General
Legacy ID
10811
USDOT Releases National Deployment Plan for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Technologies to Reduce Death and Serious Injuries on America’s Roadways
WASHINGTON – Today, as part of its commitment to reducing deaths and serious injuries on our nation’s roadways, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the Saving Lives with Connectivity: A Plan to Accelerate V2X Deployment. This plan will guide the implementation of vehicle-to-...INVESTING IN AMERICA: Secretary Buttigieg Speaks to Thousands of Union Workers about the Pipeline of Projects Being Created by President Biden’s Infrastructure Law
Secretary Buttigieg: “The Biden-Harris infrastructure package is at the core of America's future, and your members are at the core of this good work”Final Rule Prompt Payment and Return Retainage requirements with rollout of a Tool and Toolkit for optional use by recipients/subrecipients
Requirements for TVMs in the New DBE Rule
A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Transportation
Secretary Buttigieg Testimony
Senate Appropriations – THUD Hearing
May 2, 2024
Chair Schatz, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget request for the Department of Transportation.
And thank you for your partnership as we have delivered safer, stronger transportation across every mode, across the country. Roadway fatalities are at last trending downwards, shipping costs are down as supply chains are running more smoothly, and airline cancellations last year were the lowest in a decade.
As you all know, we still have much more to do. We’re rebuilding not just from the pandemic, but from decades of disinvestment and an enforcement environment that for too long privileged corporations instead of protecting people.
The President’s budget request of $146.2 billion builds on the progress we’ve made and enables us to deliver on the important challenges and opportunities that remain.
I’ll start with our primary mission across every mode: safety.
On our roads, we have funded projects in every state to improve safety for all travelers. After years of going in the wrong direction, we have now had 7 consecutive quarters of declining deaths on America’s roadways. But this is still a national crisis, taking over 40,000 lives every year, and we are requesting $72 billion to improve America’s roads and bridges with an emphasis on safety and efficiency.
We are constantly reminded of the importance of transportation safety. The country watched in shock as a cargo ship struck and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, taking six lives, and closing a vital port. We are working across the Biden administration and with state, local, and private sector partners to help reopen the port as quickly as possible. We also immediately got to work with the state on the first steps toward rebuilding the bridge.
Turning to aviation, America was rightly alarmed when a door blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight. The FAA acted swiftly by grounding 737 MAX-9 aircraft until each plane was safe to return to the air. And the FAA is significantly increasing oversight of Boeing. The agency is also investing in the physical infrastructure, staffing, and technology of our national airspace and airports. We are requesting $26.8 billion for the FAA, which will support oversight of aircraft production, accelerate the modernization of the National Airspace System, increase the target to hire 2,000 air traffic controllers, and continue improving airports.
On our rails, we are modernizing infrastructure, fixing road-rail crossings, and improving service in places like Chicago, Illinois; Moore, Oklahoma; and between New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, just to name a few. We are requesting $16.4 billion, which, in addition to expanding and improving rail service, will allow us to increase the number of safety inspectors to 400, and add new staff to complete safety audits. We recently finalized the rule for safe train crew sizes, establishing what most Americans assumed was already the case, which was a minimum of two crew members generally applying to large freight trains. Indeed we are taking every step that does not require an Act of Congress—but we are also continuing to call on Congress to pass the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, which would provide much-needed authorities to keep passengers, workers, and communities safe.
Across the country, we’re repairing and replacing what existed, and building and modernizing for the future.
Last week, I was in Las Vegas for the groundbreaking of the new rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas – what will be the first true high-speed rail in the United States. It was a really good day – for the millions of Americans who will ride this train every year; for our truck drivers and supply chains that will benefit from less congested highways; for everyone across the country who will live in a climate with 800 million fewer pounds of carbon pollution annually. But it is more than each of those separate benefits – it is a celebration of the fact that America can still build massive, forward-looking, engineering marvels that make people’s lives better-- with the potential of many more to come.
This one project is creating good union jobs for 1,000 men and women who will maintain and operate the train line, plus another 10,000 good union construction jobs to build it.
Everywhere I go, I meet workers already benefiting from these jobs. I think about workers like the young veteran I met in Washington State who reminded me of so many people I got to know in uniform facing the challenges of building a civilian life. He talked about what it was like coming off active duty as a Marine, how hard it was to get on his feet. Then he said, “I came across this union. The amount of training I got, the amount of work stability, the level that I have to conduct myself at, the purpose that I have... prevented me from becoming a statistic.”
And now Jordan is the first person in his family to own a house. We know what it means to have these kinds of jobs. It means presents under the tree, it means a new car or truck in the driveway, it means a better future.
These benefits are being multiplied across tens of thousands of projects improving American transportation across the country and the millions of jobs they support, including the construction workers building livelihoods as they modernize America’s infrastructure – helping us build stronger supply chains, cleaner air, and safer, more affordable ways for every American to get where they need to go.
We’re making good progress – but there’s more to do, and we look forward to working with this committee to continue delivering for every community in this country.
Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
Budget Hearing – Fiscal Year 2025 Request for the Department of Transportation
Secretary Buttigieg Testimony
House Appropriations – THUD Hearing
April 30, 2024
Chair Womack, congratulations on taking the helm – our Department looks forward to working closely with you.
Chair, Ranking Member Quigley, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget request for the Department of Transportation.
And thank you for your partnership as we have delivered safer, stronger transportation across every mode, across the country. Roadway fatalities are at last trending downwards, shipping costs are down as supply chains are running more smoothly, and airline cancellations last year were the lowest in a decade.
As you all know, we still have much more to do. We’re rebuilding not just from the pandemic, but from decades of disinvestment and an enforcement environment that for too long privileged corporations instead of protecting people.
The President’s budget request of $146.2 billion builds on the progress we’ve made and enables us to deliver on the important challenges and opportunities that remain.
I’ll start with our primary mission across every mode: safety.
On our roads, we have funded projects in every state to improve safety for all travelers. After years of going in the wrong direction, we have now had 7 consecutive quarters of declining deaths on America’s roadways. But this is still a national crisis, taking over 40,000 lives every year, and we are requesting $72 billion to improve America’s roads and bridges with an emphasis on safety and efficiency.
We are constantly reminded of the importance of transportation safety. The country watched in shock as a cargo ship struck and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, taking six lives, and closing a vital port. We are working across the Biden administration and with state, local, and private sector partners to help reopen the port as quickly as possible. We also immediately got to work with the state on the first steps toward rebuilding the bridge.
Turning to aviation, America was rightly alarmed when a door blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight. The FAA acted swiftly by grounding 737 MAX-9 aircraft until each plane was safe to return to the air. And the FAA is significantly increasing oversight of Boeing. The agency is also investing in the physical infrastructure, staffing, and technology of our national airspace and airports. We are requesting $26.8 billion for the FAA, which will support oversight of aircraft production, accelerate the modernization of the National Airspace System, increase the target to hire 2,000 air traffic controllers, and continue improving airports.
On our rails, we are modernizing infrastructure, fixing road-rail crossings, and improving service in places like Chicago, Illinois; Moore, Oklahoma; and between New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, just to name a few. We are requesting $16.4 billion, which, in addition to expanding and improving rail service, will allow us to increase the number of safety inspectors to 400, and add new staff to complete safety audits. We recently finalized the rule for safe train crew sizes, establishing what most Americans assumed was already the case, which was a minimum of two crew members generally applying to large freight trains. Indeed we are taking every step that does not require an Act of Congress—but we are also continuing to call on Congress to pass the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, which would provide much-needed authorities to keep passengers, workers, and communities safe.
Across the country, we’re repairing and replacing what existed, and building and modernizing for the future.
Last week, I was in Las Vegas for the groundbreaking of the new rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas – what will be the first true high-speed rail in the United States. It was a really good day – for the millions of Americans who will ride this train every year; for our truck drivers and supply chains that will benefit from less congested highways; for everyone across the country who will live in a climate with 800 million fewer pounds of carbon pollution annually. But it is more than each of those separate benefits – it is a celebration of the fact that America can still build massive, forward-looking, engineering marvels that make people’s lives better-- with the potential of many more to come.
This one project is creating good union jobs for 1,000 men and women who will maintain and operate the train line, plus another 10,000 good union construction jobs to build it.
Everywhere I go, I meet workers already benefiting from these jobs. I think about workers like the young veteran I met in Washington State who reminded me of so many people I got to know in uniform facing the challenges of building a civilian life. He talked about what it was like coming off active duty as a Marine, how hard it was to get on his feet. Then he said, “I came across this union. The amount of training I got, the amount of work stability, the level that I have to conduct myself at, the purpose that I have... prevented me from becoming a statistic.”
And now Jordan is the first person in his family to own a house. We know what it means to have these kinds of jobs. It means presents under the tree, it means a new car or truck in the driveway, it means a better future.
These benefits are being multiplied across tens of thousands of projects improving American transportation across the country and the millions of jobs they support, including the construction workers building livelihoods as they modernize America’s infrastructure – helping us build stronger supply chains, cleaner air, and safer more affordable ways for every American to get where they need to go.
We’re making good progress – but there’s more to do, and we look forward to working with this committee to continue delivering for every community in this country.
Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
Unlocking Department of Transportation Financing for More Transit-Oriented Housing Development
Statement of Morteza Farajian, Ph.D., Executive Director, Build America Bureau,
U.S. Department of Transportation
Before the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Financing Programs to Further Transit-Oriented Development for Affordable Housing
June 18, 2024
Thank you, Chair Schatz, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith, and Members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to discuss Build America Bureau (Bureau) financing and transit-oriented development (TOD). In my testimony today, I will highlight the Bureau’s TOD authority, activities, and remaining challenges.
First, I will summarize what we do. The Build America Bureau (also called the National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau) advances investment in America’s infrastructure by lending federal funds at below market rates under favorable terms to qualified borrowers while protecting taxpayers; clearing roadblocks for creditworthy projects; and encouraging use of best practices in project planning, financing, and delivery.
- The Bureau currently has 115 Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program loans and loan tranches to 71 distinct borrowers from 23 states and the District of Columbia that are in construction or operations, totaling just over $31 billion in credit extended.
- With the FY 2025 budget proposal to repurpose balances in support of the National Infrastructure Investment Grant Program, the Bureau continues to have substantial capacity for new lending: TIFIA will have over a billion in available credit subsidy budget authority, with up to 15 percent of TIFIA’s annual funding available for TOD projects; RRIF has traditionally relied upon borrower-paid credit risk premiums to pay the subsidy cost of its loans, and has $35 billion in overall lending capacity.
The Bureau also administers four grant programs to expand the public sector’s capacity to finance and deliver infrastructure. The Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Program helps public entities develop priorities and financing strategies to accelerate projects eligible for TIFIA credit assistance. The Thriving Communities Program provides technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support to smaller and under-resourced communities through Capacity Builders—technical assistance providers that support groups of communities based on their common needs. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) established the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program, which funds pre-construction and pre-development studies for rural and tribal communities, and the Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Program, which provides grants to public entities to facilitate and evaluate public-private partnerships. We also offer customized direct technical assistance, for projects of all sizes and project sponsors with different experience levels. Finally, the Bureau administers private activity bonds allocated by USDOT for qualified highway or surface freight transfer facilities.
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act authorized the Bureau to offer TOD projects. TOD projects include public infrastructure or economic development projects (including affordable and workforce housing and commercial development) located near or physically or functionally related to transit, passenger rail, or multimodal stations. TOD projects can transform underperforming and underutilized assets, increase transit and passenger rail ridership and revenue, facilitate office-to-residential conversions, and support affordable, equitable, multimodal access to opportunities and services. I am proud to say that in April 2024, the Bureau closed USDOT’s first TOD loan—up to $26.8 million for the Mount Vernon (Washington) Library Commons Project, now under construction. Our financing will save the community at least $3 million compared to other financing options.
Building and implementing the TOD authorities Congress gave us has been incremental and steady. We published TOD guidance and a policy statement on our website. We held 5 webinars in the past year for more than 500 participants. We also participated in webinars with the White House and with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and presentations at the U.S. Housing and Community Development Conference, National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, and Urban Land Institute. We hosted in-person technical workshops in Austin, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Jacksonville. To make our financing more accessible and attractive, USDOT announced it would provide transit and TOD projects TIFIA financing for up to 49 percent of project costs, the TIFIA statutory limit since 2012. USDOT typically limits TIFIA loans to 33 percent of project costs by policy.
Even with this progress, prospective borrowers have communicated encountering challenges in utilizing TIFIA or RRIF for TOD projects, the most significant of which are the following:
- TIFIA’s legislation requires investment grade ratings. While this level of rating protects taxpayers from defaults, it can be unattainable for certain TOD projects (e.g., those pledging project revenues as the repayment source). Typically, rating agencies do not rate real estate deals that have both construction and long-term financing elements, as these are not common practice in the market. The Bureau has consulted with rating agencies, several of whom are now developing rating approaches for TOD projects. Some rating agencies have told me they might have a hard time making the economics work to rate smaller projects. Consequently, for some small projects the cost to obtain a rating offsets the benefits TIFIA offers, making TIFIA less attractive for those projects.
- A range of federal requirements apply to TIFIA and RRIF borrowers, including compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Buy America, Davis- Bacon wage rates, and others. Some prospective borrowers have told the Bureau they are not familiar with federal requirements and have a learning curve in both understanding how to comply and structuring compliant projects that are financially viable. To address this obstacle, the Bureau has had one-on-one meetings to educate potential borrowers on federal requirements and to assist project sponsors in developing complete and quality applications.
- Project sponsors are used to the timeline commercial banks use for short-term construction loans. TIFIA and RRIF loans typically have 40-year or longer maturities, meaning they have both short-term construction risk and long-term revenue risk. This combination complicates—and lengthens—the underwriting process. The Bureau has explored innovative approaches, such as teaming with short-term lenders and other federal agencies, and collaboration with HUD and other federal agencies to develop effective products and to streamline the process. As our program matures and we close a few more TOD loans, we should be able to standardize our process and procedures and develop template documents that could further streamline the process.
In early 2021, we had no TOD projects in the Bureau’s active pipeline, even though the authority had been in place since late 2015. Today, interest in the TOD pipeline is robust, with over 20 TOD projects engaging with the Bureau on utilizing its financing programs. We anticipate our TOD pipeline and portfolio will continue growing quickly and welcome any opportunity to improve our programs and deliver quality customer experiences that achieve the intended program outcomes.
Thank you, Chairman Schatz and Ranking Member Hyde-Smith. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
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DOT Onboard Demographics, June 2024
This spreadsheet provides onboard statistics for June FY 2024. Demographics are particularly useful to managers in the workforce planning process. This data is also used by Congressional staffers and others who have an interest in the size and makeup of the federal workforce and by...