MTA Paid $1.1B in Settlement Costs Over 12 Years
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has had nearly 87,000 personal injury or property damage claims from customers since 1996, resulting in $1.1 billion in settlement costs, according to a report issued by the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, yesterday.
The claims over the last 12 years include $285,046 paid by the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad to passengers who tore items of clothing on armrests of the M7 train cars that service those lines.
The armrests have been a source of frustration for passengers because of their propensity for snagging, most notably, pants pockets.
An MTA spokesman, Jeremy Soffin, responded to the report, saying, “The MTA’s ultimate incurred cost for employee and customer accidents is less than what would have been expected, a savings of approximately $335 million from 1997-2007.”
He added that “two of the causes identified by the Comptroller of higher recent claims (gap incidents and torn clothing due to armrests on the commuter railroads) have both been addressed.”
Due to large claims, the MTA’s cost to settle claims peaked at $144 million last year.
