MTA plans overhaul on bridges, tunnels to save $20M

An effort to streamline operations at several city bridge and tunnel crossings promises to save the struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority $20 million this year - and might ease your commute a bit, MTA officials said Thursday.

In another effort to cut costs in the face of a nearly $400 million budget shortfall this year, the agency announced plans for a "top-to-bottom overhaul" of MTA Bridges and Tunnels. However, while the changes may be significant, MTA Chief Executive and Chairman Jay Walder said most motorists won't notice them.

"I think it's common sense and it's reflective of a cultural shift we're seeing here," Walder said at a Manhattan briefing. "You're seeing a cultural shift in the MTA to try and adapt to a new business model."

MTA Bridges and Tunnels operates nine crossings in the city, including the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Robert F. Kennedy Bridge and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. The agency is the only profitable one within the MTA, and made $1.4 billion last year.

But the MTA relies on surpluses from bridge and tunnel tolls to support its struggling transit system. MTA Bridges and Tunnels provided $742 million in support to public transportation last year, MTA officials said.

The biggest changes are taking place within the agency's maintenance. A consolidation of some maintenance teams that previously were separate will result in the closings of half of the agency's eight maintenance garages, including those at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge.

Maintenance workers and vehicles instead will be stationed at one of four garages and be deployed, as needed, to other crossings.

In another significant change to the agency's operations, most maintenance workers will be moved to a new overnight shift, working 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., rather than the customary 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

New MTA Bridges and Tunnels chief James Ferrara said much of the agency's maintenance work was happening during night hours anyway but was done on overtime.

The new scheduling system will save the MTA about $4.8 million in overtime, and also could reduce the amount of maintenance work taking place during commuting hours, he said.

MTA officials said the actions did not require changing the terms of any union contracts, and that none of the changes would affect bridge and tunnel officers, who are charged with protecting and securing the crossings.