Transportation, Department of

Agency Web Site: https://www.dot.ny.gov/index

Mission

It is the mission of the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) to ensure its customers – those who live, work and travel in New York State – have a safe, efficient, balanced, and environmentally sound transportation system.

The DOT directly maintains and improves the State’s approximately 44,500 State highway lane miles and nearly 7,900 bridges. In addition, the Department partially funds locally-operated transit systems, local government highway and bridge construction, and rail, airport, and canal programs.

Organization and Staffing

The Department is headed by a Commissioner appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. The Department’s main office is in Albany, with 11 regional offices in Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Hornell, Watertown, Poughkeepsie, Binghamton, Hauppauge, and New York City. The Department also maintains highway maintenance and equipment repair facilities across the State.

Employees of the Department perform such activities as highway maintenance, snow and ice removal, highway and bridge design, and construction inspection. In addition, the Department’s staff inspects school and charter buses, regulates commercial transportation, oversees public transportation systems and State-owned airports, and provides administrative support for the Department.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2020 Executive Budget recommends more than $9.4 billion for the Department, a decrease of $569 million from the FY 2019 budget. This year-to-year change primarily reflects reforms in the budget that transfer previous Aid Trust Account revenues directly to the MTA, and planned scheduling of commitments related to DOT’s historic capital plan.

The Executive Budget includes a workforce of 8,520 FTEs for the Department, unchanged from the amount funded in FY 2019.

Major budget actions include:

• The Executive Budget provides funding for the fifth year of DOT’s capital plan for the period that began in FY 2016, and reflects significant additional commitments made in the FY 2020 budget. These investments will support needed improvements to New York State’s highways, bridges, rail, aviation, and non-MTA transit infrastructure.
• The Executive Budget provides operating support totaling over $5.8 billion to transit systems. The MTA will receive almost $5.3 billion (through a combination of appropriated and non-appropriated resources), an increase of $287 million from FY 2019, and other transit systems will receive a record-high $568 million of annual operating assistance. The Budget also moves the MTA Aid Trust Account directly to the MTA, and includes an $11 million appropriation for transit service over the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
• The FY 2020 Executive Budget raises new revenues for Upstate transit systems by expanding an auto rental surcharge currently applied just in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) to the entire state. New revenues total $11 million in the coming year ($22 million in future years), and will be used to provide added support for Upstate systems that serve many of the most economically disadvantaged, disabled, and elderly riders throughout the State.
• The FY 2020 Executive Budget includes legislation to implement Congestion Tolling in Lower Manhattan. This program, while not reflected in State appropriations, will reduce congestion in the area while providing needed funding for MTA subway and other transit capital improvements. The Budget also includes legislation to directly address bus lane violations that have contributed to reduced MTA bus speeds.
• The FY 2020 Executive Budget includes legislation to substantially improve the safety of limousines, buses, taxis, and liveries throughout New York State. The legislation would ban certain types of stretched or modified vehicles, strengthen civil and criminal penalties for violations, and significantly enhance the Department’s authority to take dangerous vehicles off the road. The legislation will also establish a $120 fee on inspections of certain for-profit buses, limousines, and other liveries under the jurisdiction of the Department. The fee will defray DOT’s costs of performing the inspections, and disincentivize poor maintenance practices that require repeated inspections of the same vehicle.
• To help the State realize the full value of its assets, the Budget includes legislation that would authorize DOT to enter into agreements with fiber-optic utility companies to occupy State rights of way. Such agreements are projected to provide potential revenue to the State of $15 million in FY 2020, $30 million in FY 2021, and $50 million annually thereafter.
• Capital Aid to Local Governments for highway and bridge projects is preserved at FY 2019 levels, with $438.1 million provided for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) and $39.7 million for the Marchiselli program. The Executive Budget also continues the State’s commitment to providing $100 million for local bridge projects through the BRIDGE NY program, and $100 million for local highway improvements through the PAVE NY program.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Transportation (PDF)

Program Highlights

Highway Construction and Maintenance: Improving the State’s vital transportation infrastructure remains the agency’s highest priority. During 2017-18, the Department replaced or rehabilitated a total of 204 State bridges and completed 5,973 corrective and preventive bridge treatments to slow deterioration. In addition, 1,815 lane miles of State highway were resurfaced or reconstructed. Construction of virtually all highway and bridge projects is performed by private firms, while most corrective and preventive maintenance activities are performed by DOT staff.

Engineering: State staff and private-sector consultants perform the planning, property acquisition, design engineering, environmental reviews, surveying, materials and soils testing, and construction inspection necessary to deliver the Department’s capital program.

Local Highway Aid: The State makes a significant investment in helping localities maintain safe roads and bridges through the CHIPS, Marchiselli, BRIDGE NY and PAVE NY programs. The CHIPS program provides aid to cities, counties, towns and villages on a formula basis, while the Marchiselli program helps local governments meet required matching requirements on Federally funded projects. The BRIDGE NY and PAVE NY programs were created in the FY 2017 budget and provide additional State aid for local bridge and highway projects.

Transportation Safety and Environmental Compliance: Department staff perform safety inspections of school buses throughout New York State. In addition, the Department administers safety and emissions inspections of commercial trucking on State highways, as well as a comprehensive program to ensure public safety along the State’s commercial rail corridors.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 1/15/2019