The next step is for the M.T.A. board to approve the proposal, which is expected to happen this month .

The M.T.A. wants the state to contribute $3 billion, in addition to money raised through congestion pricing, a plan in which drivers will have to pay to enter the heart of Manhattan beginning in 2021.

The agency has asked the city also to put in $3 billion, which it has yet to agree to. But “probably the biggest question is, how much will the federal government provide?” Ms. Fitzsimmons said.

If the transit agency does not secure enough funding, she said, the plan will have to be smaller.

“It’s a long process,” she added. “It gets amended. People fight about the funding, but the hope is that some of these projects will start moving forward over the next year.”

There is a lot of work to be done

The time frame could be difficult for the M.T.A., which has struggled to complete projects on time and on budget.

The agency, for example, is still trying to reach an agreement with the federal government to complete the long-promised Second Avenue subway line.

Under the new capital plan, Ms. Fitzsimmons said, the M.T.A. could be installing elevators and subway signals simultaneously. She noted that Benjamin Kabak, the transit advocate who writes the Second Ave. Sagas blog, said he was unsure if the region had enough workers to complete all the jobs.