Infra Insight Blog

Last week FRA issued a notice of grant funding of $318 million for rail infrastructure and safety improvements through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement Grants Program known as CRISI. The deadline for applications is September 17, 2018.

CRISI grants are designed to assist with financing passenger and freight rail system improvements to achieve safety, efficiency, and reliability benefits. Eligible applicants include states, public agencies, Amtrak, and Class II and Class III rail carriers and railroad or equipment manufacturer working with ...

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently penned a Dear Colleague letter regarding the Agency’s implementation of the Capital Investment Grants Program, stating that FTA will consider federal loans or financing tools in the context of all federal funding sources for a project, implying that such financing assistance will be calculated as part of a transit project’s federal share. Other modal agencies consider federal loan programs, such as TIFIA or RRIF, to be part of a project’s non-federal share.[1]

The letter has caused a significant amount of discussion in the ...

Sponsors of critical maritime transportation projects received welcome news this week, as the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for America’s Marine Highway Projects. This notice makes available roughly $7 million in recently-appropriated funds for the Short Sea Transportation Program (46 U.S.C. § 55601), commonly referred to as America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) is in charge of this important, but perhaps not well-known, program:  The America’s Marine Highway ...

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) recently released its State of Freight III – Rail Access and Port Multimodal Funding Needs Report.  For its report, AAPA surveyed its members to determine what aspects of rail infrastructure ports most need.

We thought it would be informative to talk with John Young, AAPA’s Director of Freight & Surface Transportation's Policy, about the survey results and the report.

Nossaman:

John, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.  Can you please tell us a little bit about the AAPA?

John Young:

AAPA represents 130 public port ...

A joint venture lead by Capital Development Partners, an industrial real estate and infrastructure development company, has begun construction on a $125 million logistics campus at the Port of Savannah in Georgia, known as the Savannah Port Logistics Center.

The 197-acre industrial campus will offer dual rail service by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation. The site also will offer transload capability and more than 2,000 container storage positions, according to a Capital Development Parners press release.

The first building to be constructed as part of ...

Last week the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao notified Congress of DOT’s INFRA grant winners.  The Chicago CREATE program will receive over $132 million to reduce congestion where multiple railroads intersect and to eliminate automobile traffic delays by separating rail and automobile traffic.  In Ohio, the Ohio Rail Development Commission will receive over $16.2 million to improve 30 miles of rail line.

The INFRA program formerly known as the FASTLANE program focuses on highway projects, but projects that shift freight to other modes of transportation are ...

On June 8, 2018, the City of Los Angeles, acting through the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Board of Airport Commissioners, and LAX Integrated Express Solutions, LLC (LINXS) successfully reached financial close on the $4.9 billion agreement for the APM project.

After reaching commercial close with LAWA on April 11, 2018, LINXS proceeded to secure equity contributions and to arrange and close both bond and bank financings for the project.  Private financing for the project is comprised of approximately (a) $1.2 billion in private activity bonds issued by the California Municipal ...

Today, US DOT is formally announcing 26 INFRA grant award winners.  The INFRA program is the Administration’s rebranding of the former FASTLANE grant program, authorized by the 2015 FAST Act.  Both programs were intended to prioritize highway projects, although congestion-reducing rail and port infrastructure projects are eligible.

Among the 26 winners is the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PhilaPort), which received a $25.5M grant for a $110.5M project to improve the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. The project will add capacity to modernize the Terminal, including ...

A new Government Accounting Office report says the Federal Transit Administration has failed to meet three statutory requirements (two from MAP-21 and one from the FAST Act) related to the Capital Investments Grant program, the primary source of federal funding for commuter, light rail, subway, ferry and bus rapid transit projects.  FTA says it has no plans to do so.

GAO says FTA has not issued regulations for rating Core Capacity Improvement projects; established a grant program for simultaneous development of multiple transit projects; or implemented a pilot program for ...

In an effort to promote project flexibility, funding innovation, efficiencies and timely implementation, this week the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released its final rule regarding P3s (and other private involvement) in public transportation projects.

The primary goal of FTA’s Private Investment Project Procedures (or PIPP), new 49 C.F.R. Part 650, is to identify and address FTA requirements that are impediments to the greater use of public-private partnerships and private investment in public transportation capital projects, while protecting the public ...