MTA stands for “Money Thrown Away” during the overnight shutdown of the city’s subways.
The cash-strapped agency has not saved a cent by closing the subway to passengers from 1 to 5 a.m. each night since May 6, transit officials admitted Tuesday during a budget hearing with state lawmakers.
The closures have instead cost the Metropolitan Transportation Authority even more money, in part because overnight subway trains run on the same schedules as before the closure, but only cops and transit workers are allowed to board.
“That was not done as a cost-saving effort,” said MTA chief financial officer Bob Foran. “We are still running trains to get our workforce back and forth and we are running buses to help our passengers and our customers to move.”
Gov. Cuomo ordered the subway shutdown after reporting from the Daily News revealed homeless New Yorkers were using the system for shelter during the pandemic, calling the conditions “disgusting.”
MTA officials implemented new rules to crackdown on homeless riders who refuse to leave trains when they reach end-of-line stations.
MTA officials in 2020 issued at least $371 million worth of emergency contracts to hire private contractors to disinfect transit facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of that cleaning has been done overnight while the subway is closed to the public.
The agency has also spent extra cash on what interim NYC Transit president Sarah Feinberg described Tuesday as “robust overnight bus service” to help move straphangers left stranded by the shutdown.
MTA officials said 19,000 people on average ride the agency’s buses each weeknight when the subways are closed. The subway clocked more than 200,000 trips between 1 and 5 a.m. on a typical weeknight before the pandemic.
Transit officials have also approved more money for private security guards to monitor some stations overnight and assist police in the removal of homeless riders.
MTA officials were not able to disclose how much the agency has spent on expanding late-night bus service or private security, but said they expect the extra cleaning costs to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A survey published by the agency last week found that 75% of straphangers felt the new cleaning efforts made them feel safer riding transit during the pandemic.
MTA chairman Pat Foye said the subway would not reopen overnight until Gov. Cuomo gives the green light.
“When the pandemic is over and he declares it over, we will return to a 24-hour service and a city that never sleeps,” Foye said.
