John Hennessy III,
P.E.
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
An additional, indirect impact that has seen less consideration in transit program and project planning is the potential cost savings to other government programs that result from the benefits provided by transit. These indirect benefits can result from improved access to jobs, health care, and education, which can reduce the demand for government services.
DOUBLE BOTTOM LINE VENTURE CAPITAL (DBL INVESTORS)
Has increased reliance on renewable energy in the United States meant expensive electricity in the United States? This question has pervaded debates on renewables and fossil fuels, and this paper sheds light on this critical issue, including a look at the top and bottom 10 renewable states… It reveals that states with the greatest share of electricity generation from renewable sources have often experienced average retail electricity prices that are cheaper than both the national average and also states with the smallest share of electricity generation from renewable sources.
Innovation Newsbriefs
Vol. 26, No. 3
With no other revenue sources in sight, attention has focused on shifting a larger share of funding responsibility to the state and local level. It’s an approach that has been gaining traction not just among fiscal conservatives and congressional Republicans but also with the transportation advocacy group, Transportation for America (T4America) and the influential industry lobby, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and its Transportation Investment Advocates Council.
SMART GROWTH AMERICA
In this study of 37 projects, Smart Growth America found that Complete Streets projects tended to improve safety for everyone, increased biking and walking, and showed a mix of increases and decreases in automobile traffic, depending in part on the project goal. Compared to conventional transportation projects, these projects were remarkably affordable, and were an inexpensive way to achieve transportation goals. In terms of economic returns, the limited data available suggests Complete Streets projects were related to broader economic gains like increased employment and higher property values.
Businesses need roads and sewer systems and electricity and the internet to function…I think if people step away from ideology and look at how do you make the economy work, how do you create jobs, how do you help business, how do you make business very successful, then I think folks will move forward.
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SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION
Solar energy posted another banner year in the U.S. in 2014. Photovoltaic (PV) installations reached 6,201 MWdc, up 30% over 2013 and more than 12 times the amount installed five years earlier. By the end of the year, a cumulative total of 18.3 GWdc of solar PV and another 2.2 GWac of concentrating solar power (CSP) were operating in the U.S. Over 600,000 homes and businesses now have on-site solar (nearly 200,000 of these installations were completed in 2014), and six states are home to more than 500 MWdc each of operating solar capacity.
TRIP
Utah’s diverse economy relies on significant employment in mining, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, information technology, finance and petroleum production…From 1990 to 2013, Utah’s population increased by 68 percent, from approximately 1.8 million to approximately 2.9 million. Utah’s population is expected to increase to approximately 4.4 million by 2030.
Congressman Richard Hanna was re-elected on Nov. 4, 2014 to represent the 22nd District of New York in the United States House of Representatives. Representative Hanna serves on three key committees for the 114th Congress, including the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, on which he is the senior New York Republican.
“People with the job that I have and the other people here have to have a vision of their own. We have to value transportation, value intermodal works and everything along with it. It’s our job to get out there and say, ‘Damn it, this is important.’”
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TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA
Over the past 50 years, transportation agencies have focused on tracking a narrow set of goals — typically system condition, safety and sometimes traffic congestion. While these goals are important, they measure the state of the transportation system, not the impact of the system on people’s lives. People want to know that transportation funds are being spent in a way that creates value, supports long-term job growth, makes their communities more attractive to business and talent and will contribute to their economic health and resilience.
THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS
With the temporary increase in funding for the federal highway trust fund set to run out by May 2015, states and localities are again facing the prospect that shortfalls in the fund could delay or reduce the federal money they rely on for transportation projects. As they wait to see what federal policymakers will do, many states are taking action to make their own transportation funding more sustainable. These efforts highlight the major challenges that all levels of government face in maintaining investments in highways and transit systems—problems that will require policymakers to make difficult choices in the years ahead.
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