Metropolitan Transportation Authority

After years of delays, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Sunday launched the new toll on traffic entering southern Manhattan.

The $33 billion funding gap in the authority's five-year capital plan is too big, the Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker said in a rejection letter.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's finance committee approved $9 billion of bonds, some backed by new revenue sources.

A hearing for four separate federal lawsuits seeking to block the congestion pricing plan is set for Dec. 20.

The agency says it will be able to fully fund its current and upcoming capital plan, despite lowered tolls. 

Opposition from President-elect Trump and lawsuits from all sides persuaded Gov. Kathy Hochul to lift her pause on the tolling program.

The incoming administration's opposition to congestion pricing has put renewed pressure on New York's governor. 

The larger supply calendar should be "taken down well given the persistent inflows into our market and investors are still sitting on plenty of cash," said Daryl Clements, a municipal portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein.

The MTA's biggest-ever capital plan focuses mostly on upkeep for the system. But it's more than $33 billion short of funding for the five-year program.

The New York region's beleaguered transportation agency could need up to $92 billion for its next capital plan, said State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. 

New York lawmakers are helping a coalition of legal experts, transit riders, and environmental and disability advocates sue the governor for stopping congestion pricing.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's "pause" on congestion pricing puts a $16.5 billion hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan.

Even after paring down the capital plan, the MTA will need to issue debt, and sooner than planned. It will be issued under the MTA's transportation revenue credit rather than its congestion pricing credit, so near-term debt service costs will be higher, CEO Janno Lieber said.

Her abrupt suspension of the tolling plan for Lower Manhattan leaves a $15 billion hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital budget.

Moody's Ratings analysts revised the outlook to stable from negative on the expectation that states and locals will fill an $8 billion operations funding gap.

It is not clear how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would fund its capital plan if the governor puts the brakes on the toll plan for lower Manhattan.

More than two dozen issuers have announced plans to refund their BABs this year, despite objections from investors.

In a new debt profile report, the Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the MTA will be pressured if congestion pricing tolls in Manhattan are blocked.

"Numbers are hard to come by in a comprehensive way, but we do learn the state's budget is targeted at $237 billion," said John Hallacy. "This budget is clearly not a 'caretaker' budget, but one that adds significant spending. The question is how that spending will affect the out-years."

Congestion pricing proponents claim it will reduce gridlock, improve air quality in Manhattan and boost ridership on the MTA, which has never recovered its pre-pandemic ridership levels.