Byford’s Subway Flyer

Andy Byford, the new head of NYC Transit, means to change the culture of the agency that runs the city’s subways and buses, and his superiors are looking to do the same across the entire MTA. But changing the political culture they report to is above their pay grade.

To be clear, Byford’s 10-year “Fast Forward” vision includes huge physical transformation, too. Thanks to the politics, though, don’t bet on getting an official price tag for it before Election Day.

Various reports put the cost at $37 billion or more. MTA Chairman Joe Lhota says the agency won’t put out any figures until it has accurate ones — noting that part of the culture he’s out to change is the MTA’s habit of giving bogus, low-ball estimates.

Of course, Lhota ultimately answers to Gov. Cuomo — who still hasn’t said how he’s paying for the new Tappan Zee Bridge that’s already built, let alone the exact cost. And the gov plainly doesn’t want a public conversation on funding Byford’s plan until he’s safely re-elected.

To be fair, MTA President Pat Foye is still reinventing the agency’s procurement and construction processes, aiming to end the insanity that needlessly adds billions to big-project costs.

Lots has to change if Byford’s plan is to be workable. For example: Rehabbing 150 stations (and making 130 of them handicappedaccessible) sounds good. But the MTA is finishing renovations on 19 stations — at the price it had budgeted to do 32.

Aiming to replace century-old mechanical signals with a digital system in 10 years, not 40, also sounds great: It will allow for more trains, and faster ones. But the agency took more than a decade do the same work on No. 7 and L lines (for technical reasons, the

easiest to do), and it’s still not done on the 7. Yes, Byford points to ways he can speed up the work, like using off-the-shelf (not custom) technology, but all there is to go on here is faith.

At least until Byford, Lhota, Foye and MTA Executive Director Ronnie Hakim can start pointing to proof that they have changed things. Public reports on Foye’s reforms would be one good sign.

So would a hard timeline on when New Yorkers can get that official price tag for Byford’s plan — and when the first major project in it will start and finish.

Most of the “Fast Forward” plan is to be financed in the MTA’s 2020-2024 capital plan, along with billions in other work on the LIRR, Metro-North and other agencies. But some should come under the

current plan — if Lhota & Co. can get the MTA board to shift priorities.

Capital cash comes from the city, the state and the feds. If Chuck Schumer becomes the Senate majority leader and Joe Crowley the House speaker, the MTA will be in luck. But Mayor de Blasio won’t give another dime without a fight — better subways won’t win him the national progressive credibility he so craves.

As for the state, well: Congestion-pricing fees might be a start, but the biggest new source of money Albany’s now eyeing will be a rake-off from legal sports betting.

Dedicating a chunk of that to the MTA would be only fitting: Then you can bet on the Yankees, Rangers or Jets — instead of on whether your commute is going to take an extra hour.