AMERICAN 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.
Archive for the ‘Recovery’ Category
The Road To Livability: How State Departments of Transportation are Using Road Investments to Improve Community Livability
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010Guest on The Infra Blog: Adolfo Carrión, Jr., Director, White House Office of Urban Affairs & Deputy Assistant to the President
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010“Anything that will stir up the conversation among the citizenry about the future of our country, both in its physical manifestation and in its social and economic manifestation, is a good thing, and I think what InfrastructureUSA.org is doing is laudable and should be applauded. We need more of this kind of civic engagement.”
Adolfo Carrión is the first Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and Deputy Assistant to the President. He was elected to the New York City Council in 1997, and served one term. He was then elected Borough President of the Bronx, where he served for 7 years. Under Carrión’s leadership, total investment in the borough increased from $361 million/year in 2002, to almost $1 billion/year in 2008. Unemployment dropped by five percent, due in large part to Carrion’s aggressive pursuit of employment assurances for members of the Bronx community as he implemented the largest infrastructure, residential and commercial redevelopment since the 1920’s.
View this complete post...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...Iona College Hosts Infrastructure Conference
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010On April 8th, 2010, Iona College in New Rochelle, NY hosted the conference, “Confronting the Crisis: Solving Our Regional Transportation Infrastructure Issues.” Steve Anderson, Managing Director, InfrastructureUSA.org talked with some of the speakers:
Thomas DiNapoli, Comptroller, State of New York
Brother James Laguori, President, Iona College
Stanley Gee, Acting Commissioner, New York State Department of Transportation
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...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.”
The Promise and Risks of Public-Private Partnerships
Monday, April 5th, 2010A recent series of events, notably an invitational conference on Public-Private Partnerships convened by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), has focused attention on the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in transportation, and underscored once again the need to more clearly define the proper federal role in PPP oversight.
To share its findings with the transportation community and seek its input, the NCSL invited an influential group of state legislators and leading members of the transportation community to a meting on March 26 to consider the next steps.
View this complete post...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.
View this complete post...Follow InfrastructureUSA
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Dear Friends,
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