FTA awards $886.3 million to MTA to repair damage by Superstorm Sandy

According to governor Andrew Cuomo, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded $886.3 million to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to repair and rebuild infrastructure that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy and protect and fortify it against future storms. The funding will help state government continue to re-imagine New York's vital infrastructure for the new realities of extreme weather. The grant builds on an initial allotment of $193.9 million by the FTA in March 2013. The MTA has spent almost $180 million so far on capital projects to rebuild and strengthen infrastructure damaged by Superstorm Sandy, and committed more than $750 million for specific Sandy recovery and resiliency projects, many of which are funded at least in part by the grant. "With this funding, we are furthering our efforts to re-imagine New York's most vital infrastructure to meet the needs of extreme weather," Cuomo said. "This grant is critical to the continued health and viability of the New York metropolitan region's $1.4 trillion economy. I am thankful for the support of the federal government in this endeavor, and know that it will go a long way to helping us build a stronger and more resilient New York." "There are many challenges a transit system faces in the months and years after suffering the types of severe impacts we did during Sandy," MTA Chairman Thomas F. Prendergast said. "The work of rebuilding carries on behind the scenes long after the storm has left the public consciousness. At the same time that we are rebuilding an entire subway tunnel, we are fighting back against latent failures - unseen failures brought on by the storm that are waiting to happen - and reduced lifespan of components system wide. This funding is essential in helping us to address those needs and to allow us to continue to provide service at the same time that we build back stronger than we were before the storm." The majority of the funding to the MTA is going to MTA New York City Transit, which was dealt the most crippling blows by the storm surge and whose riders are still experiencing a lingering long-term service disruption as crews work to rebuild infrastructure with ongoing service disruptions on the R Line and weekend disruptions on the G Line. The specific allocations for each MTA agency from the newly announced award are as follows: * $615.6 million - MTA New York City Transit; * $145.7 million - MTA Long Island Rail Road; * $103.5 million - MTA Metro-North Railroad; * $21.4 million - MTA Capital Construction.