Transit Briefs: NYMTA, SMART, HART, CTA, Santa Clara VTA

NYMTA

Both MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) have broken post-pandemic ridership records in December, according to MTA. The week of Dec. 15 was the highest post-pandemic ridership recovery week for Metro-North, with 827,015 total riders representing a record 88% of an average pre-pandemic week in December 2019, the agency reported. The weekend of Dec. 20-21 was said to be Metro-North’s strongest weekend ridership performance of the post-pandemic era, with 245,638 riders. Average midweek ridership of 244,809 on Tuesday-Thursday, Dec. 16-18, stood at 88% of December 2019 midweek ridership, a new post-pandemic record, the agency noted.

At LIRR, 183,250 people rode the train on Saturday, Dec. 13, and 152,661 people rode on Sunday, Dec. 21—the highest post-pandemic Saturday and Sunday ridership.

According to MTA, on-time performance for both commuter railroads in 2025 has consistently been at or near 97%. Customer satisfaction levels are also high, with LIRR at 81% and Metro-North at 85%, according to MTA’s latest “Customers Count” survey.

“We’re thrilled to see record ridership on Metro-North,” Metro-North President Justin Vonashek said. “From Super Express trains to delighting customers with our holiday lights trains, we’re always finding new ways to enhance the rider experience.”

“We continue to shatter ridership records because we are providing plenty of service to meet demand and remain focused on improving the customer experience,” LIRR President Rob Free added. “The LIRR is the best way to travel not just during the holiday season but throughout the year and we look forward to breaking more records in 2026.” 

Further Reading:

• Watch: NYMTA Launches Railcar Acceptance, Testing Facility
• MTA Releases 2026 Operating Budget, Four-Year Financial Plan

SMART

SMART on Dec. 26 reported that 2025 was its “strongest year yet,” with record use of the nearly 50-mile regional/commuter rail system (1,123,686 rider trips), SMART Connect shuttles (17,097 riders), bikes onboard (146,898 bikes carried on trains), and the SMART Pathway (1,029,421 walking and bicycling trips). The system logged more than 1.1 million passenger trips in Fiscal Year 2025, up 32% from Fiscal Year 2024, and 23.4 million-plus passenger miles were traveled by train instead of by car.

In 2025, SMART opened new stations in Windsor and Petaluma and began work to extend passenger rail service to Healdsburg, with the Healdsburg station projected to open in 2028. SMART reported that it is advancing long-range planning that has the Cloverdale extension “included in regional and statewide planning frameworks.”

Looking ahead to 2026, SMART said that rail service levels will increase by 19% as a result of the MASCOTS regional transit coordination initiative, which is slated for implementation in mid-April 2026. “Based on current trends, SMART is currently projecting 1.4 million train riders and 1.2 million pathway users in FY26,” it said.

HART

Hawaii’s HART recently reported “the successful completion” of an annual audit of its financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. The audit was performed by N&K CPAs, Inc., an independent accounting firm based in downtown Honolulu. “This marks the fourth consecutive year an independent auditor issued an unmodified opinion, indicating no internal controls weakness and HART’S financial statements are fairly presented and free of material misstatements,” according to the public transit authority responsible for the planning and construction of Skyline, a fully automated, driverless urban light metro system.

“The positive result of the FY25 financial audit is a clear reflection of the hard work, integrity, and accountability of our entire HART Ohana,” HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina said. “This result reassures taxpayers funding the project that we are fully committed to managing every dollar responsibly while delivering a rail system they can be proud of.”

“We have audited the financial statements of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), a component unit of the City and County of Honolulu, as of and for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, and the related notes the financial statements, which collectively comprise HART’s basic financial statements as listed in the table of contents,” N&K CPAs’ report states, according to HART. “In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position of HART, as of June 30, 2025, and the changes in financial position and its cash flows for the fiscal year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”

Skyline’s first segment opened in June 2023. It included nine stations and 10.75 miles of guideway. Segment 2 opened in October 2025. Segment 3 is expected to wrap up in 2030.

CTA

CTA has issued three Requests for Proposals, each to redevelop a parcel of land in the Lakeview neighborhood that it acquired to build new track structures and stage construction during the Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) project. Now that construction work in this area is substantially complete, CTA said it wants to redevelop the land as part of its TOD Plan, which was created in 2018 to “promote cultural, generational, economic, and family composition diversity; seek commercial, retail, and civic uses that encourage vitality; capitalize on transit proximity; focus on the quality and scale of future neighborhood development; pursue environmentally sustainable and economically viable development; improve the public realm; and seek to provide affordable housing options.”

The RFPs are for the following parcels:

• Southeast corner of W. Newport Ave. & N. Clark St.; officially portions of 3401-3427 N. Clark St. and 947-949 W. Newport Ave. This parcel includes the historic Vautravers Building, which was moved 30 feet west to allow the CTA to completely reconstruct and straighten century-old Red and Purple Line track structures.
• Southwest corner of W. Roscoe St. & N. Clark St.; officially portions of 3366-3368 N. Clark St. and 947-955 W. Roscoe St.
• Frontage along N. Clark St.; officially portions of 3330-3348 N. Clark St.

Proposals are due by Feb. 25, 2026.

CTA in 2018 published a separate TOD Plan for parcels in the RPM Project’s Lawrence to Bryn Mawr Modernization area in the Uptown and Edgewater communities (download below). CTA said it expects to issue RFPs for those parcels in 2026. 

CTA is completing Phase One of the multi-phase RPM Program, which is rebuilding the 9.6-mile stretch of Red and Purple line track structure and stations on the North Side that were a century old. RPM is replacing aging infrastructure and will help CTA boost train service as needed.

Further Reading:

• RTA Board Approves 2026 Regional Operating Budget and Capital Program
• Gov. Pritzker Signs NITA Act Into Law
• Chicagoland Transit Gets Reprieve

VTA

Two major projects in VTA’s TOD portfolio are moving forward with funding from California’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program. Earlier this month, the transit agency reported that the Capitol Station TOD in San José and the 87 E Evelyn Phase I TOD in Mountain View were each awarded $49 million to help increase ridership, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and expand access to essential services.

Capitol Station TOD, San José

The Capitol Station TOD is located on a portion of the 10-acre VTA Park & Ride lot at Capitol Expressway and Narvaez Avenue in San José. In March 2022, VTA selected MidPen Housing as the project developer.

Of the $49 million awarded by AHSC, $35 million will be used for housing development. MidPen, in partnership with VTA and the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing, will build 201 affordable rental homes for households earning 30%-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), including 51 Permanent Supportive Housing units for formerly homeless individuals.

Approximately $14 million will fund transportation improvements, including:

• A VTA Light Rail Blue Line crossover, allowing trains to turn around mid-line.
• 10 new VTA bus shelters.
• A new upgraded transit plaza.
• 2.3 miles of Class IV protected bikeways.
• More than 3,000 feet of public walkway upgrades.

“These upgrades will create safe, seamless access to transit, schools, parks, and essential services,” VTA said.

The Capitol Station TOD project will also provide one SmartPass per unit for at least two years, as well as anti-displacement and workforce development programs, totaling more than $500,000, according to VTA.

87 E Evelyn Phase I, Mountain View

The two-acre Evelyn site, located along Evelyn Avenue and Pioneer Way in Mountain View, is a former VTA Park & Ride lot. The station closed in 2015 for Orange Line double-tracking and the property was sold to the City of Mountain View in 2023, according to VTA.

The city selected Affirmed Housing to develop 268 affordable units and a daycare center over two phases. Of these units, 42 will be reserved for Santa Clara County’s Rapid Rehousing Program for Extremely Low-Income households and 15 for Permanent Supportive Housing for unhoused households.

Of the $49 million in AHSC funding, $35 million will be used for housing development. In Phase I, Affirmed Housing will deliver 161 affordable homes for households earning 30%-60% AMI, according to VTA.

Approximately $15 million will fund transportation improvements, including:

• Two new electric Caltrain trains.
• 10 new bus shelters, including VTA shelters.
• 2.7 miles of Class IV protected bikeways.
• 5,000 feet of public walkway upgrades.

The project will also contribute approximately $400,000 for VTA SmartPasses for all units, as well as anti-displacement and workforce development programs, according to VTA.

“These projects show how affordable housing and transit infrastructure can work together to create vibrant, sustainable communities, helping people live, work, and travel without requiring a car,” VTA said.

Separately, VTA in July landed $100 million in California state funding for the BART Silicon Valley Phase II project.