The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s payroll surpassed $8 billion in 2024 – a 2.6 percent increase since 2023, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Overtime, as measured using payroll records, totaled $1.36 billion, a 1.1 percent drop since 2023. Overtime pay in 2024 amounted to 17 percent of total pay.
Among the different agencies, overtime for the MTA Bridges and Tunnels jumped 17 percent from $27.5 million to $32.1 million. Overtime also rose at the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA) by seven percent and MTA Bus by two percent. The MTA Police saw an eight percent drop in their total pay to $151 million after having a 37 percent jump in 2023.
The MTA’s 2024 overtime champion was Bridges & Tunnels Lieutenant Edwin Lee who collected $308,821 in OT, bringing his total pay to $505,147.
The average overtime was highest at the Bridges & Tunnels, where employees averaged $28,528 in OT, followed by Long Island Rail Road ($25,957) and MTA Police ($24,774).
A total of 629 MTA employees received six-figures in overtime pay. Of these, 23 collected over $200,000 in overtime – ten more than the previous year. Of those, 11 were employed at the Bridges & Tunnels, 6 at Metro-North, 3 at LIRR, 2 at NYC Transit, and 1 at the MTA Police.
760 MTA employees more than doubled their 2024 regular pay with overtime, i.e. collected more in overtime than their regular pay.
The top 50 overtime recipients are listed below:
The six-figure overtime club included employees from every MTA agency.
Three MTA employees collected more than the CEO Janno Lieber’s total pay of $420,599. Edwin Lee from Bridges & Tunnels topped both the overtime and total year-to-date pay lists. The others were are:
- Orlando Caholo, Sergeant, Bridges & Tunnels, Total Pay: $474,255, OT: $304,884
- Robert Rau, Lieutenant Detective, MTA Police, Total Pay: $446,465, OT: $218,494
421 MTA employees collected more than Governor Hochul’s 2024 salary of $250,000, and 325 collected more than NYC Mayor’s 2024 salary of $258,750.
Nearly half (39,471) of all MTA employees collected more than six-figures in total pay, with 1,955 employees collecting more than $200k, and 105 collecting more than $300k.
MTA employees collected an average pay of $98,892 in 2024. Among the different agencies, employees at the Bridges & Tunnels averaged the highest pay at $123,617, followed by LIRR at $121,646, and MTA Police at $120,294.
The Empire Center’s 2019 payroll analysis sparked a sweeping probe of MTA overtime practices.
Note: The MTA has updated payroll data for 113 employees after initially supplying Empire Center with totals that materially overstated compensation for those employees, due to double counting some income. In all such cases, the result was that initially reported figures were higher than what those 113 employees were actually paid. The updated data reflects actual pay received.
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