- MTA Commits To Significant Increase In Contracting With Historically Underutilized Businesses
- Urban Designers See An Upside Under Houston Freeways
- A Learning Curve And Unfamiliar Collaborators Slow NEVI Program's Rollout
- New York Thruway Reopens Two More Renovated Service Plazas
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
MTA Commits To Significant Increase In Contracting With Historically Underutilized Businesses
As part of its FY 2025-2029 capital plan, New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has made a commitment “to award a historic amount to historically underutilized businesses . . . , with $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion in contracts to be awarded to New York State Certified Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB), and/or Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE).” In addition to its set-aside goal, MTA proposes to:
- Add 350 new businesses to the agency’s Small Business Mentoring Program, with a commitment to provide up to $400 million in contracts to participating firms.
- Certify 300 more firms as DBEs.
- Add local hiring goals to $5 billion worth of contracts.
“To jump start these efforts,” MTA recently hosted an event for 250 businesses at which MTA prime contractors could connect with potential MWBE subcontractors and graduates of MTA’s Small Business Development Program. MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber commented, “When we talk about rebuilding and improving the transit system, this includes billions of dollars of work to be done by our diverse contracting community. As the fourth largest employer in the region, the MTA is proud to partner for an equitable and inclusive economy.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York City Transportation and Infrastructure Leadership And Workforce Diversity Transportation And Infrastructure Workforce IssuesUrban Designers See An Upside Under Houston Freeways
Houston Chronicle explores the potential for the shaded spaces under elevated freeways to be utilized as urban green spaces. “’We would absolutely like to see Houston freeways serve as multi-use space for communities, and think it’s achievable,’ said Natalia Beard, a principal with SWA, a design firm with offices in Houston.” The Hardy Toll Road and the mammoth I-45 rebuild around downtown are identified as prime locations for innovative development. The article cites playgrounds, exercise space, and bike repair stations as examples of the facilities that can benefit communities located around elevated highways. Lighting, safe access, and discouraging loitering are mentioned as potential obstacles for which practical solutions exist.
Environmental Protection Policies Procedures And Initiatives Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) Houston Metro Area Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)A Learning Curve And Unfamiliar Collaborators Slow NEVI Program's Rollout
POLITICO’s E&E News provides an in-depth look at why the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program’s electric vehicle (EV) charger buildout is progressing so slowly, to the frustration of agency officials and lawmakers from both parties. The program was authorized in 2021 under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). To date, only 19 NEVI-funded charging stations have come online in nine states, according to the federal government’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. However, that agency’s executive director, Gabe Klein, predicts that the pace of installations will increase and the program’s impact will peak between 2026 and 2028.
The E&E News article is largely informed by a panel discussion at last month’s EV Charging Infrastructure National Conference in Detroit, co-hosted by the National Association of State Energy Officials, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. The range of conference participants explains one of the difficulties with the program’s implementation: “It requires collaborations between the worlds of energy and transportation that are newly minted.” State DOT’s, the drivers of program implementation, are unaccustomed to working with energy companies and utilities on projects “intimately tied to the electric grid, or on private property.”
Two other drags on progress are highlighted in the article. One is the inevitable complexity of managing a program with multiple stakeholders, including federal and state agencies, private host businesses, landowners, electric companies, and charging-network providers. The other, “the single biggest bottleneck in building a charging station is getting the electric utility to build the necessary interconnections to supply at least 600 kilowatts of power, the minimum necessary for a NEVI station.” The program’s challenges for power providers are significant and not easily overcome.
Economic & Social Considerations Affecting Transportation Electric and Hybrid Vehicles P3 & Privatization Service Plazas US Department of Energy US Department of Transportation (USDOT) US Gov't Transportation Funding US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesNew York Thruway Reopens Two More Renovated Service Plazas
Today, it reopened the Malden Service Area on I-87 northbound between exit 20 and exit 21 in Ulster County. During the renovation project, “all of the components inside the restaurant building were removed including the restaurants, restrooms and interior seating. The renovation includes a new floor plan, new restaurants, new restrooms, the addition of two new family assist restrooms, private nursing area, additional seating as well as customer access to electrical outlets and phone/laptop charging stations.” All service areas along I-87 north have now been restored to public access.
On Friday, October 4, the Thruway’s Ontario Service Area on I-90 westbound between exit 46 and exit 47 in Genesee County reopened. That facility underwent the same range of upgrades.
The Thruway’s $450 million public-private partnership with Applegreen’s parent to redevelop and modernize all service areas has recently picked up pace. With the Malden facility’s completion, 23 restored service areas have now reopened. The Ontario and Malden locations were two of the four to undergo extensive renovation.
Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Iris Buyer LLC and Applegreen PLC New York New York State Thruway Authority P3 & Privatization Service PlazasThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
If you’re not already a Daily News Briefs subscriber and you want a complete picture of today’s news, click here or call 717-991-2823 for subscription information. If you’re a newcomer to TollRoadsNews.com, click here.