Infra Insight Blog

Today the Federal Transit Administration published final policy guidance to augment its New and Small Starts Program final rule published earlier this year.  The final rule established how the Federal Transit Administration evaluates new major transit projects that seek assistance under these funding programs authorized by Section 5309 of Title 49, U.S. Code.  The final rule does not address changes made by the MAP-21 legislation signed last July, rather it addresses parts of the program left unchanged by the 2012 legislation.

The New and Small Starts programs were developed as the ...

Before departing Washington, DC for the traditional August Congressional recess, Congressmen Mike Rogers (R-AL-3) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11) announced that they are forming the Congressional Caucus on Public-Private Partnerships, or the Congressional P3 Caucus.  In the press release announcing the caucus, Rogers says that he hopes the group will help raise awareness of infrastructure issues and examine public-private partnerships across the country.  Congressional caucuses are formed by Members seeking to work collectively on issues, usually with the goal of increasing ...

A lawsuit recently filed by Scenic America strikes at a guidance issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2007 related to the use of changeable electronic variable message signs (CEVMS) also known as digital billboards.  These CEVMS, which are seen with increasing frequency on sites adjacent to and intended to be viewed from the highway right of way, rely on state of the art digital technology to provide changeable, high definition commercial messages to the traveling public.

The FHWA guidance being challenged addresses an issue raised by the Highway ...

On August 1, 2013, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and request for comments regarding proposed changes to FHWA’s design-build regulation that would eliminate a requirement for proposers to submit base proposals where the contracting agency allows them to submit alternative technical concepts (ATCs) in their proposals.  ATCs have proved to be highly beneficial, encouraging innovation, cost savings and reduction of environmental impacts and increasing the overall value to procuring agencies through the best value ...

Earlier this year the SHRP 2 Program and the Transportation Research Board issued a report entitled The Effect of Public-Private Partnerships and Non-Traditional Procurement Processes on Highway Planning, Environmental Review and Collaborative Decision Making, which is available on the TRB website.

Public-private partnerships (P3s) have become an important tool in developing and financing infrastructure improvements, and are being used by transportation agencies across the nation.  One issue faced by agencies wishing to explore the use of P3s concerns how P3 strategies ...

Last week the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) conducted a two-day industry workshop at the Golden Nugget Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, for Project Neon, a freeway improvement project on the west side of Las Vegas. More than 200 attendees, including major international developers and local contracting firms, learned about NDOT’s plans to procure the first phase of the project (the P3 Phase) under an availability payment approach where the winning bidder would design, build, finance, operate and maintain the project for approximately a 35-year term. This ...

On July 26, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) held its awards dinner for the 25th Annual P3s in Transportation Conference.   Each year during this dinner, the ARTBA P3 Division honors projects that exemplify the value of P3s in the United States and also recognizes two individuals, one public sector and one private sector, for their exemplary contributions to the development, growth and public education of P3s.  

This year, the Ohio River Bridges – East End Crossing and its public and private participants swept the awards dinner.  The project won Project ...

State agencies have increasingly turned to alternative contracting methods such as design-build and public-private partnerships to deliver highway construction projects.  As a result, the use of performance-based specifications has also increased.

To provide a better understanding of how these specifications function, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) recently released Legal Research Digest 61, which provides an overview of performance-based specifications, explores how they differ from traditional design or method-based specifications, and explains the ...

Following up on our previous post regarding the uncertainty surrounding the application of Buy America requirements to utility relocations, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has recently released two documents that provide further clarification on the matter.

On July 11, 2013, USDOT circulated an internal memorandum to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Division Administrators and the Directors of Field Services acknowledging that the broadened application of Buy America has created implementation issues for the utility industry and caused ...

On July 23, the Georgia State Transportation Board (STB) voted to accept the selection of Northwest Express Roadbuilders (NWER) as the apparent best value proposer for the $840 million Northwest Corridor managed lanes P3 project located in Cobb and Cherokee Counties.  The project is the largest transportation infrastructure project in the history of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).  It includes two reversible tolled managed lanes along the west side of I-75 between its interchanges with I-285 and I-575.  Also, above the I-575 interchange, one reversible tolled ...