Courtesy: MTA’s X Account
By MOHAMED FARGHALY
mfarghaly@queensledger.com
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is undergoing a transformative shift in 2025 with a series of ambitious upgrades, safety initiatives, and infrastructure enhancements. Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration has laid out a comprehensive vision to modernize the city’s transit system, addressing key concerns like crime, fare evasion, and accessibility, while also leveraging new funding sources, including the controversial congestion pricing program.
As part of a phased safety plan announced during her State of the State address, Governor Hochul revealed that the NYPD has deployed dozens of additional officers across the MTA overnight, with the goal of providing heightened security for riders. This follows a growing push to ensure the safety of subway commuters, with plans to station two officers aboard every overnight subway train, as well as ramp up patrols across the city’s vast 472 subway stations and 665 miles of track.
The MTA’s updated security strategy also includes installing “more barriers” in at least 100 stations and bright LED lighting in every station by the end of 2025. Additionally, the MTA is set to introduce new platform edge barriers designed to prevent falls and reduce incidents of criminal pushes onto the tracks. These measures will be prioritized at stations with high ridership and high rates of crime.
Courtesy Governor Kathy Hochul
Along with increased police presence, the state’s new $77 million initiative will place 750 more officers on platforms and in stations and deploy an additional 300 officers to patrol the overnight subway system. Hochul emphasized the need for a focused approach, noting that most crimes occur during the late-night hours between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., when fewer passengers are on the trains.
To tackle the widespread issue of fare evasion, which costs the MTA an estimated $700 million annually, Hochul has ordered the installation of modern fare gates with spiked barriers aimed at preventing riders from hopping over turnstiles without paying. These new gates, which were rolled out at the Lexington Avenue-59th Street station in Manhattan in late January, are designed with metal panels and pointed spikes to deter fare evaders.
Beyond safety and fare collection, the MTA is advancing a series of major infrastructure projects that will shape the future of the city’s public transit. Chief among them is the Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 extension, which will extend the line to East Harlem. Additionally, the MTA plans to modernize signal systems on key subway lines like the A/C and B/D/F/M trains, benefiting over 1.5 million daily riders. Over the next few years, the authority also aims to make improvements at more than 20 stations to enhance accessibility for riders with disabilities, while introducing hundreds of new electric buses to further reduce the city’s carbon footprint.
These projects are being funded in part by the state’s new congestion pricing program, which charges drivers $9 during peak hours to enter Manhattan’s busiest areas. The initiative, which began on January 5, is expected to reduce traffic and generate $15 billion in transportation funding, which will go toward mass transit projects across the city. Governor Hochul has also promised that congestion pricing will lead to reduced traffic congestion, with at least a 5% decrease in vehicle miles traveled and a 10% drop in the number of vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district.
In line with the goals of congestion pricing, Hochul is advocating for the MTA’s proposed 2025-2029 capital plan, which includes a wide range of initiatives aimed at modernizing the city’s subway and bus systems. This plan calls for new railcars, rehabilitation of stations, improved accessibility, and the installation of new fare gates, all while expanding the transit network. The funding for these projects will be derived from a mix of federal, state, city, and MTA contributions, with the goal of maintaining a “state of good repair” and enhancing the transit experience for millions of riders.
Another major overhaul is the ongoing Queens Bus Network Redesign, a project aimed at improving bus service across the borough. After five years of planning and public outreach, the MTA is preparing to implement a new bus network that will reduce travel times, improve reliability, and simplify service. The redesign also includes new bus priority projects on high-traffic corridors that will prioritize buses, enabling faster travel times and improving service quality.
These changes are just the beginning of what promises to be a decade of transformation for New York’s transit system.
