In the 2010’s!
The 2010’s was a decade of increased research and collaboration for Eno and technological advancement in the industry. Jeff Davis, creator of Transportation Weekly, joined Eno and began the publication of Eno Transportation Weekly. Eno partnered with the Multi-Agency Exchange (MAX) program to facilitate the Eno/MAX program, which brings front-line managers to visit their counterparts in the other agencies for collaborative best-practice sharing practices. Some key industry moments in the 2010’s included the invention of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), the passage of the FAST Act, and the subsequent INFRA grants.
Then
What are INFRA grants?
The FAST Act establishes the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (NSFHP) program to provide financial assistance—competitive grants, known as INFRA grants, or credit assistance—to nationally and regionally significant freight and highway projects.
Now
New Criteria for INFRA Grants
For the first time as part of the 2021 round, the USDOT seeks INFRA projects that address climate change and environmental justice. Projects will be evaluated on whether they were planned as part of a comprehensive strategy to address climate change, or whether they support strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as deploying zero-emission-vehicle infrastructure or encouraging modal shift and a reduction in vehicle-miles-traveled.
Research Spotlight
The Eno/MAX Program
In 2012, leaders at the Regional Transportation District of Denver, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority, and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority realized they shared similar challenges at their agencies and began to discuss how they could learn and collaborate with each other. Together with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, these leaders created the first Multi-Agency Exchange. The program brought front-line managers to visit their counterparts in the other agencies for this collaborative best-practice sharing program. In 2017, these agencies began collaborating with Eno to expand the leadership development and networking and alumni programming. Since its inception, the MAX Program has brought together over 250 professionals and saved participating agencies millions of dollars.
In 2018, Valley Metro (Phoenix) and Sound Transit (Seattle) joined the program; in 2019, WMATA in DC and CATS in Charlotte, NC came on board, and in 2020, the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PACO). Together with the participating agencies, Eno is looking to continue to incrementally expand the program to include additional transit agencies. This program will provide critically needed training for first-level supervisors, help build a network of professionals, and improve people readiness of the industry.
In 2019 and beyond, Eno and the current MAX participants will continue to collaborate and bring on new partners.
Did you know?
In June 2010, UberCab was launched in San Francisco (and renamed simply Uber in October). Over the decade, more Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) have emerged, disrupting traditional forms of mobility options. Over the last few years, some transit agencies and ride-hailing companies have formed innovative partnerships and collaborations to provide new mobility options to the public.
Sounds of the Decade
The FAST Act
What is the FAST Act?
Signed into law in 2015 and funded through the Highway Trust Fund and General Fund, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act is intended to provides long-term funding certainty for surface transportation, including highways, mass transit, safety, and intercity passenger rail.
How State Highway Funding Totals Are Calculated Under the FAST Act
As part of the Eno Center’s release of its paper, Refreshing the Status Quo: Federal Highway Programs and Funding Distribution, this article explains precisely how the FAST Act of 2015 ties each state’s annual federal-aid highway funding total to the last year of the SAFETEA-LU Act (fiscal 2009), which in turn relied on real-world apportionment factors as of the year 2007, and the distribution of earmarked projects by well-placed members of Congress in the summer of 2005.
COVID-19’s Impact on the FAST Act
Congress acted on a ten-week appropriations extension and a year-long FAST Act extension. How will these be implemented, and what does this mean for future COVID relief funding and a longer-term FAST Act reauthorization? View this rapid response webinar with Eno’s Jeff Davis to learn more and get your questions answered.
Speakers:
Jeff Davis, Senior Fellow and Editor, Eno Center for Transportation
Robert Puentes, President and CEO, Eno Center for Transportation
