Infrastructure

$905 Million Dedicated to INFRA Grants, DOT Says

July 18, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Transportation will be offering $905 million in Infrastructure for Rebuilding American program grants, announced Pete Buttigieg, along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, at the end of June.

This grant program awards funds to certain transportation projects that are deemed nationally and regionally significant and aim to boost overall economic growth and public safety. 24 projects across 18 U.S. states will receive grants from these funds in their efforts, which include projects facilitating the improved movement of goods.

Of these funds, $46.8 million will likely be allocated to the Georgia Ports Authority for its efforts in building a new Gainesville inland container port near interstate 85 and interstate 985–the Northeast Georgia Inland Port. This will also be directly linked to the Port of Savannah by rail and will aim to lower amounts of truck-related pollution and overall carbon emissions, Buttigieg explained.

“This will be linked to Port of Savannah by direct 324-mile intermodal freight rail service and create meaningful economic opportunities in the region while also significantly reducing the vehicle miles traveled by truck,” said Buttigieg.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will also receive $30 million for its traffic flow-improving construction projects between state Routes 57 and 60. The confluence of these routes has been designated as a chokepoint, Mayor Garcetti noted. Many cargo-carrying trucks bringing goods out of Los Angeles County ports often become stuck within the congestion of this corridor, and smoothing out this traffic will help the environment much more than keeping these trucks idled in traffic, Garcetti added.

“This is not going to increase our climate emissions,” he said. “This is where, notoriously, we have accidents that sometimes will take two hours to clear. These goods have to move–period. Together with the administration, we are looking at the electrification of trucks and infrastructure. But in the meantime, we expect this to be a reduction of emissions through this grant.”

The Department of Transportation has chosen the projects for funding due to their ability to create jobs and improve local and regional economies, and has also assessed how certain projects would address issues like environmental justice and racial equity. Because of these values, around 44% of this funding has been designated to rural areas that have endured long-term underinvestment.

Pennsylvania is receiving funding for one project to improve its rural freight corridor SR 61, as well as for one project to build a multi-use berth at its Port of Philadelphia. Additionally, the South Dakota Department of Transportation will receive $62.5 million to rebuild 28 miles of interstate 90 on the eastern side of the state, which will include road surface repair and replacement as well as the addition of designated truck parking spaces in both westbound and eastbound rest stops.

Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, DOT must alert congressional authorizing committees in regards to the projects chosen under the INFRA grant program. Before the awards are officially finalized, the selected projects will stay with these authorizing committees for a two-month review period.

As of now, there are not yet enough resources to meet the national demand for INFRA grants–in fact, the DOT has only been able to offer funding to around one-seventh of all state projects requesting funds, Buttigieg explained. 157 applications for grants from 42 different states and Guam requested a total of $6.8 billion.

“We need to invest in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure,” said Governor Wolf. “We really need to do this. We need to return to the common attachment we all seemed to have at one point–to the idea that a robust infrastructure has always been at the heart of our national prosperity.”

The announcement of this grant comes as many lawmakers are working to reach a bipartisan infrastructure deal agreement, which was announced by a group of legislators, along with President Biden, at the end of last month.

Potential $579 Billion Infrastructure Budget Possible Following Senator Efforts

July 6, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“Our group–comprised of 10 senators, five from each party–has worked in good faith and reached a bipartisan agreement on a realistic, compromise framework to modernize our nation’s infrastructure and energy technologies,” said a bipartisan senator group that has been working toward an infrastructure deal in a recent joint statement.

These 10 senators have been pushing for $579 billion in new infrastructure spending while negotiators have been working toward almost $1 trillion in President Joe Biden’s top priority deal. The group has been backed by Biden to continue towards this goal following his refusal of a Republican-supported proposal that would have been lacking in bipartisan compromise.

Now, the senators are discussing potential changes with their colleagues behind closed doors.

“This investment would be fully paid for and not include tax increases,” the senators continued in their statement. “We are discussing our approach with our respective colleagues, and the White House, and remain optimistic that this can lay the groundwork to garner broad support from both parties and meet America’s infrastructure needs.”

Democratic senators have been in discussion with the Biden Administration in regards to the expectations for this plan, but, according to the White House, there are still a few areas of concern.

“The president appreciates the senators’ work to advance critical investments we need to create good jobs, prepare for our clean energy future, and compete in the global economy,” explained Andrew Bates, Deputy Press Secretary. “Questions need to be addressed, particularly around the details of both policy and pay-fors, among other matters.”

The current tentative compromise agreement shows positive movement forward in regards to creating successful legislation in a bipartisan congress during 2021, but lawmakers believe this could still have many caveats. As of now, Congress, along with President Biden, is working to find a way to come to an agreement on infrastructure investment plans regarding how best to pay for a highway and road infrastructure package.

The likely cost, according to a negotiation expert, would be around $974 billion over the next five years, or about $1.2 trillion if the bill is passed as Biden suggests–over an eight year timeframe. A package of such a large size would be much higher than Republicans’ previous proposal of $330 billion in overall new spending funds. However, these numbers would still be short of Biden’s proposed $1.7 trillion in spending over eight years.

The final amount has yet to be released by lead negotiators; Senator Bill Cassidy, who is serving as a negotiator on the bill, was recently asked if spending had hit $600 billion. He responded: “The president said that [number] was his goal. So I don’t think anybody felt like they had to exceed his goal.”

Senators are still facing the same obstacles lead Republican negotiator Senator Shelley Moore Capito has been seeing along with President Biden regarding how best to pay for the infrastructure package. They are “fairly close” to a top-line number, according to Senator Jon Tester, another member of the group. However, they are still deciding the ways in which to accrue these funds, and one possibility includes bringing in revenue from uncollected income taxes.

“We still have to talk [about that],” Tester added.

The package would likely provide $1 trillion with $579 billion in new spending for transportation project baselines, Senator Mike Braun of Indiana said he was told by other Senators. According to Braun, aspects of the package would likely be funded by unused coronavirus relief funds–an asset that has still been a nonstarter for Biden.

“They have come up with [something] similar to what I think Capito was working on, but my understanding is it would be a little more money,” Braun explained

Biden is looking for overall investment in highways, roads, and bridges, in addition to large investments in electric vehicle charging stations and broadband capabilities. These are all parts comprising the new economy as he sees it, which would receive funding from corporate tax rate raises from 21% to 28%. As Biden left for his first overseas trip, he requested that senators continue working on the plan.

Still, though, Republicans are pushing for an infrastructure plan that would focus mostly on upgrading current transportation systems and bring about smaller investments in other areas. They are strongly opposed to funding the new spending with tax raises, with Senator Mitt Romney maintaining that the package would indeed bring gas tax increases to match current inflation rates; as of now, the federal gas tax has not risen since 1993. The group of senators is still claiming that the infrastructure package will not include tax hikes.

Electric Vehicle-Related Infrastructure Becomes Priority Across America

June 24, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Local and regional agencies have been working to promote and implement commercial electric vehicle infrastructure, according to experts at a recent North American Council for Freight Efficiency workshop discussion. These efforts come as Congress is also working toward proposals for national electric vehicle charging infrastructure–which is also part of President Biden’s current American Jobs Plan.

“There are lots of different options for how these vehicles will be charged,” said Rocky Mountain Institute’s Carbon-Free Mobility program senior associate, Jessie Lund. “I will note: [Almost] all of the charging we are seeing, with a couple of exceptions, is fleet depot-based charging.”

For this kind of charging, sites could include areas like truck stops, rest areas on toll roads, interstate rest areas, warehouses, stores, shared-card-lock locations, or ports.

“There is a whole plethora of options,” Lund added. “Some may have some challenges, such as interstate rest areas where it’s illegal to do commerce. So that is probably not a great option for the near-term future.”

If three particular conditions are met, some trucking industry experts believe that electric vehicle deployment for commercial fleets will grow rapidly. These conditions include the accessibility of charging for the public, electric grid resiliency that can handle more demand, and overall truck availability in regards to a positive total cost of ownership.

“Truck OEMs are responsible for the trucks and the servicing, and are addressing this with technological innovation,” said Daimler Trucks North America’s vice president of product compliance, Sean Waters.

In it’s recently-released top research priorities list for 2021, the American Transportation Research Institute included an industry-wide focus on electric truck deployment and the attention needed for infrastructure capabilities and updates to accommodate it.

“Incentives, like Section 45 in the Clean Energy for America Act, also are critical to spur the early adoption of zero-emission vehicles,” added Waters. “Similarly, to support a nationwide charging infrastructure, a vast coalition of players will need to participate in order to identify where to place charging infrastructure, ensure common standards and resiliency, and to help fund its creation.

To help this move forward in the way it should, federal backing is a must, he added.

“The federal government’s support for all of the above will be required in order to create a universally accessible, cohesive, [and] nationwide experience viable for the nation’s fleets,” said Waters.

Commercial truckers would be granted a 30% credit for their electric vehicle purchase through Section 45 in the Clean Energy for America Act, and such credits would last until electric vehicles are determined to comprise more than half of all vehicle sales each year.

Non-profit organization Calstart, which works toward clean transportation technology expansion, has been collaborating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate nearly 150 sites along Interstate 5 down the West Coast for potential infrastructure for alternative fuel methods. As of now, this evaluation includes 62 sites for depot and public charging infrastructure.

“We are going to need not only partner collaboration, but also finding resources to really support being able to build out that infrastructure,” said Calstart’s senior director of clean fuels and infrastructure, Alycia Gilde.

Calstart has also been working toward analyzing what is needed for an efficient EV Infrastructure electric grid to exist along that corridor.

“We wanted to understand, where do we anticipate the transition to zero-emission vehicles, the traffic, and throughput in terms of where we should be prioritizing infrastructure?” said Gilde. “For example, at truck stops…and then understanding what is the current load, and what additional load do we need in order to support electrification along I-5?”

According to Gilde, 27 sites will be able to be planned for medium-duty charging along the interstate corridor, and then eventually placed at every other site location for heavy-duty truck charging.

Natso, a truck stop- and travel plaza-representing trade group, is also aiming to boost electric vehicle charging station numbers across the country through National Highway Charging Collaborative group efforts.

“We have the real estate and the amenities,” said Natso’s vice president of government relations, David Fialkov. “We know what drivers want.”

Fialkov added that Natso and its industry are ready to collaborate with Congress, the utility sector, and state and local governments to push forward these innovative efforts.

“Utilities are enthusiastic about these projects,” added Peter Thomas, commercial business deployment manager at Electrify Commercial, a company which customizes programs for electric vehicle charging.

Tensions Rise as White House and GOP Struggle to Reach Infrastructure Bill Agreement

June 18, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Biden Administration is making efforts to work with Republican Senators–who have made known the little wiggle-room they have in regards to their $568 billion proposal–with the goal to come to some bipartisan conclusion surrounding President Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure plans.

Democrats have expressed worries that the amount of time for both parties to finally reach an agreement is coming to an end. However, Republicans have noted that they have in fact raised the number in their plan and have also tried to cooperate with the White House.

“Productive conversations” have been in the works, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and senators were expected to work toward a constructive conclusion alongside White House officials Louisa Terrell, head of legislative affairs, and Steve RIcchetti, senior adviser.

“We’re looking forward to constructive conversations,” Psaki added.

Biden, who has been prioritizing a comprehensive infrastructure plan and has stated his goal to “build back better” in his pledge to help boost the economy following the COVID-19 pandemic era, has been looking to Republicans for cooperation in regards to a bipartisan method of reaching these goals. Because majorities in the House and Senate are Democrats, Biden has sought Republican support instead of solely leaning on his party.

However, Republicans are strongly opposing the corporate tax hike that would come with Biden’s funding plan.

“If they’re willing to settle on targeting an infrastructure bill without revisiting the 2017 tax bill, we’ll work with them,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in relation to collaborating with Democrats on the issue. Still, though, McConnell noted that a $2 trillion–or larger–package “is not going to have any Republican support.”

This comes while Republicans are clamoring to hold onto the 2017 tax reductions they accomplished during Donald Trump’s presidency, when they brought corporate tax rates down from 35% to 21%. According to McConnell, raising taxes on wealthy Americans or on corporations is never going to receive any backing from Republicans.

As of now, Biden plans to raise corporate taxes back up to 28%.

Because Biden has proposed the two parties find ways to negotiate, Republicans met with White House-dispatched transportation and commerce secretaries in late May to discuss recently-requested additional details on Republicans’ plan for the package. West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito said she felt good about these discussions and planned to hear back from the White House sooner than later.

Still, though, following the White House and Republican meeting which took place just weeks ago, there was “not a significantly changed offer.”

Regardless, Biden has been faring well in the party-to-party discussions, and has not given up on efforts to reach a bipartisan agreement–even though Republicans’ counter offer had no change from their proposal of $568 billion. It does seem, though, that optimism from some of the GOP’s negotiators, such as Capito, has encouraged White House officials.

In regards to possible strategies that have been brought to light, one includes Biden coming to terms with a much more limited road, highway, bridge, and broadband infrastructure bill that would have the potential to please both parties–likely leaning more towards Republicans’ wishes. If this were to take place, Democrats would need to independently focus on climate change proposals and investments pertaining to education, hospitals, and child care.

Some Republicans have suggested dipping into unused coronavirus aid package funds to allocate toward potential infrastructure projects, with further funding coming from public-private partnerships or uncollected tax revenue.

However, a solely infrastructure-based bipartisan proposal, which would consist of far fewer funds than those which Biden has proposed, could mean many Democrats would withdraw their support while under the impression that Biden missed this major opportunity to set forth heavily innovative, transformative, and community-minded legislation.

Biden surely knows this and will likely do what he can to ensure climate change-fighting funds are included in the deal. But, as of now, the two parties have not little-to-no progress in reaching an agreement as both are holding strong to their two differing ideas about the size of the infrastructure package and how to acquire the funding necessary to see it through.

Surface Transportation, DRIVE-Safe, Truck Parking Bill Support Requested by ATA’s Chris Spear

June 14, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“America’s supply chain yields tremendous potential,” said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear during a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month. “It’s a catalyst for economic growth, beyond that of any other nation. For that to happen, however, I ask this committee to consider four key elements that both feed and benefit our nation’s supply chain: infrastructure, safety, workforce development, and environmental stewardship. Together, these elements shape and define the resiliency of our supply chain.”

Spear has also made known his belief that new legislation allowing commercial truck drivers under 21 years old to work across state lines is especially necessary at this time. Spear argues that this legislation would be incredibly beneficial to the nation’s supply chain and that it would help solve the long-term challenges surrounding the current driver shortage still intact throughout the trucking industry.

The trucking sector has been working to push forward a bill to secure long-term highway program funding and to ensure improved commercial corridor connectivity capabilities, as well.

“Stop blaming each other for the things you don’t do and start taking credit for the things you should do,” said Spear in an effort to highlight the current bipartisan efforts taking place in relation to boosted infrastructure upgrade funding and enhanced operation technology. “These investments are long overdue. They are the things Americans–your constituents–need, use, and rely on every single day. They’ll be grateful.”

Truck drivers clearly carried the nation’s economic health on its back during the coronavirus pandemic by ensuring grocery stores and hospitals stayed stocked with the supplies they needed, and many policymakers at both the state and federal levels have recognized these efforts. Still, though, truck drivers will continue to be the country’s most prominent freight transporters, with the trucking industry likely to ship around 70% of America’s freight throughout the next year. Trucks are also likely to move around 2.4 billion tons of more freight over the next decade than they have in recent years, according to ATA.

Now, a shortage of automobile sector-used semiconductor chips and disruptions in refined petroleum distribution have caused the nation’s supply chain to face a variety of obstacles as it works to keep shipments running smoothly during this time of boosted e-commerce.

“Without trucks, our cities, towns, and communities would fail to thrive, and would lack essential necessities such as food and drinking water. There would be no clothes to purchase, nor parts to build automobiles or fuel to power them [without trucks],” Spear lamented when he urged lawmakers to pass bipartisan surface transportation infrastructure policies for 2021.

Because the current driver shortage is also likely to not only continue but to grow as more truckers reach retirement age (and as e-commerce continues to boom), the trucking industry must hire an additional 1.1. million new truck drivers over the next ten years (around 110,000 each year).

At the recent hearing, Spear discussed the Developing Responsible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE)-Safe Act, which would allow truckers younger than the age of 21 to cross state lines while operating their commercial vehicles–an effort that is believed to be able to ease the difficulty of the shortage.

This program would permit under-21-year-old commercial driver license holders to work within interstate commerce, and DRIVE-Safe Act co-sponsors also touted the benefits of this measure during the meeting.

“This shortage directly impacts the supply chain of goods,” said Senator Rick Scott of Florida. “It causes delays for the manufacturers, consumers, and corporations across the U.S.”

Another major issue that was a topic of the discussion–truck parking access. The recent Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act will allocate U.S. Department of Transportation funding to certain state agencies in an effort to boost parking availability for commercial truck drivers. $125 million would be allocated for the year 2022, with annual increases taking place until 2026.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Spear of current parking capabilities. ”It definitely needs to be part of any legislation that you consider. This component really is key, and our entire industry is very much behind it.”

Finally, the issue of freight bottlenecks and the economic obstacles they present was brought to light by Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who noted a recent American Transportation Research Institute study showing that the smooth movement of commercial trucks is significantly hindered by traffic problems. Freight bottlenecks currently bring about $75 million in costs to freight distribution and 1.2 billion hours of lost trucking industry productivity each year, according to both ATA and ATRI.

“Trucks can sit for hours on the way to Wyoming and…that drives up prices, and sometimes delays business, for people in my state,” explained Lummis.

$7 Million Dedicated to Illinois Truck Traffic Projects

June 8, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

ATACAMA, CHILE – NOVEMBER 14, 2015: Semi-trailer truck International Navistar at the interurban freeway.

“Illinois is the country’s transportation hub, with freight activity a cornerstone of the state’s economy,” said Omer Osman, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation. “At IDOT, we want our local partners to have the necessary tools to manage traffic safely and spur even more job creation and economic growth.”

$26 million has been allocated to 21 different transportation projects throughout Illinois, with IDOT distributing $7 million to projects specifically working to boost infrastructure and upgrade Illinois truck traffic accommodations.

“IDOT has awarded $7 million to put toward a total investment of $36 million for communities to better handle truck traffic and spur economic growth,” said IDOT Illinois recently in a tweet.

These funds come from IDOT’s Truck Access Route Program grants, an initiative calling for all towns, counties, and municipalities needing road upgrade assistance in regards to the transitioning of roads into designated trucks routes (that can accommodate heavy trucks) to apply.

According to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, this funding is meant to ensure local communities have everything needed to better manage economic growth, attract more business, and improve the overall quality of life of their locals.

Projects aiming to improve designated truck route-to-business connections in efforts to boost freight traffic can receive a maximum of $900,000, IDOT explained. To apply for a grant, interested groups should list traffic figures, the number of lanes involved, and the length in both feet and miles of the project as a whole.

Out of the most recent funding, $900,000 was allocated to Champaign County, whose funds will help its County Highway 20, a north-south stretch connecting to U.S. 45 and reaching from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. $651,000 was awarded to DeKalb County, a northern Illinois town 60 miles west of Chicago, which is working to upgrade Chicago Road and its connection to Route 23. Williamson County is receiving $250,000 for its Thompsonville Road, a route connecting Corinth Road with Locust Grove Road.

Boone County is also receiving $630,000 for its Poplar Grove Road connecting the City of Belvidere to the Village of Poplar Grove, La Salle County is receiving $518,400 for its County Highway 2 connecting U.S. 34 with U.S. 52, and McLean County is receiving $366,300 for its County Highway 24 and $517.000 for its Meadows Road connecting 2555 North Road to U.S. 24.

Additionally, a Franklin County project regarding County Highway 14 was given $318,500. Franklin County is 100 miles southeast of St.Louis and reaches around the bottom half of Rend Lake, and County Highway 14 connects to north-south southern Illinois route SR 148.

Rebuild Illinois was initiated in 2019 as an infrastructure improvement initiative that would work to invest in the improvement of transit, roads, bridges, state parks, historic sites, clean water infrastructure, and education, and Pritzker announced recently that $250 million of these funds would be dedicated to Illinois transportation projects.

For county, town, and municipality-focused projects, $1.5 billion was also allocated by Rebuild Illinois. These grants will be distributed evenly throughout six installments over the next three years to local government agencies. In March, IDOT sent the third of its six $250,000 million installments as part of the overall multi-year, $33.2 billion capital program.

A job-training program was also announced by Pritzker, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. This effort has been created in collaboration with the Association for Supply Chain Management and aims to boost the recently unemployed or underemployed due to challenges faced throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

The job-training program is also meant to find methods of helping Illinois locals better understand and utilize the exponential growth of logistics, shipping, and e-commerce across the state–especially that which skyrocketed during the nation’s stay-at-home orders.

To funnel funds to Rebuild Illinois, the state’s fuel tax rate did increase in 2020 after doubling in 2019, with current fuel tax rates coming up to 46.2 cents per gallon for diesel and 38.7 cents per gallon for gasoline.