Category: Financing

Two mechanisms for a public agency to compensate a private entity for their project responsibilities (design, construction, finance, operations and/or maintenance) under a concession arrangement are availability payments and shadow tolls. Availability Payments Availability payments are made to a private concessionaire by a public project sponsor based on project milestones or facility performance standards in […]

Federal-aid fund management tools are designed to provide states with greater flexibility in managing Federal-aid highway funds. Typically state and local governments must provide 20 percent of the funding for projects benefiting from Federal aid. The principal objective of the management techniques described here is to ease restrictions on the timing of obligations and reimbursements […]

One way to raise equity for a transportation project is to issue bonds. A bond is a written promise to repay borrowed money on a definite schedule, usually at a fixed rate over the life of the bond. Transportation bonds are traditionally municipal bonds, which are issued by state and local government entities to finance […]

The United States Department of Transportation has developed a number of financial tools to help project sponsors access credit to expedite the implementation of needed transportation improvement. Federal credit assistance can take one of two forms: loans, where project sponsors borrow Federal highway funds directly from a state DOT or the Federal government; and credit enhancements, where a state DOT or the Federal government makes Federal funds available on a contingent (or standby) basis. Credit enhancements help reduce risk to investors and thus allow project sponsors to borrow at lower interest rates. Loans can provide the capital necessary to proceed with a project, reduce the amount of capital borrowed from other sources and may also serve a credit enhancement function by reducing the risk borne by other investors.