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News: Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
Friday, October 31, 2008 Federal Highway Administration Supports Innovative State Transportation Projects The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the new Office of Innovative Program Delivery, which will provide states with stronger and more effective federal support to deliver transportation projects. [read the full release] Thursday, October 30, 2008 Georgia's '411 Connector' Reaches Major Milestone WASHINGTON - The Federal Highway Administration has signed the final Record of Decision (ROD) for Georgia's "411 Connector" project, giving the Georgia Department of Transportation the green light to move forward on this long-awaited link between US 411 and the Atlanta-to-Memphis highway. [read the full release] Friday, October 24, 2008 New August Data Show Americans Drove 15 Billion Fewer Miles than a Year Ago, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters Announces Travel Changes Demonstrate Need for New Way to Fund Transportation DALLAS – New federal data show Americans are continuing a 10-month-long decline in driving habits, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced today. The decline is putting new pressure on the way road, bridge and transit projects are funded at a time of record growth in transit ridership, showing the need for a new approach for funding transportation construction, she added. "We pay for transit the same way we pay for road and bridge projects – with federal gas taxes," said Secretary Peters, who made the announcement during a visit to a light rail station under construction in Dallas. [read the full release] Thursday, October 23, 2008 U.S. Secretary of Transportation Announces $679 million to Repair Damaged Roads and Bridges GALVESTON – The federal government is making $679 million available immediately to states across the nation to cover costs incurred to repair roads and bridges damaged by a variety of natural emergencies and catastrophic events, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today during a visit to Galveston, Texas. "When natural disasters strike, restoring transportation is the first stop on the road to recovery," Secretary Peters said. [read the full release] Tolling and Pricing Program
The Office of Operations launched a new Tolling and Pricing Program Web site. In an effort to create a more user friendly experience when searching for information about federal pricing programs, the new site includes valuable information that was once included on three separate sites: the Tolling and Pricing Opportunities, the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP) and the VPPP site on the Knowledge Exchange. This is just the first step in streamlining information on one of the critical FHWA programs. In the future, the site will also feature a subject index that will help the user find the subjects they are looking for quickly instead of searching the entire site. SAFETEA-LU
The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted August 10, 2005, as Public Law 109-59. SAFETEA-LU authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 5-year period 2005-2009. Environmental Stewardship
President Bush issued Executive Order 13274 on September 18, 2002 to enhance environmental stewardship and streamline the decision-making process in connection with major transportation projects. Visit the Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project Reviews web site to find out more about the implementation of Executive Order 13274. SAFETEA-LU; Opportunities for State and Other Qualifying Agencies to Gain Authority to Toll Facilities Constructed Using Federal Funds A Federal Register Notice was published on January 6, 2006. The purpose of this notice is to explain the Federal-aid Highway programs now available as a result of SAFETEA-LU that grant permission to public authorities to enact tolls on motor vehicles. The notice is also intended to invite Expressions of Interest to participate in these programs and to introduce the Tolling and Pricing Opportunities Web site. Knowledge Exchange
FHWA is sponsoring web-based communities of practice (CoP's) to promote free and open knowledge exchange on such topics as environment and planning, air quality, high performance concrete, and transportation asset management. Join a group of your peers throughout the highway community to discuss, collaborate, and exchange ideas and practices on a wide range of interesting and timely topics on one of the FHWA Knowledge Communities. |
Storm Response Vehicle Size and Weight Information
Employment Opportunities Jobs in the Federal Highway Administration Planning A Trip? Your first stop should be the National Traffic and Road Closure Information web site and your second stop should be the Scenic Byways Web site. Value Pricing Pilot Program Participation, Fiscal Year 2009
A Federal Register Notice was published on September 16, 2008. The Value Pricing Pilot Program was reauthorized under SAFETEA-LU as an experimental program aimed at learning more about the potential of different pricing approaches for reducing congestion. Funds are available to support efforts by State and local governments or other public authorities to establish local value pricing pilot programs, to provide for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of value pricing projects, and to report on their effects. Approximately $12 million is expected to be available for allocation to projects in FY 2009. Of this amount, $3 million is set aside for pricing projects not involving tolls, and $5 million is set aside for metropolitan region-wide pricing studies. Grant applications are due no later than November 7, 2008. Traveling with the Administrator
DOT FY 2008 Business Cases
The DOT FY 2008 Exhibit 300s are now available on the Web. FY 2009 Budget Request
Environmental Streamlining/Stewardship
Congestion Pricing and NEPA: Environmental Benefits and Considerations
Plagued by increasing traffic congestion, rising costs, and tightening budgets, States are increasingly looking at operational management techniques as alternatives to the familiar strategy of adding highway lanes to increase capacity. During the last 10 years, despite the increased popularity of managed lanes and pricing techniques, the question still remains as to the best method of evaluating these approaches during the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. Find out more in the November issue of "Successes in Stewardship". |
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