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Funding for 29 Capital Transit Projects Will Create Jobs, Opportunities Across America

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today recommended $2.2 billion in funding to begin or advance construction of 29 significant rail and bus rapid transit projects in 15 states.

The projects, included in President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget, will put thousands of Americans to work building the vital infrastructure the nation needs to improve access to jobs while reducing U.S. dependence on oil and spurring new economic development.

“President Obama called on us to rebuild America by putting people back to work on transportation projects that are built to last,” said Secretary LaHood. “The budget proposal released yesterday demonstrates our commitment to put people back to work to build the infrastructure we need that will improve our transit systems, highways, railways and airports well into the future. At this make-or-break moment for the middle class, we can afford to do no less.”

President Obama’s proposed budget recommends investing $243.7 million for seven new transit construction projects, including rail and bus rapid transit projects in California, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington State. An additional 10 projects that were recommended for funding in previous years, but have not yet received federal commitments, will receive $769.5 million in this year’s budget.

“President Obama is committed to building an America that works for all of us, and these projects will ensure that hard-working families have real transportation choices,” said Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff.  “They represent truly transformational investments that will provide the public with new and reliable ways to get to work, school, and medical appointments while easing congestion on many of our highways.”

In addition to the transit construction projects that have not yet been funded, the proposed budget provides nearly $1.2 billion for the continued funding of 12 rail and bus rapid transit projects already under construction in Dallas, Denver, Hartford, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Northern Virginia, Orlando, Salt Lake City, and Seattle.

The New Starts and Small Starts capital investment program is one of the largest discretionary grant programs in the federal government. Proposed projects, such as rapid rail, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, and ferries, are evaluated and rated on a number of measures at several steps in the process as they seek FTA approval for a federal funding commitment to finance project construction.

Secretary LaHood and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff recently proposed changes to the New Starts/Small Starts program to reduce red tape in order to allow approved projects to begin construction sooner and help FTA focus more on local needs, such as economic development, community revitalization, and responding to historically underserved populations.

Examples of some of the projects in the President’s proposed FY 2013 budget include:

• Charlotte, North Carolina, LYNX Blue Line Extension (Northeast Corridor): The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) proposed the construction of a new light rail transit line that would extend from Uptown Charlotte, the region’s central business district, northeast to the US 29 interchange and the University of North Carolina – Charlotte campus. Commuters along the I-85/US 29 corridor have suffered through increasing congestion that population increases and economic development are expected to only make worse. The LRT will be 9.3 miles and serve 11 new stations. The FTA plans to fund 50 percent of the total $1.07 billion project cost, or $534.6 million.
• Jacksonville, Florida, Southeast Corridor and North Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): The FTA recommended funding for two BRT projects in Jacksonville that will combine for 20 miles of new rapid transit routes and 21 new stations. The Southeast Corridor will receive its first recommendation for funding in the President’s budget and the FTA will continue to support development of the North Corridor. The two corridors will serve a highly transit-dependent population along extremely congested parts of the Jacksonville area. The total cost of the two projects is more than $57 million, of which FTA will cover nearly $47 million, or 80 percent of the two projects.
• Grand Rapids, Michigan, Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): The Interurban Transit Partnership proposed to implement a BRT line along Division Avenue from the Grand Rapids central business district to 60^th Street/Division Avenue. The FTA will invest 80 percent of the total $35.3 million project cost, or $28.2 million. The project is expected to offer commuters a true alternative to the highly congested US 13. The BRT will include real-time passenger information at stations, traffic signal priority, off-board fare collection, and the purchase of 10 low-floor, hybrid-fueled buses.

All the recommendations are part of the FTA’s Annual Report on Funding Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2013, available online here. Individual detailed project descriptions are available here.

49 CFR Part 26 has been updated to include the following:

§ 26.39   Fostering small business participation.

(a) Your DBE program must include an element to structure contracting requirements to facilitate competition by small business concerns, taking all reasonable steps to eliminate obstacles to their participation, including unnecessary and unjustified bundling of contract requirements that may preclude small business participation in procurements as prime contractors or subcontractors.

(b) This element must be submitted to the appropriate DOT operating administration for approval as a part of your DBE program by February 28, 2012. As part of this program element you may include, but are not limited to, the following strategies:

(1) Establishing a race-neutral small business set-aside for prime contracts under a stated amount (e.g., $1 million).

(2) In multi-year design-build contracts or other large contracts (e.g., for “megaprojects”) requiring bidders on the prime contract to specify elements of the contract or specific subcontracts that are of a size that small businesses, including DBEs, can reasonably perform.

(3) On prime contracts not having DBE contract goals, requiring the prime contractor to provide subcontracting opportunities of a size that small businesses, including DBEs, can reasonably perform, rather than self-performing all the work involved.

(4) Identifying alternative acquisition strategies and structuring procurements to facilitate the ability of consortia or joint ventures consisting of small businesses, including DBEs, to compete for and perform prime contracts.

(5) To meet the portion of your overall goal you project to meet through race-neutral measures, ensuring that a reasonable number of prime contracts are of a size that small businesses, including DBEs, can reasonably perform.

(c) You must actively implement your program elements to foster small business participation. Doing so is a requirement of good faith implementation of your DBE program.

[76 FR 5097, Jan. 28, 2011]

The Compliance Monitoring Unit or “CMU” is a new component within the DLSE that was created to monitor and enforce prevailing wage requirements on public works projects that receive state bond funding and on other projects that are legally required to use the CMU.  The CMU began operations on January 1, 2012, following the recent adoption of AB 436 and approval of revisions to program regulations.  By actively monitoring compliance on an ongoing basis while work is being performed, the CMU will play a special role in ensuring that public works construction workers are promptly paid the proper prevailing wage rates and in helping maintain a level playing field for contractors who comply with the law.

Effective Date and Applicability:  The laws and regulations that govern the new program are effective January 1, 2012. Only projects for which the public works contract is awarded on or after January 1, 2012 are subject to the CMU requirements. Contracts awarded prior to January 1, 2012 will remain subject to the prior monitoring and enforcement rules (labor compliance programs for some bond-funded or design-build projects or no specific monitoring requirement) for the life of those projects.

PWC 100 Form – Awarding Bodies: Completion of this form puts you in compliance with the requirement to notify both the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Compliance Monitoring Unit of a public works awarded contract. Please complete and submit the electronic PWC 100  form.

For more information, see the Department of Industrial Relations website.

Caltrans has developed a Business Plan for DBE Outreach on Federally-Funded Projects. The Business Plan was presented to the bidding community as a tool and guide to meeting the DBE goal on individual contracts and to assist in conducting adequate outreach to meet the goal.

Caltrans recently released a guide to help certified DBEs understand the requirements of the commercially useful function. This informative guide can be found on the Caltrans OBEO website.

Follow Caltrans’ Office of Business & Economic Opportunity on Twitter to learn about the latest announcements, changes, and information.

https://twitter.com/#!/Caltrans_OBEO

The Federal Highway Administration recently released Questions & Answers on Procurement, Management and Administration of Engineering and Design Related Services.

VII. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Considerations

1. Are contracting agencies required to give consideration to DBE consulting engineering firms in the procurement of engineering and design related services?
2. Under competitive negotiation/qualifications based selection (Brooks Act) procurement procedures, maya contracting agency consider the use/participation of DBEs as an evaluation criterion in the selection of the most highly qualified consulting firm/team?
3. May a contracting agency set goals for DBE participation on engineering and design related services contracts?
4. May a contracting agency advertise or solicit engineering and design related services with set-asides exclusive for DBE consulting firms?

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) today allocated $825 million in new funding to 92 highway, transit, and rail projects that will strengthen California’s economy and upgrade the state’s vast transportation system.

The allocations included nearly $9 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond. To date, the state has allocated nearly $8 billion in Proposition 1B funds.

“From one end of the state to the other, transportation projects are providing jobs and improving mobility for people and businesses in California,” said Caltrans Acting Director Malcolm Dougherty. Two notable design-build projects in Los Angeles County received $526 million in allocations: the Gerald Desmond Bridge ($470 million) and the Interstate 10/Interstate 605 Direct Connector ($56 million). Design-build streamlines a project by overlapping design and construction to speed up construction and potentially reduce costs. Design-build is currently being used in 32 other states. Caltrans obtained design-build authority in February 2009 with the passage of Senate Bill 4 (second extraordinary session). The legislation established a demonstration program, which allows 10 design-build projects for Caltrans and five for local transportation agencies, subject to authorization by the CTC. Orange County was allocated $16 million to repave and repair 82 lane miles of pavement on Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano and Mission Viejo from SR-1 to Oso Creek to improve safety and provide motorists a smoother ride.

For information about all projects that received allocations please visit: http://www.dot.ca.gov/docs/ctcprojectallocationsjune2011.pdf

From the Sacramento Bee:

A Sacramento judge’s validation of a program that reserves millions of dollars of California’s road-building contracts for women- and minority-owned firms is on its way to a federal appellate court.

U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez ruled in March that the California Department of Transportation is within constitutional bounds in awarding 6.75 percent of construction and engineering contracts involving federal funds to companies owned by African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans or women.

Caltrans also strives to funnel a similar amount of work to companies owned by the same minority groups, but without utilizing race and gender as a criteria.

The overall policy has a direct effect on about $2.75 billion worth of projects, according to a legal challenge by the Associated General Contractors of America.

The following is from the San Francisco Chronicle:

A Caltrans program to reserve federally funded road-building contracts for companies owned by minorities and women has survived a federal court challenge by predominantly white-owned contractors.

The program, begun in March 2009, requires state Department of Transportation contractors to set aside at least 6.75 percent of their federal dollars for minority and female subcontractors or make good-faith efforts to reach that goal.

Caltrans had similar rules before 2006 but suspended them after a federal appeals court ruled that states need evidence of discrimination to justify set-asides for minorities in federally funded programs.

The Bush and Obama administrations had both pressed Caltrans to reinstate the preferences. No set-asides are allowed in entirely state-funded projects because of a ban on minority preferences that California voters approved in 1996.

In a suit by the Associated General Contractors’ San Diego chapter, U.S. District Judge John Mendez of Sacramento ruled Wednesday that Caltrans had shown that without the preferences, its contracting practices discriminate against minorities and women.

He cited a department study that found minority- and female-owned companies were receiving more than 10 percent of federal funds before 2006 and less than 3 percent after the state suspended the set-aside program.

Mendez also cited civil rights groups’ evidence of discriminatory contracting practices. The evidence showed an “old boys’ network” in which contractors usually awarded subcontracts to their friends and rarely contacted minorities or women, said attorney Oren Sellstrom of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.

The contractors’ association is considering an appeal, said attorney Sharon Browne of the Pacific Legal Foundation. She said there was no evidence Caltrans had discriminated.

The set-aside program also harms taxpayers, who are “paying an extra premium to bring in minorities and women as subcontractors,” Browne said.