Our Plan to Pay for the Plan
Moving Forward 2055 estimates that a total of approximately $1,723 billion in year of expenditure (YOE) dollars will be needed to fund all projects through the Plan’s 2055 horizon year. The Moving Forward 2055 financial chapter is built around the following categories of investment in the region’s federally supported transportation system: operations and maintenance, system preservation, and system enhancement.
- Operations and Maintenance: More than $975 billion in YOE dollars (an average of roughly $33 billion per year) will likely be needed through the 2055 horizon year to operate and maintain the federally supported transportation system. An estimated 89 percent of the NYMTC planning area’s forecasted O&M costs are related to the operation & maintenance of transit services.
- System Preservation: Approximately $685 billion in YOE dollars ($23 billion annual average) in system preservation projects and strategies will be needed to maintain all aspects of the federally supported transportation system. Systems preservation is broadly defined as costs related to the life‐cycle replacement, refurbishment, rehabilitation, reconditioning, or reconstruction of components of the transportation system.
- System Enhancement: Moving Forward 2055 recommends system enhancement projects and strategies that total $63 billion in YOE dollars. System enhancement refers to extensions and/or improvements to the existing transportation system or new segments or services added to the transportation system to improve capacity and/or throughput.
Funding the Plan
Resources that are reasonably expected to be available from all sources to support Moving Forward 2055’s implementation are forecasted through the Plan’s 2055 horizon year.
- Operations and Maintenance: A forecast of roughly $993 billion in YOE dollars, or approximately $33 billion annually, is expected to be reasonably available through the 2055 horizon year for operating and maintaining the federally supported transportation system.
- System Preservation and System Enhancement: In total, the projects and programs proposed for funding in Moving Forward 2055 are forecast to cost $747 billion in YOE dollars ($25 billion annual average) to preserve and enhance the federally supported transportation system through the planning period. The Plan estimates that $770 billion from all sources – federal, state, local and private – are reasonably expected to be available during the planning period, an annual average of $26 billion.
Revenues vs. Costs ‐ System Preservation and System Enhancement of the Federally Supported Transportation System (in millions of YOE dollars)
Moving Forward 2055 assumes that the strong federal partnership that has characterized transportation funding in the NYMTC planning area will continue during the planning period and play a significant role in the preservation and enhancement of the federally supported transportation system. These resources will be leveraged with New York State‐authorized revenues, and local revenues are assumed to be available, as necessary, to complement federal and state funding. NYMTC’s members have a longstanding and demonstrated history of providing the non‐federal share necessary to leverage any additional funds that are apportioned/allocated to the region.
However, forecasting costs and revenues over such a long period presents risks for New York State and for NYMTC. Moving Forward 2055 identifies a number of project‐specific federal, state, and local funding sources among its estimates of available funding. In addition, the Plan identifies various additional financing and funding strategies to potentially offset risks. The availability, adoption, and implementation of these additional funding opportunities are subject to legislative actions at various levels of government, as well as budgeting and policy decisions. As an organization, NYMTC does not have the statutory authority to adopt or implement these additional funding opportunities as they fall outside the metropolitan transportation planning process.