Transit capital expenditures totaled $7.636 billion in
1997. This total is well below the estimated annual investment requirements for
the 20-year period from 1998-2017. The estimated annual capital investment that
would be necessary to Maintain Conditions and Performance is 41 percent greater
than actual 1997 spending by all levels of government. The investment required
to Improve Conditions and Performance is more than double actual 1997 capital
spending by Federal, State and local governments. The relative differences
between actual spending and the investment requirement scenarios are similar to
those estimated in the 1995 and 1997 reports.
The percent difference between spending and investment requirements is
larger for investments in vehicles than in non-vehicles under the Maintain
Conditions and Performance scenario, while the opposite is true under the
Improve Conditions and Performance scenario.
![{short description of image}](cpesg_35.gif) TEA-21 authorizes substantial increases in Federal
funding for mass transit. This increase in funding is expected to lead to large
increases in capital spending by transit operators.
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At the guaranteed funding levels specified in TEA-21,
total annual transit capital expenditures are projected to grow from $8.1
billion in 1998 to $12.3 billion ($10.8 billion in 1997 dollars) in 2003.
![{short description of image}](cpesg_36.gif) This increase in transit capital expenditures under
TEA-21 would substantially reduce the gap between actual expenditures and
investment requirements. Investment requirements to Maintain Conditions and
Performance exceed projected capital spending for the period 19982003 by
just 13 percent, while the investment needed to Improve Conditions and
Performance is 68 percent larger than projected expenditures.
Investment requirements under both the Maintain and the Improve Conditions
and Performance scenarios are slightly backloaded, with greater investment in
the latter half of the 20-year period. Substantial investment also occurs in
the initial 5-year period, as the backlog of existing vehicle and
infrastructure deficiencies is eliminated.
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