BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board has approved a five-year Capital Investment Plan calling for $9.6 billion in spending, covering more than 640 separate projects.
The board unanimously approved the plan at its meeting on Tuesday, June 11.
The plan addresses only a fraction of the agency’s projected needs over the 2025-2029 period, given a report late last year that estimated the MBTA needed more than $24 billion just to address state-of-good-repair matters [see “MBTA state-of-good-repair needs grow …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 16, 2023]. In that regard, it reflects funding realities, MBTA CEO Phillip Eng said in a statement.
“The CIP continues to be vital in directing how we renew, improve, and maintain our capital assets,” Eng said. “I am grateful to the board for approving the CIP, and I thank the public for being part of the conversation and providing their feedback on capital investments they’d like to see the MBTA prioritize. As a fiscally constrained plan, the CIP only includes projects for which we have available funding.”
Rapid transit ($3.5 billion) and commuter rail ($2.2 billion) will receive the largest portion of the funding, with major new initiatives including $484.5 million for 102 new Green Line light rail vehicles, to be built by CAF USA [see “MBTA approves contract …,” News Wire, Sept. 2, 2022[; $384.7 million for replacement of the North Station Draw 1 Bridge; and $60 million for infrastructure to allow for “decarbonized” commuter rail service on 20-minute headways on the Fairmount Line, through the use of battery-electric equipment [see “MBTA plan would introduce battery-electric equipment …,” Trains News Wire, March 17, 2024].
The full plan is available here.
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