Last week, LA City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was in D.C. and testified before a Senate panel on the "30/10" initiative to accelerate 30 years of projected L.A.-area transportation projections funded under voter-approved Measure R into the next decade. Federal government help with funding mechanisms are needed to advance the revenues guaranteed under Measure R, and the Mayor called on lawmakers to create a "national program of innovative financing tools."
To read more on the Mayor's efforts in the nation's capital, read the LA Times blog here.
Samuel I. Schwartz, a leading transportation engineer in the U.S., also recently penned an article for PBS' "Blueprint America" site titled: Stop bellyaching cities! Follow L.A.'s example on building for the future.
For a look at an overview of the innovative financing plan, click here. For details of the proposed Qualified Transportation Improvement Bonds provision under the plan, click here.
Another proposed element would modify the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) to authorized the U.S. DOT to make upfront conditional credit commitments for certain large projects that satisfy national infrastructure investment goals. For a fact sheet and proposed TIFIA changes, click here.
