John Hennessy III,
P.E.
BROOKINGS INSTITUTION by Clifford Winston Introduction Transportation is a friction—a cost in both money and time—that must be incurred by individuals and firms to complete almost any market transaction. An efficient and extensive transportation system greatly enriches the standard of living in modern society by reducing the cost of nearly everything in the economy; expanding […]
View this complete post...Innovation Newsbriefs
Vol. 24, No. 13 (update)
In the longer run, greater state fiscal autonomy and financial sophistication could modify the federal-state relationship in transportation. There would be less need for direct financial aid to state DOTs and more emphasis on credit assistance to support transportation investments of truly national scope and significance. (High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor comes to mind). At the same time, federal oversight of state transportation programs could be reduced to reflect the smaller federal fiscal footprint.
“You can’t say ‘Okay, we have X amount of money, go do something. You have to spend it within a year.’ I think the debate got caught up into not looking at long-range infrastructure projects that are sustainable and allow a much more efficient operation dealing with sustainability of businesses using the infrastructure or the private sector…America has to get back because it’s not just the roads, it’s the water systems, it’s the energy systems, it’s transportation, its looking at things and how, with sustainability, we can be more efficient.”
View this complete post...
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON CLEAN TRANSPORTATION
The analysis presented here rigorously compares the efficiency of all airlines independent of size, network structure, or type of service, with a methodology that improves upon previous efforts in four fundamental ways. First, it uses airline-reported fuel consumption data, rather than modeled estimates, to account fully for all the ways in which airlines can reduce fuel burn…Second, it develops an efficiency metric that recognizes that airlines burn fuel to provide both mobility…and access, allowing an equitable comparison between airlines. Third, the efficiency metric distinguishes productive from nonproductive miles flown by identifying those airlines that operate particularly circuitous routes. Finally, the study attributes the transport service provided by and fuel consumption of affiliate carriers to mainline carriers in order to enable comprehensive comparisons across carriers’ full business operations.
BUILDING AMERICA’S FUTURE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS
America’s infrastructure is old, inefficient and badly in need of modernization. U.S. manufacturers agree…70%believe American infrastructure is in fair or poor shape and needs a great deal or quite a bit of improvement. 70%report that roads are getting worse. 65%do not believe that infrastructure, especially in their region, is positioned to respond to the competitive demands of a growing economy over the next 10 to 15 years.
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
The western United States’ remarkable renewable energy resource availability, supportive policies, and well-developed supply chains have transformed western states into national leaders in renewable energy development. In 2012, the region attracted about half of the country’s combined venture capital, private equity and asset finance investment in the renewable energy sector, and produced approximately 31% of its total energy generation from renewable energy sources – compared to roughly 12% nationally (sources: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and Energy Information Administration (EIA)).
Innovation Newsbriefs
Vol. 24, No. 14
Robert Poole, co-founder of the libertarian Reason Foundation and its Director of Transportation Policy has produced a study that is bound to create more than a ripple inside the transportation community…The study makes only one major policy recommendation: that Congress allow tolling of Interstate highways “for the specific purpose of reconstruction and widening with toll revenue used only for those purposes.” The author concludes that permission from Congress is “the one needed enabler… to begin this transition.”
REASON FOUNDATION
Steady increases in vehicle fuel economy, the lack of inflation indexing of fuel tax rates, and political gridlock over increasing fuel tax rates all make it very difficult even to maintain current pavement and bridge conditions and prevent congestion from getting even worse. The transportation community agrees that we need to phase out fuel taxes and replace them with a more sustainable funding source, generally agreed to be mileage-based user fees of some sort. But no consensus exists on how and when to do this.
“If the wind stops blowing in one place it’s most likely blowing somewhere else around that region and therefore across the region, and these are regional electricity markets that we have in the country. Across the region wind itself is not variable…if you spread it out with transmission across such a wide region.”
View this complete post...
Rewarding Creativity, Vision and Ingenuity Washington, DC – October 31, 2013 The Infrastructure Short Film Expo aims to unleash the power of film to tell a powerful story about North American infrastructure, its vision, projects and impact. Held in conjunction with the 5th North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, the Expo will show how infrastructure […]
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.