Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board approves Six-Year Improvement Program

Written by Maggie Lancaster, assistant editor
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The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) approved the latest Six-Year Improvement Program (SYIP) for the Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).

The SYIP allocates $18.6 billion to transportation projects over the next six fiscal years beginning July 1, 2017. Projects include highway, road, bridge, rail, transit, bicycle/pedestrian paths and other transportation improvements across the state.

The SYIP provides funding to more than 3,600 transportation projects to improve the state’s infrastructure. This SYIP is the second program to include projects funded through the new funding structure provided by the Governor and General Assembly in 2015, including SMART SCALE distributed High Priority Projects and District Grant programs and State of Good Repair.

The FY 2018-2023 Six-Year Improvement Program breakdown includes $15.2 billion allotted for highway construction. $3.4 billion of the budget will go towards rail and public transportation, with $817 million allotted for rail initiatives.

The Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) annual budget for Fiscal Year 2018 is $689 million. The overwhelming majority of these funds are directed to a variety of grant recipients, including: public transportation providers, local and regional government entities, freight railroads and Amtrak.

The DRPT budget breakdown includes:

  • $429 million – public transportation programs
  • $207.3 million – passenger and freight rail programs
  • $1.6 million – rail industrial access programs
  • $7.8 million – rail preservation programs
  • $8.7 million – commuter assistance programs
  • $13.9 million – agency operating budget
  • $4.3 million – planning, regulation and safety programs
  • $16.4 million – human service transportation programs

More than 50 percent of these funds are dedicated to capital improvement projects. The annual budget is based on the most recent official state revenue forecast from December 2016 and estimated federal funding.

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