Mayor Bloomberg addressed New York transit construction needs last week, asking Governor Pataki to devote more to projects in NYC.

The mayor said he was "deeply disappointed by the failure of the Governor’s proposed budget to adequately support the MTA’s capital needs." He said, "Maintaining and improving our mass transit system is...critical to the long-term economic health of our city and state," and labeled Governor Pataki’s budget plan for transit "well short of what is needed simply to keep the existing system operating efficiently."

Mayor Bloomberg also described Second Avenue Subway and LIRR East Side Access system expansion projects as "critical to the long-term health of our city and state" but said the governor’s funding plan puts both projects in jeopardy. He said that "the one and only major new transit project that is included in the governor’s budget is the one that New York City alone is paying for:  The $2 billion extension of the Number ‘7’ line.  This is just one more example of the City bearing the costs of the State’s inaction."

He urged the state to do more, noting that New York City residents pay more than their fair share for transit and that the city would continue to fund the operation of the franchise bus lines the MTA is in the process of taking over. Bloomberg defended NYC’s transit contributions, saying "We are, in fact, the only local government in the MTA’s service area that has contributed capital monies to the rebuilding of the system over the last two decades."

At hearings on Governor Pataki’s proposed budget, MTA executive director Kathryn Lapp told lawmakers that Pataki's proposal leaves the MTA $2.5 billion short on what it is seeking for upkeep of its system. She said the cash-strapped agency will likely have to forgo buying new buses and rail cars and postpone improvements to its stations: "You're going to have 45 to 50-year-old subway cars, commuter rail cars," said Lapp, according to NY1.com.

According to news reports, she also identified plans to install electronic signs at stations that tell riders when the next train will arrive as a likely casualty of underfunding. 

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