The MTA could face hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs each year to run the transit system stemming from the pause on congestion pricing, putting significant pressure on the budget of an agency already struggling under huge levels of fare evasion.
After projecting years of balanced budgets in 2023 following a post-COVID financial rescue plan, the MTA is now projecting deficits of over $400 million per year starting in 2027 — largely from what the MTA acknowledges is up to $800 million in revenue losses each year from fare evasion, plus lower-than-expected revenue from real estate taxes funding the transit system.
