Taken for a Ride

American taxpayers are about to be taken for a ride by New York’s fiscally reckless Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Democrats’ recapture of Congress raises the chances of a federal bailout of the deficit-plagued transit agency, which is bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars a year because of a refusal to enforce the law on fare evasion. Under Governor Kathy Hochul’s mismanagement, too, wasteful labor costs are unchecked. The MTA’s chairman, Janno Lieber, is already crowing about the likely taxpayer-funded cash influx from Congress. Despite the MTA having received an eye-watering $15 billion in Covid-era federal stimulus and relief funds, Mr. Lieber gripes that the agency has been the victim of a “historical short-changing” from Uncle Samuel. Yet why should taxpayers in states like, say, Montana, Florida, or California be on the hook to cover the MTA’s costs?“Obviously, having a Democratic Congress led by two New Yorkers and with the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee led by Kirsten Gillibrand, we are hopeful that we can do much, much better,” Mr. Lieber told WNYC. Gothamist reports that, with the Democrats running Congress, “more federal funding for public transportation projects is on the horizon.” That means tapping taxpayers for tens of billions of dollars in MTA spending.“I think we have more confidence that the existing projects will be funded, and we would like to now start pursuing money for new big projects,” Mr. Lieber asserts. Yet such largesse from Washington would in effect reward the MTA’s irresponsibility. Despite a recovery in ridership levels, and soaring fares, the agency is on track for a $295 million deficit next year, the New York Post reports. By 2030, the agency is looking at a budget gap of $900 million.No wonder Mr. Lieber is so eager for a bailout from the taxpayers. Even the MTA’s own finance committee chairman, Neal Zuckerman, concedes that the agency lacks “a good business model.” Yet what of the congestion tolls that extorted millions from metro-area drivers to cover the MTA’s losses? Even that infusion of cash, $700 million last year, was insufficient to stanch the losses caused by the agency’s exorbitant spending. Rather than asking taxpayers for more spondulix, the MTA could consider addressing the plague of fare evasion that in 2024 led to $568 million in lost revenues. No doubt that the agency’s hands are tied, to a degree, by the hostility of Attorney General Letitia James to policing turnstile jumpers. In 2020, she in effect accused the NYPD of racial bias in policing fare evasion, driving to a halt enforcement. Prosecutors turn a blind eye to the illegality.Putting the MTA’s fiscal house in order ought to precede any taxpayer assistance. New York’s nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, the Citizens Budget Commission, reports that the MTA could save $2.5 billion a year by raising productivity and reforming outmoded practices. These include dropping redundant conductors on subways and modernizing fare collection on commuter trains. Those alone, per the commission, would save $600 million a year. The MTA’s expectation of a blank check from taxpayers could prove, for many midterm voters, one of the unintended consequences of ushering in Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill. For now, President Trump is vowing to wield his veto pen to shield taxpayers from the excesses of the Schumer-Jeffries agenda. Yet the profligacy of transit agencies like the MTA could well emerge as a point of contention on the hustings in 2028.

Taken for a Ride

Taken for a Ride

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