John Hennessy III,
P.E.
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.
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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Congressman James Oberstar represents Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. Now in his 17th term, he is the longest serving member of Congress in Minnesota history. In the 34 years he has served in Congress, Jim has become known as the body’s leading expert on transportation policy. From 1989 through 1995, he chaired the Subcommittee on Aviation, passing important legislation that has led to better maintenance and safer aircraft. Later, as the ranking democrat of the full Transportation Committee, he worked in a bipartisan manner to take the Highway Trust Fund off budget to ensure that gas taxes are used to fix roads and bridges and not to make the budget deficit look smaller. In January 2007, Jim was elected chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He is also the first member of Congress to have served both as a committee’s administrator and its chairman.
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Throughout the United States, Americans are taking action to address the grave challenge of climate change, and to promote a sustainable and prosperous clean energy future. These efforts are occurring at all levels of government, in the private sector, and through the everyday decisions of individual citizens.
This U.S. Climate Action Report 2010 (2010 CAR) sets out the major actions the U.S. government is taking at the federal level, highlights examples of state and local actions, and outlines U.S. efforts to assist other countries’ efforts to address climate change.
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CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY
The number of affordable communities in the U.S. shrinks by 30%, eliminating 48,000 communities, when both housing and transportation costs are considered.
Thomas Murphy is a senior resident fellow, ULI/Klingbeil Family Chair for urban development, Urban Land Institute. Since January 2006, Murphy had served as ULI’s Gulf Coast liaison, helping to coordinate with the leadership of New Orleans and the public to advance the implementation of rebuilding recommendations made by ULI’s advisory services panel last fall. Prior to his service as the ULI Gulf Coast liaison, Murphy served three terms as the mayor of Pittsburgh, from January 1994 through December 2005. From 1979 through 1993, Murphy served eight terms in the Pennsylvania State General Assembly House of Representatives. He is an honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects; a board member of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities; and a board member of the National Rails to Trails Conservancy.
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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.
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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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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