Key findings and recommendations
Key Findings
Federal money accounts for approximately 43% of the committed dollars in the current STIP. The remainder is provided by the State of New York and local governments.
The current STIP (2023-26) is 3.5 times larger than the previous STIP (2019-2022), with spending of $44 billion programmed compared with $13 billion. This is thanks to the federal Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, along with new state programs including New York City’s congestion pricing program.
New York State is planning to spend $28 billion on transit, or 61% of total spending. This is 4.5 times more than the 2019-2022 amount, marking a huge growth in transit spending.
Additional federal money is only part of the increase. Overall state and local funding is six times greater in the current STIP, increasing from $4.1 billion to $24.5 billion. Some of that increase is due to the historically ambitious MTA Capital Plan which is partially funded by the MTA’s congestion pricing program.
Approximately one quarter of one percent of the STIP money is committed to highway expansion, totaling less than $100M. The Route 17 highway project in Orange and Sullivan Counties is not yet included in the STIP.
Most transportation dollars are going to maintenance of the current system.
Of $9.4 billion that was eligible for a variety of projects (often called “flexible funds”) $798 million –about 8%-- was channeled to transit, bike/ped, and recreational/other projects, meaning $8.6 billion that could have been spent on transit or active transport was not.
Spending on active transportation is 2% of the current STIP.
Recommendations
- Implement a statewide moratorium on highway widening, recognizing the wide body of research that shows expanding highways does not solve traffic congestion nor does it align with climate goals.
- Continue to lead the country in terms of transit investment, both for capital and operating budgets, by continuing to grow transit aid.
- Prioritize growing investment in transit systems outside the MTA region. Start by funding transit in the state’s largest and densest areas represented by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and expand from there.
- Align transportation spending with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, as mandated by the act, and report publicly on that alignment as required by Q2 of 2024 and annually thereafter. This will require working with local municipalities towards more walkable and bikeable communities.
- Set a mode shift target or vehicle miles traveled reduction target to help meet these goals.
- Include reporting standards for project descriptions in future STIPs. Descriptions could include codes designating which mode(s) is(are) served by the project, a measure of how much area is rededicated from one mode to another – for example when a bike lane is included as part of otherwise routine upgrades to a street – and geographic coordinates so the projects can be easily mapped.
- Grow spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects. When these projects are advanced within a larger project, document that investment so the state and public are able to track it.
- Ensure NYC’s congestion pricing program is advanced on time, and revenue targets are met.
The New York State Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) details the programming of $45 billion over the period 2023 to 2026.
The STIP is a federally mandated list of approved transportation projects across the state that are proposed to receive federal funding. It covers four fiscal years’ worth of projects. Every state is required to create and maintain a STIP in order to be eligible for federal transportation funds. Although the local and state contributions to the projects are listed, the STIP is not required to include projects that are exclusively funded with state and local resources.
The source of these funds includes a variety of federal programs, as detailed in the table below, Federal Funding Sources and Amounts. Federal money accounts for approximately 45% of the committed dollars in the current STIP. The remainder is provided by the State of New York and local governments; $15 billion of local money is from the projected revenues from the congestion pricing program in the New York City region. The money is distributed among projects that we have categorized as auto, transit, bike/ped and recreational/other. Within these categories, we have further broken down the project types to maintenance, expansion, fleet replacement, and other categories. Some projects are multi-modal and serve multiple purposes. For example, highway/street projects may include a bike lane or pedestrian amenity. Those projects, in spite of a bike lane or sidewalk improvement, are categorized as “auto,” as the bulk of the funding is for the street improvement. We strongly urge a consistent accounting approach that allows both New York State DOT and the public to track spending by mode.
While the STIP indicates the specific federal source of funding for each project, it also shows the state and local funding shares without specifically identifying the source of state and local funds – that information is available at the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) level.
Our analysis includes federal funding sources, distribution of projects at the county and metropolitan planning organization level, and distribution of funding across project types. We include some reference to the prior STIP to contrast with prior priorities.
The STIP is created by aggregating the Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs) from each MPO – there are 14 MPOs in New York State, as shown in the map below, representing 32 counties and 92% of the population. A TIP is a required product of each MPOs planning process. A TIP is a micro-version of the STIP in that it is a fiscally constrained project list created in each region. For the 30 counties that are not part of an MPO, NYSDOT is the responsible party for developing a fiscally constrained project priority list. These counties tend to be rural and have only small population centers.
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in New York State
There are 14 MPO serving New Yorkers. 92% of the state’s population reside in an MPO county.
Elements of a STIP
Each identified project is described in a short narrative. The responsible agencies are identified along with committed funding including the year in which such funding is to be disbursed.
Regardless of the State’s expressed policy priorities in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the STIP, because it itemizes what is actually spent and built, is a bar against which to measure the State’s commitment to the goal of promoting low carbon outcomes and active transportation solutions.
The largest share of dollars in the current STIP, $27.4 billion, is devoted to transit projects. This includes over $14 billion devoted to mega-projects in the MTA Commuter Transportation District (MCTD). Mega projects are defined as projects budgeted in excess of $1 billion.
For example:
Second Avenue Subway Phase 2: $4 billion
MTA/NYCT rail car replacement: $4.2 billion
MTA/NYCT station investments including accessibility improvements: $1.5 billion
MTA/NYCT Signal modernization and communications improvements: $1.4 billion
These four projects alone total to over $11 billion dollars. They are funded through the MTA Capital Plan.
The only project outside the MCTD and funded at the billion dollar level is the tunneling of Route 33 – the Kensington Corridor – in Erie County.
Federal allocations come under the definition of “formula funds” and competitive grants. Formula funds account for about 65% of IIJA funding; just over 35% is distributed as competitive application-based grants. The STIP is updated monthly as new projects are proposed and funding is awarded. The table below lists the funding sources and their dollar contribution to transportation projects across New York State. Our analysis includes projects reported in the STIP up to June 2023.
Federal Funding Sources and Amounts
*Recreational Trails Funding amounts to $280,000 in the current STIP **Source: FHWA Flexible Funds for Transit and Transit Access
Flexible Funding
The federal dollars programmed through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) can be spent only on transit projects.
The dollars allocated through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), with some exceptions, can be used to fund any kind of transportation project. These dollars are referred to as “flexible” as states have a policy choice in how to spend the money. Flexible funds can be used for transit, bike or pedestrian, recreational, or auto/highway projects. The table below shows the total funding by project category in the STIP.
In New York State, 99% of the Federal, non-FTA funds are from flexible funding sources. In spite of the opportunity to program those dollars to transit and bicycle or pedestrian projects, 92% of the flexible funds were devoted to building and maintaining the auto/highway system. (i.e., Of the $9.4 billion that could have been flexed to transit, recreational, and active transport, $8.6 billion was still spent on highways, streets, and roads.)
Of $9.4 billion that was eligible to be flexed $798 million — about 8% — was channeled to transit, bike/ped, and recreational/other projects.
Total, Federal and State/Local Funding, in millions of dollars
In New York State, 54% of the federal money allocated to transportation is slated for transit, 43% is devoted to funding the auto-highway system, the remaining 3% is allocated to bike/ped and miscellaneous. State and local funds are allocated 67% to transit, 32% to auto-highway projects, and the remaining 1% to bike/ped and other miscellaneous projects.
In the 2019-22 STIP, 43% of all funds (federal and state/local) were programmed for transit. This included 45% of federal funding and 39% of state local funding. Auto/highway projects received 54% of state/local funding and 54% of federal funding. In the 2023-26 STIP, by contrast, 63% of total funding is programmed for transit. This included 54% of federal funding and 67% of state/local funding. The share of funds going to auto infrastructure declined. Only 37% of total funds went to auto/highway projects, comprised of 43% of federal funds and 32% of state/local funds.
Change in Funding From Previous to Current STIP
What gets funded?
64% of total STIP funding and 57% of federal STIP funding goes to address maintenance of the existing system.
Maintenance spending can include upgrades like adding new bike and pedestrian infrastructure. In addition to the $743 million tagged for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, another 94 auto-highway projects and three transit projects include rehabilitating or constructing bike lanes and sidewalks as a secondary objective. These projects total $1.2 billion. Estimating that the bicycle and/or pedestrian portions of these projects cost between 10% and 15%, our analysis showing 1.7% total spending on bike and pedestrian projects is likely closer to 2%.
Just under 1% of the current STIP is devoted to highway widening and/or new highway capacity; anticipated projects, like the work on Route 17, are not yet accounted for in the STIP. Just over 26% is classified as new transit capacity.
Federal funding and state/local funding are distributed very similarly across maintenance, highway expansion, transit capital, and other expansion projects. The graph below combines all funding followed by a similar distribution of only federal dollars.
Most transit money is being spent in the NYC metropolitan area, an area known as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) that includes New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Dutchess counties.
Projects within the MCTD, which is home to 78% of New York State residents, are programmed for $36B (80%) of the STIP. State and local contributions are a more important source for the MCTD. i.e., relative to state and local funds, federal monies are more likely to be programmed to projects outside the MCTD.
Funds dedicated to the MCTD are insufficient for the district’s needs. Additional funds could be committed and increased spending outside the MCTD is needed to align transportation policy with climate policy.
Considering all funding sources and all geographies, 45% of the current STIP is federal dollars. Projects in the MCTD are made up of about 37% federal, whereas close to 65% of upstate projects are paid for with federal dollars. Outside the MCTD, about 75% of funded projects are highway maintenance.
Within the MCTD, a large, but smaller share, 65%, is dedicated to highway maintenance with almost a third going to transit related projects.
In the MCTD, transit dollars top highway spending by more than 4 to 1. Over $29 billion in federal and state/local funding was spent on transit compared to just over $7 billion in auto funding in the MCTD.
Upstate, however, highway spending outpaces other transportation spending by over 6 to 1. Only $1.05 billion of federal and state/local funding was spent on transit outside the MCTD, compared to over $6 billion on auto projects.
Counties that are in Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) tend to receive more funding for transportation overall than rural counties, i.e. those not represented by MPOs. MPO counties represent 88% of the state’s population; they receive 96% of transportation funding.
Based on the above, it is safe to say that compared with prior STIPs, current transportation priority spending is moving us closer toward alignment with the state’s climate goals.
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