Infra Insight Blog

In a number of recent conversations regarding using Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) to deliver large infrastructure projects under an availability payment structure, I’ve heard a lot of angst by public owners over the cost of private finance and that AP’s may be viewed as debt by the rating agencies.  It’s true the rating agencies have indicated that AP’s can be considered debt for purposes of assessing an agency’s debt capacity but that’s only one aspect of the delivery method to consider.

S&P has issued several reports/FAQs regarding P3’s in the last couple of ...

Last month, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) formally unveiled its Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC). BATIC’s mission is to:

• Expand the use of federal transportation credit programs;

• Innovate new approaches to project development processes and funding challenges and institutionalize technology and best practice across credit programs and modal teams; and

• Deliver streamlined technical and financial assistance to accelerate project delivery

BATIC is intended to serve as a single point of contact for project sponsors to obtain ...

California has long been a transportation innovator, whether battery powered cars, high speed rail or the home of the first managed lanes facility in the United States—the SR91 Express Lanes.  The SR91 Express Lanes opened in 1995; the 10 mile project with two managed lanes in each direction connecting Orange County and Riverside County was originally developed as a P3 toll concession and acquired in 2003 by the Orange County Transportation Authority (and also featured the first fully electronic toll collection system in the world).  Additional managed lanes projects have been ...

This is the second of two posts about the recent Infrastructure Ontario 2015 Track Record Report.

As mentioned in the earlier post about Infrastructure Ontario’s 2015 Track Record Report, 98% of the infrastructure projects procured through the agency’s Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) program have been delivered on budget.

The report considers a project on budget if its final project cost (awarded contract amount plus utilized post contract contingency) was less than or equal to the awarded contract amount plus the budgeted post contract contingency set at ...

This is the first of two posts about the recent Infrastructure Ontario 2015 Track Record Report.

As the public-private partnership (P3) market in the United States continues to grow, U.S. agencies that are considering the use of P3s to deliver their infrastructure projects have often expressed a desire for more research related to this innovative delivery model.  Last week, Infrastructure Ontario, the agency tasked with delivering the Province of Ontario’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects, released its 2015 Track Record Report.

For the past three years ...

On September 28, 2015, the Texas Department of Transportation and Flatiron/Dragados, LLC  (Developer) entered into a comprehensive development agreement (Agreement) for the Harbor Bridge Replacement Project in Corpus Christi (the Project).  The new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge will allow larger ships to deliver their cargo to the Port of Corpus Christi, serving as an economic catalyst for the region and the State of Texas.  The current bridge was built in the late 1950s. Plans for a replacement bridge to improve safety have been in the works for more than a decade.  The proposed $800 ...

An Amtrak Blue Ribbon Panel formed in 2014 that included Nossaman partner Linda Morgan has released a report recommending how to fix the congestion plaguing Chicago’s rail network. As the hub of the U.S. rail network, the gridlock in Chicago has ripple effects throughout the nation.

As part of its year-long investigation of the causes and potential solutions to Chicago’s gridlock, the panel met with nearly 100 stakeholders and rail experts. The panel’s report resulting from these efforts includes the following recommendations:

• Ensure real-time coordination among ...

Expected to dramatically improve mobility in one of the more highly congested regions in Southern California, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority (Authority) completed the Foothill Gold Line from Pasadena to Azusa on September 23, 2015.  After achieving this milestone, the Authority turned the project over to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to complete testing and training and then operate the project.  Metro expects to announce a start date for passenger service within 30 days of turnover, and anticipates ...

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants fund billions of transit-related projects throughout the United States.  In an effort to improve the project delivery process for those projects, the FTA on September 3, 2015, announced the establishment of the Expedited Public Transportation Improvement Initiative (XPEDITE) in the Federal Register.  The FTA is soliciting participation in an online dialogue regarding XPEDITE, the goals of which are to facilitate the transit industry's implementation of the following:

• Proven technologies to improve service delivery and ...

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) is pursuing new public-private partnership (P3) legislation, Assembly bill ABX 1-12 (Bill 12).  Bill 12, introduced and read for the first time on August 26, 2015 at the California extraordinary session on transportation, would give LA Metro greater flexibility and autonomy to procure and finance transportation infrastructure in the LA Metro region.

LA Metro currently has authority under Section 143 of the Streets & Highway Code (Section 143) to deliver transportation projects using a P3 model with the use of ...