NEW YORK — In a unanimous 51-0 vote that few observers predicted even six months ago, the New York City Council approved the most sweeping overhaul of the metropolitan transit system since the original subway was built in 1904. The $52 billion Green Transit Act, signed by Mayor Patricia Chen immediately after the vote, commits the city to building four new subway lines, expanding the bus rapid transit network by 340 miles, and replacing all 5,800 diesel buses in the MTA fleet with battery-electric vehicles by December 2030. The plan is funded through a combination of federal infrastructure grants, a new surcharge on ride-share services, and the expansion of congestion pricing to additional zones of the city.
The centerpiece of the plan is the long-proposed Utica Avenue subway line in Brooklyn, a project that has appeared in transit planning documents since 1929 but has never been funded. The new line will run from Flatbush Avenue in the south to the Bronx, passing through Crown Heights, Brownsville, and East New York — neighborhoods that currently have some of the longest average commute times in the city and the lowest rates of subway access. Transit advocates called the funding of the Utica line a correction of a century-long injustice.
Three additional lines are included in the plan: an extension of the Q train from 96th Street to 125th Street in East Harlem; a new crosstown line in Queens connecting Jamaica to Long Island City; and the first phase of an Interborough Express, a light rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens that would allow passengers to travel between the two boroughs without entering Manhattan for the first time in subway history. The Interborough Express alone is expected to reduce average commute times for roughly 900,000 daily riders.
The electric bus conversion has been in progress on a smaller scale for two years, but the new plan accelerates the timeline dramatically. The MTA currently operates approximately 400 electric buses; the Act requires 5,800 by 2030, which would require deploying roughly four new electric buses per day for the next four years. Bus manufacturers lobbied heavily for the contract, which is expected to be split between three suppliers following a competitive bidding process scheduled to open next month. The city has already broken ground on six new bus depots designed specifically to charge the electric fleet.
The plan drew opposition from some outer-borough residents concerned about construction disruption and from fiscal watchdogs who questioned the funding projections. The Independent Budget Office released a report last week saying the city's revenue assumptions for the plan were "optimistic" and warning that cost overruns — historically endemic to New York infrastructure projects — could add $10 to $20 billion to the final price tag. The mayor's office disputed the estimate, pointing to new procurement reforms and independent oversight mechanisms included in the legislation.
Environmental groups praised the plan's ambition while urging the city to move even faster on the bus electrification front. "The climate doesn't wait for construction schedules," said the executive director of the New York chapter of the Sierra Club. "2030 should be a floor, not a ceiling." Several council members said they would push for a 2028 bus deadline in future legislation, contingent on supply chain developments in the EV industry.