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Step It Up! The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities

Thursday, September 10th, 2015
Figure 1. Percentage of U.S. Adults Aged 18 Years or Older Who Were Inactive During Their Leisure Time, 2013

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
To promote walking, community strategies can be implemented where people live, learn, work, and play. Places for walking can be designed and enhanced to improve their walkability. Improving walkability means that communities are created or enhanced to make it safe and easy to walk and that pedestrian activity is encouraged for all people.11 Improving the walkability of communities can benefit people of all abilities, including those who run, bike, skate, or use wheelchairs.

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Posted in Infra Views, National, Policy, Public Parks & Recreation, Smart Growth, Urban Planning

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Promoting Electric Vehicles in U.S. Cities

Wednesday, September 9th, 2015
Figure ES-1. Electric vehicle promotion actions, charging infrastructure, and electric vehicle share of new vehicles in 2014 in the 25 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas (2014 electric vehicle registration data provided by IHS Automotive)

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON CLEAN TRANSPORTATION (ICCT)
Cities could represent an important focal point in the transition toward a robust electric vehicle market due to urban driving patterns and cities’ concentration of vehicle ownership and charging networks. Although it is early in what is likely a decades-long transition toward an electric-drive vehicle fleet, the current diversity of electric-drive promotion actions provides a rich laboratory for what is working.

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2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard

Tuesday, September 8th, 2015
Exhibit 1. Major Findings of the 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard (471 U.S. Urban Areas)

TEXAS A&M TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE
The national congestion recession is over. Urban areas of all sizes are experiencing the challenges seen in the early 2000s – population, jobs and therefore congestion are increasing. The U.S. economy has regained nearly all of the 9 million jobs lost during the recession and the total congestion problem is larger than the pre-recession levels.

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Posted in Congestion, Infra Views, National, Roads

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Place Value: How Communities Attract, Grow and Keep Jobs and Talent in the Rocky Mountain West

Monday, September 7th, 2015
Job Growth in Idaho and Montana

COMMUNITY BUILDERS
Place Value comes at a time when many communities are seeking new approaches to economic development that respond to changing market and fiscal realities. What people are seeking from their jobs and communities is also changing. A growing number of people prioritize quality of life over other factors, including employment opportunities, in decisions about where to live, work, or start a business. At the same time, today’s technology and the growth of knowledge-based industries allow people and businesses far greater flexibility in where they locate. Yet for many communities, particularly those with resort economies, high cost of living, long commutes and limited employment opportunities are barriers to attracting and retaining a talented workforce.

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Posted in Infra Views, Private Investment, Public Parks & Recreation, Public Transportation, Smart Growth, Urban Planning

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Natural Gas & Pipeline Infrastructure: Impacts of the Clean Power Plan

Friday, September 4th, 2015
Figure 1. Projected U.S. Natural Gas Demand in AEE Institute Scenarios

ADVANCED ENERGY ECONOMY INSTITUTE (AEE INSTITUTE)
The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) establishes state-by-state carbon emissions rate targets that it projects will reduce U.S. electricity sector carbon emissions 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. Some stakeholders, including the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), have raised concerns that states might rely heavily on natural gas generation for CPP compliance, creating stress on gas pipeline capacity and ultimately affecting electric system reliability. While it is likely that states will pursue a diverse portfolio of emission reductions, examining the infrastructure implications of gas use scenarios helps with risk management.

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Impact of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015
Map 1. Indianapolis Cultural Trail Usage Counter Locations, 2014

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE
With construction of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick (Trail) complete, it is time to begin to assess the Trail’s impact on the properties and businesses near the Trail and on the people using it. This report focuses on estimates of usage, surveys of users and businesses along the Trail, change in property values along and near the Trail, and the estimated fiscal impact of the Trail.

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Cool Solutions: New Technology to Fight Climate Change in Massachusetts

Tuesday, September 1st, 2015
Figure ES-1. Historical Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Trajectories Needed to Achieve 2020, 2030 and 2050 Emission Reduction Targets

ENVIRONMENT MASSACHUSETTS
To ensure that the Commonwealth stays on track to meet its target under the Global Warming Solutions Act of cutting emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050, Massachusetts should adopt a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to at least 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2030…Achieving that goal will require Massachusetts to fully implement previous commitments to reduce global warming pollution. It will also require us to take full advantage of a new wave of game-changing opportunities – from cutting-edge technologies to emerging societal trends – that can help Massachusetts build on its position of national leadership in the fight against global warming.

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Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Green, Infra Views, Local, Policy, Pollution, Sustainability, Technology

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Toward a 21st Century Electricity System in California

Monday, August 31st, 2015
Figure 1: California

ADVANCED ENERGY ECONOMY INSTITUTE (AEE INSTITUTE)
California’s portfolio of policies, statutes and regulatory actions, whether existing or proposed, has set the state on a path to significant de-carbonization of its energy sector. When coupled with broader industry and societal trends, a transformation of the grid is underway at both the wholesale and retail levels.

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Dynamic Scoring and Infrastructure Spending

Friday, August 28th, 2015
Figure 1: Federal Capital Spending Lags Real GDP

MCGRAW HILL FINANCIAL
GLOBAL INSTITUTE
We review recent trends in federal infrastructure spending and the policy case for dynamic scoring of revenue and spending legislation. The use of dynamic scoring depends upon the magnitudes of near‐term impacts on economy‐wide spending and the long‐run impacts on productivity. We conclude that federal infrastructure investment should be dynamically scored…A simple example suggests that $100 billion in new infrastructure spending could generate an extra $62.5 to $165.5 billion in national output over the next twenty years, based on a range of scenarios. Assuming a 20 percent effective tax rate, this $100 billion infrastructure investment would generate a 20‐year revenue offset ranging from $12.5 to $33.1 billion.

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Funding, Infra Views, National

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Scenario Planning for Freight Transportation Infrastructure Investment

Thursday, August 27th, 2015
Figure 7. Stress Map of the United States from participants’ sample form (back)

TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
The future rarely moves in predictable, incremental ways. Often seemingly small changes in technology, demographics, regulations, economics, or a myriad of other factors have dramatic and unintended impacts on how any organization (public or private) plans and operates. These nonlinear impacts are very difficult to predict using traditional forecasting methods and techniques since they, by definition, do not follow any historical patterns.

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