From 2021 to 2024, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) lost more than $5 billion in unpaid tolls. In 2022 alone, the MTA lost more than $700 million to fare evasion, a number that approached $800 million in 2024. Nearly $8 billion spent on flood-resilience projects after Superstorm Sandy failed to prevent basic issues like broken flood door gaskets. In 2022, more than 300 MTA employees earned at least $100,000 in overtime, and 734 employees earned more in overtime than in regular pay. These examples of the MTA’s waste and mismanagement are far from isolated incidents.

Assemblyman Ed Ra (R–Franklin Square) introduced a bill that would require a comprehensive forensic audit and a top-down overhaul of the MTA. That bill was held by Assembly Majority lawmakers in the corporations committee today, effectively blocking the legislation from advancing to a full vote in the state Assembly.

This legislation would require the MTA to hire a certified, independent accounting firm to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit. The audit would produce a report highlighting inefficiencies, redundancies and areas ripe for reform—laying the groundwork for long-overdue accountability.

“More than 65 million people rely on the MTA. To get everyone where they’re going safely and efficiently, there has to be some level of accountability. Today, our state leaders made it clear they’d rather keep throwing money at a broken system than take a serious look at fixing it,” said Ra.

“We passed a record-breaking $254 billion budget this year, a sizeable slice of that earmarked for the MTA. They receive billions of taxpayer dollars, but where that money is going is as much my guess as yours. It’s certainly not going toward fixing the chronic mismanagement and dysfunction that plague the system. To refuse even a basic, independent audit is outrageous. Transparency shouldn’t be controversial.”