How Far Can $15 Billion Go?

This article presents an interview conducted with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Capital Construction president, Mysore Nagaraja. Recent projects of this branch of the MTA include $1.5 billion for the Fulton Street Transit Center and the South Ferry Terminal, $4 billion for the Second Avenue Subway, and $6.3 billion for the Long Island Rail Road East Side Access project, among others. In order to stay within budget for these large-scale projects, MTA Capital Construction uses negotiated procurement for contracting purposes. A brief examination of the last twenty years of the MTA is provided, during which a major overhaul has taken place involving repair projects and expansions. New technologies being implemented for the city’s subway lines are described, including the implementation of communication-based train control (CBTC) on the city’s L line with the No. 7 being scheduled for CBTC implementation.