus pandemic.
Based on daily reports, ridership has fallen approximately 60 percent on the metro system, 49 percent on buses, 90 percent on Metro-North and 67 percent on Long Island Rail Road. As a result, MTA revenue has plummeted as MTA provide these essential services. The full impact projected will be over USD 4 billion by the end of 2020, even without accounting for the expected collapse of the more than USD 6 billion in state and local taxes dedicated to the MTA.
“For these reasons, I am urgently requesting substantial federal aid at the level of MTA revenue losses of USD 3.7 billion assuming ridership trends this week continue for six months and COVID-19 expenses of USD 300 million as we continue to respond to the coronavirus pandemic,” MTA Chairman, Patrick Foye, said.
The MTA has already committed to finding USD 2.8 billion in savings over the next several years. “No agency of its size can find additional billions in savings equivalent to the damages we have and will sustain as a result of this pandemic. This is a national disaster that requires a national response,” Foye explained.
Due to coronavirus, MTA has substantially increased the intensity and frequency of cleaning protocols across the system, disinfecting all stations and touchpoints twice a day. Its entire fleet of metro trainsets, buses and rail cars is disinfected on a 72-hour cycle, except for Access-A-Ride vehicles serving the disabled, which are daily sanitised.
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