Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber appeared on NY1 Mornings On 1 w/ Pat Kiernan and discussed the MTA’s operating budget and other transit-related topics.

A transcript of the interview appears below.

Pat Kiernan: One of the biggest issues on Governor Hochul’s budget agenda yesterday was how the state will provide a financial lifeline to the MTA and what that should look like. It has been a hot button issue for months as the MTA continues to have a budget shortfall, caused in part, by the lower ridership during the pandemic. That trend remains today.  Hochul’s plan for shoring up the MTA includes an additional $800 million a year by hiking the payroll mobility tax, an additional $500 million each year from the city, there would be a one-time $300 million dollar infusion from the state. She also wants the MTA to find more than $400 million in operating efficiencies.  She wants them to cut costs and she wants to get the MTA to get some of the revenue from the sale of the three new casino licenses in future casino taxes from those programs. Listening intently to the governor's address yesterday was MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. He is with me now from Midtown, thank you for joining us this morning.

Janno Lieber: Good to be with you.

Kiernan: The funding is something that is always in the back of your mind. It is critical as you decide what the service levels should be. What did you take from the Governor's announcement yesterday?

Lieber: I was thrilled with the governor’s announcement and here's why. The basic reality is service has been great but we don't want to cut service to the working class and middle class people, who are coming to work and using the system, and a lot of them are because of work- from-home, because, you know, because of white collar workers, many of them quite affluent and in Manhattan, are coming to work two or three days a week instead of five days a week. So with the governor's proposing is to solve that MTA budget problem in a balanced way. She's asking the MTA to save $400 million through efficiencies using technology especially; the city to give some money: bus passes, that the MTA ends up paying, we'd like a little more from the city and some other things. The state would contribute through the payroll tax $800 million. And here's an important point: I know you get this Pat, the employers need us to be operating at full board, five days a week, but they're letting employees come in two or three days a week. That's why it makes sense for a little of this financial rescue to come from the business taxes, the payroll tax.  So it’s a very balanced plan and I’m actually thrilled about it.

Kiernan: We talked about this before with the fact that we don't have the traditional five day weekday rush, and then the two days of weekend service patterns. It's all changed so much. What have you been able to do and what do you want to do in terms of recalibrating service levels, so that it reflects the fact that there are just not as many people commuting on Fridays, especially on that traditional Manhattan commute?

Lieber: You're absolutely right. You know, we've become a little like France with, in some ways a four-day work week. But what I say is, it's not so terrible when you get on the Lex Line, like the station behind me, you're not crushed in like sardines at 8:00 a.m. every day.  So we just need a new funding model and that's what the governor is proposing. We want frequent service, we want reliable service, you're getting that. The subways had the best on-time performance in January since 2013.  So we want to keep high level of service. We just need a new financial model. And again, that's what the governor's balanced plan is producing for us.

Kiernan: The governor did say that she wants to see some operating efficiencies.  Every agency head gets a statement like that in terms of the budget.  You know, I’ve already cut and cut and cut.  Where am I going to cut this time? What have you identified as opportunities to find some of those efficiencies?

Lieber: You know, Pat, 80% of the MTA budget goes to wages for our train operators and bus operators and conductors, and the benefits and so on. But we do think there are opportunities to cut, especially using technology, like buses. If we didn't just bring them in every few weeks to be checked over, but use technology to identify when individual components or parts are going to fail, we would have a more efficient maintenance operation. So that's the approach we're taking – using technology and modern analysis and data – to plan our maintenance and other operations more effectively, and doing it to save money, and to do all that savings without cutting service. That's the most important part.

Kiernan: Final question Janno, slightly off topic, but we had the President here to announce this federal funding that kicks off a portion of the Gateway project. As part of that, we were also having a conversation about Metro-North service into Penn Station and the fact that Amtrak is such a linchpin in getting both of these projects going. How is that going to play out? Will there be greater cooperation between these agencies now that the President has said it's a priority for him?

Lieber: We're in the golden age of infrastructure. The President is a passionate supporter of mass transit and infrastructure investment.  We got the Biden infrastructure plan. Chuck Schumer, who is the guardian angel of the MTA in Washington, is coming through. We have to make it work. What we're saying is, we are getting better at running mega projects, again and again;  train project $100 million under budget, Third Track $100 million under budget. We need partners who control our ability to get projects done, on time and on budget.  We need our partners to do their part.  We're going to work with Amtrak to make sure they're moving forward in that respect.

Kiernan: MTA Chair Janno Lieber, thanks for spending some time with us this morning.

Lieber:  You bet Pat.  Thank you.

Kiernan: Thank you.