MBTA puts capital needs at $24.5 billion

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s cost to restore its infrastructure to a state of good repair is $24.5 billion, according to an agency report issued yesterday.

The dollar figure was cited in the Capital Needs Assessment and Inventory, an MBTA-led analysis conducted every three to four years to inventory the MBTA’s assets and identify those that are not in a state of good repair in order to determine the level of investment needed to support the existing network.

"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 under-investment have added to the cost of bringing our system back to a state of good repair," said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng in a press release.

The estimates of assets in need of rehabilitation or replacement include facilities, $6.4 billion; rolling stock, $2.4 billion; signals for commuter rail, $1.3 billion; signals for transit, $753 million; track for commuter rail, $1.2 billion; and track for transit, $2 million.

The total estimated figure is an increase of $14.5 billion from the last CNAI performed in 2019 and is driven by a number of factors, including:
• a more robust, comprehensive and data-driven inventory approach that significantly increases the total asset count from approximately 59,000 to nearly 83,700;
• significant infrastructure and construction cost increases driven by inflation and supply chain challenges;
• the continued aging of the MBTA’s assets faster than they are being replaced due to years of underinvestment; and
• the length of time for capital investments to show improvements and be reflected in the CNAI.