San Diego MTS approves $125 million in capital improvement program

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Board of Directors unanimously approved $125 million for the Fiscal Year 2022 Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

“The MTS CIP is an important road map for planning and funding assets for San Diego’s transit system. And having $125 million to allocate in CIP funds is very healthy for an agency our size. This includes new trolleys and buses, advancing our zero-emission bus transition, fully funding our new fare collection system and more” said Sharon Cooney, MTS CEO. “MTS is committed to providing the best rider experience possible and the CIP helps us achieve this goal.”

The MTS CIP receiving the most funding in FY 2022 are:

• Funding for new low-floor trolleys ($28.5 million).
• Funding for 32, 40-foot Compressed Natural Gas buses, 10 minibuses and five zero emission buses ($42.2 million).
• Funding for 11, 60-foot zero emission buses for the Iris Rapid project ($15.6 million).
• Funding for design and station infrastructure for Iris Rapid; and overhead charging infrastructure to support the new route ($12.1 million).
• Funding for the new fare collection system, PRONTO ($3.3 million).

The CIP process began in October 2020 with an internal call for projects from MTS departments. Each department submitted its capital project requests in priority order, and the lists were consolidated for review by the Capital Projects Review Committee (CPRC). The CPRC reviewed the projects in the context of their impact on operations and determined the most critical projects to fund this year. The MTS Budget Development Committee, made up of several MTS Board members, then approved the CIP for full board consideration. For more information about the projects selected, review the board presentation and agenda item.