Money Thrown Away (Metropolitan Transportation Authority or MTA nickname)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York State agency that (among other duties) operates New York City’s subways and buses. The MTA is known for starting big projects (such a the Second Avenue Subway) and quickly running out of cash. The MTA is also known for what many critics believe are generous pay packages to executives and other workers.
 
The MTA nickname “Money Thrown Away” has been cited in print since at least 1996.
 
The MTA has also been nicknamed “More Trouble Ahead” (cited in print since at least 1995), “Might Take Awhile” (cited in print since at least 2007), “May Take Awhile” (cited in print since at least 2008), “Many Trains Absent” (entered in the Urban Dictionary in 2008), “Money Taking Agency” (cited in print since at least 2009),“Motherfuckers Touching my Ass” (from lyrics to a 2012 song) and “More Than Awful” (January 31, 2019 New York Daily News front page).
 
   
Wikipedia: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S. state of New York, serving 12 counties in southeastern New York, along with two counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 800,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday.
 
History
Chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1965 as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (MCTA) it initially was responsible only for regulating and subsidizing commuter railroads, including the Long Island Rail Road and what is now the Metro-North Railroad. The MCTA changed its name to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in 1968 when it took over operations of the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), now MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) and MTA Bridges and Tunnels (B&T) respectively.
         
New York (NY) Daily News
MTA = Money Thrown Away
Sunday, July 28, 1996
ANY HOPE THAT the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will get itself on the right track has been exposed as an illusion. From bungled renovations to snail-paced subway service, from the $700 million MetroCard boondoggle to the E-ZPass fiasco, from lax supervision to union featherbedding, recent disclosures have put the lie to the claim that the MTA is changing for the better.
         
Google Groups: misc.transport.rail.americas
Newsgroups: misc.transport.rail.americas
From: Tom Stolte
Date: 1997/09/30
Subject: Railroad Nicknames Oct. 1997
 
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Money Thrown Away
More Trouble Ahead
 
Google Groups: nyc.transit
Newsgroups: nyc.transit
From: Twinforks <"Twinfo…@mail.peconic.net"@mail.peconic.net>

Date: 1998/12/22
Subject: Re: TA SAFETY SHOES
 
> MTA =  Moving Trash Around
>      =  Moving Thugs Around
>      =  More Trouble Ahead
 
Don’t forget:
MTA = Money Thrown Away
 
Google Books
The Gravy Train:
An Inside Look at the Long Island Rail Road
By Dan Ruppert
Victoria, BC: Trafford
2002
Pg. 12:
CHAPTER 2
Welcome to the MTA (or Money Thrown Away)
     
Topix—New York Forum
In The Know
Jul 27, 2007
MTA = Money Thrown Away
 
The Antiplanner
December 16, 2009
Make the Kiddies Pay
(...)
COMMENTS
December 17, 2009 at 8:28 am
Wags in New York tell me that “MTA” stands for Money Thrown Away” because of their habit of gold-plating capital projects. See, for example, “East Side Excess” which is building a whole new track level at Grand Central despite the fact that there is plenty of track capacity on the existing lower level.
 
Dumbo Books of Brooklyn
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday Morning on the Lower East Side: Going to Long Island City in a Vintage Subway Car
(...)
We overheard an interesting (to us, anyway) discussion of the merits of different combinations of subway and bus routes to get from Manhattan to Starrett City. And we learned that MTA can stand for “More Trouble Ahead” and “Money Thrown Away.”