Notice from USDOT

FTA 12-10
Monday, May 3, 2010
Contact: Paul Griffo
Tel: 202-366-4064

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Announces $775 Million
In Federal Funds to Upgrade Nation’s Bus Systems
Funds are for buses, facilities and equipment

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that $775 million in federal funds is being made available to the nation’s transit providers to upgrade their bus systems.

“The FTA is addressing the challenge of bringing our nation’s transit systems into a state of good repair head-on,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “These funds will get us started, but we still have a long way to go.”

Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff on Sunday made the announcement Sunday in an address during the general session of the American Public Transportation Association’s Bus and Paratransit Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Well maintained, clean and reliable buses make a world of difference to the millions of Americans who use transit every day," Administrator Rogoff said. "The Obama Administration is making these funds available to ensure that financially strapped transit providers can keep buses rolling and serving the public during these difficult economic times.”

FTA will review applications for the discretionary bus and bus facility funds, and will prioritize proposals based on how they address the issue of the transit system’s state of good repair and recapitalization needs.

Eligible expenses for the funds include purchase and rehabilitation of buses and vans, modernization of buses, bus facilities and revenue service facilities, bus-related equipment and components of transit asset management plans. Deadline for applications is June 18, 2010. Grantees are expected to be announced in late summer 2010.

The Notice of Funding Availability will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The notice includes instructions on submitting applications for the funds.

- END -

News from USDOT

DOT 66-10

DOT, States Plan “Transportation for the Nation”

Geospatial Data Initiative

Friday, April 9, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) this week began strategic planning for Transportation for the Nation (TFTN), an initiative to coordinate and develop nationally significant geospatial transportation data, with particular emphasis on road centerlines. The current planning will develop a strategic vision and goals for TFTN, and determine the best strategies for implementation.

The project will be managed by DOT Geospatial Information Officer (GIO) Steve Lewis of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), who will lead a steering committee of representatives from other federal agencies, NSGIC, state DOTs, and other stakeholders.

TFTN workshops will be held at various transportation and GIS-focused conferences throughout 2010, beginning with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) GIS for Transportation Symposium in Charleston, WV on April 12-14.

The final strategic plan will incorporate input and ideas gathered from the workshops. Additional information about the TFTN strategic planning process will be made available as the project progresses.

Contact: Dave Smallen Tel: 202-366-5568.

-end-

IDOT awarded $1.1 million in training grants

FHWA 04-10
Monday, March 22, 2010
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel: 202-366-0660

U.S. Transportation Secretary Awards $11.8 Million in Training Grants
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Supporting Job Training for Transportation-Related Careers in 19 States and Two Territories

WASHINGTON - U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced $11.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) job training grants for 19 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.

The grants, from the Federal Highway Administration's "On the Job Training/Supportive Services" (OJT/SS) program, fund apprenticeships and training centers for underrepresented or disadvantaged people pursuing careers in transportation, engineering or construction.

"Creating good jobs is what the Recovery Act is about, and these grants help people to get them and do them well," said Secretary LaHood. "We can never have enough well-trained people to help take care of our highway system, and these grants support those who help us keep America moving."

Created in 1998, the OJT/SS program promotes training opportunities for women and minorities who continue to be underrepresented in the highway construction industry's skilled and semi-skilled crafts, such as masonry and carpentry.

"By giving people the skills they need to succeed in highway construction," said Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, "these grants will help people find jobs and are a valuable part of our efforts to sustain economic recovery."

A notable example of the OJT/SS programs is the Wounded Warrior program, which has been adopted by many states to help wounded active-duty military personnel keep job skills sharp or develop new ones while they recuperate. Colorado and Idaho each received grants for their Wounded Warrior programs.

Details of today's awardees are as follows:

	OJT/SS (ARRA-funded)
State	Recipient Organization	Amount Awarded ($)
Alabama	Surface Transportation Internship Program	269,658
California	Northern California Teamsters Apprentice Training	208,543
California	Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA)	338,590
California	Century Community Training Program (CCTP)	290,000
California	United Job Creation Council (UJCC)	254,840
California	Family Management Matters (Warriors Career Bridge)	256,620
California	Pacific Gateway - City of Long Beach	230,789
California	Center for Training and Careers (CTC)	796,415
California	California Disabled Veteran Business (DVBE) Alliance	367,483
Colorado	Wounded Warrior	150,000
Colorado	Colorado Department of Transportation	210,000
Guam	Guam Transportation Training Program	900,000
Guam	Guam Transportation Training Program - Pacific Islanders Training Center	660,000
Idaho	Idaho Technology Transfer Center	55,448
Idaho	Wounded Warrior	99,330
Illinois	Illinois Department of Transportation	1,189,635
Maryland	Maryland State Highway Administration	240,000
Maine	Maine Department of Transportation	351,409
Michigan	Michigan Department of Transportation	514,500
Minnesota	Roads Opportunities and Diversity Success	173,232
Minnesota	Highway-Heavy Opportunities Training Program	739,200
Missouri	Missouri Department of Transportation OJT/SS Program	240,851
Montana	Salish Kootenai College	364,987
Nevada	Nevada Department of Transportation	240,428
New York	Youth Construction Initiative Program (YCIP)	848,019
Ohio	Ohio Department of Transportation	318,416
Oklahoma	Association of Oklahoma Contractors	96,180
Oregon	Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Workforce Development Program	60,010
Oregon	Pre-Apprenticeship Education for Ironwork and Welding	120,000
Pennsylvania	Construction Inspection Technical Assistant Training Program	169,023
Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania Department of Transportation OJT/SS Program	300,000
Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority OJT/SS Program	41,101
Texas	Texas Construction Career Academy	213,263
West Virginia	Step Up for Women	292,000
West Virginia	West Virginia State Community and Technical College	198,353
TOTAL		$11,798,323

END

UWP Draft - comment period

Hello-

The blogspot was created as a form of communication and will provide the opportunity to keep abreast of activities on a bi-weekly basis. Within session concluding the end of May, there are limited activities in Springfield at this time but will travel as necessary to Springfield. I also plan on visiting the smaller MPO's in July.

Currently, there are two items which will presented at an ILMPOAC teleconference scheduled for Thursday, June 26. Please let me know if you have a preference for morning or afternoon. The only item on the agenda is approval of the UWP and timeline, so I anticipate the teleconference to last 30 minutes. The documents are below.

1. ILMPOAC UWP 2008-2009
2. ILMPOAC work timeline with expenses

I hope that you the find the blogspot useful until the ILMPOAC website is up and running.

If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 708.268.6908 or via email at ilmpo@sbcglobal.net.

Best regards,

Marta Perales

June 2008

Calendar
UWP draft
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