Metropolitan Transportation Authority

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a non-profit public corporation with a mission to provide and create public passenger transportation services in New York State of the United States of America. It serves twelve counties in the southern part of New York, including New York City and Long Island, and two counties in southwestern Connecticut on behalf of the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The public transit network covers a service area of 13,000 square miles with a population of 14.6 million. It carries more than 11 million passengers on average weekdays and has more than 800,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and in its two tunnels.

The MTA was formed in 1965 as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (MCTA) to take over the loss-making Long Island Rail Road from the assets of the bankrupt Pennsylvania Railroad. The MCTA soon took over the New York City Transit Authority, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the Staten Island Railway, Long Island Bus, and substantial portions of what is now the Metro-North Railroad. The MCTA was renamed the MTA in 1968.

Soon after its founding, the MTA ran into financial difficulties. In response, it raised fares and user fees several times across all branches of operation. The situation did not improve despite a series of loans and grants from the federal and state governments. The Great Financial Crisis of the City of New York in 1975 threatened the MTA's solvency. On the transit system, delays increased and maintenance conditions and ridership deteriorated. In 1981, the MTA declared a state of emergency after a series of accidents that resulted from faulty equipment. That same year, the authority submitted its first five-year investment plan.