One place summary of the HSIPR grants

[afigg]

After the first round of WI & OH HSIPR fund reallocations, and the second round of FL HSR reallocations (which included re-allocations of the FL reallocation!), it is rather confusing to keep track of where the $10.1 billion ($8 billion stimulus + $2.1 billion FY10) of HSIPR funds ended up. I was checking the FRA website and found that they have released a new updated 8 page summary table (with small print) of the selected HSIPR grants including all the re-allocated projects at http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/downloads/Master_HSIPR_Selection_Sheet.pdf Hopefully, there won't be any more major re-distribution rounds, although the Iowa City service extension is still in question.

The link to the PDF file along with the table of obligated funds which stands today at 52 projects and $5.81 billion can be found at http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/HSIPR/462.shtml

Thought I would post the link for those who want to keep track of which projects were selected and for how much. Since the typical construction project application has a built-in 20% reserve, if a project comes in on or close to budget, the reserves would be available to be put towards other projects on the corridor or in other corridor projects. So it is likely that there will be some additional shifting around of these fund amounts over the next few years until the authorizations expire.

 

[stntylr]

They have Texas and Rhode Island next to each other. RI 29 million, TX 31 million, so the largest of the lower 48 gets 2 million dollars more than the smallest.

Sounds about right.

Also I still think it's interesting the high speed application for the Houston to Dallas train says 150 mph. Acela's for Texas?

 

[Ben]

Where does it say that there is a 20% reserve? Also, would that extra funding be returned to the Feds for redistribution or how would that work?

 

[afigg]

They have Texas and Rhode Island next to each other. RI 29 million, TX 31 million, so the largest of the lower 48 gets 2 million dollars more than the smallest.

Sounds about right.

Also I still think it's interesting the high speed application for the Houston to Dallas train says 150 mph. Acela's for Texas?

Hmm, probably not Acelas for TX. The 150 mph is likely a placeholder number as it requires electrified HSR trains and is the highest speed currently approved for operational service in the US. Besides, by the time the Tier I feasibility study is complete, and if all the next steps happen: Tier II EIS, funding is lined up, and the construction is completed and service starts, the current Acelas will have long been retired and sold for scrap. And Texas would probably go out of their way to buy different HSR equipment than what is being used in the liberal-radical-commie northeast.

 

[afigg]

Where does it say that there is a 20% reserve? Also, would that extra funding be returned to the Feds for redistribution or how would that work?

If you look through the construction project applications, a 20% reserve is standard. I think it is standard procedure these days for transportation projects. If the project comes in on budget or the fixed price bids come in low enough, I think it is up to the FRA to decide what to do with the unused funds within the constraints of the many rules and regulations they have to follow. My guess in most cases for the HSIPR projects that they will work with the state to put the extra funds towards other projects on the corridor that were not selected before.

But with fuel and construction material costs going up, many of the projects are likely to eat some or much of the reserve, if they did an accurate job on estimating the details of the project in the first place. Which is why there is a reserve. So the project does not have to go back to the feds for more money if there are modest overruns.

 

[Anderson]

Well, they can go back to the Feds...or if that money isn't forthcoming (and looking at Congress right now, we can all see that happening), the state gets left on the hook and there ends up being hell to pay with future projects since it gives the anti-rail lobby a very nice, factual stick to beat us with (not that I see objections to highways because of the "Big Dig").

 

[jis]

It is more likely than not that nothing will go back to the feds since the contractors will figure out a way of collecting all the contingency. In their thinking any contingency not used is money left on the table. It takes very tough project management to control such behavior and we have not seen any evidence of such in the recent past from any of the various project managers in the northeast.

In the New Haven - Boston electrification they not only ran through contingency, they simply ran out of all funds before the entire project was completed. The last piece of that electrification is being completed today.