Given the nation’s diverse infrastructure needs—including energy, water, transportation, and telecommunications—the Administration proposes the establishment of a National Infrastructure Bank with an initial focus on transportation-related investments and flexibility to expand to other sectors over time. This approach will help target resources to the federal transportation funding system, which is particularly in need of bold reform at this time. In the meantime, the Recovery Act and other funding will help clarify the highest-value approaches to investing in other sectors.
The purpose of the Infrastructure Bank is to establish a new direction in federal infrastructure investment: one that supports regionally and nationally significant, high-value projects funded through a merit-based selection process. The Bank would fund relatively large and transformative projects currently underfunded by the allocation process, including:
- Projects that cross state and local jurisdictions, such as freight and passenger rail;
- Projects that integrate sectors and policy goals, such as highway projects that consider land use and economic development; and
- Projects that cross transportation silos, such as bridge construction that includes a rail line and harbor dredging.
Merit-based project selection would be a fundamental principle of the national Infrastructure Bank. The Bank would compare projects of different modes, incorporating cost effectiveness and equity considerations into its decisions.
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