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The city of Fort Collins, CO, seeks an operations manager for Transfort. [More]
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Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is looking for a chief innovation officer. [More]
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The Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans seeks qualified contractors to perform major body and mechanical repairs to transit vehicles. [More]
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Chao Addresses Senate THUD Subcommittee
DOT Secretary Elaine L. Chao testified on the president’s proposed FY 2018 transportation budget at a July 13 hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies.
Regarding the FY 2018 budget proposal to discontinue funding for new CIG projects, Chao said the program “supports projects that have primarily local direct benefits” and “the administration is re-examining programs where significant federal resources are spent on activities that have primarily local benefits—including what fiscal and other tools might be the most appropriate to encourage investment in those jurisdictions.” She noted that the budget honors funding commitments to projects with existing Full Funding Grant Agreements.
She said the TIGER grant program is no longer necessary because, “with the passage of the FAST Act and the creation of a new competitive grant program, the department has other opportunities for funding those projects that have nationally or regionally significant characteristics.”
Chao noted that federal investments would be targeted at what she called “the most transformative projects” and state, localities and tribes would be encouraged to take their own actions to improve their infrastructure. Chao also noted the role of the private sector in leveraging federal and state infrastructure investments.
To see the full text of Chao’s testimony, click here.
FTA Announces $226.5 Million in Transit Bus Grants
FTA is accepting applications through Aug. 25 for approximately $226.5 million in competitive grants for replacement and rehabilitation of buses and related facilities through the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program.
According to DOT’s most recent Conditions & Performance Report, public transit providers nationwide face a maintenance backlog of nearly $90 billion, including 10,000 buses estimated to be in poor or marginal condition. Designated recipients, states or local governmental entities that operate fixed route bus service and Indian tribes are eligible for the funds, with a minimum of 10 percent ($22.6 million) allocated for rural bus needs. Apply here.
EPW Committee Hears Testimony on TIFIA
In testimony at a July 12 hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Anne Mayer, executive director, Riverside County (CA) Transportation Commission (RCTC), called on the committee to “maintain mode neutrality for the TIFIA [Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act] program.”
RCTC, the funding agency for the county’s public transit agencies, received TIFIA grants for two highway projects.
“Projects applying for TIFIA assistance should be judged on their financial feasibility, repayment capability and their ability to move forward once financing is approved,” Mayer testified, “not be selected based upon any arbitrary desire to advance one transportation mode or outcome over another.”
EPW Committee Chair John Barrasso (R-WY) said at the hearing, “Leveraging public funding to maximize private investment is a tool the administration strongly supports,” although he noted that “Solutions to address and pay for fixing our nation’s crumbling roads and bridges are not ‘one-size-fits-all.’ … I believe that, working together in a bipartisan way, this committee can find transportation solutions that work for both rural and urban America.”
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