Infra Insight Blog

On June 23rd, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the government’s Writ of Certiorari to review the decision of the D.C. Circuit that many believe may be hampering Amtrak’s leverage with freight railroads and its on-time performance.

According to Amtrak’s most recent issued Monthly Performance Report (May 2014), end station on-time performance (OTP) is approximately 74 percent so far this fiscal year (which started October 2013) down 12 percent from FY 2013, when the same performance measure finished at 85 percent.

While the particularly harsh winter weather may have been a ...

As speculation over the federal government’s forthcoming rule on rail shipments of crude oil grows, two items hit the press last week increasing speculation over the details of the reforms.

On July 15, 2014, Bloomberg reported that representatives from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) met with the Transportation Department at the Office of Management and Budget on July 11 to present a joint plan for the phase-out of older tank cars.  According to Bloomberg, two people familiar with the proposal, who were not identified, said ...

President Barak Obama today announced the Build America Investment Initiative (the Initiative).  According to the Fact Sheet released by the White House in advance of the announcement, the purpose of the Initiative is to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth by engaging with state and local governments and private sector investors to encourage collaboration, expand the market for public-private partnerships (PPPs) and put federal credit programs to greater use.

The transportation industry will be the first to benefit from the Initiative.

The Fact Sheet lays ...

The 141-year-old Baltimore and Potomac (B&P) Tunnel is a major bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor, but Amtrak, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are conducting a study to examine alternatives to improve or replace the tunnel. 

The two-track B&P Tunnel is used by Amtrak, Maryland's MARC Commuter Rail trains and Norfolk Southern freight trains. The track geometry of the outdated tunnel creates a low-speed bottleneck impacting approximately 85 Amtrak trains, 57 MARC commuter trains and one to two freight trains each day.

On June 12 and 13, 2014, Railway Age’s Crude by Rail Conference and Expo brought together representatives from the oil and gas industry, railroads, rail car manufacturers, Federal government, emergency response organizations and Wall Street, to address the implications of the dramatic increase in shipments of petroleum by rail (CBR).

Several informative presentations were made on tank car specifications and numerous other technical topics.  This posting will summarize the policy and regulatory issues.

Ed Hamburger, President of the Association of American Railroads ...

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) held its Rail Conference on June 15 through 18, 2014, in Montréal, QC.  In addition to the technical sessions for which APTA is well-known, a main theme of the Rail Conference was the nexus between transit and economic development.  The shift in themes demonstrates transit organizations’ changing philosophy from building and operating transit infrastructure to also catalyzing transit-oriented communities.  Much of the focus on transit and economic development relates to joint development and Transit-Oriented ...

According to a recently released study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a public-private partnership (P3) may be the most effective method to deliver a proposed expansion of the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center (SFVAMC) – but there are some barriers that need clearing.

The SFVAMC is a leading Veterans Administration (VA) medical center, having the largest research program in the national VA system, and providing one-third of the clinical education and curriculum for medical students and residents from the medical school at the University of ...

Many federal, state and local government agencies are looking for innovative and cost effective methods to deliver essential social infrastructure such as educational facilities, hospitals and criminal justice facilities and related infrastructure.  As a result, these agencies are increasingly interested in assessing and pursuing the P3 delivery model.  However, these agencies often lack clear statutory authority to use a P3 delivery model for social infrastructure.  Recognizing this gap, Nossaman has developed a model social infrastructure P3 bill, based on its extensive ...

Two measures have been introduced in the California legislature to respond to the growth of crude-by-rail volume in the state.

State Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) has introduced SB 1319, which would expand existing law regarding oil spills to cover inland waterways and direct the Governor to require the Administrator of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response to amend the California oil spill contingency plan to cover inland waterway spills, which would include any spills from railroads. 

Sen. Pavley told the LA Times, "We need to address the new and unique hazards of ...

The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies (TRB) has released its second volume of guidance addressing risks in project delivery, including risks associated with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  This second volume of guidance, entitled Guidance for Managing NEPA-Related and Other Risks in Project Delivery, Volume 2: Expediting NEPA Decisions and Other Practitioner Strategies for Addressing High Risk Issues in Project Delivery, (Volume 2) was submitted in March 2014 under the TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and ...