San Diego MTA OKs capex budget, outlines pandemic's financial impact

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 4/21/2020 Rail News: Passenger Rail
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's FY2021 capex budget allocates $26 million for new trolleys.Photo – SDMTS

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's (SDMTS) board last week approved a $100 million capital improvement budget for fiscal-year 2021, which begins July 1.

The budget allocates funding for rail, including $26 million toward 47 new low-floor trolleys, and $10.9 million to keep the rail network in a state of good repair. 

Also last week, the board announced it anticipates a $33.5 million loss for FY2020 and $100 million in FY2021 because of costs and lost revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During both fiscal years, agency officials project operating income from advertising revenue, energy credits, rental income and interest to drop by $7 million.

In FY2021, agency officials anticipate a $30 million to $50 million loss in fare revenue, and a decrease of $13.5 million to $23 million in state and local sales tax revenue.

SDMTS anticipates receiving $220 million in federal stimulus funding to offset the financial losses.

Also in response to the pandemic, the board has postponed plans to put a transit-only revenue measure on the November ballot.