MTA Could Save $2.5 Billion a Year Through Suite of Reforms, Fiscal Watchdog Report Finds

The Citizens Budget Commission released a report Monday concluding that the MTA could save $2.5 billion per year by implementing a range of operational reforms — more than enough to cover the authority's out-year deficits, which the MTA itself projects will reach $897 million by 2030. The watchdog attributed those deficits to spending growing faster than fare revenue, which rises with biannual fare hikes.

The largest savings category — roughly $971 million annually — would come from improving subway maintenance productivity and boosting city bus speeds by 15%, among other measures. The MTA has already secured $576 million in annual efficiencies and has plans to save another $174 million by 2029.

Expanding One Person Train Control (OPTO), in which a single operator runs a train without a conductor, could save $238 million a year on its own. OPTO currently operates only on the subway's lowest-ridership lines. The commission also recommended raising health-insurance premium contributions from unionized employees and requiring retirees — who currently pay nothing toward their premiums — to begin contributing.

Most changes would require agreement from TWU Local 100, which represents 40,000 MTA workers. John Samuelsen, president of TWU International — Local 100's parent union — flatly rejected OPTO expansion, arguing no technology could safely guide passengers through emergencies like the 2022 Brooklyn N train shooting. State legislation backed by Local 100 that would block the MTA from expanding OPTO is currently sitting on Governor Kathy Hochul's desk; she vetoed a similar bill last year.