NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A new report predicts dire consequences for the future of the MTA without help from the federal government.
"If the federal government fails to provide additional assistance, the devastation to public transit in New York would be enormous," State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned Tuesday. "It would mark the end of regional public transit as we have known it."
DiNapoli said the MTA's projection of a bounce back in fare by 2023 is risky.
"We don't have a crystal ball as to where the pandemic is headed. We don't have a crystal ball as to when there will be a vaccine and what, you know, all of that will mean in terms of human behavior," he said.
Without help from the federal government, DiNapoli said the MTA faces drastic service cuts, increases in fares and tolls, unsustainable debt and staffing reductions.
DiNapoli said the MTA could be forced to borrow billions of dollars to maintain services, amassing a "suffocating" debt that could take generations to recover from.
Making the agency solvent should be a national priority, he said.
"When you peel off some of the partisan discussion, or some of the regional rivalry, I think folks understand that a key part of the nation getting back on its feet economically is the New York City-metro region getting back on its feet as well," DiNapoli said.
Even after receiving $4 billion in a coronavirus bailout package, the MTA said it will need $12 billion more from Washington to hold back a fiscal tsunami.
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