Overview

• The MTA board authorized a $165.9 million design contract with Jacobs and HDR, formally launching the IBX’s two-year preliminary design phase.
• The contract covers detailed geotechnical surveys, structural inspections, utility relocations and community outreach to shape route alignment and station designs.
• Plans call for a 14-mile light-rail line with 19 stations between Roosevelt Avenue in Queens and the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Bay Ridge, bypassing Manhattan.
• The $5.5 billion project is included in the MTA’s $68.4 billion 2025–2029 capital plan and represents one of the few major expansion efforts alongside system maintenance.
• Officials project the IBX will cut end-to-end commutes to about 40 minutes and attract around 115,000 daily riders in underserved Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods.