New York City’s FY26 enacted budget includes investments in public transit

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed the state’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 enacted budget that includes investments in New York City’s public transportation system, statewide transit and state and local roads and bridges.

“No matter how they choose to travel, New Yorkers deserve a transportation network they can trust,” said Gov. Hochul. “The investments we are making in all modes of transportation today will put New York on a path to a stronger, more resilient future.”

Fully funding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) capital plan

The FY26 enacted budget includes the biggest capital investment in New York’s transportation history by fully funding the MTA’s $68.4 billion 2025-29 Capital Plan.

The investment will enable the MTA to:

Start construction of the new Interborough Express — a new rapid transit service between Brooklyn and Queens.
Rehabilitate the Grand Central Artery — a four-mile stretch that carries 98 percent of all Metro-North Railroad service.
Purchase thousands of new subway and rail cars.
Modernize signals to provide faster, more frequent and more reliable service.
Upgrade maintenance facilities.
Renew electric power systems to enhance reliability.
Repair structurally deficient bridges and tunnels.
Deliver full ADA-accessibility improvements at more than 65 subway and railroad stations.
Make safety enhancements at stations and across infrastructure systems.
Install modern fare gates at more than 150 stations to prevent fare evasion.
Grow its zero-emissions bus fleet to stay on track for a fully electric fleet by 2040.
Increase resiliency against flooding and protect the Hudson Line against severe weather.

MTA notes the budget also reallocates up to $1.2 billion from the Penn Station redevelopment project to be put towards priority capital projects such as the Interborough Express, safety initiatives and efforts to reduce fare evasion. As part of the capital plan, $6 billion will be allocated to Metro-North Railroad, including:

Rolling stock: Completing the replacement of 40-year-old railcars with new, fully accessible M9A trains for use on the Harlem and Hudson Lines.
Station platforms and components: Replacing and rehabilitating deteriorating station platforms and other major station components.
Climate and weather protection: Coordinating investments at the most vulnerable locations – including bridges, culverts, retaining walls and shoreline structures – to reduce service disruptions and equipment damage caused by extreme weather.

Additionally, the MTA’s capital plan will spend $6 billion on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which would include:

Rolling stock: Purchasing new railcars to allow MTA to retire 1980s-era M3 cars and provide for more reliable new dual-mode locomotives.
Power system improvements: Replacing or renewing 16 substations, making the system more reliable.
Accessibility: Achieving 98 percent accessibility by making four more stations accessible, including Bellerose, Douglaston and Cold Spring Harbor.

The MTA capital plan includes $800 million to advance regional investments that help create additional capacity, connect with underserved communities and respond to changing populations and land-use patterns.

The funding plan includes a mix of local, state, federal and MTA sources as well as new payroll mobility tax (PMT) revenues from the region’s largest businesses. In addition to providing $8 billion in total operating aid for the MTA, the budget will provide a $3 billion state capital appropriation to support the MTA capital plan. The modest change to the PMT will cause the largest businesses in the region, with payrolls of $10 million or more, to pay less than one percent more in PMT.

The budget also requires the city of New York to provide $3 billion toward the MTA capital plan and requires the MTA to find $3 billion in efficiencies.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “The governor and legislature have been great supporters of MTA riders and understand the importance of mass transit to New York’s economy. An extraordinary effort went into identifying what needs to be done to maintain the $1.5 trillion asset that is our region’s transportation network. The women and men of the MTA look forward to getting to work on important capital projects that deliver on the governor’s vision and ensure that New Yorkers keep moving for decades to come.”

Modernize Hudson Valley rail service

The budget includes a $25 million investment to plan, evaluate and design a set of Hudson Valley rail capital improvements between New York City and Poughkeepsie that will:

Increase capacity
Reduce delays
Cut potential travel times by up to 15 minutes each way for certain trips
Shorten super-express Metro-North Hudson Line trips to less than 90 minutes

The improvements will include projects such as a second track at Spuyten Duyvil, interlocking, signaling and trackwork at Croton Harmon and capacity improvements at Poughkeepsie Yard. In addition, the MTA will execute a signaling redesign near Yonkers and climate resilience investments in the most vulnerable and highest ridership segments of the Hudson Line.

To further enhance transit options west of the Hudson River, the state is committing $1 million to perform a transit analysis of opportunities to expand and maximize the impact of rail service and improve commuter transit to New York City, as well as key regional destinations.

Investing In additional transit

The FY26 Enacted budget includes the following investments in transit:

$349 million — a $16 million increase — for Upstate transit systems and $589 million — a $37 million increase — for Downstate transit systems.
$220 million in capital funding to support non-MTA transit systems.
$26 million in capital appropriation to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority for infrastructure and resiliency improvements.