Infra Insight Blog

As part of an effort to facilitate the use of public-private partnerships (P3s) in public transportation capital projects, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued on Monday a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that aims to streamline the project approval process.

Under the proposed Private Investment Project Procedures (PIPP) set forth in the NPRM, recipients of Federal funding for public transportation projects would be able to request a modification or waiver of specific FTA requirements if the recipient demonstrates that those requirements discourage the use of ...

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) released the Final Request for Proposals (Final RFP) for the procurement of the elevated 2.25-mile Automated People Mover train (APM) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on July 28, 2017. The Final RFP was provided to the three short-listed Proposer teams participating in the APM procurement.

The project is the first APM system to be procured through an availability payment public private partnership (P3) delivery model.  The selected Proposer will design, build and partially finance the APM system, and then will operate and maintain the ...

SH 130 Concession Company, the private entity that operates and maintains the 41-mile southern section of State Highway 130, has emerged from Chapter 11 protection with new ownership, new senior management and $260 million in new financing. The financial reorganization has removed $1.4 billion in debt from the balance sheet of SH 130 Concession Company and will significantly improve the liquidity of the business.

SH 130 Concession Co. operates and maintains Segments 5 & 6 of SH 130 from Mustang Ridge to Seguin, Texas. The road is owned by the Texas Department of Transportation, which ...

In Florida, All Aboard Florida, a private entity, is about to launch passenger rail service from Miami to West Palm Beach, with future service extending to Orlando. In California, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is currently constructing a high-speed passenger rail line with the long-term goal of connecting the metro areas of San Francisco and the Los Angeles.  These projects have a common denominator: each envisions intercity passenger rail service entirely within one state.  But when it comes to economic regulation by the federal government, these projects are treated ...

President Trump kicked off infrastructure week on Monday, June 5^th, by proposing to corporatize the U.S. air traffic control system, shifting about 35,000 workers, including unionized traffic controllers, technicians, and others, off of the government payroll, and removing the Federal Aviation Administration from its role operating the business that it regulates.  It’s an idea that has been in the national discourse since at least the 1980’s, and is supported by the major U.S. airlines and other key industry players, including the union representing air traffic ...

Among other policy initiatives, the Trump Administration has advocated for the need to improve the nation’s infrastructure in order to maintain America’s economic competitiveness. In its recently released 2018 proposed budget, the Administration included $200 billion in outlays related to its infrastructure initiatives.  The Administration’s budget also focuses on leveraging private sector involvement as part of the overall solution to reform and change how infrastructure projects are regulated, funded, delivered and maintained.

There have been reports that one ...

On Tuesday, May 16, 2017 the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold a hearing titled Leveraging Federal Funding; Innovative Solutions for Infrastructure.

The stated purpose of the hearing is for Senators to examine the need for more public sector funding and private sector financing in the Federal Highway Program.  To this end, the Subcommittee has scheduled the following individuals to testify on this topic:

• Eric Garcetti (Mayor, City of Los Angeles; Chair of U.S. Conference of Mayors Infrastructure ...

The Angels^® Flight Railway Foundation, represented by Nossaman LLP and Shumaker Mallory LLP, reached a historic agreement with a team led by ACS Group and including Sener Engineering and Systems, to put the iconic Angels Flight^® Railway in downtown Los Angeles back into service by this coming Labor Day.

The agreement utilizes a public-private partnership to restore the Railway to passenger service, through full-scale modernization and state-of-the-art safety improvements, and to operate and maintain it to industry standards for 30 years. Borrowing  a revenue risk concession ...

Last week the Orange County Transportation Authority executed the design/build contract for the I-405 Improvement Project with OC405 Partners, a joint venture consisting of OHL USA and Astaldi Construction Corporation.  With a contract price of $1,217,065,000 and a total estimated project cost of $1.9 billion, the project, which consists of 16 miles of reconstruction of one of the most congested corridors in the United States including 14 miles of tolled express lanes, is the largest highway project in California currently under development.

OCTA is a multi-modal county ...

A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal for the Third District heard oral arguments last week in the longstanding companion cases challenging the legality of AB 32’s cap and trade auctions. (California Chamber of Commerce v. California Air Resources Board and Morning Star Packing Co. v. California Air Resources Board)  The questions most frequently posed by the Justices related to the nature of payments made for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission credits, a contributor in the billions of dollars to the state general fund for programs designed to reduce greenhouse gasses ...