Murphy Administration Announces $1 Million in Bikeway Grants to Improve Quality of Life Without Burdening Local Property Taxes
(Trenton) -The Murphy Administration today announced Local Aid grants totaling $1 million to help five municipalities advance Bikeway projects that will improve quality of life without burdening local property tax payers. “The Department of Transportation does much more than just maintain roads and bridges,” NJDOT Acting Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “Our Local Aid grants support a variety projects, including the Bikeway Program, which improve our communities and the quality o...
NCDOT Awards Nearly $2 Million for Traffic Operations Center Communications
WILMINGTON – The N.C. Department of Transportation has awarded a $1.9 million contract to route cable and conduit along Interstate 140, from its U.S. 17 Business interchange in Brunswick County to the traffic operations center on Barbados Boulevard in Castle Hayne. The contract awarded to Fulcher Electric of Fayetteville will include a fiber-optic cable, which will enable traffic engineers to better monitor and report real-time travel conditions on I-140. Work is scheduled to begin as soon...
Fleet Advantage Unveils Report Addressing Impact of Latest Tax & Accounting Changes on Truck Procurement
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Fleet Advantage, a leading innovator in truck fleet business analytics, equipment financing, and lifecycle cost management announced today it has made public a new report titled: IMPACT OF LATEST TAX AND ACCOUNTING CHANGES ON EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. The report illustrates key business provisions and practical implications of the updates and how they affect Class-8 truck procurement and the lease vs. buy decision. Entering 2018, private fleets and f...
Fuel Prices Could Reach Four-Year Highs This Summer
Data tracked by the Energy Information Administration and AAA indicate U.S. fuel prices could reach levels not seen since 2014; a price spike that is largely a reflection of higher oil prices. EIA forecasts that regular gasoline will reach an average of $2.74 per gallon during what it calls the "summer season" – April through September – which would be the highest average "summer price" for gasoline in four years. That's also 26 cents per gallon higher compared to the average price for gasoli...
I-95 Coalition and DelDOT Launch Mileage-Based User Fee Study
The I-95 Corridor Coalition, with the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) as the lead, has launched a three month pilot study to begin exploring the feasibility of replacing the current fuel tax with a mileage-based user fee (MBUF). "The fundamental question we are beginning to address is, as fuel tax revenue declines in the future due to improving efficiency and the growing use of alternative fuel vehicles, how will we pay to maintain and build infrastructure?" said Secretary of T...
FHWA Distributes More Highway Funds, Plans Job Contract Changes
The Federal Highway Administration began formally distributing some $1.98 billion in highway infrastructure funding to the states on April 25 for the construction of highways, bridges, and tunnels – part of monies allocated by Congress via its fiscal year 2018 DOT appropriations act. This $1.98 billion of formula-based highway funds for states is in addition to the monies authorized in the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act level as part of the fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill....
Lawmakers Should Pursue Vehicle Mileage Tax to Save Highway Trust Fund: Study
Lawmakers should pursue a vehicle-mileage tax to rescue the struggling Highway Trust Fund, a right-leaning think tank argues in a new study. The American Action Forum (AAF) makes the case for a mileage-based tax and provides other suggestions for a long-term fix to the ailing fund, which pays for road projects and is headed for another shortfall at the end of 2020. “A mileage-based tax is a more stable alternative to the gas tax. Immediate implementation of a fede...
U.S. Department of Transportation Launches BUILD Transportation Program, Announces $1.5 Billion Notice of Funding Opportunity
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to apply for $1.5 billion in discretionary grant funding through the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants program. BUILD Transportation grants will replace the pre-existing Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. As the Administration looks to enhance America’s infrastructure, FY 2018 B...
FHWA Notice Clears Way for State DOTs to Tap Full FAST Act 2018 Highway Funding
State departments of transportation finally have access to all of their scheduled federal highway program funds for fiscal 2018, after the Federal Highway Administration issued a formal distribution notice April 16. That day the FHWA notified the state agencies of their full-year federal-aid highway program obligation limitation levels, which is the funding amounts they can obligate to projects during the federal budget year that ends Sept. 30. The FHWA action followed the March 23 enactme...
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $84 Million Funding Opportunity for Technologically Advanced Transit Buses
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced the opportunity for its grantees to apply for up to $84.45 million in competitive grant funds through FTA’s Low or No Emission (Low-No) Bus Program. The Low-No Program supports projects sponsored by local transit agencies to bring advanced, American-made bus technologies such as battery electric power and hydrogen fuel cells into service nationwide. "One of Secretary Chao’s priorities is...