Financing the various rail infrastructure projects will be challenging. Congress has not funded the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program—a program used to fund passenger rail projects—since fiscal year 2010 and appropriations to Amtrak have remained relatively steady at about $1.4 billion over the last 5 years. One potential source of funding is FRA’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program, which is a $35 billion loan and loan guarantee program to finance, among other things, freight and passenger rail facilities. Since program inception in 1998 about $2.7 billion in loans have been executed, and no loan guarantees have been made.
View this complete post...Posts Tagged ‘U.S. GAO’
Railroad Financing: Changes to the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program
Friday, July 22nd, 2016Pedestrians and Cyclists: Cities, States, and DOTs Are Implementing Actions to Improve Safety
Friday, January 1st, 2016UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
Walking and biking are becoming increasingly popular modes of transportation: nearly a million more people reported walking or biking to work in 2013 than in 2005. While total traffic fatalities declined from 2004 through 2013 (the most recent year for which data are available), this was not matched by a similar decline in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. GAO was asked to review pedestrian and cyclist safety data and challenges in addressing this issue. This report examines: (1) trends in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities and injuries from 2004 through 2013 and characteristics of these fatalities and injuries; (2) safety initiatives selected states and cities have implemented and their views on challenges in addressing this issue; and (3) actions taken by DOT to help improve safety.
Transportation Infrastructure: Information on Bridge Conditions
Thursday, December 3rd, 2015UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
In summary, based on 2014 NBI data, the nation has 610,749 bridges. Of those bridges, 23 percent are on the NHS, and this 23 percent comprise 58 percent of the nation’s total deck area. Nearly 25 percent of all bridges are deficient, with 10 percent categorized as structurally deficient and 14 percent categorized as functionally obsolete. Of bridges on the NHS, 4 percent are categorized as structurally deficient while 17 percent are categorized as functionally obsolete. State agencies own about half of all bridges and over 90 percent of NHS bridges.
Army Corps of Engineers: Efforts to Assess the Impact of Extreme Weather Events
Tuesday, July 28th, 2015UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
The Corps plans, designs, and constructs water resources infrastructure, such as dams and levees. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are increasing. Much of the Corps’ infrastructure was built over 50 years ago and may not be designed to operate within current climate patterns, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Airport Finance: Information on Funding Sources and Planned Capital Development
Thursday, June 4th, 2015UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
Airports’ planned capital development costs for fiscal years 2015 through 2019 are estimated at $13 billion annually (in 2013 dollars). Larger airports account for 65 percent of the planned development. For AIP-eligible projects, the largest shares of planned development costs are for projects to reconstruct facilities ($2.2 billion), meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) airport design standards ($2.1 billion), and enhance airfield capacity ($977 million).
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