Federal-aid Essentials – Federal-Aid Simplified

Launched in 2012, Federal-aid Essentials (FAE) began with the fundamental concept of streamlining intricate regulations into easy-to-understand visual concepts – Federal-aid Simplified. This Resource Center led project gives transportation professionals immediate answers and resources about the Federal-aid Highway Program.

The library now contains 106 concise videos. Each is less than 10 minutes and highlights a topic key to the successful delivery of a federally funded project. To date, the videos have received more than 70,000 views. In 2016, seven new videos were added to the library:

• Federal-aid Program Overview and Eligibility
• Initial Steps for Requesting Emergency Relief Funds
• Steps for Receiving Reimbursements for Emergency Relief Expenses
• Emergency vs Permanent Repairs
• Congestion and Mitigation and Air Quality
• Avoiding Waste and Abuse and Detecting Fraud
• Contractor Force Account

Agencies are using FAE to augment training courses. The Ohio DOT’s Local Transportation Assistance Program has incorporated 20 of the videos into their State certification training program. The FHWA is using FAE for new-employee orientation and to supplement cross-functional team knowledge. Several videos from FAE also are integrated into NHI training. The NHI Contract Administration Core Curriculum includes four videos in the training:

• Funding Basics and Eligibility
• Project Advertisement, Bid Review, and Request for Concurrence in Award
• Supervising Agency Requirements (Responsible Charge)
• Construction Quality Assurance

The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) video on Evaluating a Commercially Useful Function was incorporated as a standard module in the curriculum for five DBE Academies.