Last month, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) formally unveiled its Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC).  BATIC’s mission is to:

• Expand the use of federal transportation credit programs;
• Innovate new approaches to project development processes and funding challenges and institutionalize technology and best practice across credit programs and modal teams; and
• Deliver streamlined technical and financial assistance to accelerate project delivery

BATIC is intended to serve as a “single point of contact” for project sponsors to obtain federal expertise and to address procedural, permitting and financial barriers to increase infrastructure investment and development.

Following on the heels of BATIC’s unveiling, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recently announced the launching of its BATIC Institute.  The BATIC Institute is an education and training component of BATIC, aimed at assisting state departments of transportation and other agencies on how to better utilize innovate solutions to finance transportation projects, including bonding, federal credit assistance, and public-private partnerships.  The BATIC Institute will offer a specialized website and a program of in-person and online training.  The first webinar offered by the BATIC Institute will be on November 4, featuring the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project.  Click here to register for the webinar.