The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) said Nov. 16 that it needs $24.5 billion to fix the state's public transit system, WBZ-TV in Boston reported.
MBTA admitted the staggering cost is needed to repair the multitude of issues it faces system wide.
The agency's announcement came after it publicized the findings of its Capital Needs Assessment and Inventory (CNAI), an audit that MBTA releases every three to four years. It makes clear what assets MBTA has and what investments need to be made to bring the system to a State of Good Repair (SGR).
The estimated multi-billion-dollar price tag is for repairs to MBTA's stations, trains, tracks, bus garages, signal systems and more.
The transportation agency emphasized that the new assessment lays out an estimated cost of repairs, not improvements.
According to the CNAI report, MBTA facilities require the most attention with $6.4 billion needed. Another $5.3 billion is required to fix structures and another $2.4 billion would be used on trains.
Stacy Thompson, with the transportation advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance, told WBZ-TV that she views this assessment as a step toward transparency.
"Really for the first time in a decade, we have a sense of where we are at with the State of Good Repair, what needs to be fixed, and how much it will cost," said Thompson. "It's a lot of work but we finally have a starting point."
MBTA last did this assessment in 2019 and found that $10 billion worth of repairs needed to be made; this time around, the number jumped by $14.5 billion. Part of the reason came down to having a clearer understanding of the agency's assets, inflation and construction costs, and an aging system that gets more complicated to fix by the day. MBTA said much of its equipment is at least 50 years old.
"Restoring reliability and ensuring safety are priorities as we rebuild MBTA infrastructure," explained Philip Eng, the transit agency's new general manager and CEO, in a statement. "Understanding and acknowledging the significant resources needed to bring our system to a State of Good Repair is just one step towards fixing our infrastructure to deliver more robust and frequent service. The MBTA is one of the oldest transit agencies in the country, and while there are a number of contributing factors, it's clear that years of underinvestment have added to the cost of bringing our system back to a State of Good Repair.
"Timely and appropriate actions are key to mitigating and avoiding more costly and potentially impactful efforts," he continued. "Know that we are committed to aggressively addressing our immediate needs — like the recent 16-day outage on the Ashmont Branch to perform track work — as we strive to deliver a modernized system to serve future generations."
He added that there are no plans currently to raise fares for riders.
In her own news release, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy said, "The Capital Needs Assessment and Inventory shows what we have known for a long time: there is an urgent need for significant resources and work across the MBTA system because of decades of underinvestment. The Healey-Driscoll Administration is committed to ensuring that the MBTA has the resources it needs to deliver the safe, reliable service that the people of Massachusetts deserve."
Latest Assessments Clearly Lay Out MBTA's Needs
The CNAI is an exercise that helps the state agency understand the magnitude of assets needs across the system at a single point in time.
According to MBTA, its SGR designation does not indicate the level of safety, but rather is representative of an asset operating at its optimal and expected level of performance. An asset "out of SGR" is more likely to require rehabilitation or replacement.
While they do not reflect total project costs or the totality of capital investment that may be needed, both the CNAI and SGR Index help Massachusetts' transit department develop strategies about where to allocate funding resources and make investments toward a modernized transportation network as part of MBTA's rolling five-year Capital Investment Plan (CIP).
In the MBTA's Fiscal Year 2024-2028 CIP process, SGR and safety were the most important prioritization factors, making up half of a project's total weighted score.
The MBTA estimates the current overall SGR Index for assets in need of rehabilitation or replacement include facilities, rolling stock, equipment, structures, signals, track and power.
This estimated increase of $14.5 billion from the last CNAI performed in 2019 is driven by a number of factors, including:
Significant infrastructure and construction cost increases driven by inflation and supply chain challenges.
The continued aging of MBTA's assets faster than they can be replaced due to years of underinvestment.
The length of time for capital investments to show improvements and be reflected in the CNAI. Many capital projects under way now are in varying planning, design, and construction phases. The rehabilitation or replacement of those assets will be reflected in future iterations of the CNAI and SGR Index.
The MBTA is already addressing many of the needs identified in the CNAI.
For example, critical track work on the Red Line's Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line was successfully completed in late October when crews replaced nearly 5,000 ft. of rail and 1,174 ties on the Ashmont
Branch and nearly 4,700 ft. of rail and 1,380 ties on the Mattapan Line, allowing for the removal of all speed restrictions in that area.
