The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) hosted the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and other transportation equity champions for a signing of a reciprocity agreement on Jan. 9 between the CTA and SEPTA. The agreement allows historically underutilized businesses (HUBs) to gain a single small business enterprise certification to perform work for both transit entities.
CTA and SEPTA, along with the cities of Denver and Philadelphia, Port of Long Beach and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, were the first entities to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Project’s (EIP) Pledge. EIP was founded by Denver International Airport CEO Phillip A. Washington, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari to improve public contracting practices and create more opportunities for HUBs.
The signatories of the pledge are committed to the following efforts by December 2025:
- Increasing the number, size and proportion of contracting opportunities going to HUBs
- Increasing the number, size and proportion of contracting opportunities going to HUBs as prime contractors
- Streamlining the administration of contracting with HUBs to centralize certification, improve payment time and standardize transparent data collection
- Increasing the amount and type of appropriate financing available to HUBs aiming to meet infrastructure contracts by working with private and public partners
- Expanding the number of signatories to the Pledge.
In AASHTO Journal coverage of the event, CTA President Dorval Carter Jr., explains signing the pledge is the first step toward institutionalizing equity practices and contracting opportunities for HUBs.
The AASHTO Journal article also includes a quote from Washington expressing his hope the “reciprocity model becomes both a national certification model and database in the future.”
