Capital Metro is planning to implement Express bus service in June on the new MoPac toll lanes. The agency is also planning to spending about $156.8 million from 2016-20 to replace aging buses.[/caption]Replacing its aging bus fleet and implementing bus service on the MoPac express lanes are a number of key expenses Capital Metro has planned for its next fiscal year.
The agency’s board of directors reviewed its proposed $244.9 million operating budget July 27. Expenses include implementing Express bus service in June on the new MoPac toll lanes as well as accounting for a number of capital costs the agency will incur in the next five years, such as bus replacement.
“The ongoing revenue we expect to generate next year will sufficiently fund our operating costs and provide a portion of the funding for our capital needs,” said Leslie Browder, Capital Metro’s chief financial officer, during the proposed FY 2016 budget presentation.
Capital Metro expects to bring in more than $279 million in revenue, which includes $127.1 million from sales tax revenue, Browder said.
The agency will spend about spending about $2.5 million more on MetroRail service in FY 2016 than FY 2015. In June the board approved a new MetroRail contract with Herzog Transit Services for dispatching, operations and maintenance that involves a one-time cost of $1.5 million for new staff and equipment.
Costs of capital
One of the significant expenses planned in the agency’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan is spending $156.8 million from 2016-20 on vehicles to replace aging buses. The agency also would likely need to borrow money in 2017-19 to aid with those replacements, Browder said. During the recession, Capital Metro had deferred a number of capital costs, including bus replacements, and the agency needs to play catch-up, she said.
The agency also plans to purchase new vehicles that would help expand its Frequent Service Network, which Capital Metro launched June 7 to provide 15-minute service on five routes.
“Over the next couple of years you’ll see some significant investments, mainly in vehicles,” Browder said.
MetroRail capital improvements in the next five years will total about $172 million. However, the agency received an $11.3 million federal grant and $50 million state grant to help with those costs. Improvements include adding double tracking, purchasing four rail vehicles and replacing the downtown station adjacent to the Austin Convention Center.
Another major planned expense is implementing the federally mandated positive train control, which is estimated to cost between $30 million and $50 million to design, implement and inspect the system.
“That’s going to be a large, multiyear project and will be completed over time,” Browder said.
Not included in the five-year CIP are additional Park & Ride facilities, although those facilities are considered a service priority, Browder said.
“We were able to work in operating costs but not capital costs to build the infrastructure and the line,” she said. “We’re working to see how we could accommodate those.”
Information on previous budgets is available at www.capmetro.org/transparency.
