A new interactive map from massDOT pinpoints traffic incidents and scheduled road work throughout the state of Massachusetts. In addition to its useful information, another fascinating aspect of the roadwork map is the sheer volume of projects it shows taking place simultaneously. With everything from bridge inspection to highway paving on the daily docket, it’s clear why road maintenance is more than a full-time job.
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Vol. 25, No. 8
While transportation stakeholders and the Washington press corps are agonizing about the impending Highway Trust Fund shortfall and its impact on the federal transportation program, they are ignoring developments outside the Beltway that go a long way toward mitigating the prospective funding shortage. For in fact, individual states, far from standing idly by, are responding to the fiscal uncertainties in Washington by stepping up and augmenting their transportation budgets.
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A new interactive map from the Center for Social Inclusion illustrates projects across the country where local communities are taking a stand to improve their economic futures and fight climate change. The map, called Energy Democracy for All, highlights “over 100 projects that are rooted in communities, with a particular lens toward communities of color, who by 2042, will become the majority in our nation.”
From energy conservation in Dover to biofuel crops in Durham, these projects are a testament to the effectiveness of civic engagement across the USA. Visit energydemocracy.centerforinclusion.org to see what’s happening in your region!
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The U.S. receives an enormous return on infrastructure investments. Maintaining the status quo is not acceptable. America’s infrastructure underpins the U.S. economy. It is the thread that knits our great nation together. To compete in the global economy and raise our standard of living, we must renew and update America’s aging public infrastructure. Time is running out.
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Paul Yarossi is Executive Vice President of HNTB and President of HNTB Holdings, Ltd. As president of HNTB Holdings Ltd, Paul Yarossi serves on the company’s board of directors and is responsible for overseeing and directing the firm’s governance, capitalization strategy, compliance and audit functions, as well as its external and government relations. He also participates in a number of high-level roles on behalf of the industry, which gives him a broad perspective on current issues and trends. He previously served as chairman of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the U.S. transportation construction industry’s representative in Washington, D.C. ARTBA is bringing recommendations forward regarding the next federal highway funding bill. Yarossi has presented testimony to the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, and the U.S. House Oversight Committee.
“…We continue to look at infrastructure rehabilitation and expansion as a cost rather than an investment…I think we need to change how we talk about infrastructure and start telling people less about what they won’t have and more about what they’ll get in return for their money.”
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The federal government has spent $365 billion out of the Highway Trust Fund’s highway account since 2005, pouring money into new roads, capacity improvements, and system preservation. At the same time, fewer people are driving, and those that are are doing it less: total annual vehicle-miles traveled haven’t budged for almost a decade even as we’ve added 20 million new residents, and per-capita VMT has fallen significantly. The number of cars on the road has remained essentially unchanged, cars per 1,000 residents peaked in 2007, and young people are doing just fine without a driver’s license, thank you.
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Janet F. Kavinoky is a nationally recognized expert in transportation policy, funding, and finance. As executive director in the Chamber’s Congressional and Public Affairs Division, Kavinoky leads all transportation strategy, policy, and lobbying efforts. She has expertise in developing consensus policy positions among diverse stakeholders and lobbying Congress and executive branch agencies on a wide range of legislative and regulatory matters relating to surface, air, and water transportation.
“We need to look at infrastructure going forward, in the same way, I think, that an entrepreneur does when they’re pitching a business plan to an investor. An entrepreneur helps the investor visualize what’s going to happen, lays out a strategy, and inspires confidence to execute on that strategy. “
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Robert Puentes is a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program where he also directs the program’s Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative. The Initiative was established to address the pressing transportation and infrastructure challenges facing cities and suburbs in the United States and abroad.
“There’s no doubt that the paralysis in Washington is real and pervasive. I think we overemphasize, though, the federal role in a lot of this…I think, in fact, the federal paralysis is making states, cities, metropolitan areas experiment with a whole host of different things in order to get projects done.”
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