The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) two commuter railroads are starting a pilot test this month of a railcar air filtration and purification system from Knorr Brake Co. and its subsidiary Merak North America LLC.
New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye sent warning letters to MTA’s 11 largest suppliers on Sept. 17. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a horrific toll in human, social and economic terms across the nation,” he noted in the letters. “I am writing to alert you that because of this financial devastation, many current and all future contracts are in jeopardy without an injection of $12 billion in emergency federal aid.”
Starting Monday, Sept. 14, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will issue a $50 fine to any rider who refuses to wear a mask on New York City subways and buses, Metro-North Railroad (MNR), and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). This follows New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive order on Thursday, Sept. 10, directing the MTA to develop a plan to increase mask compliance.
Fitch Ratings has assigned a rating of “A+” to approximately $600 million of Transportation Revenue Bonds (TRB) Series 2020D (Mandatory Tender Bonds) and a rating of “F1” to $500 million of transportation revenue Series 2020B Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) to be issued by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The bonds and BANs will be sold via negotiation; the sale date and principal amount are both subject to market conditions. Proceeds will finance existing approved transit and commuter projects. Fitch has affirmed at “A+” approximately $24.4 billion of outstanding TRBs. The Rating Outlook is Negative.
Sally Librera, the first woman appointed MTA New York City Transit Senior Vice President Subways, has resigned, effective July 24.
According to a report in THE CITY, the New York MTA is expected to announce that a 60-day hold on capital projects announced in March will remain in place while the transit agency tries to secure another $3.9 billion in emergency federal funding.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has expanded its partnership with Northwell Health-GoHealth and BioReference Laboratories to provide antibody testing for all MTA employees throughout the New York metropolitan region at no cost.
New York has long been known as the “City That Never Sleeps,” partly because its subway system has, with very few exceptions (Superstorm Sandy and 9/11 among them) continuously operated 24/7 since it opened in 1904. That will soon change, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced that the system—plagued with homeless people who have turned it into a trash-strewn shelter—will shut down for four hours, between 1:00 and 5:00 a.m., every night, beginning in the early hours of Wednesday, May 6, for cleaning. As well, the MTA has instituted new rules implemented new rules to restrict those who have been camping on the system.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on April 20 announced that the number of employees who have returned to work following mandatory quarantines is now higher than those still out on quarantine. System-wide, 5,033 employees have returned to work, compared with 4,112 employees currently out on quarantine.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Transport Workers Union of America have reached an agreement establishing a $500,000 COVID-19 death benefit for TWU members who died after being infected with the virus. Under the agreement, the MTA will pay the $500,000 in a lump sum to the spouse, beneficiary or estate of each deceased member who was in active service on or after Feb. 1, 2020. The TWU agreement extends the COVID-19 death benefit to members of four TWU Locals: Local 100, Local 106, Local 2001 and Local 2055.
