RICHMOND — Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation has just released its draft six-year improvement program for fiscal year 2026, totaling roughly $7 billion. The funds cover both operational costs and larger sums for capital improvement projects statewide.
The City of Alexandria, for example, will get money to help cover the $200,000 operational cost for their GO Alex program, which is the city’s outreach program to get residents to ride transit, carpool and commute by bicycle. Hampton Roads’ transportation department will receive funds towards replacing two large buses, a project that will total $1.6 million — and that’s just one of their more than 30 plus capital improvement projects. Localities depend on the state money to update the equipment used to serve the public in various regions of Virginia.
“We of course got money to buy new buses. We have a fleet of over 300 buses,” said Ray Amoruso, chief planning and development officer for Hampton Roads Transportation. “The average life of a bus is either 10 or 12 years and at some point they have to be replaced. So every year we ask for bus money.”
How the six-year funding program works
The Six-year Improvement Program (SYIP) is an annual funding program that both DRPT and the Virginia Department of Transportation administer to help fund rail — including freight — and public transit programs across the state. The different amounts of funding found in the six-year projects is derived by formulas established by Virginia law. Individual projects, which localities apply for, are funded by the SYIP and are evaluated and given scores by DRPT, then approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
“The state updates their six-year improvement plan every year. So it’s like a moving window. Each year we progress,” said Amoruso. “Sometimes we ask for the same money if they didn’t award it to us [the first time]. Next year, we’ll do this all over again.”
Here’s a breakdown of how the funds will be allocated in the upcoming fiscal year:
- Public Transportation: $332 million
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA): $442 million
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE): $17 million
- Rail (DRPT) $20 million
- Transforming Rail in Virginia (VPRA) $232 million
Amoruso said the district gets federal operating assistance based on the size of their metropolitan area and the number of people who live in that area. The Hampton Roads Transportation District covers six cities: Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.
“A lot of folks who aren’t familiar with HRT or don’t use HRT think that the money they drop in the fare box pays for their ride,” he said.
One capital project that Amoruso is excited about getting funding to build is an off-street transfer facility off Chesapeake Boulevard known as the Evelyn T. Butts Transfer Station, named after a local Civil Rights activist. Since 1999, riders have had to wait on the street to transfer buses.
“It’s not a pleasant environment. Nine routes come together and people run up and down the block along the length of the block to make connections to other routes,” said Amoruso. “It’s the third busiest transfer center we have in terms of moving human beings back in and out every day.”
Federal funding could be in jeopardy
Though next year’s state transportation fiscal funding is taking shape, the uncertainty of future federal support weighs heavy on Amoruso, he said.
President Donald Trump’s administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have committed to cutting over a trillion dollars in government spending they deem wasteful, targeting scores of federal programs with special emphasis on eliminating ones supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI). A January executive order by Trump sparked panic with its directives to federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to pause millions in federal funds disbursements, including money allotted for capital improvement projects through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and for electric vehicle and clean energy infrastructure development.
“It’s not just us, every transit property in the country is nervous because the administration is targeting certain discretionary programs that are connected to DEI initiatives, climate change initiatives,” Amoruso said. “We in the past have been successful in getting grant awards for low-emission, no-emission buses, meaning electric buses.”
Amoruso said HRT had a goal to convert their 300 diesel buses to a 100% hundred emissions-free, all electric bus system by 2045.
“This administration doesn’t look like they have an appetite to support those kinds of investments,” he said. “That’s just one example, but there are other programs that are at risk related to DEI and all the transit properties in the country are nervous about that and [are] watching very carefully these discretionary grants.”
One grant program Amoruso is watching is a capital investment initiative administered through Congress to help build out bus rapid transit, such as Richmond’s Pulse line or other light rail systems.
“That’s under the microscope of the federal government right now,” said Amoruso, “which is making a lot of people nervous for high capacity transit projects.”
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has stated to cut federal funding to Democratic-led states and cities, like New York and California, if they don’t release information on transit crime and safety funding, according E&E News by Politico.
Public input needed
The public is invited to comment on all the projects that have been recommended for funding in the draft six-year plan. The Commonwealth Transportation Board will host nine meetings across the state from the week of April 22 through May 15. Online comments, email or regular mail are also being accepted.
The first meetings take place this week, starting in Richmond, followed by a meeting Wednesday in Lynchburg and one on Thursday in Hampton Roads.
On June 17 staff from DRPT will present the draft, including any changes, to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for approval. On July 1, all the approved funding will become available.
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