Although newspaper headlines appeared to express shock, it’s been obvious at least since the January release of New York Governor George Pataki’s budget proposal that major cuts would be made in the MTA’s capital program. "MTA cuts" are also a misnomer, since the MTA in fact articulated a capital program that represented increased investment in existing subway, bus and commuter rail infrastructure, and major expansions to subway and commuter rail capacity. "Albany cuts" are the problem facing transit riders and, ultimately, the entire region.

Projects listed as "deferred" for now by the MTA staff and board are 12 subway station rehabilitations, a new LIRR yard needed to increase service along the Port Jefferson line and $27 million in basic infrastructure and parking projects in Metro-North’s system.

Expansion projects are likely to have some budgets but will not move rapidly into construction. The MTA rescinded contracts for tunneling for LIRR East Side access last week. MTA board members contacted by the NY Times "expressed doubts" about the project’s feasibility and suggested the "plan to build a subway under Second Avenue in Manhattan was even less likely to be realized."

Some official statements that the big projects’ schedules would be stretched out by just a few years past their 2012 initial service dates seem hard to credit, since most of the funding for their construction has yet to be identified. Many point to the projects’ high ratings by the Federal Transit Administration, but federal funding is a matching system that relies on states or localities to demonstrate ability to pay for a large share of project costs.

The deferral of LIRR East Side Access and Port Jefferson projects will likely also result in a smaller requirement for new trains. Scaled down LIRR rolling stock purchases can also help meet the capital budget shortfall.

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