Jay Walder

It's the beginning of the end for Citi Bike's software troubles.

With the election over and Albany in session, the time for tiptoeing around the $15.2 billion gap in the MTA's next five-year capital program is over. Today, three former MTA chiefs lined up to say that, one way or another, the plan must be fully funded.

It's official: Alta Bicycle Share, the company that runs Citi Bike, has a new owner, an infusion of cash, and a fresh face at the top -- longtime transit executive Jay Walder. At a press conference this afternoon, the new team promised to correct Citi Bike's blunders and double the system's size by the end of 2017.

Jay Walder may have exaggerated when he claimed this week to have put the city transit system "back on firm financial footing" during his stint as MTA chairman, but he did show remarkable reserve in not letting loose on Albany for undercutting rail and bus service at every turn. Unfortunately the media failed to fill in the blanks.

Any moment now, Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce that Joe Lhota, the former budget director and deputy mayor for Rudy Giuliani, will be the next chairman of the MTA. There will be a press conference and press releases -- a singular opportunity for Cuomo and Lhota to put forward their vision for the transit agency.

Jay Walder's surprise resignation announcement last week overshadowed some important news about the MTA's finances: The agency has identified $2 billion in savings in its capital program [PDF], which maintains and expands the transit system, but expects $1 billion less in federal assistance. That brings the total gap in the five-year, $26 billion capital plan to $9 billion that must be accounted for by the end of the year. This enormous deficit will define the political context in which Governor Andrew Cuomo chooses Walder's replacement.

In his relatively brief time at the helm of the MTA, Jay Walder earned widespread plaudits for introducing technological innovations while guiding the agency through increasingly perilous financial straits. His departure comes at a critical moment for the transit agency. With a $9 billion deficit facing the MTA's capital program at the end of this year, whoever replaces Walder will need political skill and technical expertise to spare transit riders another round of enormous fare hikes or service cuts. Even the most competent transit executive will have a hard time pulling it off, and leadership from the governor's office and the state legislature will be absolutely necessary.

After a two-year tenure during which he earned the praise of transit advocates as a skilled and innovative leader, MTA Chair Jay Walder has announced that he will step down effective October 21. Walder, who was appointed by governor David Paterson in July 2009 and took the CEO position that October, will be taking the reins of the MTR Corporation, a Hong Kong-based rail company.

Erik Engquist at Crain's has the good news. Governor Cuomo will keep two widely respected managers at the helm of the MTA and the Port Authority: