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 44,475 State highway lane-miles and nearly 7,700 State highway 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 Albany, 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.

Major Programs

Highway Construction and Maintenance

Improving the State’s vital transportation infrastructure remains the agency’s highest priority. During 2024, DOT replaced, rehabilitated, or improved 3,173 bridges statewide and performed maintenance on an additional 1,802 bridges. In addition, approximately 2,381 lane miles of State and local highway were improved.

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 several distinct funding 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 Operation Pave Our Potholes, Extreme Winter Recovery, State Touring Routes, BRIDGE NY and PAVE NY programs 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.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2026 Executive Budget recommends $14.3 billion in appropriations for the Department, a $1 billion decrease from the FY 2025 budget. This year-to-year change primarily reflects adjustments to reflect the composition of the five-year DOT Capital Plan netted with anticipated increases in revenues that support statewide transit systems.

The FY 2026 Executive Budget includes a workforce of 8,495 FTEs for the Department.

Major budget actions include:

• DOT Capital Plan. The Executive Budget provides funding for the fourth year of a record five-year, $34.1 billion DOT Capital Plan that ensures stronger State and local roads and bridges for years to come. This record level of investment provides DOT with resources necessary to renew, modernize and continue to drive economic development in local communities. The five-year Capital Plan is aligned with Federal funding commitments made in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). FY 2026 funding includes $800 million to restore the purchasing power lost to rising construction costs and ensure that planned projects remain on track.

• Transit Operating and Capital Support. The Executive Budget contains appropriations sufficient to provide operating support totaling $9.0 billion to statewide transit systems. The MTA will receive $8.0 billion in operating aid (through a combination of appropriated and non-appropriated resources), and other transit systems both Upstate and Downstate will receive $937 million in annual operating assistance. The Executive Budget also provides $220 million in Non-MTA transit capital assistance appropriations: $120 million that was previously scheduled for FY 2026 in the DOT Capital Plan, and an additional $100 million, which includes $20 million to continue aiding local transit agencies with the transition to electric buses

• Highway and Bridges. Capital Aid to Local Governments for highway and bridge projects remains at FY 2025 levels, with $598.1 million provided for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) and $39.7 million for the Marchiselli program. The Executive Budget also provides $200 million for local bridge projects through the BRIDGE NY program, and $200 million for the Pave Our Potholes program for state and local roads. The Executive Budget will also continue funding for the PAVE NY, State Touring Routes, and Extreme Winter Recovery programs at FY 2025 levels.

• Gateway Program. The Gateway Development Commission will receive $10.4 million for the payment of New York’s share of annual operating expenses for the program and continues to utilize nearly $69.3 million for New York’s share of costs for the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing – Section 3 project that was appropriated in FY 2025.

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

Briefing Book – Transportation

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/21/2025