Transit gets $8.3 million | Most of money will go to replace aging buses http://www.allbusiness.com/
The federal government awarded nearly $8.3 million Monday to the Milwaukee County Transit System to buy new buses and renovate bus garages.Milwaukee County accounted for two of the 152 projects in 45 states and the District of Columbia that shared $776 million in federal grants for upgrading bus systems.Most of the money going to Milwaukee County – $7 million – would be used to replace aging buses. That would leverage a purchase of about 22 buses, costing $8.4 million, with the county picking up 17% of the total cost, said transit system spokeswoman Jacqueline Janz and Brian Dranzik, finance chief for the county Department of Transportation and Public Works
Experts say US status in peril. Report calls for additional investment in transportation system
The United States is saddled with a rapidly decaying and woefully underfunded transportation system that will undermine its status in the global economy unless Congress and the public embrace innovative reforms, a bipartisan panel of experts concludes in a report released Monday.
Hochtief Units Get Contracts In US, Germany, Poland For EUR366 Million
German construction company Hochtief AG (HOT.XE) said Wednesday its subsidiaries in the U.S., Germany and Poland have secured contracts worth EUR366 million. Flatiron and Turner Construction will partner with other companies to plan and build a railway line for passenger transport to Oakland International Airport. This contract is worth a total of EUR262 million and Flatiron will receive a share of EUR184 million.
Flatiron / Parsons / Doppelmayr / Turner Team Awarded Contract for Oakland Airport Connector Project
A joint venture of Flatiron and Parsons, with Doppelmayr Cable Car as technology supplier and Turner Construction Company as a major subcontractor, has been awarded a contract by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) for the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) Design-Build/Operate and Maintain project. More than 25 years in planning, the $361 million automated people mover project will provide a 3.2-mile connection between the Coliseum BART Station and the Oakland Airport. The Flatiron/Parsons Joint Venture will design and construct the fixed, elevated guideway and Doppelmayr will supply the Automated People Mover technology, as well as operate and maintain the system for up to 20 years
Governors ask Senate to Safeguard State P3 Authority and Flexibility
http://www.infrainsightblog.com
Last week the National Governors Association strongly urged key Senators to stand with them against new restrictions on public private partnerships and tolling in the House T&I Committee’s draft surface transportation bill. In their letter to chairs and ranking members of the Senate Environment and Public Works, Finance, and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the NGA highlighted the efforts of state and local governments to pursue innovative financing options to complement traditional sources, and asked the Senate to omit the proposals from the Senate’s reauthorization bill.
Pittsburgh Parking Partners vows to add jobs, parking spaces
http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com
If Pittsburgh City Council decides to lease its parking assets to a private operator — a decision expected at the end of October — the top bidder plans to enter the market with a bang. Pittsburg Parking Partners, a consortium of Connecticut-based LAZ Parking and investors led by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, would immediately start negotiating space for a regional headquarters and would create 50 new jobs in the area, the company’s representatives said Tuesday.
Tolls here, there and everywhere
Public-private projects have been pitched for the Midtown Tunnel, the Jordan Bridge and U.S. 460. Last week, another partnership proposed doubling the size of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. The citizens and businesses of Virginia have no alternative. The state government retreat from road-building has been so complete that the only hope to get anything done on transportation is through public-private partnerships, a process encouraged equally by law and by Richmond’s inaction.
Reportlinker Adds Global Light Rail Industry
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/
This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Light Rail in US$ Million. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2006 through 2015. The report profiles 65 companies including many key and niche players such as Aecom Technology Corp., Alstom SA, Ansaldo STS SpA, AnsaldoBreda, Inc., Balfour Beatty Plc, Bombardier Transportation, Invensys plc, Metrolinx, Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc., Solaris Bus & Coach S.A, Valley Metro, and Veolia Transportation, Inc. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research.
Eagle P3: Light rail lifted
http://www.projectfinancemagazine.com/
The Regional Transportation District (RTD), the transit authority for the Denver metropolitan area, awarded Fluor and Macquarie-led DTP the $1.64 billion, 30-year Eagle P3 concession on 15 June. The consortium beat HSBC, Veolia and Siemens Financial Services’ Mountain-Air Transit Partners (MTP). The deal is the first design, build, finance, operate and maintain availability-based transit concession in the US. Barclays Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA Merrill), which underwrote $397.8 million in private activity bonds, closed them on 4 August, little more than six weeks after the concession was awarded. The Eagle P3 project includes the 36.7km East corridor, 11.7km gold line, 8.4km northwest electrified rail segment (NWES) and a new maintenance facility
North Carolina Invests $36 Million To Boost Travel And Commerce
Governor Bev Perdue broke ground on the new Yadkin River bridge on I-85, the first step toward improving travel and commerce along the interstate corridor, which is crucial to creating more jobs.Perdue was joined by Transportation Secretary Gene Conti, N.C. Board of Transportation member Ralph Womble, and other state and local elected leaders as they turned shovels of dirt to launch phase one of the I-85 Corridor Improvement Project near Lexington…The economic benefits of this project will be far greater than the initial jobs created, however.The contractor – a joint venture team of Flatiron Constructors Inc. and The Lane Construction Corp. – is already providing lodging for staff in local hotels and buying gas for its trucks from local gas stations.The team also plans to rent about $3 million worth of equipment and buy more than $12 million in supplies for construction, such as concrete, gravel and lumber, all from companies in North Carolina.
More cities going solar to power up signs
Similar signs were installed in Fond du Lac locations seven years ago.Illuminated stop signs powered by the sun are in place at Sixth and Park streets and solar-powered school crossing signs are in place near Riverside School, said Fond du Lac Police Department Capt. Steve Klein.”They are a good visual reminder,” he said, “and have proven to be quite effective.”
Making Hastings Bridge a work of art
In U.S. art circles, St. Paul artist Craig David is gaining a reputation as a premier stone wall muralist.At age 58, the West Side native is coming of age after working in relative obscurity for nearly three decades, doing canvass paintings, sculptures and wall murals on the side while working primarily as a landscape and garden designer and contractor.After finishing a series of stone wall murals four years ago for the Wellstone Center in St. Paul and then winning the competition to create the three wall murals for Target Field, David is now embarking on his latest public art venture – two stone wall murals at the southern foot of Hasting’s new Highway 61 bridge that will span the Mississippi River. Officials with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) held the open house after officially breaking ground on the $120 million bridge project.David said he gets a lot of satisfaction from his work, noting that public art is owned by everyone: “That is very gratifying, as opposed to selling paintings privately in a gallery.”
