MARTA, San Diego MTS adopt FY2025 budgets

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's (MARTA) board recently adopted the fiscal-year 2025 operating and capital budgets.

The overall $1.6 billion budget includes $654.5 million in net operating funds and $909.2 million for capital programming.

The authroity balanced the budget for a 13th straight year without a fare increase and reconfirmed two AAA bond ratings, MARTA officials said in a news release. The budget prioritizes projects necessary to ensure customer safety, such as those associated with the arrival of the new rail cars and buses, station renovations, new fare collection equipment and technological upgrades, they said.

For example, the budget includes $76 million for a multi-year station rehab program and $92 million for the procurement of new rail cars, the first of which will arrive in Atlanta later this year for testing. 

“The budget underscores our priorities of keeping the current system in a state of good repair, building the MARTA of the future and growing ridership,” said MARTA General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood. “Customers will see multiple improvement and expansion projects systemwide over the next year."

Meanwhile, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System’s (MTS) board has approved a $448.2 million operating budget for FY2025. 

The budget fully funds current service levels on all three trolley lines and more than 100 bus routes, as well as security improvements implemented earlier in the year.

During the budget process, MTS staff was informed that $284 million in new state grant funding was frozen indefinitely while the state continued to balance its budget. As a result, the agency postponed planned trolley and bus service increases. If the funds are released, MTS plans to advance the service enhancements.

The agency also has a $250.1 million capital improvement program budget in FY2025 that will greatly enhance rail and bus state-of-good-repair efforts, including a total of 66 projects, MTS officials said.