By David Pendered

The headline on a new analysis of President Trump’s infrastructure agenda, issued by Moody’s Investors Service, seems to summarize the current state of affairs: “Trump’s executive order sheds little light on course of stimulus plan.”

The advisory council created by the president has a deadline of December 2018 to issue recommendations on everything from roads and transit to airports, seaports, waterways, pipelines, broadband, renewable energy generation, electricity transmissions – “and other such sectors as determined by the council.”

The executive order of July 19 has done little to answer questions about how the president proposes to fulfill his vision for a $1 trillion infrastructure package included in the budget request Trump released May 23, according to the July 26 report from Moody’s.

In the meantime, Georgia appears to be fairly well positioned to navigate the uncertainty period it comes to transportation. When it comes to transit, not so much.

Regarding road projects, Georgia has raised state revenues and revised policies to fund such projects amid expectations that federal funds would become lean. Georgia also embraced the notion of engaging private partners to help pay for road projects, as in the case with the Transform 285/400 renovation..

For example, Georgia is funding the $800 million remake of the intersection at I-285 and Ga. 400 through a public private partnership. Revenue is coming from federal, state and local sources, as well as private-sector financing. The model is secure – as long as the private sector is willing to invest in such projects.

Moody’s analysts described this outlook of public private partnerships in the Trump budget proposal:

“The Transportation Infrastructure Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program would be increased from $285 million authorized for 2018 to $1 billion annual funding over a 10-year period. This could help encourage investments in user-fee funded transportation projects in areas with strong economic growth or high traffic volumes.”

MARTA faces a starkly different scenario if the president’s budget is approved. MARTA GM/CEO Keith Parker said as much in the quarterly update he presented July 26 to the Atlanta City Council’s Transportation Committee.

“It would mean a significant reduction in funds, particularly for major capital projects,” Parker said, adding that transit officials have met with every member of Georgia’s congressional delegation to express concerns about this aspect of the president’s proposal.

Moody’s analysts noted possible major scenarios including: