MBTA unveils Capital Needs Assessment, reports $24.5B required to update system, facilities

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The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) needs approximately $24.5 billion for asset rehabilitation and replacement, according to the agency’s Capital Needs Assessment and Inventory report.

The inventory is conducted every three to four years to understand the condition of the transit system, and identify what needs repaired or rehabilitated.

The $24.5 billion includes $753 million for transit signals, $52 million for equipment, $6.4 billion for facilities, $5.3 billion for structures, $5.1 billion for power, $2.4 billion for rolling stock, $2 billion for transit track, $1.3 billion for CR signals, and $1.2 billion for CR track.

“Restoring reliability and ensuring safety are priorities as we rebuild MBTA infrastructure,” Phillip Eng, MBTA General Manager and CEO, said. “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.”

The MBTA is one of the oldest and most complex transit agencies in the United States.