Operating costs and spending are outpacing revenue at the Maryland Department of Transportation, leaving the state grappling with a projected $1.3 billion gap in its six-year capital spending plan. That draft was released Tuesday.

Thanks to legislative action and a pull from the state’s rainy-day fund, the gap isn’t as bad as state officials estimated it would be last year. But it is forcing the MDOT to make hard choices: namely delaying on projects that haven’t started yet.

For instance, officials are largely holding off on electrifying the Maryland Transit Administration bus fleet. It could put a dent in the state’s climate goals: the Maryland Zero Emission Bus Transition Act, passed in 2021, banned the state from buying non-electric buses after 2022. State Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters those buses can cost $1.4 million, twice the price of a diesel bus.

Most planning studies for future projects will also be suspended. Tuesday’s draft plan does not outline every project that is up for deferral.

Some projects continue to have the green light.

The Red Line will move on as planned, for now, as the draft contains $158 million for that west-east line across Baltimore City. In June, Governor Wes Moore revealed that route will be a light rail line rather than the less expensive bus-rapid transit option. Funding for the Purple Line, a light rail system connecting Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, will also remain intact.

Projects like Amtrak’s Frederick Douglass Tunnel in West Baltimore and the CSX’s Howard Street Tunnel renovation should go on as planned since they are largely federally funded.

The final transportation capital spending plan gets approved by the legislature during the General Assembly.