The Administration’s desire to impose its own vision of how Americans should live and travel represents a stubborn and in the end futile gesture. The gesture is futile for, as generations of political appointees before them have discovered, policies that do not resonate with the majority of Americans seldom survive after their authors have left office.
View this complete post...Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category
U.S. DOT’s Strategic Plan Creates Controversy With Its Emphasis on “Livability”
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Pennywise, Pound Fuelish: New Measures of Housing + Transportation Affordability
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010CENTER 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.
Transportation Facts
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010CENTER 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.
Guest on The Infra Blog: Thomas Murphy, Senior Resident Fellow, ULI/Klingbeil Family Chair for Urban Development, Urban Land Institute, and former Mayor of Pittsburgh
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Thomas 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.
View this complete post...Guest on The Infra Blog: Janice Tuchman, Editor-In-Chief, Engineering News-Record (ENR)
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Janice L. Tuchman is editor-in-chief of Engineering News-Record, where she directs the editorial operations of the Engineering News-Record enterprise online, in print and at in-person events. In 2002, she became only the sixth woman to be elected to membership in “The Moles,” a prestigious heavy-construction industry leaders organization. She also serves on the Industry Advisory Committee of the Department of Civil Engineering at Columbia University. She co-authored a book on Exposed Structure in Building Design and won McGraw-Hill Corporate Achievement Awards for Information Technology and Editorial Excellence.
View this complete post...Transportation’s Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Thursday, April 29th, 2010U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Transportation GHG emissions account for 29 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions, and over 5 percent of global GHG emissions. Except otherwise noted, the estimates in this report account for “tailpipe” emissions from burning fossil fuels to power vehicles and do not account for greenhouse gases emitted
through other transportation lifecycle processes, such as the manufacture of vehicles, the extraction and refining of fuels, and the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure.
Guest 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...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...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