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The MTA may be cutting back on staff and service, but there's one area where it continues to shell out big bucks: The agency reports it spends $30 to $60 million a year to settle personal injury suits and has handed out almost $1 billion over the past two decades. Despite efforts to close loopholes that make the transit system an easy target for people who have no one to blame for their injuries but themselves—such as the drunken teen who walked away with $1.4 million after he jumped onto the tracks, tried to outrun a train, and ended up losing both the race and his legs—the suits persist. Of course, if there weren't frivolous lawsuits against the city, about half of the MTA's advertising revenue would go up in smoke, so it probably all balances out in the end. [NYDN]