A new §553(j) of the NYS Public Authorities Law was created as part of the FY 2020 state budget revenue bill (S1509C/A2009C) to say that:
Of the capital project costs paid by this fund: eighty percent shall be capital project costs of the New York city transit authority and its subsidiary, Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority, and MTA Bus with priority given to the subway system, new signaling, new subway cars, track and car repair, accessibility, buses and bus system improvements and further investments in expanding transit availability to areas in the outer boroughs that have limited mass transit options; ten percent shall be capital project costs of the Long Island Rail Road, including but not limited to, parking facilities, rolling stock, capacity enhancements, accessibility, and expanding transit availability to areas in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District that have limited mass transit options; and ten percent shall be capital project costs of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, including but not limited to, parking facilities, rolling stock, capacity enhancements, accessibility, and expanding transit availability to areas in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District that have limited mass transit options.This is a long-winded way of saying that of the $25 billion in new debt capacity set to be generated by congestion charging, 80% is to be spent on NYC Transit and MTA Bus Company, 10% on LIRR projects, and 10% on Metro-North projects. The projects on the railroads are to have a special focus on parking, rolling stock, capacity enhancements, accessibility, and expanding transit availability to areas that have limited options.
That means that as much as $2.5 billion extra could be going towards LIRR projects in the MTA's 2020-2024 Capital Program, expected to be released this fall. Though I would include a strong caution with that to not assume any additional funding will be heading towards the railroads until the final numbers appear in print... While the state budget did stipulate how the congestion charging proceeds would have to be spent, it does not place any restrictions on what the MTA can do with all of the other money that funds the capital program. That money is fungible, so they could give the LIRR its $2.5 billion from congestion charging debt, but subtract an equal or greater share of funding from other sources, leaving us with the same or even less funding than we have had previously.
While not likely to happen, if we assume for the time being the LIRR will be getting a bonus $2.5 billion on top of its previously expected projects, then there should be some public discussion over what new projects or initiatives should be the beneficiary of that extra funding.
If you were to ask me for my two cents, that extra funding should go towards projects most supportive of an aggressive modernization of LIRR operations. While the vast majority of these are operating efficiencies (like proof of payment, standardized stopping patterns, etc.) that could be implemented for little to no cost, on the capital side, there is one big ticket project that would deliver a large bang for our congestion charging bucks:
LIRR currently has 139.5 route miles electrified, and while that is just a measly 1.5 route miles more than the prior peak in 1928, there are just a handful of stretches left electrified. While total electrification of the LIRR (all the way to Montauk and Greenport) for the sake of uniformity and fleet commonality is a worthy goal, it is reasonable to separate out the East End Rail services and focus electrification resources on the "regional rail" commuter territory. While it's always difficult to draw the line, cutting electrification at Ronkonkoma and Patchouge would be reasonable, in my eyes, provided East End Rail service is beefed up with much more frequent connecting services.
That would leave just four remaining segments unelectrified:
- Central Branch between Bethpage and Babylon (which LIRR as already said they are planning to electrify as part of the next capital program)
- Port Jefferson Branch from Huntington to Port Jefferson (which the LIRR said they are considering electrification)
- Montauk Branch from Babylon to Patchogue
- Oyster Bay Branch from East Williston to Oyster Bay
These four segments would total about 56 new route miles of electrification. The LIRR has previously quoted a high figure of $18 million per mile for electrification, but even at those likely inflated costs, electrifying all four of these segments would cost $1.008 billion...well within means now that the congestion charging revenue is in play.
Coincident with that should be a further expansion of the electric MU fleet (ideally built to the new FRA crashworthiness standards alternative compliance criteria and/or imported straight from Europe...congestion charging proceeds are locally sourced therefore the procurement would not be subject to Buy America regulations). The LIRR has a great many issues with its diesel fleet, and no real plans to address those anytime soon. Expanding electrification and replacing the diesel fleet with an expanded, lightweight MU fleet would knock off two birds with one stone and bring about a substantial improvement to service in diesel territory.
East of Ronkonkoma and Patchogue, a portion of the funding should be dedicated towards making whatever infrastructure improvements are necessary to support at least hourly shuttle service all day between Ronkonkoma and Greenport and Patchogue and Montauk (e.g. signalization on the North Fork, additional interlocked switches at Center Moriches, East Hampton, Amagansett, Riverhead, and Greenport), new stations on the East End, and a new fleet of DMU equipment (also more viable now with the new FRA standards) to serve these runs. Roughly 10% of Long Island's population lives in the five East End towns on Long Island, so it's important they don't get shortchanged... The existing diesel fleet can be transitioned to serve as a reserve fleet, for use on direct trains to the East End on summer weekends, or during emergencies that interrupt third rail power (like following Hurricane Sandy on the Long Beach Branch). The existing equipment could likely last for many more years on a limited service like that.
The balance of the funding available should be dedicated to projects that will relieve capacity bottlenecks, like constructing flyover junctions in certain locations, like Queens Village, so trains going on different routes don't need to cross in front of each other.
On Metro-North, there are just two east of Hudson segments that are still electrified: Croton-Harmon to Poughkeepsie (42 miles) and Southeast to Wassaic (29 miles). An additional portion of the money should be dedicated to whatever infrastructure improvements are needed to support at least hourly service all day on the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines (e.g. additional passing sidings).
The ultimate contents of the next capital program are, unfortunately, still a great mystery. While it may be likely this extra funding just gets gobbled up by the Main Line Grade Crossing Elimination project or East Side Access, it's important to focus any available funding on projects that complement (and are not antithetical to) a genuine LIRR modernization program. But for now, we have to just wait and see what makes the cut, and what doesn't...
