Ron Thaniel
August 2, 2010

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) study released on July 21 estimates the cost of bringing the nation’s rail and bus transit systems into a state of good repair at $77.7 billion. In addition, a yearly average of $14.4 billion would be required just to maintain the systems. The study entitled 2010 National State of Good Repair Assessment evaluates the level of investment required to bring all U.S. transit assets – including the assets on all urbanized area and rural transit operators – to a state of good repair.

The study states that roughly one-third of the nation’s transit assets are in either marginal or poor condition. These assets are near or have already exceeded their expected life. And, while most of the $77.7 billion backlog can be attributed to rail, more than 40 percent of the nation’s buses are also in poor to marginal condition.

The study notes that the actual level of investment in the rehabilitation, replacement, and, improvement of transit assets was in the range of $12 to $13 billion in 2009. This amount is below the $14.4 billion required to address normal replacement needs alone, suggesting the investment backlog for the nation’s transit assets is increasing. The potential consequences of maintaining the current rate of reinvestment, according to the study, will result in further declines in the overall condition of transit assets, and the proportion of assets exceeding their useful life will increase from the current 16 percent to more than 30 percent by 2029.

Bringing transit systems and their facilities to a state of good repair and expanding capacity is a priority for the Conference of Mayors in the pending authorization of the federal surface transportation law.