MDOT Releases Draft Six-Year, $21.2B CPT
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) on Sept. 5 released its Draft FY 2024-2029 Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP). The six-year, $21.2 billion plan outlines capital investments in each mode funded by the Transportation Trust Fund: Maryland Aviation Administration, Maryland Port Administration, Maryland Transit Administration, Motor Vehicle Administration, State Highway Administration and The Secretary’s Office, as well as Maryland’s investment in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The Draft CTP is expected be finalized and submitted in January 2024 for consideration during the 2024 General Assembly session.
The complete, 500-page-plus report can be downloaded below:
An excerpt:
“In FY 2024, WMATA anticipates receiving $459.9 million in FTA formula grants and $11.5 million in other federal grants (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) for bus and rail preservation activities. The Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act (PRIIA) of 2008 was reauthorized within the federal IIJA and will provide funding of $148.5 million annually through FY 2029, though a requirement within the reauthorization earmarks $5 million each year toward the operating budget of WMATA’s Office of the Inspector General.
“In total, WMATA expects to receive $614.9 million in federal capital funding in FY 2024. In addition, WMATA fully intends to pursue competitive federal grant funding for as many programs as they qualify. No such funds are included in WMATA’s capital budget until they are awarded. Beyond the federal capital funding, WMATA expects to use $561 million of the COVID-19 federal relief funding toward its operating program in FY 2024. Unless further funding is authorized by Congress, WMATA’s COVID19 relief funding will be depleted in the FY 2024 budget.
“Established in law in 2018 and with funding beginning in FY 2020, WMATA’s annual Dedicated Capital Funding Grant supports the agency’s capital program. WMATA uses this guaranteed $500 million in funding to generate capital resources through bond sales. Maryland provides a $167 million share. This funding has assisted WMATA in catching up on its backlog of deferred capital needs. In addition to this funding commitment, this CTP includes a total of $300 million ($50 million each year in FY 2024 through FY 2029) as Maryland’s matching contribution to the newly reauthorized federal PRIIA grant. Additionally, Maryland and its other WMATA funding partners, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, continue to fulfill their obligation by providing formula funds to match federal grants. Overall, WMATA’s six-year capital budget is $14.4 billion in FY 2024 through 2029. This includes $5.9 billion in state/local funding, $5 billion in debt (including debt generated from bond sales utilizing the jurisdictional dedicated capital funding), $3.8 billion from federal sources, and $40 million in reimbursable funds for the Metrorail Silver Line.
“Highways and Transit Along with the federal COVID-related relief and stimulus funds received by MDOT, traditional federal funding comes from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, which provides transportation investment for projects in the following areas: highways and transit; multimodal freight; safety and security; system preservation; bike and pedestrian; congestion mitigation; climate change and electric vehicle infrastructure. The CTP allocates these federal funds to projects in the program based on reasonable assumptions of authorization given the passage of the IIJA. MDOT received $812.0 million in highway formula funding and $305.8 million in transit formula funding in FFY 2023 for MDOT projects.
“The Purple Line Light Rail project previously received a commitment from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for New Starts funding totaling $900 million. The Purple Line also received an additional allocation of $106.2 million in New Starts funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.”
Following are downloadable sections from the full CTP pertaining to the Maryland Transit Administration, WMATA and Multimodal Freight Projects, with selected capex charts:
