Some metropolitan areas are dealing with traffic in an entirely new way. And, the result is that Americans are driving their automobiles fewer miles each year. That trend has been under way since 2007.

The decrease has been slow, but steady, and it is obvious that people throughout the country are using more public transportation, riding bikes and walking to destinations they once traveled to in automobiles. At least that is what the Federal Highway Administration says.

One of the reasons is because of a relatively new initiative that is proving to be quite successful - transit-oriented development projects, or walkable communities in urban areas.

[more]

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. provides opportunity

identification for all 50 states.

Click here for more information.

RFQs due Friday to weed out firms to design, build, maintain state infrastructure

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) should know within days how many private-sector firms are interested in partnering with the state to help replace some of Pennsylvania's approximately 4,200 state-owned bridges that have been designated as structurally deficient. A request for qualifications (RFQ) was issued last December, giving interested parties until Jan. 31 to submit their qualifications.

PennDOT is seeking to replace about 500 of those bridges in 2015 if it can find a partner to design, build and maintain the bridges, with PennDOT making payments to the private partner relative to performance. Pennsylvania leads the nation in deficient bridges, with 18 percent of its bridges structurally deficient, 11 percent higher than the national average. The average age of Pennsylvania bridges is 50 years.

Currently, some 60 smaller bridges in Allegheny County are likely to see replacements. Most are less than 60 feet long. With a number of bridges up for replacement, the Transportation Department is hoping to save money by using the same or similar design for the replacement bridges. PennDOT spokesperson Erin Waters-Trasatt (pictured)  said by bringing private-sector funding into the mix, the state will be able to replace 550 to 650 bridges that would otherwise take the state acting alone some 15-20 years to replace with a traditional design-build method of delivery.

Interest in the project has been high, with some 150 companies, including contractors, engineers and financial organizations attending a November presentation. The executive vice president of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania said companies are hurriedly putting together teams to submit proposals.

Once the submissions of qualifications are received, qualified teams will submit proposals. "With a project of this scale, we anticipate that proposers will establish their own teams including multiple contractors, but the exact structure is up to them," Waters-Trasatt said. She added that it is hoped that construction could be under way on 50-100 bridges sometime next year. The winning bidder will maintain the new bridges for up to 40 years.

Authors say nation facing crisis for funding for transportation projects

Saying the nation is facing an "infrastructure crisis," U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna (pictured) of New York has introduced legislation, along with U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn of California, that would re-establish state infrastructure banks. Dubbed the State Transportation and Infrastructure Financing Innovation Act, the bill would update the federal highway bill and allow states - the ones that choose to do so - to use federal funding to establish their own infrastructure banks.

Although a State Infrastructure Bank program was established by Congress in 2005, it expired in 2009, no longer allowing states to receive money through reduced-interest borrowing for roads, bridges, sewers and other necessary infrastructure. The original program allowed states to use up to 10 percent of their existing federal transportation dollars to start infrastructure banks to finance their projects. At the time, 10 states established such banks, all of which have been inactive since the original legislation expired.

Hanna said state infrastructure banks can help leverage private investment in local projects nationwide. The bill Hanna has co-authored with Hahn not only would reauthorize the program, but also increase the funding cap from 10 percent to 15 percent of federal transportation dollars. States would then loan those funds to local communities. "This legislation is an important step in ensuring local infrastructure projects get the vital funding they need to create jobs and build the goods movement system our businesses need to succeed," he said.

Hanna said the goal of the legislation, if passed, is to begin making loans by 2015. 

Illinois school district getting funds for replacement gym, classrooms

Structural issues blamed on shifting ground led the Chester, Illinois, Elementary School gym and connecting classrooms to be condemned in mid-2012. Officials found the facility to be structurally unstable. But the school district will now get $4.4 million in tax money to help replace the facilities. The funds are part of the state's Illinois Jobs Now! program and will be matched by $1.5 million from the school district. When the facility was declared unusable, it left more than 600 pre-K to eighth grade students without a facility to use during bad weather. The new building will be built on more stable ground near the school.

Detroit light rail seeking contractors to work on $140M project

Contractors are being sought to work on Detroit's $140 million light passenger rail project. The company that was chosen as construction manager is seeking proposals from contractors to assist with projects that include paving, salvage, traffic signals, water main work and landscaping. The 3.1-mile project is expected to be up and running in 2016. Stacy and Witbeck Inc. has created a Web site for contractors who are interested in working on the project. More than two-dozen bid packages are currently available and more than a dozen more are expected to be added soon. The mass transit project will provide a streetcar line along Detroit's Woodward Avenue, with the help of $25 million in federal aid.

GSA receives RFI responses for building maintenance, operations services program

A request for information was recently released by the U.S. General Services Administration regarding industry feedback for development of a new Building Maintenance and Operations (BMO) services program that could be instituted government-wide. The program includes services from HVAC to utilities. GSA sought input and demonstrated best practices to incorporate federal sourcing principles including pricing discounts, better operations management and small business support. GSA sought recommendations about how cost and operations savings can be measured and achieved through a BMO-focused strategic sourcing solution, either by demand management strategies, better acquisition or improved performance management. The proposed services that GSA is seeking to improve regarding purchase and management are HVAC, electrical, elevator, road work, janitorial, landscaping, pest control, waste management and utilities. "The federal government's portfolio of building assets contains more than double the square footage of the top five U.S. commercial real estate companies combined," said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Tom Sharpe, Jr. (pictured). "This program has the opportunity to significantly change the way the government approaches the services used to maintain and operate its buildings and structures, saving money and streamlining processes." The BMO program also seeks to create opportunities for small business in the development of the program. The responses will be used to discuss a going-forward strategy.

New York village gets federal funding for downtown redesign work

A $1 million federal grant has been awarded to Port Jefferson Village, New York, to assist with a project that is part of its redesign of its downtown area. The funding will be used to upgrade Main Street and its sidewalks and is part of the waterfront revitalization plan. Port Jefferson Village's award is part of a pot of $67 million in federal grant funds being made available in New York through the Federal Highway Administration and is one of 63 projects statewide. The projects are being undertaken to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation and multi-use paths, with a goal of increasing tourism and economic development. The $1 million in federal funding will cover about 80 percent of Port Jefferson's project, with a local match making up the difference. Plans are to eliminate parking on the east side of Main Street in the village and use that space to widen sidewalks and the roadway. The revitalization plan also includes adding a children's park and an amphitheater on West Broadway and reconfiguring the ferry property to relieve traffic congestion on East Broadway.

Check out these recent awards: 

Developers named finalists for MDC medical campus expansion

Three development teams have been named finalists to participate in a public-private partnership to expand the Miami Dade College medical campus. The campus is located near Jackson Memorial Hospital. Plans are for the college to develop some 170,000 square feet and a parking garage on a 4.5-acre site. The development could be used for a hotel, conference center, medical office building, residential facilities and retail space. The finalists chosen include: Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, a team including Concord Eastridge, Pirtle Construction Co., Perkins+Will, Zyscovich Architects, Miller Legg and Gadinsky Real Estate; Lend Lease, a team including D. Stephenson Construction, Ivory Construction, HKS, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Premier Parking and law firm GrayRobinson, P.A.; and MCM-BAP, a team including law firm Greenberg Traurig, Dunlap & Associates, Walker Parking, the Miami Parking Authority and BBVA Compass Bank. The three teams of finalists will meet with the evaluation committee probably by the end of February, according to Miami Dade College Director of Purchasing Roman Martinez (pictured), to discuss their proposals. The college could then require a best and final offer from the developers to pick the best proposal.

 Are you a government official who has moved into a new position or to a new agency? Did you recently retire? Were you recently named to an executive-level position at a state-supported college, university or community college? Have you secured a new job as superintendent of a public school? If so, we'd like to hear from you - and so would your friends and colleagues - for our "Where Are They Now" column. Just drop us a line at editor@spartnerships.com and let us know about your previous job and where you are now. This week we feature Clay Johnston, M.D.

Clay Johnston, M.D., earned his undergraduate degree from Amherst College. He completed medical school at Harvard University. Johnston completed his internship at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1993 and finished his residency in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1996. Johnston later received a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. After completing his residency at UCSF, Johnston stayed on at the university. He eventually was named professor of neurology and epidemiology at UCSF and was selected as director of the Clinical and Translational Service Institute (CTSI) at UCSF in 2008. He specializes in preventing and treating stroke. As director of CTSI, Johnston was responsible for oversight of the planning, development and implementation of a $112-million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant award. In 2009, Johnston was named UCSF's Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. Johnston was recently selected as the inaugural dean of the new Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.

Claude L. Steele (top left), the I. James Quillen Dean of Stanford University's education school and former provost at Columbia University, has been chosen as the University of California at Berkeley's executive vice chancellor and provost. Former Eddy County Sheriff Kent Waller (top center) has been named Carlsbad, New Mexico, Police Department's police chief, replacing recently retired Daniel Fierro. Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera (top right) has been appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott as the state's new lieutenant governor, effective Feb. 3. Eric Madoff, former chief of staff at the New York State Department of Financial Services and former Chief Investment and Strategy Officer for the New York Liquidation Bureau, has been chosen by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as executive director of the New York State Insurance Fund. Brad Whitehead, son of former Union County, Florida, Sheriff Jerry Whitehead, has been appointed to replace his father, who recently died, becoming the third generation of his family to be the top lawman in the county. Rose Duhan, former director of government programs at the New York Health Plan Association and former senior budget analyst for Albany County, is Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pick to serve as the state's Assistant Secretary for Health. James B. Milliken (bottom right), president of the University of Nebraska, has been appointed chancellor of the City University of New York , effective June 1, succeeding Matthew Goldstein, who stepped down last year after 14 years in office. Paige Day (bottom center), former Missouri City Assistant Fire Chief, recently became the first woman in the 142-year history of the city of Smyrna, Georgia, to serve as fire chief. Dr. Mary T. Bassett (bottom left), former deputy health commissioner under New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been chosen by new Mayor Bill de Blasio as the city's health commissioner. Dick McGinity, holder of the Bill Daniels Chair of Business Ethics at the University of Wyoming and interim president of the university since last December, has been promoted to president of the university. Alamogordo, New Mexico, Public Schools Superintendent Dr. George Straface, who has been with the school system since 2011, recently announced his retirement. Lee Violett, former San Bruno police chief for eight years, who retired in 2006 with 30 years in law enforcement, has been named interim chief in East Palo Alto.