According to letters sent from New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to 11 of its largest suppliers, without an infusion of $12 billion in cash from the federal government, all current and future contracts are in jeopardy.
MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye said MTA has created as many as 100,000 jobs across nearly all 50 states and has generated nearly $50 billion in infrastructure spending nationwide.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a horrific toll in human, social, and economic terms across the nation,” Foye said. “I am writing to alert you that because of this financial devastation, many current and all future contracts are in jeopardy without an injection of $12 billion in emergency federal aid. Let me be clear: federal funding for mass transit isn’t a red or blue issue – it’s a jobs issue. Our future – and the fate of approximately 100,000 MTA-created out-of-state jobs – rests squarely in the hands of the Senate and White House.”
With talks about another stimulus package stalled on Capitol Hill, Foye sent the letter to the suppliers to illustrate the potential impact a lack of federal aid would have on economies outside of New York.
Those vendors included Alstrom Transportation, Inc., that has received more than $2.2 billion in direct spending from MTA capital plans since 2011, resulting in 28,000 jobs in California, Illinois, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, and Delaware; Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., which has received more than $15 billion from MTA capital investments since 2011, resulting in 189,000 jobs in New York and Nebraska; and Transcore, which has received more than $625 million from MTA capital spending since 2011, resulting in 8,000 jobs in Texas, Virginia, and Massachusetts.
Without federal funding, MTA said it would be necessary to take drastic action, including service cuts of up to 40 percent on subways and up to 50 percent on railroads and laying off more than 8,000 workers and raising fares.