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CA High‐Speed Rail Receives State Funding Bill, Will Solicit Investors

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) may soon be able to solicit private investors to deliver parts of the Bakersfield-to-Merced initial operating segment. Just over a month after receiving input from potential investors, new legislation passed in early September will stabilize and prioritize the Authority’s cap-and-trade funding at $1 billion per year. CHSRA CEO Ian […]

Tennessee I‐24 Choice Lanes Shortlist Published

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has finally published an official shortlist of bidders for the I-24 Choice Lanes project. The proposed project will add two express lanes in each direction along a 26-mile stretch of I-24 southeast of Nashville. The project is the first of Governor Bill Lee’s Choice Lane initiative, which could eventually […]

A Historic Financial Close for Georgia’s SR‐400

A truly historic transportation financing was closed in Georgia in August. The SR-400 project financing sets new records no matter where you look. At $3.32 billion, it includes the largest single Private Activity Bond (PAB) issuance in U.S. history in addition to, at $3.89 billion, the largest TIFIA loan in the program’s history. At $4.7 […]

The $3.8 Billion Dollar Question for GDOT (and other DOTs)

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and its advisors have much to celebrate with the successful financial close of the SR-400 project. But the number that should get the most attention is the financing’s concession fee to Georgia’s State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA): $3,799,312,000. That $3.8 billion figure has been the subject of ample […]

I‐77 South Express Lanes RFQ Published

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has finally kicked off the procurement for the I-77 South Express Lanes project in Charlotte. The state published a Request for Qualifications in August, and is planning on collecting qualifications from interested bid teams in December. The state is planning to select a shortlist of teams in February […]

PWF’s 3‐Step Guide to Getting More American Capital into American Transport Infrastructure

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined the inaugural meeting of the Department of Transportation Advisory Board earlier this summer at the White House. Overall, the meeting was extraordinarily promising for American transportation P3s. Again and again, Secretary Duffy mentioned the need to find ways to leverage private investment and create projects that attract private capital, and […]

California HSR Responds to Feds, But Will Investors Bridge the Gap?

In a series of letters that will likely soon be exhibits in a federal lawsuit, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has formally responded to the Trump Administration’s June preliminary decision to terminate the project’s federal grant agreements. Much is at stake – specifically the roughly $4 billion in federal grants that the Administration is […]

Inside California’s RFEI for High‐Speed Rail Investors

California’s Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for private investors in various components of the high-speed rail project requests responses, up to 25 pages in length, by 28 July, though the Authority may accept responses afterwards. Much of the RFEI notes the project’s successes to date and its staying power. No surprises here. The state […]

Maryland Releases Freight Rail RFQ

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has released an RFQ for a novel contract to transition the operations of a small freight rail network on the state’s east coast into a public-private partnership concession. The 92-mile network is currently overseen by the state directly via an operating contract, which is set to expire this year. […]

California High-Speed Rail Courts Private Finance (Again), Feds Pull Grants

For months, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has been flirting with ways to incorporate private investment into the struggling megaproject. The Authority held an industry forum in January on the topic, and in May it announced that it was preparing a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) to begin formally consulting with potential private […]