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FHWA Home / Policy & Governmental Affairs / 2004 Conditions and Performance

Conditions and Performance

2004 Conditions and Performance Report: Executive Summary Chapter 7
Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and Transit:
2004 Conditions and Performance

Chapter 7 Executive Summary

Capital Investment Requirements: Transit

Transit capital investment requirements to maintain conditions and performance and to improve conditions and performance are 5 percent and 16 percent higher, respectively, than in the 2002 report, principally as a result of new information collected on assets and asset prices. Current estimates are for the period 2003–2022 for four scenarios. The "Maintain Conditions" scenario projects the level of capital investment necessary to maintain current average asset conditions over the 20-year period, and the "Improve Conditions" scenario projects the investment necessary to raise the average condition of each major transit asset type to at least a level of "good." The "Maintain Performance" scenario assumes investment in new capacity to maintain current vehicle occupancy levels as transit passenger travel increases, and the "Improve Performance" scenario assumes that additional investment will be undertaken to reduce average vehicle occupancy rates and increase average vehicle speeds. The "Improve Conditions and Performance" scenario is an upper limit of the economically justifiable level of transit investment.

Transit Average Annual Investment Requirements,
2001–2020 and 2003–2022
(Billions of Dollars)
Conditions Performance Average Annual Cost
2001–2020
2000 Dollars
Average Annual Cost
2003–2022
2002 Dollars
MaintainMaintain$14.8$15.6
ImproveMaintain$16.0$17.1
MaintainImprove$19.5$22.5
ImproveImprove$20.6$24.0

Average annual investment requirements are estimated to be $15.6 billion to maintain conditions and performance ($14.8 billion in 2000) and $24.0 billion to improve conditions and performance ($20.6 billion in 2000). Under the "Maintain" scenario, $10.3 billion annually would be needed for asset rehabilitation and replacement and $5.3 billion for asset expansion. Under the "Improve" scenario, $11.7 billion would be needed annually for replacement and rehabilitation, $5.7 billion for asset expansion, and $6.6 billion for performance improvements.

Annual cost to maintain and improve conditions and performance by investment type, 2002 to 2022. Stacked bar chart comparing values in billions of 2002 dollars for two categories. The bar for maintain conditions and performance includes $10.3 billion for rehabilitation and replacement and $5.3 billion for asset expansion. The bar for improve conditions and performance includes$11.7 billion for rehabilitation and replacement, $5.7 billion for asset expansion, and $6.6 billion for performance improvements.

Vehicles account for the 45 percent of the investment required to maintain conditions and performance, $6.9 billion annually, and 39 percent of the investment needed to improve conditions and performance, $9.3 billion annually; guideway elements account for 17 percent of the investment to maintain conditions and performance, $2.7 billion annually, and 39 percent of the investment amount needed to improve conditions and performance, $4.3 billion annually. Facilities and stations each account for 10 to15 percent of total investment requirements, systems for 7 to 8 percent, and other project costs for 6 to 12 percent.

Average Annual Transit Investment
Requirements by Asset Type
2003–2022
(Billions of 2002 Dollars) Maintain Improve
Vehicles$6.9$9.3
Guideway Elements$2.7$4.3
Facilities$1.9$2.3
Stations$1.8$3.5
Systems$1.3$1.7
Other Project Costs$0.9$2.9

Page last modified on November 7, 2014
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000