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InnovativeFinance.org is an Internet based clearinghouse providing information on innovations in all areas of surface transportation finance. InnovativeFinance.org offers information on federal, state, local, and private funding of highways, passenger rail and bus systems, intermodal links, intelligent transportation systems, and other related facilities, with an emphasis on innovative alternatives to traditional funding methods.

InnovativeFinance.org is sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), with additional financial support provided by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The site was created in 2000-2001 with research monies provided by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). Stewardship for the site was transferred to AASHTO in late 2003.

The initial impetus for InnovativeFinance.org came from the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) April 1997 Conference on Transportation Finance for the 21st Century. InnovativeFinance.org is intended to assist transportation decision makers and as they implement new and innovative ways of financing transportation improvements. The Website provides information on technical topics, projects, legislation, publications, application guidance, and institutional issues germane to all transport modes of surface transport.

InnovativeFinance.org is an excellent forum for sharing information and highlighting new ideas. The Website relies on information provided by its stakeholders, which include departments of transportation, transit agencies, transportation authorities, lenders, financial advisors, rating agencies, journalists, academics, and more.InnovativeFinance.org is updated on a regular basis and has been designed to absorb large quantities of additional information. The site is maintained by AASHTO and FHWA as a service to all involved in financing transport infrastructure. Users are encouraged to enrich the Website by sharing information with their colleagues through InnovativeFinance.org.

Welcome to InnovativeFinance.org’s Resource Library. The library consists of annotated hyperlinks to other Websites providing useful information on innovative surface transportation finance and related topics. The library is organized by topics, which are available from a pull-down menu. The individual listings include brief descriptions of the sites and/or the organizations that maintain them. If you wish to visit one of the links, double click on the hyperlink and a new window browser will automatically be opened.

We update and add new listings to the Resource Library on a regular basis. New listings are identified with a “new” tag during the first month that they are available.

Please contact us if you would like to suggest a new link that you would like to share with other users or if you encounter a dead link.

Note to User: The following resources and website links are provided as a service to the user only. InnovativeFinance.org makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of the information presented in these websites, nor does it endorse any organization/agency by inclusion or omission.

This year’s conference included both the annual TRB Summer Ports, Waterways, Freight, and International Trade Conference, and the Joint Summer Meeting of the TRB Planning, Data, Finance, Administration, Freight, and Management Committees. The conference provided attendees with a unique opportunity to attend sessions addressing subjects of common interest, participate in any of the more than 30 TRB standing committees meeting in conjunction with this conference, and network with peers across a broad array of related topic areas.

View a list of resources from this event.

Federal Financial Tools Workshop:  Financing Freight in the Pacific Northwest

In June 2006 the Federal Highway Administration Resource Center Innovative Finance Team together with the Federal Railroad Administration Maritime Administration, and the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Office of Freight Strategy and Policy organized a workshop addressing financing issues for freight infrastructure projects in the Pacific Northwest. Workshop sessions provided attendees with information on various tools available to them to fund port and rail improvements including:

  • Freight Funding and Eligibility under the Federal-aid Program
  • The Federal Credit Assistance Program – TIFIA and RRIF
  • State Sponsored Programs –State Infrastructure Banks, Section 129 Loans “Qualified” Private Activity Bonds
  • Public-Private Partnerships

View a list of resources from this event.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting

The TRB 85th Annual Meeting held in Washington, D.C., January 22-26, 2006 attracted approximately 9,000 transportation professionals from around the world.  Several of its 2,600 presentations and 500 sessions addressed innovative finance for surface transportation.  Presentations were made by policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions.   Of particular interest was a day-long workshop session co-sponsored by the Taxation and Finance Committee and the Design-Build Task Force in collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration, PIARC, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/European Conference of Ministers of Transport Joint Transport Research Centre.

The Innovations in Project Delivery and Financing for Surface Transportation Infrastructure workshop provided a forum to explore the latest developments in innovative project delivery and financing approaches in both Europe and North America.  The workshop brought together national and international experts from both the public and private sector as well as project sponsors to provide their perspectives on how new, more innovative techniques and tools can be used to complement conventional transportation delivery and funding approaches. Also, USDOT representatives shared their insight on the new innovative finance provisions of SAFTEA-LU.

This section of the InnovativeFinance.org website provides summaries of the workshop content as well as other sessions sponsored by the TRB Tax and Finance Committee.   InnovativeFinance.org provides a comprehensive listing of all individual presentations made at these different sessions.  It also provides links to several of the presentations themselves.  All presentations received by Innovative.Finance.org have been posted to the site.   Additional presentations will be posted as they are received.View List of Resources from this event

TRB 2004 Annual Meeting

The Federal Highway Administration and the TRB Committee on Taxation and Finance sponsored a comprehensive workshop focusing on innovative finance trends and opportunities for the future. The workshop emphasized options to enhance and expand the “tool box” of project financing approaches to help meet the nation’s transportation investment needs. U.S. Department of Transportation finance experts addressed the innovative finance provisions of SAFETEA and provide a progress report on how new financing approaches are changing the transportation finance landscape. Also, project sponsors and capital market representatives shared their insights on successful strategies that could serve as a roadmap for further advancements in project delivery mechanisms. The workshop, intended to build a better understanding of nontraditional financing methods, was structured in an interactive format with time set aside for Q & A and dialogue with transportation finance experts. View List of Resources from this event

International Symposium on Road Pricing – November 2003

This symposium explored U.S. and international applications of road pricing strategies in different governmental and socio-economic settings. Case studies from the United States, Europe, and Asia were the principal focus of the symposium. An international group of participants discussed the rationale and motivations for implementing pricing; factors affecting the political and public acceptance of pricing strategies; the use of pricing revenues; and project outcomes. Drawing on papers, presentations, and symposium discussions, the committee is evaluating the current state of practice, assess future directions and opportunities, and will identify research and information needs.

Proceedings and recommendations are not yet available View Resources from this event

ARTBA 2003 Pubic Private Ventures Conference

The 2003 Public Private Ventures Conference on CD includes all of the multimedia presentations provided by the speakers at ARTBA’s 15th Annual Conference Finance Annual Conference, held in Washington DC in October. All presentations are in Microsoft Power Point or Word and include: New Approaches to Toll Roads, Future Funding for Rail, State Initiative on PPV and Design/Build, and more. View Resources from this event.

Value Pricing for Transportation in the Washington D.C. Region:
Providing New Transportation Choices Through Innovative Pricing Strategies – June 2003

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments held a one-day conference Wednesday, June 4, 2003 in Washington, D.C., on innovative transportation pricing strategies being implemented in some U.S. and international locations and under consideration in others, including the Washington region.

Local elected officials, business leaders, community leaders, and transportation professionals participated in the conference and were part of the region’s first major public discussion on the need and opportunities for innovative transportation pricing strategies. The conference featured elected officials, national experts, and visionary thinkers and was an informative and thought provoking event.

The following link provides information on the conference program, a summary report, all speakers’ presentations and an attendee roster. View Resource from this event.

TRB 3rd National Transportation Finance Conference:
Meeting the Funding Challenge Today and Shaping Policies for Tomorrow – October 2002

As the 3rd in a series of national transportation finance conferences offered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council, the conference continued the dialogue on the challenges of financing our transportation systems and to share perspectives on what’s worked in the past, what hasn’t, and what might be tested in the future. Given the timing of the conference – as proposals are being developed to be part of reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation and aviation laws – special attention will be paid to jointly developing recommendations for the future.

The program structure supported collaborative development of fresh ideas and critical consideration of proposals already on the table. It addressed a wide range of finance-related topics, including:

  • The efficacy of the Highway Trust Fund and alternative structures and funding
  • Innovative finance tools and techniques to stretch available funding and tap communities’ willingness to pay
  • Structures, institutions, and partnerships to do more with less
  • New or expanded transportation initiatives – such as security, ITS & technology, and the demands of freight movement – and our ability to meet these new funding challenges.

As of November 2003, InnovativeFinance.org is maintained by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), with additional financial support and provided by the Federal Highway Administration. The sight was initially created in 200-2001 through a grant provided by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program or NCHRP.

Under NCHRP Project 20-24(13) “Innovative Finance Clearinghouse”, a contract was awarded to PBConsult – the management consulting subsidiary of the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. – to develop and implement this clearinghouse to provide convenient access to the best available current information on innovative surface-transportation financing practices. A volunteer panel of national transportation finance experts from federal, state, and local government, academia and industry has overseen PB Consult’s work. The project has also benefited from guidance from FHWA innovative finance professionals and staff from the TIFIA Joint Project Office.

Given that local funding shortfalls will remain prevalent, InnovativeFinance.org will continue to be an important tool to the infrastructure finance sector at large. For that reason that AASHTO has taken over the maintenance of InnovativeFinance.org as a public service to all transportation professionals.

If users would like additional information on AASHTO’s association with InnovativeFinannce.org or its work in the infrastructure finance arena, they may contact Janet Friedl Kavinoky, Project Director for Business Development and Transportation Finance at AASHTO at (202)-624-5818, or jkavinoky@aashto.org. If you would like more information about the InnovativeFinance.org website, please contact Benjamin Perez of PB Consult at (212) 618-8804 or perez@pbworld.com.

AASHTO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association representing highway and transportation departments in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

It represents all five transportation modes: air, highways, public transportation, rail and water. Its primary goal is to foster the development, operation and maintenance of an integrated national transportation system.

The mission of AASHTO is to advocate transportation policies, provide technical services, demonstrate the contributions of transportation and facilitate institutional change.

Much of AASHTO’s work is done by committees comprised of member department personnel who serve voluntarily. The Association provides a forum for consideration of transportation issues,and is frequently called upon by Congress to conduct surveys, provide data and testify on transportation legislation.

Through its policy development activities, member departments often address federal programs and provide guidance.

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  • Short-Term Lending and Personal Loan FAQ Guide

    Borrowing money for the first time can be intimidating. There is a whole range of financial tools used by lenders to determine the borrower’s creditworthiness. For good reasons, however, personal loans and short-term lending are increasingly becoming popular for covering sporadic and massive expenditures.

    Here’s a guide that covers short-term lending and finding the best personal loan that suits you.

    What are business needs suitable for short-term financing?
    Different types of short-term lending are appropriate for varied business needs. Examples of needs projected to have short-term ROI include physical renovation, hiring new staff, and purchasing new equipment.
    Is APR an ideal way to make cost calculations?
    The annual percentage rate is only a single way to represent total interest cost and fees as a yearly payment which may appear higher than the overall cost of a short-term loan. When you look at other factors like the total cost of your loan and different business needs, you’ll realize that a short-term loan would better fit your business needs. At a glance, a short-term loan with a higher APR is more affordable than a long-term loan with a lower APR.
    How long does it take to receive a response?
    Depending on the loan issuer, your credit history and loan amount, the typical wait time could be 45 minutes or less. However, some lenders could take up to 3 working days to approve, it will vary from lender to lender and based on your unique lending needs.
    How does the lender determine the interest rate?
    Your personal short-term loan interest rate is determined based on your risk profile. The general rule is that the lower your credit score, the higher the risk. Lower risk means a lower interest rate, and higher risk means a correspondingly high interest rate.
    How long will I have to repay the loan?
    You’ll have to begin repaying the loan within 30 days in installments. Most lenders provide repayment terms ranging from six months to six or more years. The interest rate and monthly payment will be impacted by the period you choose to repay the loan.
    Are there other fees associated with personal loans?
    Creditors may charge sign-up, processing coupled with landing fees. In most cases, these charges are billed only once and are often outlined in the application documents. Although it’s not uncommon to have obscured payments, hidden fees would generally add up between 1 to 5% of the entire amount.
    Do I need a good credit score?
    Before you start applying for a short-term personal loan, it’s crucial to know you’ll qualify with your credit score. Most loan issuers are looking for customers with good credit scores. However, if you have a good relationship with the creditor, you may get a favorable term, particularly if your account shows a history of timely payments and honoring the terms of past loans.
    Can I get a loan with a low credit score?
    Loan issuers have different loans designated for people with varying credit scores. Lending options meant for consumers with bad credit are, without a doubt, different from those with good scores. While a higher score boosts your approval chances and gives you favorable terms, there are specific loans meant for people with low credit scores.
    How do I apply for a short-term personal loan?
    Once you’ve identified the financing option ideal for you, assemble all the documentation needed. Do not yield to the pressure to have money as soon as possible to offset the chances of making a shoddy application. It’s always good to fill the documents comprehensively, attach personal information, your resume if needed, business and personal tax returns, financial statements, and the collateral value that may be required.
    Will the lender approve my application?
    Your business and personal credit will be essential metrics in determining a lender’s decision. At its core, one of the handiest tools used by the lender is looking at your credit score. At the same time, other factors include your debt ratio, business debt, revenue trends, personal and business debt coverage.

    How do I improve my chances of getting approved?
    It sounds harsh that most loan requests are rejected. Looking at the reasons that contribute to applications’ inevitable rejection, the ideal way to improve your standing is to build your credit score. Aside from convincing the lender that you’re better suited for approval, a healthy credit score helps you qualify for favorable interest rates.

    Personal Loan Markets

    Innovative Finance helps connect consumers who are searching for help with consolidating debt, home improvement projects, credit card consolidation and more with online personal loan lenders. If you are searching for an online, unsecured loan product and live in these markets, we have lenders who may be able to assist you.
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