John Hennessy III,
P.E.
Conversations with infrastructure experts and stakeholders from around the U.S.
Jenny Hoffner is Senior Director and Co-Lead of American Rivers’ Clean Water Supply program leading a national program to advance climate resilient, predictable, reliable clean water supply policies for communities and their rivers.
“Water is life. We take it for granted in our country but it’s absolutely essential that we pay attention to this most precious and finite of resources…And we have increased demands across the board on our finite water supplies.”
View this complete post...
Terry D. Bennett, LS LPF MRICS ENV SP LEED AP, is the senior industry program manager and lead strategist for civil infrastructure at Autodesk. He is responsible for setting the company’s future vision and strategy for technology serving the planning, surveying, civil engineering and heavy construction industries, as well as cultivating and sustaining the firm’s relationships with strategic industry leaders and associations.
“…Many of the answers will be found by reconnecting the American people with the many economic, social, and even environmental aspects of infrastructure and its investment. Today’s challenge is really about renewing our vision for how to balance natural and man-made infrastructure, and how to leverage both to enhance our future condition…”
View this complete post...
Frank Moretti is the director of policy and research for TRIP – a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that prepares reports on a variety of transportation issues, including traffic congestion, traffic safety, road and bridge conditions, transportation planning and air quality.
“The nation is increasingly reliant on its rural economy…and as that dynamic is changing we wanted to take a look at the nation’s transportation system and see if we have in place a rural transportation system that can support not only the rural economy, but the nation’s economy moving forward.”
View this complete post...
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.
View this complete post...
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.”
View this complete post...
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. “
View this complete post...
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.”
View this complete post...
As President of the Building America’s Future Educational Fund, Marcia Hale is one of the leaders of Infrastructure Week 2014.
“If you take this down to a local level or a state level almost all these projects get approved in referendum…When you take it to a larger scale and it’s Washington…that’s when things get stymied. It’s more a debate about the money and investment, but what this country really needs is a vision, a long-term vision for what it needs to be able to compete and what that means on all various levels of infrastructure.”
View this complete post...
Steve Anderson, Managing Director, InfrastructUSA, interviews Jonathan Bowles and Adam Forman of the Center for an Urban Future. Topics include NYC’s need to focus on infrastructure, the role of the Center for an Urban Future, and the new report, “Caution Ahead: Overdue Investments for New York’s Aging Infrastructure.”
Forman: New York City’s infrastructure is old. Whether it’s our transportation infrastructure, our bridges and roads, utility infrastructure, our steam mains and gas mains, or our buildings: our hospitals, our schools, our public housing buildings, it’s old…I think there are so many areas where we can improve the functioning of our infrastructure and the safety if we were investing more intelligently.
View this complete post...
Megan Owens is the Executive Director of Transportation Riders United (TRU). TRU is Detroit’s non-profit transit advocate, dedicated to improving and promoting public transit throughout greater Detroit. Founded in 1999, TRU has a strong track record of doing the research, presenting the facts, involving the public, developing the coalitions and educating the leaders needed to achieve quality transit.
“We’ve been able, over the last decade or so, to help change public perception, even here in the Motor City…to an understanding that we do need more and better transit. It is a benefit for our economy and our community and our environment. Now the question is less whether we need to improve transit, but how we need to improve transit.”
View this complete post...    |
Follow InfrastructureUSA
Video, stills and tales. Share images of the Infra in your community that demands attention. Post your ideas about national Infra issues. Go ahead. Show Us Your Infra! Upload and instantly share your message.
Is the administration moving fast enough on Infra issues? Are Americans prepared to pay more taxes for repairs? Should job creation be the guiding determination? Vote now!
What do the experts think? This is where the nation's public policy organizations, trade associations and think tanks weigh in with analysis on Infra issues. Tell them what you think. Ask questions. Share a different view.
The Infra Blog offers cutting edge perspective on a broad spectrum of Infra topics. Frequent updates and provocative posts highlight hot button topics -- essential ingredients of a national Infra dialogue.
It is encouraging to finally see clear signs of federal action to support a comprehensive US infrastructure investment plan.
Now more than ever, our advocacy is needed to keep stakeholders informed and connected, and to hold politicians to their promises to finally fix our nation’s ailing infrastructure.
We have already engaged nearly 280,000 users, and hoping to add many more as interest continues to grow.
We require your support in order to rise to this occasion, to make the most of this opportunity. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to InfrastructureUSA.org.
Steve Anderson
Managing Director
SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org
917-940-7125
RSS Feed
© InfrastructureUSA | Terms of Use | Site developed by Andigo New Media
InfrastructureUSA.org is a nonprofit project fiscally sponsored by FJC, a Foundation of Philanthropic Funds.