Sidney H. Bingham, announced that the installation of the conveyor would cost $3.8 million and could be completed in 18 months after funding was budgeted for the project. He hoped that the city and Federal Government would each foot 25% of the bill, with the remaining 50% to come from the State. Funding for the project was included in the 1953 and 1954 capital budgets. On October 19, 1954, the single bid for the project was submitted by Passenger Belt Conveyors, which was a subsidiary formed the previous month by Stephens–Adamson Corporation and Goodyear Tire. The project was expected to be completed in 550 days. The cost of the project was expected to increase to $5.5 million to pay for additional structural changes needed for the new system. On November 4, 1954, the $3,881,000 contract for a modified version of the plan was awarded. The New York Times lauded the plan, stating that "the Times Square–Grand Central subway shuttle was an atrocity from the beginning and has had no substantial improvement in a third of a century." Bids on the structure to accommodate the conveyor, which was expected to cost $1.1 million, were to be received on December 10, 1954. The contract required the approval of the New York City Board of Estimate, but never received it. In May 1955, it was announced that the project was tabled for discussion for August 25 of that year at the request of City Controller Lawrence Gerosa, who considered the plan to be dangerous. He hoped to convince the Board of Estimate to scrap the project. On September 15, 1955, the Chairman of the New York City Transit Authority, which had taken over operations of the Board of Transportation in June 1953, said that the allocation of funds for the project was questionable. On October 20, 1955, the NYCTA told the Board of Estimate that it was rescinding its request for $4,991,000 to build the conveyor. The plan was canceled due to its high cost. In 1954, NYCTA created a design concept to reconfiguring the shuttle onto a tangent alignment under 42nd Street. This design was never executed because of the significant impact it would have had on utilities and the street above, and because it would have required a full shutdown of the station. On August 16, 1954, a project to replace 1,000 incandescent bulbs with of new fluorescent lighting at Grand