Approved Budget Makes $11.2 Billion Investment in Transportation Operating and Infrastructure Across New York State

Speaker Carl Heastie, Transportation Chair William B. Magnarelli, and Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Chair Amy Paulin today announced that the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2021-22 Budget will invest $11.2 billion in the state’s transportation network, including a $350 million increase in funding for the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) two-year capital plan, while restoring $236.1 million in operating aid for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). 

“As we look towards recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to ensure that New York’s hard working transportation networks have the necessary funding to keep New Yorkers moving,” said Speaker Heastie. “This budget makes critical investments in our economy and provides funding for things from snow removal after heavy storms to infrastructure repairs to critical funding for the MTA and other public transit systems.”

“Our communities rely on our transportation networks every day to get them where they need to go, from upstate and downstate public transit systems to state and local roads and bridges,” said Assemblymember Magnarelli. “This year’s budget investments in transportation are also investments in our economy as New Yorkers get back to work.”

“The transportation needs addressed in the budget are essential as we continue to deal with the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Assemblymember Paulin. “This funding is critical to getting New Yorkers back to work and keeping New York moving forward in a way that is environmentally sound and socially just.”

Mass transit systems throughout the state have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. The approved budget includes necessary funding for the MTA as well as other downstate and upstate transit systems throughout New York. The budget includes funding to provide:

• $3.1 billion for the MTA; 
• $368.17 million to non-MTA downstate transit systems; and 
• $235 million to upstate transit systems. 

The budget also provides $5.2 million to prevent a toll increase for Staten Island residents crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, so that New Yorkers have the access they need to roadways they rely on everyday. 

Across the state, communities struggle with aging transportation infrastructure in need of upkeep and repairs. The spending plan provides funding to maintain roads, bridges and highways in New York, while making a critical investment in our economy and job creation. These investments include: 

• $538.1 million for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPs), an increase of $100 million;
• $100 million for extreme weather recovery;
• $150 million for Pave NY, a $50 million increase; 
• $39.7 million for the Marchiselli Program, which provides a local match to federal funds for local highway and bridge capital projects; and
• $100 million for a new capital program to reimburse cities, towns and villages for the cost of capital projects on local roads and bridges which are signed as N.Y. or U.S. touring routes, but where the municipality has capital maintenance responsibility.