AMERICAN ROAD & TRANSPORTATION BUILDERS ASSOCIATION
Some political speculators have suggested that an increase in the federal gasoline tax to meet the nation’s staggering highway and mass transit capital investment needs as part of SAFETEA‐LU reauthorization is “politically undoable.” Their theory is that those who would advocate or support such an increase would do so at great political risk. A survey of state legislative actions on the motor fuel excise since 1997 conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s Economics Department demonstrates that facts do not support these claims.
Archive for the ‘Congestion’ Category
STATE GAS TAX REPORT
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010The Road To Livability: How State Departments of Transportation are Using Road Investments to Improve Community Livability
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS
Soon, members of Congress will be asked to decide “What makes a ‘livable’ community?” Since the U.S. Department of Transportation is making livability a top priority for future transportation funding, this is an important concept to define. While some would suggest livability means a life without cars, this definition really doesn’t work for the millions of Americans who have chosen the lifestyle that an automobile affords…If enhancing livability is the objective of transportation legislation or regulation, then it must work for those who live in rural Montana just as much as it would for those in downtown Portland. Equating livability only to riding transit, walking and biking, limits its relevance and excludes a wide range of improvements and community needs.
Innovative Financing Is No Substitute for New Funding
Monday, April 19th, 2010Hoping to sustain interest in the Committee’s efforts to enact a new multi-year transportation bill during this session of Congress, Reps. James Oberstar (D-MN) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR), leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, convened a hearing on April 14 to explore innovative ways of financing highway and transit investments. But while the hearing provided a useful survey of available financing tools and programs, it produced no new answers to the key question that has bedeviled transportation advocates for many months and remains as the chief obstacle to moving the legislation forward— the question of how to pay for the proposed multi-year surface transportation program.
View this complete post...Just Released: Infra report from Urban Land Institute
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010Infrastructure 2010: Investment Imperative, the latest annual infrastructure report by Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young, focuses on water infra and urges decision-makers to view infrastructure as a long-term investment.
View this complete post...INFRASTRUCTURE 2010: INVESTMENT IMPERATIVE
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010URBAN LAND INSTITUTE
Falling behind global competitors, the United States struggles to gain traction in planning and building the critical infrastructure investments that are necessary to ensure future economic growth and support a rapidly expanding population.
Recent federal stimulus spending addresses some pressing repair needs for transport- and water-related systems and provides seed funding for high-speed rail in important travel corridors, as well as new energy infrastructure. But recession-busted government budgets, entitlement and defense expenditures, and ballooning health care costs push infrastructure down most political priority lists—leaders continue to procrastinate when it comes to new investments as stressed taxpayers balk at more spending.
View this complete post...Port Infrastructure Projects: Interactive Map
Monday, April 12th, 2010According to a U.S. DOT Report on freight traffic, the number of trucks on our highways will more than double by 2035. Inland waterways, or “marine highways,” could reduce congestion by taking on some of the freight burden.
To make the port-and-waterway system more familiar, the U.S. Maritime Administration offers an interactive map, with information on current maritime infrastructure projects around the U.S. The map also shows inland waterways, interstate highways, railroads, and port locations around the country.
View this complete post...Guest on The Infra Blog: Kathryn Phillips, Director, California Transportation and Air Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Kathryn Phillips is the Director of the California Transportation and Air Initiative at Environmental Defense Fund. Before joining Environmental Defense, Kathryn was the senior policy advisor at the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) in Sacramento, and a lobbyist for V. John White Associates. Kathryn also worked for nearly 20 years as a journalist. She wrote for newspapers and magazines on a range of topics, specializing in the later years on science and environmental issues. She is the author of two books about environmental issues.
View this complete post...Regional Plan Association (RPA) addresses infra issues at Regional Assembly 2010 in NYC, April 16th
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010REGIONAL ASSEMBLY 2010: INNOVATION & THE AMERICAN METROPOLIS
“The Regional Assembly is New York’s premier public policy event, bringing together several hundred top business, civic, philanthropic, media, and government leaders from across the metropolitan region and nation. Each year the Assembly focuses on a priority issue. This year, we examine how the innovative spirit and creativity of urban America can build and sustain a better future for our cities.”
Future of Transportation National Survey (2010)
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA
American voters overwhelmingly support broader access to public transportation and safe walking and biking, according to this new national poll conducted for Transportation for America.
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