Job Alert: Director, Project Finance Institute – American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) @ Washington, DC

December 15, 2014 at 1:14 pm

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials is currently hiring a Director, Project Finance Institute, a position located in Washington, D.C.

The Director, Project Finance Institute (PFI), leads the management and operation of the AASHTO Project Finance Institute, which promotes effective financing and implementation of surface transportation programs, projects, and policies by state and local agencies through training in the use of tools and decision-making processes, sharing of best practices, and technical assistance.

The director, Project Finance Institute directs all aspects of the Institute’s management and operations which includes development of strategies and work plans; efficient management of budgetary resources; identification and engagement of the Institute’s audience of beneficiaries, including state departments of transportation; review and oversight of subcontractor entities; and the development and delivery of tasks based on the cooperative agreement between AASHTO and the Federal Highway Administration.

Supervised by AASHTO’s Policy Director, the incumbent directs PFI’s assistance to surface transportation project sponsors through activities such as development of PFI’s strategic working group; development and delivery of training opportunities such as workshops, training seminars, and peer exchanges; development and management of the PFI website and a robust e-learning platform; facilitation of innovative practices through research and development; and other tasks as appropriate in advancing the mission of PFI.

In order to best understand the needs of PFI’s targeted audience, the incumbent regularly engages with AASHTO’s member department executives such as chief financial officers, chief administrative officers, and other program and policy leaders comprising the AASHTO Standing Committee on Finance and Administration. In addition, the incumbent will engage regularly with other project finance and transportation stakeholders.

Successful candidates should have a minimum of six years of progressively responsible experience, with at least two years in the field of surface transportation at the federal, state or local level of government.  A bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, economics or a related field is required, and evidence of a higher degree of professional development, such as postgraduate education, is also desirable.

Project planning, budgeting, and management skills are essential to this position, and a broad understanding of federal and state transportation policy is required. The incumbent must have experience with contract administration and financial reporting. A basic understanding of capital markets, institutions, and state-of-the-art financial instruments, as well as the ability to communicate complex issues is required. Excellent written and oral communication and interpersonal skills are essential to this position. The incumbent must be able to travel 30-50 days per year.

Those interested in applying may do so by emailing recruiter@aashto.org by close of business on Friday, Jan. 2. Relocation costs are not reimbursable. AASHTO is an equal opportunity employer.

Infograph: AAA’s Thanksgiving Travel Forecast – 46.3 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home

November 21, 2014 at 5:44 pm

With gas prices falling faster than a drop of water from the sky (as we speak, the national average is well below $3 – the 1st time since Dec 22, 2010), you can expect more Americans tempted to drive instead of opting for other modes of transportation.  AAA expects the travelers to spend an average of $573 over the course of their holiday travels.  Click here to view the complete AAA/IHS Global Insight 2014 Thanksgiving Travel Forecast.

Image courtesy: Newsroom.AAA.com via cspnet.com

Infograph: London’s Unlicensed Minicabs statistics – Quite shocking!

November 21, 2014 at 4:17 pm

Image Courtesy: BounceCars.com via now-here-this.timeout.com

Click here to read more about the unlicensed minicabs issue in London.

Infograph: Eurostar completes 20 years in service; shows impressive list of numbers and stars who enjoyed the service

November 11, 2014 at 5:25 pm

via The Daily Mail

No doubt. Eurostar is impressive all around and the infograph below captures it all succinctly.. What’s more exciting? The upcoming direct connection between London and Amsterdam starting 2o16? Imagine catching the train with your bike in London and riding around Amsterdam all day in your own bike. Drool!

Image Courtesy: the Daily Mail

 

Check out the Daily Mail article here.

Transportation Ballot Measures – Election Day (Nov 4, 2014) Results

November 5, 2014 at 10:17 am

Now that the mid-term election is over and everybody is debating the performance of candidates, it is time to take a look at how the public reacted to a slew of transportation ballot measures across the country.  Our friends at AASHTO has pulled together a nice summary of articles that explain how these transportation issues played out. One important item that caught my eye was the defeat of Nick Rahall, a top Democrat (from West Virginia) on the transportation committee, lost his seat after 38 years. These midterm election results are plain c

razy! Anyways, check out the list below:

Global Reality Check – On average, American drivers are taxed roughly 10 times less than their European counterparts for each gallon of gasoline

October 23, 2014 at 7:36 pm

Below is a tweet that got me wondering.  Despite knowing the bad status of the Highway Trust Fund, why is congress so hesitant to raise the gas tax? I’m sure many of you are left asking the same question. Several years have gone by and many transportation reauthorizations bills have been enacted since the last time we raised the gas tax (in the early 1990s). But there is still no appetite to raise the gas tax, even by a few cents (and there seems to be any sense of urgency as well).  Hopefully this trend is reversed in the upcoming re-authorization in 2015.  BTW, am I alone in thinking that this picture below also subtly answers why we love our cars so much and like to build houses far from the urban core? What would happen to our current development model/real estate practices if gasoline was taxed like how it is done in Europe?

If you get a chance, visit this brilliant website (by ARTBA), Transportation Makes America Work, to see the impact of how this current gas tax situation is affecting the nation’s progress (you can even check out the impact on your particular state’s infrastructure). Also if you are interested, you can take action by contacting your local representative right on the website (and if you are a transportation nerd like me, you can always download the app on your phone and be ready to spill the facts in any discussion).

Image courtesy: tmaw.com –

Video: A Nice Overview Of New York City’s Newest Subway Line and its Community Impact

October 2, 2014 at 7:16 pm

Pretty cool video that offers a nice overview of the 2nd avenue subway project and its impact on residents and businesses in the Upper East Side neighborhood. The size and scope of the project in addition to the geographical location makes for an interesting combination..

Road Rage – Uber and Lyft Fighting a Vicious Battle For Market Dominance

August 12, 2014 at 5:01 pm

via WSJ

The ridesharing battle between Uber and Lyft has taken a fierce turn with the companies recruiting each other’s drivers, offering refunds on commissions and canceling rides to clog the system. At the end of the day, the customers are winning (and some may argue otherwise) and the ones who are losing out in  this battle are the taxi companies. The staid old taxi businesses are left wondering how they can remain relevant. Click here to read the entire article.

And an interesting infograph accompanying the WSJ article that succinctly captures the details of this street fight:

Image Courtesy: WSJ

Britain steers towards a “driverless” future – UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January 2015

July 30, 2014 at 5:30 pm

via BBC

Today the British government has announced that testing of automated cars will be allowed on public roads from January next year. The tests are then intended to run for between 18 to 36 months. What more innovative is the approach they have taken to doing this.  The government has invited cities to compete to host one of three trials, which would start at the same time.  Cities interested in hosting the trials have until early October to declare their interest and the Department for Transport has created a £10m fund to cover their costs (BBC says the sum to be divided between the three winners but not sure what the criteria would be for this split). Quite novel! Good to see the British government pushing the envelope on its road safety agenda using the driverless cars. Hope this nudges other EU countries (and the rest of the world) to get their act together and pave way for the automated vehicles.


Infographic: Eyes of a Car – How LiDAR enables vehicles to detect and avoid obstacles on the road

July 22, 2014 at 6:04 pm

via WSJ Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article that explores the roadblock posed by sky-high prices of the LiDAR units, which offer the vehicles’ “seeing” and “navigating” capabilities , in the widespread adoption automated vehicles.  That pesky little roof mounted LiDAR unit  atop the Google’s prototype vehicle apparently cost between $75,000 and $85,000, which explains why it will be a problem for mass market. Click here to read the entire article.  What caught me is this simple infographic that accompanied the article. It nicely explains how the LiDAR works.

Image: Eyes of a Car via Wall Street Journal.

Image: Eyes of a Car via Wall Street Journal.