How will the MTA’s 2008-2013 Capital Plan benefit your borough or county? Interested citizens should check out TSTC’s website for newly released fact sheets which identify, by borough or region, transit improvements which will be completed in the next five years if the MTA receives sufficient funding for its capital plan, which will require city and state legislators to pass congestion pricing and create a new funding source for the agency. The fact sheets were compiled by TSTC and the Regional Plan Association.

As the fact sheets make clear, the 2008-2013 MTA Capital Plan has perhaps the greatest focus on the outer boroughs of any capital plan in MTA history. Selected outer-borough highlights (fact sheets also exist for Manhattan, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley):

• Brooklyn: Rehabilitation of 28 subway stations.
• Bronx: Signal upgrades on the Dyre Line (No. 5 in the Bronx) leading to improved service. Disabled access improvements at Hunts Point Av. and Kingsbridge Rd. subway stations.
• Queens: Full installation of communications-based train control (“Robotrain”) on the No. 7 line, meaning more frequent rush-hour service and installation of “next train in X minutes” signs. A new LIRR station at Sunnyside.
• Staten Island: A new, ADA-accessible Staten Island Railway “Arthur Kill” station which replaces the Arthur and Nassau stations. Replacement of the entire SIR car fleet.

These benefits are, of course, in addition to citywide improvements such as nearly 3,000 new buses and 650 subway cars to expand the transit fleet and replace old vehicles (see MTR‘s earlier coverage of the MTA capital program here). Congestion pricing would also lead to regional air quality and traffic flow benefits.