MTA's $68.4B capital plan should deliver 9,160 jobs to Hudson Valley. Who will get them?

MTA’s $68.4B capital plan should deliver 9,160 jobs to Hudson Valley. Who will get them?

Posted by author January 24, 2025 Jobs

MTA’s .4B capital plan should deliver 9,160 jobs to Hudson Valley. Who will get them?

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The MTA’s proposed $68.4 billion capital plan will generate 9,100 jobs and more than $6.1 billion in economic activity in the Hudson Valley, according to a report commissioned by the Partnership for New York City that was released Thursday, Jan. 23.

The jobs will be mostly in construction and maintenance to support the transportation agency’s rolling stock of subway and rail cars on Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Rail Road and New York City subway system.

The Hudson Valley came in third behind New York City and Long Island in jobs and economic activity expected to be generated by the five-year capital plan for 2025 through 2029, the largest in MTA’s history.

Statewide, the plan is expected to generate $106 billion in economic activity and more than 70,000 jobs. Roughly 18,000 jobs and $15 billion in economic activity would be generated outside New York City, the report notes.

It breaks down like this: 200 jobs and $120 million in economic activity in Western New York; 140 jobs and $80 million in economic activity in the Finger Lakes; 90 jobs and $50 million in economic activity in the North Country; 100 jobs and $60 million in economic activity each for Central New York and the Southern Tier.

Some $1.7 billion of the $6 billion pegged for Metro-North in the capital plan will go to replace decades-old railcars, including 150 on Metro-North’s Harlem and Hudson lines.

Push to build railcars in New York

MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber has pushed for New York to become a railcar manufacturing hub to guarantee an uninterrupted supply for an agency that buys half the railcars used in the U.S.

“It’s no secret the MTA is the economic engine of the region, and this report confirms once again that investing in transit is a smart play for all New Yorkers,” Lieber said.

The report’s release comes as state lawmakers returning to Albany are being asked to bankroll billions of dollars in upgrades the MTA says are needed to keep the transit system in a state of good repair.

In the coming weeks, the MTA’s spending plan is likely to be a heated topic of discussion during budget negotiations between the Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul. In her State of the State address, Hochul renewed her support for public transportation, highlighting several measures to reduce delays and speed travel on Metro-North and Amtrak in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Hochul became an outspoken supporter of the MTA’s congestion pricing plan, after concerns that a $15 toll was too high led her to pause the tolling plan’s rollout in June. She pivoted to support the plan in November after the initial toll for most passenger vehicles to enter Manhattan at 60^th Street and below was reduced to $9.

Preventing flooding on Hudson Line

Included in the MTA’s capital plan wish-list are upgrades to a 20-mile stretch of the Hudson Line between Spuyten Duyvil and Croton Harmon that flooded when Hurricane Ida swept through the region in 2021. Culverts and retaining walls will need to be replaced and repaired and tracks need to be elevated, the MTA says.

The report was released Thursday at the annual meeting of the New York Building Congress attended by union leaders and the construction industry.

“When we invest in transit, we’re not just boosting ridership; we’re fueling engineering, architecture, construction, and professional services—ensuring our region stays competitive, modern, and ready for the future,” said Carlo A. Scissura, who heads the New York Building Congress.

Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.