Infra Insight Blog

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 ...

On June 3, the United States Banking Committee unanimously forwarded a bill (S. 2244 the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014) that would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (or TRIA) for seven years.  The bill forwarded by the Senate Banking Committee was introduced in April by Senators Schumer (D-NY), Kirk (R-IL), Reed (D-RI), Heller (R-NV) and has 23 cosponsors.

Chairman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services Subcommittee of the Housing and Insurance Committee is pursuing a three year reauthorization.  A ...

Wrapping up the 2013 P3 awards season, East End Crossing won the Projects Grand Prize as well as the Gold Prize for best P3 road project at the Partnerships Bulletin awards ceremony Thursday night at the Park Lane Hotel in London.  The toll bridge availability payment project in southern Indiana, USA, was the top winner among 7 other P3 projects nominated from around the world.  Attended by over 700 of the leading industry participants, the project was recognized for its innovative financing structure and well run procurement process.

Connecting Kentucky and Indiana over the Ohio ...

The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) 5th annual International Conference on Financing Surface Transportation will be held from July 9-11, 2014 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, CA.

The conference will examine the current status of transportation finance and future possibilities through thought-provoking program offerings with presenters from the fields of transportation research, government, and the private sector.

Conference sessions include:

• Innovation, Experimentation and Exploration – The Landscape of Transportation Funding and Finance ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation has initiated changes to its TIGER Application review process effective for the pending TIGER VI round of funding.  The most important change is that once a project receives a technical rating, that rating will not change during the remainder of the review process.

On May 28, 2014 the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report finding that in TIGER V round of funding, DOT did not document key decisions to accept and review late applications, advance projects with lower technical ratings instead of more highly-rated projects,  and ...

Last week, officials from Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and the Federal Railroad Administration and Indiana Governor Mike Pence gathered to celebrate commencement of construction on the Indiana Gateway Project.

The $71.4 million project, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will upgrade the rail line and right-of-way between Porter, Ind. and the Illinois state line.  Norfolk Southern will install universal crossovers at five locations and construct additional mainline track at three locations. 

Most significantly, NS will construct a new passing track at ...