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Illinois Highway Materials Sustainability Efforts

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014
Figure 1. Reclaimed material use, 2013.

ILLINOIS CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has many years of experience using a variety of reclaimed and recycled materials in highway construction. Major material use in highway construction is in the form of aggregates, concrete, and hot-mix asphalt (HMA). It should be no surprise that reclaimed and recycled material use is aligned with usage of these basic construction materials. This report presents the quantity of materials used in 2013, along with specific reporting as required in Illinois Public Act 097-0314. Specific reporting on use of shingles, along with efforts to reduce the carbon footprint and to achieve cost savings through the use of recycled and reclaimed materials, in asphalt paving projects is presented.

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West Valley City, UT: Traffic Modeling of Transit Oriented Development

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014
Figure 2.4 The example of two neighborhoods with different levels of connectivity (Source: New Jersey DOT)

MOUNTAIN-PLAINS CONSORTIUM
Throughout the Wasatch Front Metropolitan Region, the majority of land use development forces people to drive in order to access their destinations. This is due to low density and mostly single use developments built on poorly connected street networks with several cul-de-sacs and few routing options for transport system users. Even though the development of Wasatch Front has the legacy of transit supportive land uses in the region’s city centers and previous street car suburbs, the connection between them is still such that it encourages driving as the dominant mode of transportation. Designing streets and street networks that would support TOD environments is still considered with hesitation as the potential solution for traffic congestion and increasing travel demand. One of the reasons for this might be the need to evaluate the effects that TOD has on traffic operations.

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NYC Six Month Report Card: New Class at the City Council

Monday, September 8th, 2014

TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES
In January, 21 new members were sworn into the 51-seat City Council – New York City’s most powerful governing body. Some defeated long-standing incumbents. Many were elected on the strength of their transportation platforms, with promises of more safe, convenient and affordable transportation ushering them into office. In a Transportation Alternatives survey before the election, candidates pledged to improve bus service, expand the bike network and make New York City’s streets and sidewalks safer for everyone. Now, halfway through the first year of their terms, Transportation Alternatives looks back at what City Council members pledged, and how they have lived up to their promises on crucial transportation issues.

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Performance of Alternatively Fueled Buses

Friday, September 5th, 2014
Figure 3-2. Comparison of performance and costs of 40-foot buses, diesel vs. hybrid.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR TRANSIT RESEARCH
Florida transit agencies have been dealing with volatile fuel prices and changes in regulations regarding diesel engines and fuel. In addition, emphasis on reducing the overall consumption of fossil fuels has increased, as well as reducing carbon emissions by transit agencies. Florida transit agencies and funding entities continue to be under pressure to reduce operating costs and to run a more sustainable and environmentally friendly fleet in the urban environment. A popular strategy to pursue these goals has been the acquisition of alternatively fueled buses. However, higher reliance on alternative fuels has increased both capital and operating costs for some fixed route operators, and has created challenges for the widespread adoption of advanced transit technologies.

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Los Angeles: Eastside Transit Corridor Environmental Impact Study

Thursday, September 4th, 2014
Figure ES-1: Existing and Proposed Regional Metro Rail Lines (2035)

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
In addition to mobility benefits, the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 Project would provide the project area with transportation, economic, land use, and environmental benefits. The analysis presented in this document shows that improved mobility to and from the project area has the potential to boost economic development in the project area and improve social justice by providing better access to employment, educational opportunities, and activity centers. Improved transit connectivity would increase transit ridership, which would also generate environmental benefits through reduced vehicle trips, less roadway congestion, and improved air quality.

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Assessment of Intercity Bus Services in Nebraska

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014
Figure 3.1. Routes of Intercity Bus Services, Nebraska: 2014

The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) has partnered with the University of Nebraska at Omaha Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) to conduct a statewide intercity bus study. The objectives of this study include the following: Identify existing intercity bus service; Interview intercity bus providers; Conduct public information open houses to identify ridership demographics; Gather public input to identify gaps in service; Summarize the information gathered; Develop an action plan to address intercity bus needs; Share the study findings with the transportation community and general public.

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Distributed Wind Energy Market Report

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014
Figure 1: 2013 Distributed Wind Market Applications (a) by Project and (b) by Capacity

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
The purpose of this report is to quantify and summarize the 2013 U.S. distributed wind market to help plan and guide future investments and decisions by industry, utilities, state and federal agencies, and other interested parties. Distributed wind is defined in terms of technology application based on a wind project’s location relative to end-use and power-distribution infrastructure, rather than on turbine or project size. While the distributed wind market includes wind turbines and projects of many sizes, this report breaks the market into two segments when appropriate: wind turbines up through 100 kW (in nominal capacity) referred to in this report as “small wind,” and wind turbines greater than 100 kW used in distributed applications.

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CLEAN ENERGY WORKS FOR US: 2nd Quarter 2014 Report

Monday, September 1st, 2014
50-STATE BREAKDOWN: WHERE WERE THE ANNOUNCEMENTS?

ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS
More than 12,500 clean energy and clean transportation jobs and clean transportation were announced in 29 states in the second quarter of 2014. This is more than twice the number of jobs announced in the first quarter of the year. Solar generation once again led all sectors — with more than 5,300 jobs announced — as declining module prices and growing private-sector investment expanded job opportunities in the industry. Meanwhile, the wind industry announced about 2,700 jobs, mostly because projects that qualified for the recently expired Production Tax Credit began construction. Wind manufacturers, including Vestas in Colorado and Gearbox Express in Wisconsin, reported hiring additional manufacturing employees to match turbine demand. The biggest hiring boost to the U.S. clean energy manufacturing sector came from the automotive industry, with General Motors and Tesla announcing 1,900 manufacturing jobs to produce electric vehicles.

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Scaling Up Energy Efficiency Across the Data Center Industry

Friday, August 29th, 2014
Data Center Efficiency

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
Data centers are the backbone of the modern economy, from the server rooms that power small- to medium-sized organizations, to the enterprise data centers that support American corporations, to the server farms that run cloud computing services hosted by Amazon, Facebook, Google, and others. However, the explosion of digital content, big data, e-commerce, and Internet traffic is also making data centers one of the fastest-growing users of electricity in developed countries, and one of the key drivers in the construction of new power plants in the United States.

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Fueling Road Spending with Federal Stimulus

Thursday, August 28th, 2014
Figure 1: Federal Highway Grants and Spending

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO
ECONOMIC RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
During the Great Recession, a surge in federal government spending was one option frequently called for as a means to sustain and stimulate the economy. Given the substantial perceived need for infrastructure improvements, many commentators argued that highways should be near the front of the line for any stimulus dollars. It is no surprise then that the 2009 fiscal stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) contained $48 billion in transportation funding, $27 billion specifically for roads. These funds generally took the form of grants to state governments and were in addition to the usual federal transportation grants sent to state governments every year from the national Highway Trust Fund. Thanks to ARRA, federal highway grants to states jumped nearly 75% in 2009. Still, road spending by state and local governments nationwide—which is the source of virtually all road spending in the United States—was roughly flat between 2008 and 2011.

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