The MTA received unprecedented federal funding in the wake of COVID. 

“The Biden administration has probably been the most pro-mass transit administration of my lifetime, potentially in American history literally,” Tom Wright, president and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, said. “With the funds for mass transit as part of COVID relief to make sure that our transit agencies survived.”

What You Need To Know

  • Between 2017 and 2020, the MTA saw only $76.9 million in federal grants versus nearly $4 billion under President Joe Biden

  • The infrastructure bill provided historic funding and there will be less money no matter who is president

  • There is uncertainty whether former President Donald Trump, who said he’d cancel congestion pricing, could do it after it’s implemented, eliminating $15 billion for the MTA 

And then there was the Infrastructure and Jobs Act. But the election could have consequences for the MTA according to Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman.

"I think it’s very clear that if Donald Trump wins, the money will not flow to New York,” Goldman said at an unrelated MTA press conference last week.

In speeches and on social media posts, former President Donald Trump has indicated he will terminate congestion pricing. But it’s unclear if he can do it if it’s implemented before he was to take office. 

“There is a reasonable chance that the authorizations that would otherwise allow congestion pricing to go forward could be suspended by the department of transportation,” Ken Girardin, director of research at the Empire Center for Public Policy, said. “We’re really in uncharted territory here.”

But there are still concerns about how much will go to New York of money already approved.

“And there is a question like on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, whether the un-allocated money will be pulled back,” Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commissioner, said. “So, it’s not money we’ve gotten already, but what happens in the future? What happens if congestion pricing is not implemented in time?"

NY1 reached out to Goldman’s Republican opponent Alex Dodenhoff for comment and hasn’t heard back.

Experts generally agree with Goldman’s assessment. However, some believe that it has more to do with money and Congress.

“Interest on the national debt is crowding out more and more of the federal budget,” Girardin said. “And one of the places that’s going to have to be looked at is this sort of political pork that’s been flowing to, among many, many other projects, mass transit systems.”

Others counter that won’t be an issue.

“Recent history has not shown that either party has had much stomach for fiscal discipline at the federal level,” Rein said.

And then there’s $14 billion expected from the feds in the MTA’s next capital plan. 

“Some of that comes out of formulas and other things,” Wright said. “And presumably could not be changed by a president or by a Congress easily.”

As for a Harris administration, even with a divided Congress, experts say there are always deals to be made, and with two congressional leaders from New York City, the chances are some money will come to the MTA.