DiNapoli audits the MTA

From the NY Post:

If you see something, you'd better say something -- because the MTA's anti-terror technology will probably miss it.

The agency's top-secret program to guard the rails against terror is budget-busted and way behind schedule, according to a scathing new audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

"The mass-transit system is still inherently vulnerable. Individual projects in this program are months, if not years, behind schedule and well over budget, and additional capital improvements are needed," DiNapoli told The Post.

Overall costs for anti-terror work -- including reinforcing bridges, tunnels and stations as well as electronic-surveillance and fire-ventilation projects -- have jumped 44 percent, from $591 million to $851 million, DiNapoli report shows.

After 9/11, the MTA said it would have all the upgrades done by September 2008. The finish date now looks more like June 2012, the report said.

The bulk of the MTA's costs is in the security-camera projects, which were severely delayed when defense contractor Lockheed Martin defaulted on an agreement with the agency to equip the subway system with state-of-the-art cameras.

Those projects' costs leaped from $265 million to $515 million.

MTA and Lockheed are now in locked a legal battle in federal court. The trial won't start for more than a year, and the MTA's legal costs are expected to exceed $10 million, DiNapoli said.