US threatens to withhold funds over New York subway worker safety issues

By David Shepardson

Aug 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday it may withhold up to 25% of federal transit funding for New York state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority if the agency does not improve safety for subway track maintenance workers.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a directive in August 2024 to the MTA's New York City Transit, which oversees the city's subway and bus system, after the agency did not improve safety measures between the November 2023 death of a track maintenance employee and a serious injury to an employee in June 2024, the FTA said.

The MTA must submit a new comprehensive risk assessment of its Rail Transit Roadway Worker Protection within 30 days, the Transportation Department said.

"Let me be very clear: We will not accept being jerked around on safety and security issues any longer," FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro said in a statement.

The MTA said on Tuesday it had answered the rail safety questions months ago. It suggested the move was another in a "pattern of threatening letters and punitive actions by USDOT following New York’s successful implementation of the first in nation Congestion Pricing program."

The congestion pricing program introduced early this year, following approval by the Biden administration, imposes a toll on vehicles traveling in Manhattan south of 60th Street. It is designed to reduce traffic and raise billions in funds for mass transit, mainly to upgrade New York City's subway and bus systems.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy earlier this year threatened to withhold federal government approvals for other projects and potentially billions in funding if the MTA did not end the congestion pricing program.

The Transport Workers Union, which represents New York transit workers, praised the FTA action, saying the federal agency last year had found that the MTA's first safety assessment was inadequate.

“Workers and all New Yorkers deserve a safe subway system and an MTA that actually cares about near misses instead of ignoring bipartisan safety concerns raised by federal officials across two different administrations,” TWU President John Samuelsen said in a statement.

An FTA audit last year identified significant safety deficiencies and directed the agency to perform additional oversight activities to address an escalating pattern of safety incidents and concerns affecting New York City transit workers.

The agency experienced 38 potential employee near misses in 2023, a 58% increase over 2022.

The Trump administration has also threatened to withhold MTA funding over subway crime.