I think of myself as the Senator from the Green Line: All branches of the Green Line run through my district and many of my constituents are dependent on the Green Line. My Green Line thread includes dozens of posts about my efforts to improve Green Line service.
MBTA management has moved over the years from trying to limit improvement expectations to offering a transformative vision for capacity improvement. At this point, an ambitious and sound program of fundamental improvement is underway.
At a recent MBTA board meeting, the MBTA’s capital planner offered an overview of the MBTA’s five year capital plan. I was pleased to hear that acquisition of new higher capacity Green Line cars is one of three capital projects that will center the MBTA’s capital plan for the next five years. Upgrades to signals, power, and track to support the new vehicles will also be included.
For more detail, you can view the portion of the meeting pertaining to the capital plan, starting at 2:54:50 or view the slide deck on the capital improvement plan. Or, below, you can scan the lightly edited transcript of the relevant portion of the meeting. (This transcript was generated by (a) processing the meeting segment into Web.Descript by screen capture; (b) using web.descript to generate a rough transcript; (c) running it through ChatGPT to clean up the transcript. ChatGPT lightly edited it, eliminating pause words and verbal repetitions, and restructuring slightly. I’ve relistened to the meeting while reviewing the lightly edited transcript and the transcript appears faithful.)
AI Generated Transcript of Presentation on Capital Improvement Plan to MBTA Board
My name Mike Melia, and I am the Deputy Chief of Capital Strategy here at the T, overseeing Capital Planning and our Grants and Sources team. Today I’m here to provide an overview of the development process for the FY 27–31 Capital Investment Plan, focusing on how existing funding commitments and exposures have shaped our approach to the upcoming CIP.
I’ll also present the new expansion of the Commonwealth Transportation Fund—the CTF—to support the $850 million in new CTF funding that will benefit the T. Normally I’d be requesting your vote, but I now appreciate your vote that has already occurred. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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On the screen you can see the typical steps in the MBTA CIP development process. This process kicks off every September with an open call for projects, which are then evaluated ahead of a determination of the total funding available to program in that cycle. With that information in hand, we then move to prioritize projects for funding through the winter, ahead of releasing the CIP in the spring. However, this year will be different.
. . .
For the new approach to the CIP: over the summer, MBTA staff worked to identify important funding exposures and risks to the portfolio in the coming years. Looking at the FY 27–31 cycle, it has become clear that our existing commitments to major projects will limit new funding availability. At the same time, the progress we’re making toward more comprehensive planning efforts is helping to define our long-term priorities, as Laura eloquently described earlier.
Historically, the MBTA holds an open call for projects early each fiscal year, where staff from across the authority submit their known capital requests for consideration. Over the past two years, we’ve also shared the total scale of those requests with the board to illustrate unmet need—$13.5 billion was requested last year against just over $1 billion in available sources.
Through Full T Ahead, asset-class master planning efforts are maturing, and the ongoing Program for Mass Transportation is helping us set a long-term vision. Despite fiscal constraints, we are still working to advance projects, accelerating work where possible while also seeking savings and delivery efficiencies. For example, we heard earlier today about bringing CNG overhauls in-house and building internal bus capacity to support more cost-effective diversions.
Given these constraints, this year’s call for projects is changing. We have limited requests to:
- existing projects with cost exposures that require additional funding to reach completion, and
- critical state-of-good-repair programs needing additional support.
The reason for this—as you’ll see on the next slide—is our constrained funding outlook.
Looking ahead, the next few CIPs will be defined by major commitments and major constraints. For the next three years, much of our capital funding will be dominated by commitments to monumental investments: the North Station Draw One rehabilitation, procurement of Type 10 Green Line vehicles, and the local match requirement for a federal Capital Investment Grant through the Core Capacity program for the Green Line.
That federal program represents our greatest opportunity over the next five to ten years. We are seeking to unlock $1.9 billion in federal contributions to transform the Green Line corridor, but to qualify we must commit an equal $1.9 billion locally—and we need to program those funds over the next two years, even though spending will continue through 2035 or beyond. As such, we will see substantial investment and planning activity in this period.
We are also facing cost and funding risks: inflation and tariff impacts on existing project budgets remain significant exposures. Additionally, we still have unobligated discretionary federal funding, including the second year of the North Station Draw One MEGA grant—$189 million we won’t be able to obligate until later this fall. This uncertainty is another reason we must be conservative in our projections.
We are also seeing broader federal funding uncertainty with the expiration of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on September 30, 2026. As the General Manager mentioned, there is substantial ongoing planning for the next surface transportation authorization, and funding levels in that bill will directly affect our future capacity. In our last CIP we took a conservative approach by holding funding steady after FY 26, but the exposure remains.
One additional point: we are continuing to pursue and utilize federal funding. Since approval of the FY 26–30 CIP in May, we have obligated $315 million—a very healthy portion of our outstanding federal funds. As soon as the new federal fiscal year opens for additional obligations, we will continue to pursue them. We are also aggressively pursuing federal discretionary grant opportunities and will continue to do so through federal FY 26.
Now, moving on to the CTF.
For background: around this time last year, we came to you with what was then a transformative and very welcome investment from the state—$601 million. I asked for your vote to allow us to stand up a Rail Reliability Program that funded the Track Improvement Program, fleet replacement, station accessibility, and resilience improvements.
The Commonwealth Transportation Fund—the CTF—has historically funded MBTA projects, including major REP (Rail Enhancement Program) investments such as the Green Line Extension, South Coast Rail, Red and Orange Line vehicles and infrastructure, and commuter rail bi-level coaches. The REP program is winding down as those funds are allocated.
The CTF works by depositing transportation-related revenues, against which the Commonwealth issues bonds. Those bond proceeds are then used for capital projects, including MBTA needs.
The FY 26 GAA includes an expanded dedication of Fair Share funds to the CTF, enabling major new investments—including $850 million in new CTF bonding capacity for the MBTA. This will allow transformative investments that otherwise would not be possible under current constraints. The $850 million will be dedicated to maintenance facilities, layover capacity, track, power modernization, and resilience.
One major project we’re proud to advance is the Arborway bus maintenance facility. This funding will allow us to deliver a new battery-electric bus maintenance facility at Arborway, aligned with our Bus Facility Modernization Program. It will accommodate zero-emission buses, improve workforce conditions, and support an increase in fleet size necessary for the Bus Network Redesign. This is particularly important because the existing facility supports CNG buses, and we are approaching a decision point: without new infrastructure, we risk being locked into legacy technology simply due to lack of facilities investment.
This project enables us to meet the state’s legislative decarbonization mandate and will support storage and maintenance of approximately 200 new battery-electric buses.
Additional proposed CTF investments will support Phase 1 of the Widett regional rail layover facility—a six-track electrified layover—to support storage and operation of Fairmount Line EMUs. This includes preparing a 24-acre industrial site, raising grade by five feet, and addressing significant contamination. This work is critical to meeting the 2028 decarbonization target for the Fairmount Line.
Funds will also support Green Line infrastructure investments—facilities, signals, power, and track improvements essential for the arrival of the Type 10 vehicles next calendar year—as well as commuter rail locomotive procurement. Last year, during the CIP process, we requested authorization for $152 million toward replacing 50 locomotives over the next five to ten years. That amount is just a down payment; the additional CTF support will be critical to advancing procurement.
All of this is tremendously helpful, and we deeply appreciate the state’s transformative investment. But even with $850 million in new CTF capacity, we still face significant risks and exposures. The 2023 Capital Needs Assessment and Inventory found that 65 percent of our assets are out of state of good repair, representing more than $24 billion in needs. We face substantial needs in bus facilities—especially for battery-electric conversion—continued procurement of commuter rail locomotives, and major power and signal state-of-good-repair investments. Inflation and tariff pressure adds additional complexity.
So while this investment is wonderful, the challenges remain real. We have a legacy system with tremendous needs, and we are working to meet those needs efficiently, appropriately, and with a clear long-term vision.