Nine proposed highway expansion projects across the country – slated to cost $30 billion – exemplify the need for a fresh approach to transportation planning and spending. As America considers how to meet its infrastructure needs in a fiscally responsible way, the nation cannot afford expensive “boondoggle” projects that don’t meet our most important transportation needs.
View this complete post...Archive for the ‘Policy’ Category
Highway Boondoggles 4
Tuesday, July 10th, 2018Guest on The Infra Blog: Kristina Swallow, President, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Monday, July 9th, 2018We didn’t get here to the state of our current infrastructure overnight. It took us decades. It took us a generation to get here. The report card obviously is a tool to help convey the condition so everybody understands what we’re talking about and the impact on our lives. While we’ve been doing it now for some time, it has taken time to build that momentum, to build the understanding so that, today, it is being regularly used as a communication point and regularly used to help drive the conversation at all political levels: at the state, federal and local levels.
View this complete post...It’s Time to Make U.S. Infrastructure Flood Ready
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018With record-breaking storms, aging infrastructure, and growing support for federal reform, it’s more crucial than ever to ensure the U.S. is ready to withstand flooding. Recently, a bipartisan group of more than 250 elected officials signed the Flood-Ready Infrastructure Statement of Principles, which encourages the federal government to improve building requirements, enhance the use of natural defenses, and reduce unsustainable development in risky areas.
View this complete post...Streamlining Infrastructure Environmental Review
Thursday, June 28th, 2018Many roads, bridges, sewers, pipelines, and other infrastructure need repair. New facilities should also be built where economic and social conditions warrant. Yet even where money is not an obstacle, the reviews that are required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) can be a significant source of delay.
View this complete post...Nevada: How Fuel Revenue Indexing (FRI) Is Fixing Infra and Creating Jobs
Tuesday, June 19th, 2018The importance of the overall initiative is twofold: one is infrastructure. Public infrastructure lays the foundation for economic development, lays the foundation for recruiting new businesses and creating a sustainability for communities. More importantly at the current time, it’s created jobs.
In 2013, the Nevada State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 413 to fund critical roadway improvements. Since then, we’ve awarded $620,000,000 dollars, created 8,000 jobs, funded 225 projects, and employed 78 local small businesses.
View this complete post...Prioritizing Walking in Portland, OR
Friday, June 15th, 2018Portland’s population is expected to grow rapidly over the next 20 years. The city adopted a new policy to prioritize walking first, before all other modes of transportation. PedPDX is Portland’s city-wide pedestrian plan. It will prioritize sidewalks, crossings and other investments to make walking safer and more comfortable across the city.
View this complete post...Adapting Land Use and Water Management Plans to a Changing Climate in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, Florida
Thursday, June 14th, 2018Our goals in this research were to help improve the region’s capacity to adapt to both a changing climate and changes in land use and to better understand the costs of both action and inaction across a wide range of futures. Drawing on experience in Louisiana and other coastal environments, we set out to build a transparent, interactive, and technically credible approach to decision support to assess vulnerabilities and gain insights into the potential strategies to reduce vulnerabilities under a range of climate and land use futures. Our work builds on the strong base of leadership and technical capacity already present in the region.
View this complete post...New rule to speed federal regulatory processes could ramp up interest in transportation P3s
Monday, June 11th, 2018The new rule, Private Investment Project Procedures (PIPP), which is scheduled to go into effect June 29, lines up with the administration’s goal of encouraging private investment in infrastructure projects nationwide. The President’s original infrastructure plan was for the federal government to invest $200 billion in order to encourage more than $1.5 trillion in investment revenue from other sources.
View this complete post...50 States of Grid Modernization: Q1 2018 Quarterly Report
Thursday, June 7th, 2018The purpose of this report is to provide state lawmakers and regulators, electric utilities, the advanced energy industry, and other energy stakeholders with timely, accurate, and unbiased updates about how states are choosing to study, adopt, implement, amend, or discontinue policies associated with grid modernization. This report catalogues proposed and enacted legislative, regulatory, and rate design changes affecting grid modernization during the most recent quarter. The 50 States of Grid Modernization report series provides regular quarterly updates and annual summaries of grid modernization policy developments, keeping stakeholders informed and up to date.
View this complete post...Guest on The Infra Blog: David A. Raymond, President & CEO, American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
Thursday, May 31st, 2018We do not lack any capacity to do what’s needed to be done. We have thousands of engineering firms and contracting firms who are ready to take on an increased workload, and what we’re waiting for is for government agencies and private parties to pull the trigger to unleash that capacity. The constraints on moving forward can be summarized in two words: political will. There’s insufficient political will to undertake such a program, both in the administration and in the Congress.
View this complete post...Follow InfrastructureUSA
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