(National) DOT awards US$742.5m in recovery act funds to 11 transit projects

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on May 7 that it will award $742.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to 11 transit projects located in nine states. The awardees include light rail projects in Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Washington.

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More at Environmental Expert

http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=11245&codi=50583&lr=1

(National) Senators Hear From Obama’s Transit Chief-in-Waiting

One of the Capitol's sad, secret truths is that members of Congress often skip committee hearings on issues of vital importance to their states -- and today's confirmation session with Peter Rogoff, the president's nominee to lead the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), was no exception. Just three members of the Senate Banking Committee showed up to question Rogoff, a 22-year veteran of the Senate's transportation appropriations panel. But lawmakers from both parties demonstrated an acute awareness that the FTA needs to revamp the arduous process of funding mass transit projects.

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More at StreetsBlog

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/05/13/senators-hear-from-obamas-transit-chief-in-waiting/

(National) Status of the Highway Trust Fund Updates Available from the Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Highway Administration’s Web site provides a Web page detailing the status of the highway trust fund. The actual receipts, outlays and balances will be posted each month shortly after month-end as the information becomes available.

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More at FHWA

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwaytrustfund/index.htm

(National) DOT Program Changes Focused on Performance are Key to Oberstar Plan For Transportation Bill, BNA Reports

The Department of Transportation would undergo major program restructuring under the next surface transportation authorization, according to a handwritten outline of the bill being circulated by House Transportation Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and obtained by BNA's Daily Report for Executives.

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More at PR NewsWire

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-08-2009/0005022552&EDATE=

(National) Big Bucks and Big Ideas for Big Transportation Bill

According to a two-page hand-written outline by Rep. James Oberstar. chairman of the House Transportation Committee, that’s making the rounds in D.C., the Department of Transportation is in for a major reworking when the big surface transportation reauthorization bill is unveiled in a few weeks. The Minnesota Democrat wants to consolidate the agency, sharpen its focus and bring a measure of “transit equity” to how projects are funded.

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More at Wired Blogs
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/05/big-bucks-and-big-ideas-for-big-transportation-bill/

(National) California, Florida Top List to Secure High-Speed-Rail Funds

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood singled out California and Florida as leading candidates to secure federal funding for high-speed passenger-rail service. "California and Florida are way ahead of the curve," Mr. LaHood said Friday at a breakfast gathering in Washington. He stressed that no final decisions have been made.

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More at The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124179625738301017.html

(National) Fluor sees finance gap in U.S. projects

The flow of money once provided by public-private partnerships for large U.S. infrastructure projects has dried up, and the sector will likely require government money to fill the gap, a top executive at engineering and construction group Fluor Corp (FLR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday.

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More at Reuters.Com

http://www.reuters.com/article/Infrastructure09/idUSTRE54702C20090508

(National) Biden calls for transportation system overhaul

The country needs a radical restructuring of its transportation network in to compete with other countries and keep jobs at home, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday.

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More at Philly.Com

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/20090507_ap_bidencallsfortransportationsystemoverhaul.html

(National) LaHood: $742.5 Million in Federal Recovery Act Funds to Pay for Transit Projects in Nine States

Looks like rail is on track to get more money. When the stimulus bill passed with $8 billion allocated for high-speed rail–a big winner considering the House hadn’t included any money for it in the stimulus package and the Senate had only set aside $2 billion – it was clear that it was the surprise winner.

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More at Construction Pundit

http://constructionpundit.equipmentworld.com/index.php/lahood-7425-million-in-federal-recovery-act-funds-to-pay-for-transit-projects-in-nine-states/

(North Carolina) may cancel planned cut in gas tax

North Carolina motorists might not get a break in gas and diesel fuel taxes this summer, after all.
The tax is scheduled to drop by 2 cents to 27.9 cents a gallon on July 1. The current tax, 29.9 cents, has been the highest allowed by state law since 2006.

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More at Charlotte Observer

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/710409.html

U.S. lawmaker aims to overhaul DOT

The U.S. government would overhaul how it plans and manages big-ticket highway and transit projects in an ambitious proposal being drafted by a senior Democratic lawmaker who oversees transportation. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar told the Reuters Infrastructure Summit on Tuesday that his plan would reorganize the U.S. Transportation Department in order to streamline infrastructure spending programs.

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More at Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/Infrastructure09/idUSTRE5443S920090505

(Georgia) Perdue endorses transportation planning reforms

Gov. Sonny Perdue gave strong signs Monday that he plans to sign legislation reforming Georgia’s transportation bureaucracy, even though the bill that passed the General Assembly is significantly different from what he proposed.

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More at ABC

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/05/04/daily12.html

What’s Wrong With SAFETEA-LU — and Why the Next Bill Must Be Better

Transportation funding from Washington has been heavily weighted toward highway spending ever since President Eisenhower first proposed the Interstate Highway Act in 1956. SAFETEA-LU, 2005’s federal transportation bill, was no exception. It provided $244.1 billion over five years, its revenues raised by the federal gas tax and directed to the Highway Trust Fund, which has both highway and mass transit accounts. $40 billion a year went to highways, most of which was used to expand and upgrade the Interstate highway system; some $10 billion went annually to mass transit.

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More at StreetsBlog

http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/04/28/what%E2%80%99s-wrong-with-safetea-lu-%E2%80%94-and-why-the-next-bill-must-be-better/

U.S. transportation needs are colossal, and so are funding challenges

Stimulus money and the forthcoming federal transportation bill promise to provide big bucks for roads, bridges and transit lines across the United States, but experts warn that looming budget deficits and other problems could still make it difficult to deliver the long-term investment that most people believe is necessary.

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More at Finance and Commerce

http://www.finance-commerce.com/article.cfm/2009/04/29/US-transportation-needs-are-colossal-and-so-are-funding-challenges

(Georgia) Macon Transit Asks For $1 Million to Stay Afloat

Financial problems have the Macon Transit Authority scrambling to make the bus system stay on course. As the economy continues to tighten the city and county budgets, the Macon transit system's finances are also veering off course. Transit Authority CEO Carl Jackson is asking city and county leadership for close to one million dollars as a short term fix to make it through June 30th.

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More at WMGT

http://wmgt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=918&Itemid=2

(Maryland) $20M in stimulus funding slated for Baltimore Metro Subway work

The Maryland Transit Administration said Thursday it would spend $20 million in improvements to the Baltimore Metro Subway with funds from the federal stimulus package.

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More at Baltimore Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/04/13/daily40.html

(Connecticut) Experts tell Dodd state needs more mass transit money

Shortly after President Obama described his hopes for high-speed rail lines Thursday morning, transportation experts from around Connecticut were testifying about mass transit's importance to the man who will be in the thick of drafting a new plan for federal transportation spending later this year.

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More at The Day

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=726e849d-d3f7-46b6-9cbe-0cf096c8a675

(Tennessee) Governor Identifies 450 Transportation Projects for Funding

"The Recovery Act is fundamentally about creating and retaining jobs during one of the toughest economic times our nation and state have faced since the Great Depression," said Governor Bredesen. "This three-tiered program represents a record investment in Tennessee's transportation system. The Recovery Act, along with the bridge bonding and TDOT's regular program, will put thousands of Tennesseans to work rebuilding and strengthening one of Tennessee's largest economic drivers, our transportation system."

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More at TN.Com

http://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/1269

(New York) $167 million coming to Hudson Valley for infrastructure through stimulus package

The Hudson Valley is expected to receive at least $167 million in transportation and infrastructure funding through the federal economic stimulus package. The highway, road repair, bridge work and other infrastructure projects are anticipated to create some 4,000 jobs.

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More at Mid-Hudson News

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/April09/14/Stimul_HV-14Apr09.htm

(National) President Obama at DOT: "Ahead of schedule and under budget"

Only a little more than month ago, President Obama and Vice President Biden gave the good people here at DOT the honor of a joint visit to our headquarters. Today, they doubled that honor with a return joint visit.

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More at USDOT

http://fastlane.dot.gov/

(National) Stimulus tallies 2,000 transportation projects

President Barack Obama says two rare phrases describe how his administration is spending billions in stimulus money on roads: "ahead of schedule" and "under budget."

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More at Associated Press

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h8H6GQ9kGKeLnf6cASh0DnZJjZBQD97HE8O80

(Georgia) MARTA backers rally for special session on funding

Fulton County lawmakers Wednesday called on Gov. Sonny Perdue to order a special session of the General Assembly to take up a funding bill for MARTA.

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More at ABC

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/04/06/daily61.html

(National) Stimulus Aid Being Doled Out, Slowly

Building repairs are underway on public housing in Imboden, Ark., and Cumberland, Ill., states across the country are receiving money to weatherize the homes of low-income residents, and the Silver Star Construction Co. is about to start work on two road-resurfacing projects in south-central Oklahoma with a total cost of $12 million.

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More at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/09/AR2009040904545.html?hpid=topnews

Raleigh, Durham mayors differ over transit-funding bill

Mayor Bill Bell said Thursday he and his counterpart in Raleigh have "agreed to disagree" about the need to amend a transit-funding bill coming up for a key vote soon in a N.C. House committee.

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More at Herald-Sun

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1137662.cfm

(North Carolina) Federal stimulus money keeping projects alive, N.C. official says

Money from the federal stimulus package is keeping alive highway projects that would otherwise have been tabled because of continuing budget shortfalls, North Carolina's secretary of transportation said yesterday. Gene Conti, appointed to the post in January by Gov. Bev Perdue, spoke during the monthly meeting of the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation.

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More at Journal Now

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/apr/09/federal-stimulus-money-keeping-projects-alive-nc-o/

(Massachusetts) Massachusetts Looking to New York for Clues on Funding Transport

As a result of today’s difficult economic circumstances, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is facing a $160 million budget deficit and the state government is pushing for major reforms to prevent the agency from again falling into the fiscal hole. After being prodded on by Governor Deval Patrick (D), the state House and Senate are currently considering legislation that would radically alter the face of Massachusetts transportation by combining the MBTA and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority into a new Massachusetts Transportation Authority. The formulation - transit services plus toll-raising bridges, tunnels, and roadways - closely follows the form of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

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More at The transport Politic

http://thetransportpolitic.com/2009/04/06/massachusetts-looking-to-new-york-for-clues-on-funding-transport/

(Florida) Transportation projects recommended for stimulus

A number of Polk County transportation related projects have been recommended to receive approximately $29.5 million in federal stimulus money, Florida Department of Transportation officials announced Friday.

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More at News Chief

http://www.newschief.com/article/20090404/NEWS/904045037/1009/LIVING?Title=Transportation-projects-recommended-for-stimulus

(Georgia) Lawmakers adjourn without transportation funding solution

The Georgia General Assembly ended its 2009 session Friday night without acting on transportation funding, an issue business leaders in metro Atlanta and across the state had labeled their top priority.

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More at ABC

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/03/30/daily121.html

(Massacusetts) Mass. House unveils transportation reform bill

Massachusetts House leaders are pushing a bill that would strengthen the governor's control over transportation funding and give him oversight of the troubled MBTA.

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More at News 10

http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=10128316

(Georgia) Senators say transportation funding is off the tracks

Three Senate leaders are all saying that the probability of an agreement on a penny sales tax for transportation improvements in Georgia is all but dead this year. One senator in a position of high leadership said the bill would not pass as he rushed into House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s office just now.

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More at AJC

http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/2009/04/03/senators-say-transportation-funding-is-off-the-tracks/?cxntfid=blogs_gold_dome_live