Surface Transportation Reauthorization News

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that applications to the U.S. Department of Transportation for its seventh round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants totaled $9.8 billion, almost 20 times the $500 million set aside for the program, demonstrating the continued need for transportation investment nationwide. The demand for infrastructure investments from across the nation, and for all types of transportation projects, has been overwhelming. Among the 625 applications received this year, 60 percent are road projects, 18 percent are transit projects, and 8 percent are rail projects; with port and bicycle-pedestrian applications each representing 6 percent of the total.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator, Chip Jaenichen, today joined Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, Congressman Rick Nolan, Duluth Mayor Don Ness, local officials and port representatives in the groundbreaking of the Port of Duluth Intermodal project. A $17.7 million project, received $10 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER discretionary grant program. This project will connect water, road and rail infrastructure which will increase freight capacity and efficiency at the port. “When we invest in port infrastructure, we invest in an efficient transportation system that connects goods to Americans and American communities to opportunity,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

Rep. Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) will be joined by Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) and major goods movement leaders from both the public and private sector at a press conference on April 21, 2015, to call for Congressional passage of a surface transportation reauthorization bill that specifically includes dedicated funding for rebuilding and upgrading our nation’s crumbling freight infrastructure. This “Call to Action” event is meant to both elevate the awareness of freight infrastructure investment needs and present Congress with options for addressing those needs. Congressman Lowenthal will discuss his freight infrastructure funding legislation, H.R.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, and Maritime Administrator Chip Jaenichen at the Wando Welch Terminal Project in Charleston as part of the secretary’s four-day, five state GROW AMERICA Express bus tour aimed at encouraging Congress to act on a long-term transportation bill. Current surface transportation funding is set to expire on May 31st. “The infrastructure we’re helping to build here at the Wando Welch Terminal means a safer, more efficient, and economically competitive facility,” said Secretary Fox.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the recognized and authoritative voice of the seaport industry, yesterday noted some positive aspects but mostly disappointment over the funding levels and programmatic changes in federal port-related programs that were proposed today in President Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget. “International trade now accounts for fully 30 percent of the U.S. economy,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO. The President’s budget includes a $478 billion, six-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal, to be paid for with transition revenue from business tax reform. The proposal would pay for repairs to existing roads and bridges…

Last July, President Obama announced the Build America Investment Initiative, an Administration-wide effort aimed at boosting private investment in our nation’s infrastructure. And Friday, Vice President Biden announced new steps that federal agencies are taking to bring private sector capital and expertise to bear on improving our nation’s roads, bridges and broadband networks. These actions and announcements are the first steps that the Administration is taking as part of the Build America Investment Initiative’s two-year action plan. These steps highlight important progress within DOT.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced a $10.8 million TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant for the rehabilitation of the Wando Welch Terminal project, one of 72 transportation projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia that will receive a total of approximately $600 million from the Department of Transportation’s discretionary grant program. Maritime Administrator Paul ‘Chip’ Jaenichen visited the Port of Charleston today to tour the project site and meet with port officials.

The Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation published its final report on United States freight transportation, offering an assessment of its current condition with recommendations for strengthening nationwide infrastructure and U.S. economy. The panel, led by its Chairman, U.S. Rep John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) and Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), was founded by Full Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall, II (D-W.Va.) in April 2013 to examine U.S. freight transportation, the role it plays on the nation’s economy and ways in which it may be improved, including financially, structurally and technologically. Direct the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of the Army and the Commandant of the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD), has designated particular ports around the United States as “strategic seaports.”  Strategic seaports are designated because of their ability to support major force and material deployments in times of war and national emergency, based on their proximity to deploying military units and their transportation links close to those units, and varying other capabilities the DOD has deemed important…

America’s Ports, Freight System Recognized in MAP-21 Surface Transportation Bill Reauthorization. With congressional passage today of MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century), the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) says elements in the two-year, $105 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill elevate the priority of freight movement in a way that constitutes major progress in recognizing the value of America’s seaports and freight network to the economy, jobs creation and business development.

U.S. Rep. John Mica To Accept AAPA ‘Port Person Of Year’ Award At March 20 Event Luncheon. AAPA Centennial ‘Spring Conference’ Speakers Will Focus On Raising Priorities For Freight Infrastructure. U.S. Congressman John Mica (R-FL) will be honored on March 20 as the American Association of Port Authorities’ (AAPA) “Port Person of the Year” during the association’s 100th anniversary Spring Conference event, March 19-20, at The Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel. Celebrating its first century as the Western Hemisphere’s leading trade association representing port authorities…

President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate David T. Matsuda, Administrator, Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation. David T. Matsuda has been serving as Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of the United States Maritime Administration since July 2009. He is a transportation professional with more than a decade of experience in federal transportation policy, programs and oversight. Prior to his current position, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), where he served as a chief policy advisor and focused on issues including surface transportation reauthorization…