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The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced a plan to trim another $2 billion in capital costs over a five-year period. The savings are on top of $2 billion the authority cut from its $26.3 billion 2010-2014 capital program by reducing rolling stock costs, shifting to a component-based station rehabilitation program and sharing shop space among MTA agencies.

Now, MTA officials plan to implement a series of moves that will enable the agency to reduce the total capital program cost to $24.2 billion. In a new report, “Making Every Dollar Count: Capital Program,” the agency outlines actions under way to reduce administrative costs, eliminate cumbersome processes, leverage new technologies and ensure program management is as efficient as possible.

For example, MTA plans to reduce administrative payroll expenses by 15 percent, saving $150 million; review all capital projects using “approval gates” at each stage of development to ensure the agency is advancing a project at the lowest cost possible, saving $800 million; overhaul the way employees and contractors perform trackwork, saving more than $300 million; and reduce the cost of purchasing and maintaining trains and buses by changing design specifications, increasing competition among suppliers, extending the life of existing units and adopting new technologies, saving $300 million.