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Archive for the ‘Rail’ Category

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Comments on Preliminary National Rail Plan

Monday, June 21st, 2010

AMERICA 2050
America 2050 launched a research program on highspeed rail in 2009 to provide input and help shape the federal government’s new highspeed intercity passenger rail (HSIPR) program. In September 2009, we released the report “Where High-Speed Rail Works Best,” which discussed factors contributing to ridership demand for high-speed rail. The paper argued that the federal government should focus preliminary ARRA grants in corridors with the greatest passenger demand for high-speed rail service.

Moving forward, our research will continue to focus on success factors in developing high-speed rail systems and strategies for developing a national intercity passenger network. To that end, we offer the following recommendations for the long-term National Rail Plan, focused primarily on the elements of success for passenger rail.

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Posted in High Speed Rail, Infra Views, National, Rail, Recovery, Transit

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Is the High Speed Rail Program At Risk?

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Ever since President Obama announced his high speed rail (HSR) program initiative and Congress approved $8 billion to fund it as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009, many States have lined up to stake out a share of the new money. States that had been working on high-speed rail plans for years saw it as an opportunity to finally bring their projects to fruition, while others scrambled to get rail corridor planning underway so that they too could qualify for a share of the pie. The prize looked particularly attractive because the dollars will flow directly to the recipient states without requiring a local match.

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Posted in Funding, High Speed Rail, Innovation Newsbriefs, National, Policy, Private Investment, Rail, Recovery, The Infra Blog, Transit

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Unlocking Gridlock: Part 1 of a Series

Thursday, June 10th, 2010
America is Growing

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS
Expanding the ability of the transportation system to meet the needs of the traveling public is critical to the health of our economy and the quality of life of our citizens. Meeting future needs will require a balanced approach, which preserves what has been built to date, improves system performance, and adds substantial capacity in highways, transit, freight rail and intercity passenger rail.

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Posted in Bridges, Competitiveness, Employment, Equity, Highway, Infra Views, Jobs, Land Use, National, Policy, Rail, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Transit, Urban Planning

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Connecting the Region with Transit: Implementing the Central Florida Regional Growth Vision

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Modes of Transit

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The Federal Government supports a vision for high-speed rail to connect regions throughout the country. In Florida two high-speed rail corridors were identified to provide connections from Central Florida to Tampa and Miami.

The High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, offers stimulus money for passenger rail projects throughout the United States. FDOT applied for four separate projects to receive funding: High-speed rail connecting Orlando to Tampa and Orlando to Miami, Central Florida Commuter Rail (SunRail), and Amtrak-Florida East Coast Passenger Service.

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Posted in Buses, Carbon Tax, Clean Air, Climate Change, Competitiveness, Congestion, Funding, Green, High Speed Rail, Highway, Infra Views, Land Use, Local, Policy, Public Transportation, Rail, Recovery, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Transit, Urban Planning

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Underground with NYC’s 2nd Avenue Subway Construction

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Looking south from the 7-story stairwell leading into the current site, at 92nd and 2nd Avenue. Notice the boring machine on the right leading into the southbound tunnel. (Jake Dobkin)

The beginning of phase one of the 2nd Avenue subway tunnel – drilling between 92nd and 63rd. Photos and captions by Jake Dobkin at Gothamist.com.

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Posted in Local, Public Transportation, Rail, Show Us Your Infra, Transit, Urban Planning

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Rail Transit Expansion Reconsidered — Commentary

Monday, May 24th, 2010

…fiscal realities can do wonders to bring federal officials down to earth. The Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund is barely solvent. The U.S. DOT budget will grow by only one percent in 2011. With commendable consistency and fairness, the Administration seems to have decided to apply the same investment standard to transit as it has preached and laid down for highways: Forget about massive capacity expansion; focus on getting the most out of the assets already in place by maintaining them in a state of good repair. To critics of the DOT’s new posture— and there will be some—a good answer could be: It’s just a different way of looking at what it means to be pro-transit.

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Innovation Newsbriefs, National, Policy, Rail, Recovery, Roads, Smart Growth, The Infra Blog, Transit

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Transportation Facts

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION EXCELLENCE
-314 jobs are created for each $10 million invested in transit capital funding and more than 570 jobs are created for each $10 million invested in shorter projects.
-American families spend 18% of their household budgets on transportation, making it the second largest household expenditure after housing.
-Building more roads isn’t always the answer to this growing problem. Each of the cities in the TTI study would require an average of 37 more lane miles to keep pace with just one year of increased traffic demand.

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Posted in Congestion, Employment, Infra Views, Jobs, Local, National, Public Transportation, Rail, Roads, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Transit, Urban Planning

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Full Speed Ahead: Creating Green Jobs Through Freight Rail Expansion

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
Freight Rail Jobs Created

BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE & ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
Economic models estimate about 7,800 green jobs are created for every billion dollars of freight rail capital investment. Furthermore, the industry has nearly doubled the amount of goods it has shipped without increasing fuel consumption over the past three decades, and creates a fraction of the pollution of other transport modes such as trucking and aviation. Its continued growth will generate green jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and contribute to solving climate change.

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Posted in Competitiveness, Congestion, Economic Stimulus, Employment, Energy, Environment, Equity, Green, Infra Views, Jobs, National, Rail, Recession, Recovery, Transit

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Just Released: Infra report from Urban Land Institute

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
infra2010water2

Infrastructure 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.

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Bridges, Buses, Clean Air, Climate Change, Competitiveness, Congestion, Dams, Drinking Water, Economic Stimulus, Employment, Energy, Environment, Funding, Global, Green, High Speed Rail, Highway, Inland Waterways, Jobs, Land Use, Levees, Local, National, Policy, Private Investment, Public Transportation, Rail, Recession, Recovery, Seaports, Smart Grid, Smart Growth, Solid Waste, Sustainability, The Infra Blog, Transit, Urban Planning, Wastewater, Water Treatment

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INFRASTRUCTURE 2010: INVESTMENT IMPERATIVE

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

URBAN 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.

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Clean Air, Climate Change, Competitiveness, Congestion, Dams, Drinking Water, Energy, Environment, Funding, Global, Green, High Speed Rail, Highway, Infra Views, Inland Waterways, Jobs, Land Use, National, Policy, Public Opinion, Public Transportation, Rail, Recession, Recovery, Roads, Seaports, Smart Grid, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Technology, Transit, Urban Planning, Wastewater, Water Treatment

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