A crucial signal for more cash

AS THE MTA tries to stabilize subway service under its action plan, less money is being spent directly on signals than track work, car equipment or communicating with passengers.

The Subway Action Plan — already delayed because of a funding squeeze — budgets $24 million for signal inspections and repairs, which is only 9.5% of the $256 million in operation expenses that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will spend in 2017 and 2018.

There’s another $35 million for signal modernization in the capital budget under the Subway Action Plan.

Signals have been cited as a major driver of delays and disruptions, causing some headscratching.

“They’re putting less than 10% of their operation money from the Subway Action Plan into signals,” said Danny Pearlstein, spokesman for the grassroots group Riders Alliance. “It’s further reason to question their priorities.”

The MTA is spending $32.6 million on passenger communications and $45.8 million on car equipment.

NYC Transit President Andy Byford told the Daily News “we’d certainly like more” money for direct signal spending, but that “the budget has been prepared bottom up.”

“It should be data-driven,” Byford said. “You work out what the actual root causes are, and if they’re track you put sufficient money into track.”

Transit officials — already facing criticism for how they compile statistics on overcrowding and power-related delays — say signal delays are not necessarily problems with the signal itself.

Most of the $200 million in Subway Action Plan spending on track, infrastructure and power equipment will keep signals green, transit officials argued. That includes money to replace track equipment or clean trash out of drains.

Phil Eng, MTA operations chief, said the $24 million for signals is the “actual cost” needed.

“I think these numbers are not reflective of the amount of work that we’re doing across the whole plan that is actually resulting in our signals being more reliable,” Eng said.

The MTA has so far replaced 58% of the 1,745 signal components in the system.

MTA conductors and train operators are not being adequately trained, says state Controller Tom DiNapoli. His findings echo this week’s reporting by the Daily News (below).