Maloney: Transit Projects Boost GDP

NEW YORK CITY-Two of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s mega-projects on Manhattan’s East Side have already generated billions of dollars in economic activity and will generate billions more during construction, Rep. Carolyn Maloney says in a report released Tuesday. The two MTA projects–East Side Access from Long Island and the Second Avenue Subway–have generated 38,000 jobs during an economic slowdown, says Maloney.

Work on the long-delayed Second Avenue subway line has created 16,000 jobs, generated $842 million in wages to date and produced $2.87 billion in economic activity since its April 2007 groundbreaking, according to Maloney’s report. The East Side Access project has meant 22,000 jobs, nearly $1.2 billion in wages and $4 billion in economic activity. During the construction phase, the economic activity generated by the two projects combined will exceed $16.6 billion, the report says.

Maloney’s report cites a formula that for every dollar invested in infrastructure, there is a $1.59 increase in GDP. The cost for the Second Avenue Subway is currently projected to be $4.35 billion, therefore making the subway’s contribution to GDP nearly $7 billion, the report says. The cost for East Side Access is currently estimated at $7.24 billion, plus an additional $476 million for supporting regional investment costs. Based on this estimation, East Side Access will increase GDP by $12.28 billion.