WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum that the administration said will modernize the federal infrastructure permitting process, cutting timelines in half for major infrastructure projects while creating incentives for better outcomes for communities and the environment. Cutting red tape and shaving months, and even years, off the time it takes to review and approve major infrastructure projects will start construction sooner, create jobs earlier, and fix the nation’s infrastructure faster, the Administration said. 

ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, joined by Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, signed the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013. The legislation will support thousands of jobs and invests an average of $800 million a year at full implementation and a total of $4.4 billion over the next six years (FY 2014 - FY 2019). As a result of the passage of the legislation, Governor O’Malley was able to announce the first round of highway and transit projects to be funded with money generated by the Transportation Act. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — TRB standing committees have issued calls for papers for the TRB 93rd Annual Meeting, January 12-16, 2014, in Washington, D.C, and the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). While papers addressing any relevant aspect of transportation research will be considered, some committees are soliciting papers in specific subject areas to help potential authors identify topics for their papers. 

SAN DIEGO — State and local governments in the U.S. are leading the way in delivering infrastructure projects against a backdrop of budget constraints and an ongoing lack of consensus about future investments by the federal government, according to “Infrastructure 2013: Global Priorities, Global Insights,” a joint report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young. The report points out that state and local governments account for approximately 75 percent of all infrastructure spending, with the remainder supplied by the federal government. However despite this expenditure, infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP has shrunk to only 2.4 percent from its peak of more than 3 percent during the 1960s. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is deploying an innovative new robot to help inspect the safety and structural integrity of concrete bridge decks that can save time and money. The new robotic tool — automated and created in partnership with Rutgers University — is combining a number of advanced, customized imaging technologies that gives inspectors more accurate information, in real time, on the deck's overall health. 

 PHOENIX — After more than a decade of planning, design, and construction, the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport opened Stage 1 of the PHX Sky Train to customers on April 8, 2013. The people-mover system allows one of the country’s busiest airports to alleviate roadway congestion and enhance customer service while serving as a prototype for airports seeking modern transit solutions. 

ATLANTA — The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Board of Directors authorized a revised contract with URS Energy and Construction, Inc. to design and build the Atlanta Streetcar that sets the total price for its work on the project at $59 million. The original contract authorization was $52.2 million based on the preliminary design. The revised contract amount covers improvements to the project’s design and scope and also provides for an additional 7 percent contingency that could be used to cover unforeseen site conditions along the project route that may arise during construction. The revised contract amount will be paid from existing project contingency funds. 

RICHMOND, VA. — Surrounded by legislators and community and transportation leaders from across the Commonwealth, Governor Bob McDonnell ceremonially signed Virginia's Road to the Future (HB 2313), the state's first comprehensive transportation funding plan approved in 27 years. Following on the heels of nearly three decades of inaction on the critical challenges facing transportation funding in Virginia, this historic bi-partisan legislation supported by Republicans and Democrats from each chamber will provide more than $3.4 billion in additional statewide transportation funding, more than $1.5 billion in additional funding for Northern Virginia, and more than $1 billion in additional funding for Hampton Roads, over the next five years alone.