Despite funding questions, MTA rolls on with the IBX
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While funding concerns remain, the MTA is moving ahead with the ambitious Interborough Express. Rendering via the MTA
By Ryan Schwach
While funding for the ambitious Interborough Borough Express is still in limbo, the MTA is going full throttle on the proposed Brooklyn-Queens connector.
On Thursday, the MTA began another round of public meetings to garner more feedback on the IBX – a 14-mile light-rail that would run from Western Queens to Southern Brooklyn – as the agency looks to get started on the next phase of the project in the spring.
But funding for the ambitious rail line is still very much in question as the MTA’s proposed 2025-2029 capital plan, which funds a major portion of the project’s expected cost, is still without approval. There’s also questions coming from Washington D.C., where the Trump administration continues to threaten both federal funding for transit projects in New York City and congestion pricing, which promises to fund the MTA to the tune of over $15 billion over the coming years.
The capital plan the MTA rolled out last year, but which has yet to be approved by lawmakers, proposed a $68 billion budget for the agency, including covering $2.75 billion of the IBX’s estimated $5.5 billion price tag.
But some money from the project has begun to roll in. On Thursday, the MTA celebrated the $52 million it was allocated in last year’s state budget for the IBX, and an additional $15 million from a federal grant. The funds are going to be used for the preliminary engineering phase of the light rail, according to Charlie Ganz, a project manager for the IBX.
However, future funding of the IBX, which would run from Jackson Heights to Red Hook in Brooklyn on an existing rail line used sparingly to run freight through the city, remains up in the air.
Around $33 billion of the MTA’s capital plan has yet to be given an identifiable funding source, and Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget announced in January does not include any means to fill those holes. Lawmakers in Albany have similarly failed to figure out how to fill the funding gap.
The MTA said it hopes to find out with the upcoming state budget, which is due on April 1, whether or not the project will be funded in the capital program. During a presentation on Thursday, Ganz said they were “hopeful” it would get funded.
Additionally, the MTA is depending on billions of dollars of revenue from the city’s congestion pricing program – though the funds aren’t earmarked specifically for the IBX. President Donald Trump and his Department of Transportation have called for the tolling to end, but Hochul and the MTA have stood firm and denied that the cameras would turn off.
But, if the Trump Administration is able to cancel congestion pricing – which they may need a court order to do – the entirety of the capital plan and the IBX would be in doubt.
“Less money for capital, infrastructure investments is not great,” said Ganz. “But we will figure out a path forward.”
The hope continues
While the funding for the project remains in doubt, the MTA is still continuing to hold public meetings and input sessions as they go forward in the process.
For the preliminary engineering phase, the MTA will begin conducting surveys on the areas the IBX will be built to understand the environment they will be working in. The phase is scheduled to begin sometime this spring.
On Thursday, the MTA began another round of public meetings to garner more public feedback on the Interborough Express. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Thursday’s open house in Ridgewood had a few dozen locals and transportation enthusiasts give their thoughts on how they want the IBX to run, and how they would use the route.
“We're seeking feedback on how stations are going to be designed and laid out, and just how people are going to use it,” said Ganz. “All of that feedback is helpful. There are people who come here, who test our assumptions, who ask hard questions and make us go back and think about the feedback we get.”
Some Queens residents attended Thursday’s meeting hoping to get their thoughts and experiences to the MTA’s planners.
“I wanted to chime in, and I am really in favor of the IBX, and I want to see it built,” said Ridgewood resident Steve Perry, who was there with Shane Wax, also from Ridgewood.
Both said they would use the IBX to explore more of the city, and get to some familiar destinations.
“Notice my Mets hat, it would cut down time getting to that part of Queens,” said Perry. “Everything from seeing friends who live in Park Slope to getting out to other parts of Brooklyn and Queens, that, if you live here, you know how frustrating it is to go anywhere other than Manhattan or North Brooklyn.”
Glendale and Hunter College student John Hocknell said he hoped the IBX can address the lack of transportation options in his neck of Queens.
“It would just make transportation so much more convenient,” he said. “I think it would definitely cut down on times, make getting to Glendale easier. Glendale doesn't have any trains at all…it'd be a huge improvement.”
A long wait for the train
While locals are excited for the IBX to get running, no one is expecting the light rail to arrive in the station any time soon.
Currently, the MTA has no exact timeline for the project. Construction is not expected to begin for several years.
With that in mind, locals are leveling their excitement, and hoping construction happens faster than expected.
“I just hope that there's a very abrupt political change that will allow these things to be built somewhat faster,” said Sean Ogle, who lives in Middle Village. “Because I know that the MTA that I've seen in my lifetime has not been built very much in 50 years.”
Riders like Hocknell realize that much of their input will be outdated by the time they actually get to ride the Interborough Express.
“I'll have graduated already by the time it's done,” Hocknell said. “I'm disappointed by the timeline. It's a little sad too, because this is like infrastructure in a way that already exists.”
Perry and Wax hope that Juan Soto is still under contract with the Mets when they get the chance to take the IBX to see the Queens club play. Soto inked a 15-year contract to play baseball in Queens over the offseason.
“Fingers crossed it happens before the Mets win the next World Series 60 years from now,” Wax said.
