N.Y. MTA riders, staff seek $1.2 bln in damages

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York commuters, motorists and workers for the state's mass transit agency are seeking $1.2 billion in claims for injuries and damaged property, a report said on Thursday, a day after the agency warned it may have to hike fares for the second year in a row.

"It's about safety and savings," state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said, noting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority already has paid out more than $1.1 billion on these kinds of claims since 1996. "The costs to settle judgments and claims will remain a significant budget expense," the Democrat added.

On Wednesday, the authority's executive director, Elliott Sander, warned Albany legislators that a funding shortfall could force the MTA to boost fares by 25 cents.

The safety problems the agency confronts range from ripped sleeves caused by faulty armrests, the hazards workers can encounter in tunnels and some dangerously wide gaps passengers must step over when they get on and off some commuter trains.

The MTA, which carries around 8 million people every day, shot back, saying it had made the system safer, cutting the injury rate for its employees by 60 percent since 1996.

The number of customers hurt for each 1 million customers has fallen 28 percent though ridership has soared.

The agency, the nation's biggest, estimated that its safety programs have saved $335 million from 1997 to 2007.

"Two of the causes identified by the Comptroller of higher recent claims -- gap incidents and torn clothing due to armrests on the commuter railroads -- have both been addressed," spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.

(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Jan Paschal)