The latest funding deficit is blamed, not surprisingly, on COVID-19, which halted travel last year, depressing gas tax revenues, and led Gov. Gina Raimondo s administration to dip into funds for construction projects to balance the budget.
Last year the DOT projected a $20 million shortfall in gas tax collections, $30 million in diverted capital funds and a $20 million reduction in borrowing that wouldn t have gone to voters. The voter approval of this bond will provide necessary funding to continue improvements to Rhode Island roads, bridges, pedestrian and bicycle assets, our transit system, train stations, and ferry system, DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin wrote of the rationale for the bond.