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TL:DR? OK. Extracted info provided.
Author: Commenter
Date: 01-15-2017 - 13:55
For the convenience of those with presbyopia (myself included) I have extracted the bits from the federal reports quoted above. My comments are marked {comment}.
* * * * *
"40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance"
- - - - -
In recognition of the important role that public works infrastructure plays in supporting national economic growth, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, on behalf of the Build America Investment Initiative, commissioned this study. Its objective is to identify 40 proposed transportation and water infrastructure projects in the United States of major economic significance, but whose completion has slowed or is in jeopardy. This study provides the public with a picture of how, if completed, these proposed infrastructure projects would have a positive impact on national and regional economic activity, such as reducing congestion, improving safety and reliability, decreasing flood hazard, and other benefits.
This study also identifies the primary challenges facing each project, including funding shortfalls, regulatory considerations, and lack of consensus, in an effort to inform
federal, state, and local debates over infrastructure policy. This project-focused approach allows the reader to more easily grasp how infrastructure investment can create real and substantial value for businesses, consumers, travelers, and community residents, and helps put a “face” to our nation’s infrastructure challenge in various regions of the country.
- - - - -
California High Speed Rail
Project Sponsors:
* California High Speed Rail Authority
* Federal Railroad Administration
Project Description:
* The high-speed rail system planned for California will eventually encompass over 800 Miles of rail, with up to 24 stations. Full build-out of the system will connect Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Considerations:
* The capacity of California's intercity transportation system is insufficient to meet existing and future demand, and the current and projected future congestion of the system will continue to result in deteriorating air quality, reduced reliability, and increased travel times.
Project Benefits
* Travel time, reliability, travel cost and productivity benefits for users transferring from auto to HSR.
* Travel time, relisbility, safety and emission benefits for highway users traveling in less congested condition due to mode shift from auto to HSR.
* Passenger delay, operating cost and emission savinge in the aviation sector due to mode shift from air to HSR.
Primary Challenges
* Funding
* Litigation against the Authority for noncompliance with Proposition 1A and other cases over the projects environmental certification and use of cap-and-trade money.
* Logistics and scheduling at Union Station in LA.
California Market Served:
Population (Census, 2015 value) - - 39,145,000
Employment (BLS, 2015 value)- - - - 16,093,000
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M) - - - - $ 2,305,921
Economic Benefits and Costs 2015$(M):
Capital Cost - - - - - - - - - - - $ 58,794
Discounted Capital Cost- - - - - - $ 43,425
Discounted Benefits- - - - - - - - $173,700 - 303,975
Net Economic Benefits- - - - - - - $130,275 - 260,550
Benefit-Cost Ratio - - 4.0 - 7.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars, values were discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M excluded from costs.
{That's operations and maintenance for you non-accountants. Note the difference between cost and discounted cost. This is why the quoted cost for CAHSR suddenly jumped up at one point. $43,425 is in today's dollars and $58,794 is in dollars of the year of expenditure, which inflates the actual price. To make logical calculations everything above had to use discounted values to properly calculate the actual benefits. Ain't accounting fun.}
* * * * *
"The Lasting Impacts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on America's Transportation Infrastructure"
- - - - -
Executive Summary {for all you executives out there}
In 2009, at the height of the worst economic recession in American history since the Great Depression, the nation invested roughly $48 billion in transportation infrastructure as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act, or ARRA). This is a report about the impact of those dollars in improving the lives of Americans across the country – putting people to work immediately in the service of much-needed improvements, and seeding longer-term economic investments across the country. These benefits are tangible, visible, and transformative. With nearly all of the transportation funds in the Recovery Act spent, and with the end of the current fiscal year marking the deadline for the expenditure of the final transportation project dollars, the time is right for a review of those impacts.
The Recovery Act provided critical economic stimulus by creating and saving jobs at a time when America was facing an economic crisis. This included roughly $48.1 billion in transportation funds. These funds supported immediate-term investments, such as repairing roads and bridges and upgrading runways in need of maintenance, ultimately reducing a substantial backlog of transportation maintenance projects, and provided a significant down payment toward our nation’s transportation infrastructure deficit. Recovery Act funds also supported longer-term investments designed to spur transformative projects like intermodal hubs to connect metropolitan regions, solutions to freight bottlenecks, and high-speed rail corridors to connect key markets. And importantly, the Recovery Act also transformed the way that government delivers projects, setting a new standard for providing transparency for the expenditure of Federal dollars and accountability to the American taxpayer.
- - - - -
{And then follows a long list including two airport control towers, highway interchanges and railroad improvements other than HSR... and that's just in California.}
- - - - -
Examples of investment in rail travel improvement and high-speed rail through the Recovery Act:
- - - - -
Supporting planning and initial construction for California High-Speed Rail (CHSR):
With a $2.55 billion Recovery Act grant and $929 million in FY 2010 appropriations, California is currently undertaking one of the largest infrastructure projects in the U.S., which will bring 220-mph high-speed rail service across the state. Over the next two decades, CHSR will lay more than 500 miles of new track to provide convenient, one-seat service from the San Francisco Bay to the Los Angeles Basin. The Recovery Act covers two major elements of work. First, the preliminary engineering and environmental clearance for the entire high-speed rail corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Once this work is done, all parts of the corridor will be poised for final design and construction as funding becomes available. Second, it provided funding for final design and construction for an approximately 119 mile long section in California’s Central Valley. As construction proceeds, with just under $2 billion of the Recovery Act funds currently outlaid, CHSR is creating jobs in the Central Valley and ensuring significant Small and Disadvantaged Business participation to meet a 30 percent overall participation goal. For example:
Outback Materials: Outback Materials is a certified Small Business that was awarded a contract to provide all the concrete for the CHSR Program’s initial Construction Package in the Central Valley. This contract allowed Outback Materials to invest $3 million to build in Fresno a state-of-the-art plant – built with U.S. steel from a Nebraska supplier – in that efficiently produces concrete and recycles gray water, which is reused in the concrete mix. Outback Materials invested an additional $3 million to purchase fifteen new trucks with concrete mixers from companies located in Washington and Minnesota. Outback Materials’ environmental commitment extends through its equipment purchases, as these are the only variable speed concrete mixers on the West Coast, allowing workers to avoid spillage during loading process. As a result of this contract and the expansion, Outback Materials hired 25 new employees across all levels of the company...
Valverde Construction, Inc.: Valverde Construction is a certified Hispanic Owned Small Business based in Santa Fe Springs in Los Angeles County that is contracted to perform utility relocation work. Owner Joe Valverde expanded his business by opening an office in Fresno, where a small crew of employees are completing designs, buying equipment and hiring additional workers. A family business, Mr. Valverde’s two sons are leading the Fresno operations for high-speed rail and look forward to additional opportunities in the Central Valley.
By design, the high-speed rail program carries the latest statutory deadline (September 30, 2017) of the transportation project investments included in the Recovery Act to account for the significant planning needs associated with program execution. The following graph illustrates that the program is on track to meet the outlay deadline, as projected in the President’s Budget, while the Department continues to actively monitor these projects to ensure timely and appropriate use of funds.
* * * * *
The graph is on page 20 (the 22nd page of the file) of the report, which is at:
https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/American%20Recovery%20and%20Reinvestment%20Act%20Final%20Report.pdf
{I couldn't see a way to link to the file directly. Note that at present over 85% of the federal funds have been spent. The remaining ~15% must be invoiced by June so that everything can be wrapped up by September. After that there must be a match of 50% by the state. The federal government has allowed California to spend their (the federal) money first. Prop 1A says that there must be a match of 50% for those funds too. How convenient. However it is not necessary to use 1A funds for the match. Other sources, for example cap-and-trade, may be used.}
* * * * *
"40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance"
- - - - -
In recognition of the important role that public works infrastructure plays in supporting national economic growth, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, on behalf of the Build America Investment Initiative, commissioned this study. Its objective is to identify 40 proposed transportation and water infrastructure projects in the United States of major economic significance, but whose completion has slowed or is in jeopardy. This study provides the public with a picture of how, if completed, these proposed infrastructure projects would have a positive impact on national and regional economic activity, such as reducing congestion, improving safety and reliability, decreasing flood hazard, and other benefits.
This study also identifies the primary challenges facing each project, including funding shortfalls, regulatory considerations, and lack of consensus, in an effort to inform
federal, state, and local debates over infrastructure policy. This project-focused approach allows the reader to more easily grasp how infrastructure investment can create real and substantial value for businesses, consumers, travelers, and community residents, and helps put a “face” to our nation’s infrastructure challenge in various regions of the country.
- - - - -
California High Speed Rail
Project Sponsors:
* California High Speed Rail Authority
* Federal Railroad Administration
Project Description:
* The high-speed rail system planned for California will eventually encompass over 800 Miles of rail, with up to 24 stations. Full build-out of the system will connect Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Considerations:
* The capacity of California's intercity transportation system is insufficient to meet existing and future demand, and the current and projected future congestion of the system will continue to result in deteriorating air quality, reduced reliability, and increased travel times.
Project Benefits
* Travel time, reliability, travel cost and productivity benefits for users transferring from auto to HSR.
* Travel time, relisbility, safety and emission benefits for highway users traveling in less congested condition due to mode shift from auto to HSR.
* Passenger delay, operating cost and emission savinge in the aviation sector due to mode shift from air to HSR.
Primary Challenges
* Funding
* Litigation against the Authority for noncompliance with Proposition 1A and other cases over the projects environmental certification and use of cap-and-trade money.
* Logistics and scheduling at Union Station in LA.
California Market Served:
Population (Census, 2015 value) - - 39,145,000
Employment (BLS, 2015 value)- - - - 16,093,000
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M) - - - - $ 2,305,921
Economic Benefits and Costs 2015$(M):
Capital Cost - - - - - - - - - - - $ 58,794
Discounted Capital Cost- - - - - - $ 43,425
Discounted Benefits- - - - - - - - $173,700 - 303,975
Net Economic Benefits- - - - - - - $130,275 - 260,550
Benefit-Cost Ratio - - 4.0 - 7.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars, values were discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M excluded from costs.
{That's operations and maintenance for you non-accountants. Note the difference between cost and discounted cost. This is why the quoted cost for CAHSR suddenly jumped up at one point. $43,425 is in today's dollars and $58,794 is in dollars of the year of expenditure, which inflates the actual price. To make logical calculations everything above had to use discounted values to properly calculate the actual benefits. Ain't accounting fun.}
* * * * *
"The Lasting Impacts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on America's Transportation Infrastructure"
- - - - -
Executive Summary {for all you executives out there}
In 2009, at the height of the worst economic recession in American history since the Great Depression, the nation invested roughly $48 billion in transportation infrastructure as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act, or ARRA). This is a report about the impact of those dollars in improving the lives of Americans across the country – putting people to work immediately in the service of much-needed improvements, and seeding longer-term economic investments across the country. These benefits are tangible, visible, and transformative. With nearly all of the transportation funds in the Recovery Act spent, and with the end of the current fiscal year marking the deadline for the expenditure of the final transportation project dollars, the time is right for a review of those impacts.
The Recovery Act provided critical economic stimulus by creating and saving jobs at a time when America was facing an economic crisis. This included roughly $48.1 billion in transportation funds. These funds supported immediate-term investments, such as repairing roads and bridges and upgrading runways in need of maintenance, ultimately reducing a substantial backlog of transportation maintenance projects, and provided a significant down payment toward our nation’s transportation infrastructure deficit. Recovery Act funds also supported longer-term investments designed to spur transformative projects like intermodal hubs to connect metropolitan regions, solutions to freight bottlenecks, and high-speed rail corridors to connect key markets. And importantly, the Recovery Act also transformed the way that government delivers projects, setting a new standard for providing transparency for the expenditure of Federal dollars and accountability to the American taxpayer.
- - - - -
{And then follows a long list including two airport control towers, highway interchanges and railroad improvements other than HSR... and that's just in California.}
- - - - -
Examples of investment in rail travel improvement and high-speed rail through the Recovery Act:
- - - - -
Supporting planning and initial construction for California High-Speed Rail (CHSR):
With a $2.55 billion Recovery Act grant and $929 million in FY 2010 appropriations, California is currently undertaking one of the largest infrastructure projects in the U.S., which will bring 220-mph high-speed rail service across the state. Over the next two decades, CHSR will lay more than 500 miles of new track to provide convenient, one-seat service from the San Francisco Bay to the Los Angeles Basin. The Recovery Act covers two major elements of work. First, the preliminary engineering and environmental clearance for the entire high-speed rail corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Once this work is done, all parts of the corridor will be poised for final design and construction as funding becomes available. Second, it provided funding for final design and construction for an approximately 119 mile long section in California’s Central Valley. As construction proceeds, with just under $2 billion of the Recovery Act funds currently outlaid, CHSR is creating jobs in the Central Valley and ensuring significant Small and Disadvantaged Business participation to meet a 30 percent overall participation goal. For example:
Outback Materials: Outback Materials is a certified Small Business that was awarded a contract to provide all the concrete for the CHSR Program’s initial Construction Package in the Central Valley. This contract allowed Outback Materials to invest $3 million to build in Fresno a state-of-the-art plant – built with U.S. steel from a Nebraska supplier – in that efficiently produces concrete and recycles gray water, which is reused in the concrete mix. Outback Materials invested an additional $3 million to purchase fifteen new trucks with concrete mixers from companies located in Washington and Minnesota. Outback Materials’ environmental commitment extends through its equipment purchases, as these are the only variable speed concrete mixers on the West Coast, allowing workers to avoid spillage during loading process. As a result of this contract and the expansion, Outback Materials hired 25 new employees across all levels of the company...
Valverde Construction, Inc.: Valverde Construction is a certified Hispanic Owned Small Business based in Santa Fe Springs in Los Angeles County that is contracted to perform utility relocation work. Owner Joe Valverde expanded his business by opening an office in Fresno, where a small crew of employees are completing designs, buying equipment and hiring additional workers. A family business, Mr. Valverde’s two sons are leading the Fresno operations for high-speed rail and look forward to additional opportunities in the Central Valley.
By design, the high-speed rail program carries the latest statutory deadline (September 30, 2017) of the transportation project investments included in the Recovery Act to account for the significant planning needs associated with program execution. The following graph illustrates that the program is on track to meet the outlay deadline, as projected in the President’s Budget, while the Department continues to actively monitor these projects to ensure timely and appropriate use of funds.
* * * * *
The graph is on page 20 (the 22nd page of the file) of the report, which is at:
https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/American%20Recovery%20and%20Reinvestment%20Act%20Final%20Report.pdf
{I couldn't see a way to link to the file directly. Note that at present over 85% of the federal funds have been spent. The remaining ~15% must be invoiced by June so that everything can be wrapped up by September. After that there must be a match of 50% by the state. The federal government has allowed California to spend their (the federal) money first. Prop 1A says that there must be a match of 50% for those funds too. How convenient. However it is not necessary to use 1A funds for the match. Other sources, for example cap-and-trade, may be used.}
