You are reading

MTA Gets $6.2 Billion Lump Sum From Feds, As Agency Tries to Recover From Plummeting Ridership

The MTA has been sent more than $6 billion in COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government. The N train pulling into Queensboro Plaza (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

Jan. 12, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

The MTA has been sent more than $6 billion in COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday.

The bailout, a near $6.2 billion lump sum, is the largest one-time payment ever awarded by the Federal Transit Administration, an agency within the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.

Schumer said the funds would save the cash-strapped agency from a “COVID-catalyzed brink of death.”

“The bottom line is that without the money that we were able to get, the subway system never would have bounced back,” Schumer said in a morning press briefing via Zoom.

The funds, Schumer said, will keep the agency’s mass transit network operating, support the economy and stave off potentially thousands of MTA workers being furloughed.

The MTA requested the COVID-19 relief funds since the pandemic has led to a substantial dip in ridership and revenue – spiraling the agency deep into the red.

For instance, 2.267 million riders took the subway Tuesday, which is about 42 percent of the ridership level pre-pandemic, according to MTA data.

Schumer said it was important that the money be released all at once.

“In the past, these subsidies have trickled down and the MTA was never sure they could plan ahead,” Schumer said. “But this $6 billion gives them deep, deep liquidity.”

Schumer said the money would also go towards funding the MTA’s capital program – a $54.8 billion investment project in the region’s subways, buses, commuter railroads, bridges and tunnels.

MTA Acting Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said the injection of funds will support the entire transit system and help rebuild New York’s economy.

“This funding helps the MTA continue to provide top-tier service and in the near term avoid fare increases,” Lieber said in a statement.

The rescue package brings the total amount of money received by the MTA from the federal government to more than $14 billion over the course of the pandemic – with more funds on the way.

The agency is expected to receive a $10 billion windfall from the infrastructure bill signed into law by President Biden in November.

MTA Subway Ridership levels

MTA Subway Ridership levels (MTA)

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Jamaica man indicted in 2018 cold-case murder of Brooklyn rapper at a Woodhaven bar: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted a Jamaica man for the fatal drive-by shooting of a rapper outside a Woodhaven pub in 2018.

Johnathan Rice, 43, of 178th Street, was arraigned on Friday on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree for allegedly gunning down 35-year-old Frank Synder, a Brooklyn hip hop performer and party promoter known as “Hollywood Play,” outside the Tavern Lounge in Woodhaven, where he was hosting an event for a friend’s birthday.

Richmond Hill man sentenced for killing two South Ozone Park neighbors in drunk driving collision last year: DA

A Richmond Hill man was sentenced Monday to seven to 21 years in prison for a drunk driving collision that killed two neighbors from South Ozone Park in June 2023.

Tamir Khan, 23, of 117th Street, pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court in July to aggravated vehicular homicide and DWI charges for speeding through a Richmond Hill intersection and slamming into a vehicle driven by Inderdeo John, who was driving Charles Harris to his job as a custodian at a nearby public school.

South Richmond Hill senior killed after fire breaks out in his illegal basement apartment on Thursday afternoon

A 72-year-old man was killed after a fire engulfed his illegal basement apartment in South Richmond Hill on Thursday afternoon.

The FDNY received a call just after 5 p.m. of a house fire at 94-14 132nd St. Firefighters confirmed the blaze broke out in the basement. The FDNY dispatched 12 units and 60 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene. Paramedics rescued the 72-year-old victim, and EMS rushed him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead a short while later.