Ryan, meanwhile, challenged the NFTA to aggressively make its case at a critical time when MTA needs are in the spotlight.

“I will continue to advocate for more funding for the NFTA and upstate transit agencies,” he said, “and I hope to have a strong partner.”

Minkel said the NFTA is working the local legislative delegation as well as its Albany lobbyists and its advocates in the New York Public Transit Association. The group’s president, Bill Carpenter, CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, recently told a joint Senate and Assembly hearing that upstate transit needs more attention at a time when New York City is in the forefront.

He recommend a 10 percent increase in operating assistance for all non-MTA systems as part of a statewide plan to increase funding by 50 percent over five years.

“It is time for statewide action to address the long-term funding needs of communities across the state, so that no region is left behind,” he testified. “The last transit funding package in 2009 ignored transit riders in upstate and in the downstate suburbs. We should not make this mistake again.”