Demand-Side Policies: Policies aimed at reducing congestion by reducing the demand for travel either overall or by targeted modes of transportation.
Design-Bid-Build: The traditional project delivery approach used for most of the 20th century to procure public works. The design-bid-build model segregates design and construction responsibilities by awarding them to an independent private engineer and a separate private contractor. By doing so, design-bid-build separates the delivery process into three linear phases: 1) Design, 2) Bid, and 3) Construction.
Design-Build: A procurement or project delivery arrangement whereby a single entity (a contractor with subconsultants, or team of contractors and engineers, often with subconsultants) is entrusted with both design and construction of a project.
Design-Build-Finance-Operate (DBFO): A project delivery approach in which responsibilities for designing, building, financing and operating are bundled together and transferred to private sector partners. There is a great deal of variety in DBFO arrangements in the United States, and especially the degree to which financial responsibilities are actually transferred to the private sector. One commonality that cuts across all DBFO projects is that they are either partly or wholly financed by debt leveraging revenue streams dedicated to the project. Direct user fees (tolls) are the most common revenue source. However, other revenue sources range from lease payments to pass-through tolls or financing and vehicle registration fees. Future revenues are leveraged to issue bonds or other debt that provide funds for capital and project development costs. They are also often supplemented by public sector grants in the form of money or contributions in kind, such as right-of-way. In certain cases, private partners may be required to make equity investments as well.
Dynamic Pricing: Tolls that vary in real time in response to changing congestion levels, as opposed to variable pricing that follows a fixed schedule.
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC): An automated toll collection system deploying various communications and electronic technologies to support the collection of tolls at toll collection points, express lanes and open road toll collection points. Collectively, the application of these technologies increases system throughput, enhances safety, and reduces environmental impacts.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA): The federal agency responsible for the administration of federal highway funds. FHWA does not have a direct role or responsibility in the development of urban transportation plans or transportation project. However, its role in the administration of federal funds and in the issuance of policy and procedure timetables for the implementation of federal legislative directives is immense.
High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV): Vehicles having more than one occupant. Examples include carpools, vanpools, buses, and mini-buses. Transportation systems may encourage HOV use by having designated HOV lanes.
High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane: An exclusive road or traffic lane limited to buses, vanpools, carpools, emergency vehicles, and in some cases, single occupant motorcycles. HOV lanes typically have higher operating speeds than adjacent general purpose lanes due to lower traffic volumes. HOV lanes have proven to be successful in major metropolitan areas across the US; however, their full effectiveness is usually not realized until about one to two years after implementation.
High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lane: A managed, limited-access, and normally barrier-separated highway lane that provide free or reduced cost access to HOVs, and also makes excess capacity available to single-occupant vehicles.
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS): The application of advanced electronics and communication technologies to enhance the capacity and efficiency of surface transportation systems, including traveler information, public transportation, and commercial vehicle operations.
Liability: Amount owed (i.e., payable) by an individual or entity, such as for terms received, services rendered, expenses incurred, assets acquired, construction performed, and amounts received but not yet earned.
Managed Lane: A lane or lanes designed and operated to achieve stated goals by managing access via user group, pricing, or other criteria. A managed lane facility typically provides improved travel conditions to eligible users.
Mixed-flow: Combined flow of HOVs and SOVs.
Non-Federal Match: The commitment of state or other non-federal funds required to receive federal contributions. For example, the U.S. State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) program requires a non-federal match for capitalization funds, which is 25 percent of the amount of federal funds. The match may be lower in states which have a sliding scale rate based on the percentage of federal land in the state.
Open Road Tolling: Fully automated electronic tolling in an open road environment (no toll booths) allowing vehicles to travel at normal speeds when passing through toll collection points.
Pass-Through Tolling (Financing): An innovative financing and project delivery method where a developer (typically private) finances, constructs, maintains and/or operate a project contingent upon periodic payments to the developer for each vehicle that drives on the road. The per vehicle amounts is paid by the sponsoring governmental entity (not the driver) to the developer.
Personal Property: Tangible, movable assets, such as automobiles, planes, and boats.
Public-Private Partnership (PPP): "Public-private partnership” refers to contractual agreements formed between a public agency and private sector entity that allow for greater private sector participation in the delivery of transportation projects.
Ramp-Up Phase: The phase in a project's life cycle immediately following construction. It is during this phase, the early years of operation, that a project's revenue stream is established.
Real Property: Tangible, non-movable assets, such as land and buildings.
Receivable: Amount owed to a lender by an individual, organization, or other entity to satisfy a debt or a claim. Examples of receivables generated by government activities include amounts due for taxes, loans, the sale of goods and services, fines, penalties, forfeitures, interest, and overpayments of salaries and benefits.
Revenues: All rates, rents, fees, assessments, charges, and other receipts derived by a project sponsor from a project.
Revenue Neutral: Revenue-neutral pricing strategies involve rebating some or all of the revenue generated by pricing to toll payers, where generating revenue is not an objective of value pricing.
Road Pricing: An umbrella phrase that covers all charges imposed on those who use roadways. The term includes such traditional revenue sources as fuel taxes and license fees as well as charges that vary with time of day, the specific road used, and vehicle size and weight. This concept has evolved into more ubiquitous congestion pricing or value pricing definitions.
Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV): A vehicle occupied by only one person.
Start-Up Project: A separate, free-standing and new facility dependent on its own revenue stream to generate earnings to cover operating and capital costs.
State Infrastructure Bank (SIB): A state or multi-state revolving fund that provides loans, credit enhancement, and other forms of financial assistance to surface transportation projects.
State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP): A short-term transportation planning and programming document covering at least a three-year period and updated at least every two years. The STIP includes a priority list of projects to be carried out in each of the three years. Projects included in the STIP must be consistent with the long-term transportation plan, must conform to regional air quality implementation plans, and must be financially constrained (achievable within existing or reasonably anticipated funding sources).
State Transportation Plan (STP): The transportation plan covers a 20-year period and includes both short- and long-term actions that develop and maintain an integrated, intermodal transportation system. The plan must conform to regional air quality implementation plans and be financially constrained.
TE-045 Innovative Finance Initiative: A research program begun by the Federal Highway Administration in 1994 in response to Executive Order 12893. This finance initiative is designed to increase investment, accelerate projects, promote the use of existing innovative finance provisions, and establish the basis for future initiatives by waiving selected federal policies and procedures, thus allowing specific transportation projects to be advanced through the use of non-traditional finance mechanisms.
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Credit Program: As part of its 1998 enactment of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), Congress established a Federal credit program for large transportation projects. Sections 1501 to 1504 of TEA 21, collectively the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998 (TIFIA), authorize the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide three forms of credit assistance - secured (direct) loans, loan guarantees and standby lines of credit - to surface transportation projects of national or regional significance. A specific goal of TIFIA is to leverage private co-investment. Because the program offers credit assistance, rather than grant funding, potential projects must be capable of generating revenue streams via user charges or other dedicated funding sources. In general, a project's eligible costs must be reasonably anticipated to total at least $100 million. Credit assistance is available to highway, transit, passenger rail and multi-modal projects. Other types of eligible projects include intercity passenger rail or bus projects, publicly owned intermodal facilities on or adjacent to the National Highway System, projects that provide ground access to airports or seaports, and surface transportation projects principally involving the installation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), for which the cost threshold is $30 million. The TIFIA credit assistance is limited to 33 percent of eligible project costs. For more information, visit the TIFIA website at http://tifia.fhwa.dot.gov.
Toll Road: A road or section of road where motorists are charged a user fee (or toll). This is similar in concept to an electric toll or water utility.
Value Pricing: A system by which congestion and improved roadways can be managed through different levels of toll rates at peak and non-peak hours.
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