Portrait of Kathy Hochul
Politician · organisation
Wikipedia (opens in new tab)

Kathy Hochul on MTA

Strong transit investor (strong)

TL;DR

Governor Hochul strongly supports the MTA through record capital investments and leveraging congestion pricing for system modernization and improvements.

Key Points

  • Announced the MTA made a record $15.8 billion in capital commitments in 2025, the largest single-year investment in its history.

  • Leveraged congestion pricing revenue to advance key projects, including signal modernization on the A and C lines and accessibility upgrades at several stations.

  • Highlighted strong 2025 performance metrics, noting that subway on-time performance reached 83.7 percent for weekdays and overall system ridership neared 1.9 billion trips.

Summary

Governor Kathy Hochul takes a strongly supportive stance on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), consistently highlighting record investments and improvements to performance and ridership across its services. She champions the use of revenue from congestion pricing to fund major capital projects, such as modernizing subway signals on key lines and advancing accessibility upgrades at numerous stations. Her administration emphasizes that these investments directly correlate with improved service reliability, faster travel times, and increased customer satisfaction and ridership figures, positioning the MTA as the region's essential economic lifeblood.

This focus on infrastructure enhancement is a central theme of her tenure, which includes advancing major expansion projects like the Interborough Express and ensuring the system moves toward a state of good repair. She has also taken a firm public position in defending congestion pricing against external challenges, framing it as the vital funding mechanism that unlocks these generational upgrades for the vast network. The narrative consistently links her leadership and funding priorities to achieving performance milestones, such as record on-time performance and rising ridership figures.

Key Quotes

“The safety of New Yorkers is my top priority,”

“The subway is the lifeblood of New York City, and thanks to our investments in safety and reliability, ridership continues to come roaring back,”

“This is what happens when you invest in mass transit: better service, faster trips and increasing ridership, benefitting the entire region,”

Frequently Asked Questions

Kathy Hochul holds a strongly positive and supportive position regarding the MTA, viewing it as the lifeblood of the New York region. She consistently advocates for and secures substantial funding for capital improvements, modernization, and performance enhancements across the subway, bus, and commuter rail systems.

The Governor emphasizes that major MTA improvements are being funded significantly by revenue generated from the Congestion Relief Zone program. This revenue stream is being directed toward projects like signal modernization, rolling stock upgrades, and accessibility enhancements outlined in the agency's Capital Plan.

Yes, she has publicly focused on subway safety, highlighting measures such as investments in new subway cars, upgraded signals, and collaboration with city partners on campaigns to combat dangerous behaviors like subway surfing. She frames these efforts as essential to supporting the return of ridership.