Infra Insight Blog

Posted by guest blogger William Moore.

William Moore of Vianovo works with the Transportation Transformation Group,  a consortia of public and private entities that looks at ways of improving the funding and financing of the nation's transportation infrastructure, which is co-chaired by Nossaman Partner Geoffrey Yarema.

Don’t let anyone tell you the Bipartisan Budget Agreement (BBA) enacted this week by Congress and President Barack Obama is good for transportation. The BBA rolls back the sequester of discretionary spending scheduled for 2014 and 2015 and increases ...

On Saturday, December 21, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) celebrated the opening of the North Line in Houston, Texas.  The 5.3-mile northern extension of METRO’s Red Line includes eight new stations and connects the University of Houston-Downtown and the Northline Commons Mall, making the entire Red Line nearly 13 miles.

The opening of the first new rail line in 10 years is going to bring "positive changes for the community," interim METRO president Tom Lambert said.  As the first to serve residential neighborhoods, the line will allow METRO "to see how we ...

The Maryland Department of Transportation and Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT/ MTA) announced on December 11, 2013 that six private-sector teams responded to a Request for Qualifications to design, build, construct, finance, operate and maintain the Purple Line project.  The list of proposer teams is included in the joint press release.

The 16-mile light rail line, which will be constructed under Maryland’s newly adopted Public-Private Partnership law, runs between Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland and New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  ...

Recognizing the innovative P3 approach to project delivery and financial structure for a major US infrastructure project, the Bond Buyer awarded the Indiana Finance Authority's private activity bonds for the East End Crossing the Deal of the Year Award at its annual event held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.  Notably, this is the first P3 transaction to win the award.

The $1.2B East End Crossing, a portion of the $2.6B Ohio River Bridges project, one of the largest transportation undertakings in the U.S. and the first availability payment P3 for the Indiana Finance ...

The New York State Thruway Authority has received federal approval of a 35-year low interest loan for the $4.8 billion Tappan Zee bridge replacement project through the federal government’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).  As previously reported, the Authority originally applied for credit assistance for up to 49% of eligible project costs under the expanded MAP-21 TIFIA credit assistance program.  The final loan amount only covers 33% of eligible project costs, but is still the largest award in the history of the TIFIA program.  The ...

The Congressional Public Private Partnerships (P3) Caucus held its first public event on Tuesday, November 19 in the Cannon House Office Building.  Co-chairs Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Gerald Connolly (D-VA) were joined by caucus member John Delaney (D-MD) for an hour-long discussion entitled Innovating public service delivery with P3s."  Panelists were Porter K. Wheeler, Ph.D., P3 Policy Program at George Mason University; Drew Preston, Manager, Congressional and Public Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Matt Reiffer, Director, Transportation Programs, American Council ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking to hire a new Director of the Office of Infrastructure Finance and Innovation.

The Office of Transportation Policy is responsible for recommending overall surface transportation policy initiatives to the Secretary as well as reviewing all proposed Department of Transportation (DOT) rulemakings, legislation, testimony and reports to Congress.  Additionally, the office is responsible for reviewing economic analyses of air safety regulations, reviewing airport infrastructure programs, and planning air freight ...

On November 14, a bipartisan group of ten U.S. Senators, led by Mark Warner (D-VA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), introduced legislation to create a new independent Infrastructure Financing Authority (IFA) to issue loans and loan guarantees for transportation, water, and energy transmission, storage and distribution infrastructure.  S. 1716, titled the Building and Renewing Infrastructure for Development and Growth in Employment or BRIDGE Act, has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for review. Other cosponsors are Lindsey Graham (R-SC ...

The Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) issued its Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for an availability payments public private partnership for the financing, building and operating of the Indiana portion of the Illiana Corridor Project (the Indiana Portion) and I-65 Added Capacity Project (I-65 Project and collectively with the Indiana Portion, the Project) on November 12.  The Illiana Corridor Project is a collaborative effort among the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Indiana Department of Transportation, and IFA to construct a highway, approximately 46.8 ...

Last week I attended an invitation only round table organized by Karen Hedlund, Deputy Administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration.  The round table was held in conjunction with the High Speed Rail Conference held at LA Metro's headquarters in Los Angeles, California.  With the House T&I Committee expected to begin marking up a rail bill, Ms. Hedlund sought ideas about how to expand the Railroad Rehabilitation Improvement Financing credit program to be a more useful source of low cost debt capital for commuter rail projects.  Around for a number of years, RRIF has been ...