The head of the Transport Workers Union is asking the feds to change a rule and allow federal funding to be used for the MTA’s operational expenses — like worker salaries and some safety and maintenance projects. In a Tuesday letter to President Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — obtained by the Daily News — TWU boss John Samuelsen asked the department to remove prohibitions on federal money typically reserved for capital projects in order to allow it also to be used to cover operational expenses. The letter comes as Duffy has threatened to revoke federal funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority altogether over false claims that the crime rate in New York City’s subway is on the rise. “The TWU strongly agrees with the concerns listed in your March 18 letter,” Samuelsen wrote to Duffy. “Unfortunately historic federal prohibitions and onerous bureaucracy are hindering large cities like New York from improving public safety.” Federal rules prohibit transit agencies in urban areas of more than 200,000 people from spending so-called federal “formula” grants on operational expenses. “As you know from your work maintaining safety across our air, rail, maritime and road systems, capital investments are necessary but can only take us so far,” Samuelsen added. “Safety depends on significant investments in skilled workers to operate, police and maintain our transportation systems.” The NYPD officers that patrol the subway system are city cops, not paid for out of the MTA’s coffers — and recent surges of police in the subway system and their overtime pay have been funded by the city and state governments. But other safety and security initiatives — including the unarmed guards tasked with stopping fare evasion at subway exit gates and the transit employees who install and maintain the surveillance camera network throughout the subway system — are paid through the MTA’s operational budget. The MTA and TWU joined together last year in an effort to push legislation through Congress that would have allowed federal formula funding to be used toward service and security improvements in the subway. The bills never made it out of committee. ...read more read less