Good description about how government finance works. Several times, I had to run Budget Changes for federal money that exceeded my research budget capacity, or had to move a federally-funded project to some other division that did have budget capacity then manage it. That that's for agencies like the one I worked in where they are directly funded by the legislature and in the executive branch. There are also agencies with ongoing funding and set up in ways that can accept Other People's Money without legislative approval; transit agencies are often if not usually built that way. So I wouldn't give NJR a complete out on the funding thing just because they're a state operation.

OTOH, even operations that are largely self-funding for operation may need state money to match federal for big projects. PTC/PTS implementation certainly qualifies. So even if "free" federal money is available they might not be able to spend it if the legislature doesn't appropriate enough match. Private railroads do that for some projects, too; CMAQ and air district funding, for instance, rarely covers the cost of a complete genset or other super-low-emission locomotive, but it may cover enough to make the difference between that and a "normal" model.

Another thing to consider: Congress apparently authorized about $1B for assisting public agencies that need it for PTC installation. Unfortunately, that's less than 1/3 of what was estimated (at the time) as the cost. And as far as I know they haven't appropriated any of it yet, so there's nothing available to spend.

Congress *authorizes* a program with a gross funding level, but nothing can be spent until they *appropriate* it. Essentially, it's like a plan vs. a program in planning - policies in a plan, money sources and amounts identified in the program.

Finally, if LA Metrolink was able to meet the original PTC deadline (on its own tracks), as did SEPTA, why didn't the other transit operators treat it seriously? I don't think LA & Philly got an extra financial windfall - they had to give up something to make it happen.