In a time when it can be difficult to secure investments in major infrastructure projects, taking advantage of the latest in innovative finance is critical. At DOT, that’s where the Build America Bureau comes in.
Today, I’m proud to join Vice President Biden to announce the Bureau’s milestone loan to Amtrak that will bring the next generation of high-speed rail service to the Northeast Corridor.
It's no secret the U.S. is facing a serious infrastructure deficit. No matter who you ask - from civil engineering experts to mayors to parents stuck in rush hour traffic - it's clear that our transportation needs far exceed the federal funds available to invest in improvements to our roads, bridges, rails, and transit systems, and new projects.
This week, I am in Australia to meet with transportation and infrastructure leaders in both government and the private sector to learn lessons from the Australian experience funding infrastructure using public-private partnerships.
The roads and bridges we drive on connect us to the places we need to go, our ports move freight around the country, and our transit systems are weaving our urban communities together. The health of our transportation system is directly related to our economic success, but the reality is that some of these assets are centuries old and in desperate need of repair, while the need for new infrastructure continues to grow.
I’ve made it a priority as Secretary of Transportation to support creative and innovative infrastructure finance, and to advocate for long term funding solutions. I am excited to announce that today we officially opened the doors of the new Build America Bureau, a center that will deliver real, tangible infrastructure development for local, regional, and national population centers.
It's no secret to Fast Lane readers our transportation maintenance is lagging behind our growing need or that yesterday’s infrastructure will not meet tomorrow’s demand. We’re going to have 70 million more people in the next 30 years, and our ability to get where we need to go and move freight is already constrained.
And while freight grows domestically, we also have the widening of the Panama Canal, which will bring bigger ships and heavier loads into our ports. Despite the tremendous job America's ports do each and every day, meeting the triple challenge of expanding demand, larger vessels, and heavier loads will be no easy lift.
Fortunately, at the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) in New Jersey, our Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC) is part of a promising model for meeting those challenges. BATIC, which I wrote about here on Tuesday, is helping the PNCT explore financing options and eligibilities for its $230 million infrastructure modernization project...
Yesterday, NASA released data indicating evidence for liquid water on Mars, and it's got a lot of people pretty excited, including me. But the reality is, whether we find water on Mars or not, we have important needs to attend to right here on Earth. And we will have to attend to those for a very long time.
One of those needs is to create and maintain a transportation system that gets people where they need to go and delivers the goods that drive our economy and sustain our lives. And while building roads and bridges might not sound as interesting as exploring the conditions for life on Mars, it's critically important to the lives Americans lead right here, right now.
Last year, President Obama charged this Department with creating the Build America Transportation Investment Center to help us accomplish that mission. And today, we are formally announcing that we have hired a talented team of individuals to operate the center, which we call "BATIC," and outlined its three areas of activity.
BATIC serves as the single point of contact and coordination for states, municipalities, and project sponsors looking to harness federal transportation expertise, apply for federal transportation financing programs, and explore ways to access private capital in public private partnerships...
