Construction industry officials have found much to like in the new Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, not the least because it was signed into law, extends for five years and is fully funded. But one negative note was the law’s deep cut in the TIFIA loan program, which has provided critical financing for major highway, transit and other projects, including those involving public-private ventures.

The FAST Act slashes direct funding for TIFIA—the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act—by 73%, from 2015’s $1 billion to $275 million in fiscal 2016 and 2017. The amount rises to $300 million in 2019 and 2020. Each direct TIFIA dollar supports an estimated $10 in loan volume.

WSP凯茜·康纳（Cathy Connor）说：“这绝对令人失望。”帕森斯·布林克霍夫（Parsons Brinckerhoff）联邦政府事务高级副总裁。“我认为一般共识是275至3亿美元太低。我们希望看到5亿美元的范围内的东西。”

Jay Farrar, manager of Bechtel’s Washington, D.C., office, says, “What’s difficult with that [reduction] is, already TIFIA is oversubscribed.” The Dept. of Transportation reports that it has 15 TIFIA applications filed in FY 2015 still pending, for projects totaling $15.5 billion. Many more applications filed before 2015 are awaiting a DOT decision, too.

David Bauer, American Road & Transportation Builders Association senior vice president for government relations, says the TIFIA cutback will have “a significant impact on the overall transportation construction marketplace.”

最早的数周，削减的影响将不清楚，但鲍尔指出，这项17岁的蒂菲亚计划最近的历史是可能的指南。在13-14财年，当Tifia资金达到17.5亿美元时，DOT关闭了19个贷款，该项目的成本总计358亿美元。18luck官网在10-11财年，当Tifia每年仅1.22亿美元的资金时，DOT批准了六项申请，其项目为67亿美元。18luck官网

《快速法案》确实制造了更多类型的项目，有资格获得TIFIA援助，包括至少118luck官网000万美元的农村和面向运输的开发项目。鲍尔说：“所有这些都将如何发挥作用还有待观察。”

点had sought big numbers for TIFIA, proposing $1 billion a year over six years in the revised GROW AMERICA bill, announced in February. Asked for comments about the FAST Act’s TIFIA provisions, a DOT official said via email, “We will work aggressively within the contours of the bill to expand the pipeline of innovative projects using a variety of funding and financing mechanisms.”

点没有提供细节。但是，康纳（Connor）引用了Fast的新的“全国性货运和高速公路项目”计划，在五年内为45亿美元资助。18luck官网该计划的目标是1亿美元或更多。18luck官网她说：“这些是可能使用公私伙伴关系购买的大型项目的类型。”18luck官网

The new law also says that TIFIA money that DOT is unable to obligate in a given year will stay in the program and be rolled over for future years’ commitments.

That’s a big change from an earlier use-it-or-lose-it requirement, which was triggered in April, when DOT was forced to reallocate $639.9 million in uncommitted TIFIA to the states—not in the form of TIFIA loans but as regular formula highway aid. n By Tom Ichniowski