WASHINGTON — The National Gateway has announced its participation in the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Public-Private Partnerships in Transportation Conference, a leading industry event on private financing of transportation projects on July 22-23 in Washington.
“Public-private partnerships offer tremendous value to businesses and taxpayers while also spurring job creation and economic growth,” said Louis Renjel, vice president of strategic infrastructure initiatives, CSX Transportation. “By working together, the public and private sector can speed delivery of transportation solutions like the National Gateway, which will improve shipping options, reduce fuel consumption, lighten the load on our nation’s highways and increase the nation’s competitiveness in the world market.”
The National Gateway, an $842 million public private sector initiative, will deliver $22 in public benefits for every $1 of public funds invested by reducing highway congestion, lowering carbon dioxide emissions by almost 20 million tons, creating more than 50,000 jobs and alleviating freight bottlenecks that cause delays for companies and consumers shipping or receiving freight.
Innovation and modernizations within the rail industry have made railroads the most efficient way to transport freight. Shipping by rail delivers benefits to both consumers and other businesses within the supply chain. Trains can move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles on a single gallon of fuel and one train can carry the load of 280 trucks.
The National Gateway will create a more efficient rail transport route by linking Mid-Atlantic ports and Midwestern markets with the use of double-stack trains. Double-stack trains deliver twice as many goods on one trip, resulting in improved efficiency and cost savings.
In February 2010, the National Gateway was awarded $98 million in funding from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Today, the National Gateway is supported by over 70 public officials of both parties, including six governors, 39 Members of Congress and 28 state elected officials.
In 2009, the project was honored as “Competitiveness Project of the Year” by the North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum. Today, the National Gateway enjoys the support of over 50 businesses and business groups and 25 non-profit organizations.
Established in 1902, ARTBA is the oldest and most respected national transportation and construction association. The 22nd Annual ARTBA P3 Conference will explore the role public-private partnerships play in transportation infrastructure development domestically and abroad.
