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.

§ 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]

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.

$23 Billion in California Transportation Projects Could ‘Grind to a Halt’ Without New Federal Transportation Bill

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) today announced that Malcolm Dougherty, Acting Caltrans Director, has sent a letter urging Congress to swiftly pass legislation that will reauthorize transportation funding and protect $23 billion in active state and local transportation projects.

Without an extension or reauthorization, the department will be unable to continue existing transportation projects across the state. In the attached letter to the California congressional delegation, Acting Director Dougherty states that without continued federal funding, thousands of active state and local transportation projects valued at
$23 billion would grind to a halt within weeks of the end of the Federal Fiscal Year (September 30).

The current surface transportation legislation, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), expired in 2009. Congress has extended the Act seven times, but the latest extension expires on September 30. The federal government currently provides about $3.4 billion per year for transportation projects across the state.

To read the Acting Director’s letter to the California Congressional Delegation, please visit: http://www.dot.ca.gov/docs/CaltransDirectortoCalCongress_29August2011_FINAL.pdf

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

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 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

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.