Surface Transportation: A Comprehensive Plan Could Facilitate Implementation of a National Performance Management Approach
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently issued the last of six interrelated rules to implement a new performance-based approach to federal surface transportation grant programs. Three of the six rules establish 17 total performance measures in the areas of safety, pavement and bridge conditions, and performance of the surface transportation system (congestion, freight movement, reliability, and air quality). Rulemaking was the first of three stages to implement the transportation perf...
Stakeholders in Global Smart City Market Seek New Funding Models to Monetize Projects
SANTA CLARA, Cal.– The capital-intensive task of transforming cities into seamless ecosystems is prompting governments to explore revenue sources beyond internal bodies and join hands with financial intermediaries and private investors. With the rising connectedness of things and people, the global smart city market could expand to $1.5 trillion by 2020 and prove to be one of the biggest investment avenues for private investors and institutions. The public sector will also look to new mechanisms...
Panel Sends USDOT Bill to House With Cuts, After Challenge on Infrastructure
The full House Appropriations Committee on July 17 approved a fiscal 2018 transportation funding bill that would make cuts in transit assistance and end the popular TIGER grants, after brushing aside a push by minority Democrats to add an infrastructure investment package. The bill adheres to 2018 spending levels for Highway Trust Fund programs as called for in the FAST Act. However, the bill also proposes to rescind another $800 million of authorized highway funds from state transportati...
Congress Deciding on Future Federal Spending in Infrastructure and Science
The House Appropriations Committee had a busy week, passing the remaining five (out of 12) appropriations bills this week, part of the process Congress goes through to create the federal budget. Here are the highlights of the bills affecting infrastructure and engineering. Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies National Science Foundation is funded at $7.3 billion, which is $133 million below FY17. However, the Appropriators ignored President Trump’s proposal to cut $$672 milli...
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $152.2 Million Loan to Riverside County Transportation Commission Toward Funding the I-15 Express Lanes Project
WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced that the Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau (Bureau) will provide a $152.2 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), at 2.84% with a term of 35 years after substantial completion for the I-15 Express Lanes Corridor Project (Project). The Project will be built along a 14.6-mile corridor of Interstate 15 (“I-15”)...
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $290.6 Million in Infrastructure Grants to 105 Airports
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $ 290.6 million in airport infrastructure grants to 105 airports in 38 states across the United States as part of the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The airport grant program funds various types of airport infrastructure projects, including runways, taxiways, and airport signage, lighting, and markings which help to create thousands of jobs. “AIP grants will all...
MDOT Refunds Bonds, Saves Taxpayers Millions
Batesville, Miss.–The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) recently refunded H.E.L.P (Highway Enhancement through Local Partnerships) bonds for Marshall County on the Interstate 269 project saving the taxpayers of Mississippi $3,844,769, announced Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert. Refunding is the financial practice of refinancing governmental bonds; similar to when individuals refinance their homes. Bond refunding is used to achieve savings on interest costs. “The refund...
House Panel’s 2018 USDOT Bill Would End TIGER Grants, Cut Highway Funding Authority
House appropriators advanced a 2018 Department of Transportation spending bill that would eliminate TIGER infrastructure grants, make up to $900 million available for Amtrak Gateway projects in New York City, curb other new transit project funding and strip state DOTs of $800 million in highway program contract authority. In all, the measure would cut USDOT discretionary spending by $646 million from the level Congress approved for 2017, to $17.8 billion, with cuts to transit and the TIGER gr...
FHWA Tells State DOTs How Much Contract Authority They Lose This Year in Rescission
The Federal Highway Administration informed state departments of transportation how much each is losing as of June 30 in certain categories of highway program contract authority, as Congress required in the fiscal 2017 government funding bill that it sent to President Trump on May 4. The cuts, or "rescissions" in budget parlance, range in size. The FHWA notice listed California at the high end losing nearly $89 million in contract authority, Texas taking an $85 million hit, Ohio having $41 mi...
USDOT Re-Solicits for Most 2017 FAST Act Grant Funds, Combines With 2018 Round
In an overhaul of the infrastructure grant program authorized by the five-year Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, the U.S. Department of Transportation said it will take new applications over the next four months for about $710 million in 2017 grants, and combine those with the 2018 round for what it estimates will add up to $1.56 billion in all. The overhaul includes new application criteria, with a strong emphasis on maximizing the use of federal grant money to draw in other funds...
Video: Crashes Drop Measurably After Rural Road Safety Improvement Project on US 521 in Lancaster County
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June Issue 2026
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