MTA Pushes Crash Insurance Reform to Stop Flimsy Claims on Transit Coffers

The head of the MTA said Friday that the transportation authority and its riders are being taken for a nearly $50 million ride each year as a result of questionable claims from so-called billboard lawyers who "seem to think the MTA is actually spelled ATM."

Chairperson and chief executive Janno Lieber pointed to a new analysis from the MTA that cites how Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to cut auto insurance costs in New York State could keep the transit agency from being forced to dole out "windfall payouts" for crashes in which its bus operators are not primarily to blame.

"These folks try to find a nearby MTA bus to blame even when our bus drivers — who work their tails off and follow the rules — are not at fault," Lieber said. "We are, after all, the deep pocket."

Speaking at a Harlem depot with Lieber and state transportation chief Marie Therese Dominguez, Hochul touted her proposed auto insurance reform package that she says could keep transit agencies across the state from being easy targets for unscrupulous claims. The governor pinned surging auto insurance premiums on an 80% spike in fraud claims since 2020.

"That's inexplicable, how is that happening?" Hochul said. "Well, I'll tell you why: because there are criminals out there trying to scam the system and it has to stop."

Hochul's hoped-for insurance reforms are designed to keep public transportation providers, and everyday motorists, from being easy targets for big paydays as a result of crashes in which other motorists are to blame.

"What's happening now is if they can get a jury to say the MTA was 1% responsible, we're responsible for the entire damages," Lieber said. "And frequently, the other guys don't even have insurance, so it's a huge number."

He cited one example where an MTA bus was struck while legally in an intersection by a driver who blew through a stop sign.

"Somehow or another, his lawyer convinced the jury that the MTA was 5% responsible and then was on the hook because the dude who blows the stop sign doesn't have that much insurance … That's the type of crazy situation that we're facing," Lieber said.

The MTA estimates it could save $50 million yearly car-crash litigation, with officials saying that money could instead be directed to service upgrades for bus and subway routes.

"Taxpayers are the ones who left footing that bill," Lieber said. "That money is coming out of what should be all kinds of good stuff."

The governor's insurance proposal has drawn criticism from advocates for crash victims and was omitted from the individual spending plans of both houses of the state legislature, released in the past week. But Hochul said she is optimistic that it will be included in the state budget that must be approved by April 1.

"The legislature knows my priorities," she said. "There is an absolute way to have all of this accomplished together before the end of the budget process, before the deadline."

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