Both proposals stem from a conclusion that the obstacles standing in the way of enacting a new multi-year federal surface transportation program are of a long-term nature and will not be overcome any time soon. These obstacles include the inability of Congress to come up with a meaningful way to pay for the program; the increasingly shaky and uncertain status of the Highway Trust Fund; the pressure for deficit reduction in the fiscal and budgetary actions of the next Congress, especially in the likely event of a Republican takeover; and a low priority given to the reauthorization by the Obama White House (see our NewsBrief of July 16, “New Political Realities May Sidetrack the Transportation Reauthorization”).
View this complete post...Posts Tagged ‘Innovation Newsbriefs’
Two Promising New Proposals For Solving the Fiscal Shortfall
Monday, August 9th, 2010The Accidental Legacy of the High-Speed Rail Program
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010…the HSR initiative could turn out to be of considerable economic benefit to the nation — but not quite in the way the program has been sold to the public and not exactly in the manner it is still being envisioned by the Conference of Mayors and other passenger rail boosters.
View this complete post...The Rail Debate Intensifies
Monday, June 28th, 2010We think a strong case can be made that true high-speed rail will eventually be necessary in the U.S. between major city-pairs separated by less than 300-400 miles, in order to relieve unacceptable levels of airport and air traffic congestion. In Europe, air service between Paris-Brussels [162 miles], Paris-Lyon (246 miles) and Cologne- Frankfurt [94 miles] has already been totally replaced by high-speed rail service.
View this complete post...Is the High Speed Rail Program At Risk?
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010Ever since President Obama announced his high speed rail (HSR) program initiative and Congress approved $8 billion to fund it as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009, many States have lined up to stake out a share of the new money. States that had been working on high-speed rail plans for years saw it as an opportunity to finally bring their projects to fruition, while others scrambled to get rail corridor planning underway so that they too could qualify for a share of the pie. The prize looked particularly attractive because the dollars will flow directly to the recipient states without requiring a local match.
View this complete post...Some Frank and Unscripted Comments from Capitol Hill
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010We have noted before in these pages that there seems to be no sign of a popular outcry about the stalled transportation authorization and no willingness on the part of the public to tax themselves to support a larger program of infrastructure modernization. Warnings by advocacy groups about “crumbling infrastructure” seem to fall on deaf ears. Nor is the Administration showing any desire to move a multi-year transportation bill this year.
View this complete post...Rail Transit Expansion Reconsidered — Commentary
Monday, May 24th, 2010…fiscal realities can do wonders to bring federal officials down to earth. The Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund is barely solvent. The U.S. DOT budget will grow by only one percent in 2011. With commendable consistency and fairness, the Administration seems to have decided to apply the same investment standard to transit as it has preached and laid down for highways: Forget about massive capacity expansion; focus on getting the most out of the assets already in place by maintaining them in a state of good repair. To critics of the DOT’s new posture— and there will be some—a good answer could be: It’s just a different way of looking at what it means to be pro-transit.
View this complete post...Two Bold Predictions
Monday, May 3rd, 2010Two bold predictions concerning the future of the federal surface transportation program have caught our eye in recent days. Both have come from respected veterans of the transportation scene so they cannot be lightly dismissed as speculations of some anonymous bloggers.
View this complete post...Innovative Financing Is No Substitute for New Funding
Monday, April 19th, 2010Hoping to sustain interest in the Committee’s efforts to enact a new multi-year transportation bill during this session of Congress, Reps. James Oberstar (D-MN) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR), leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, convened a hearing on April 14 to explore innovative ways of financing highway and transit investments. But while the hearing provided a useful survey of available financing tools and programs, it produced no new answers to the key question that has bedeviled transportation advocates for many months and remains as the chief obstacle to moving the legislation forward— the question of how to pay for the proposed multi-year surface transportation program.
View this complete post...The Promise and Risks of Public-Private Partnerships
Monday, April 5th, 2010A recent series of events, notably an invitational conference on Public-Private Partnerships convened by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), has focused attention on the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in transportation, and underscored once again the need to more clearly define the proper federal role in PPP oversight.
To share its findings with the transportation community and seek its input, the NCSL invited an influential group of state legislators and leading members of the transportation community to a meting on March 26 to consider the next steps.
View this complete post...    |
Follow InfrastructureUSA
CATEGORIES
- Accountability (219)
- Aging Infrastructure (752)
- Aviation (130)
- Biking (323)
- Bipartisan (271)
- Bridges (493)
- Broadband (57)
- Buses (160)
- Carbon Tax (22)
- Clean Air (182)
- Climate Change (200)
- Competitiveness (230)
- Congestion (327)
- Dams (77)
- Democrat (123)
- Drinking Water (191)
- Economic Stimulus (276)
- Employment (207)
- Energy (585)
- Environment (615)
- Equity (239)
- Funding (887)
- Global (205)
- Great American Infrastructure (33)
- Green (294)
- Guests on The Infra Blog (274)
- Hazardous Waste (27)
- High Speed Rail (224)
- Highway (785)
- Inland Waterways (204)
- Jobs (251)
- Land Use (98)
- LEED (28)
- Levees (42)
- Local (1,910)
- National (1,525)
- Policy (1,121)
- Pollution (215)
- Private Investment (213)
- Public Opinion (189)
- Public Parks & Recreation (196)
- Public Transportation (1,028)
- Racism (6)
- Rail (502)
- Recession (65)
- Recovery (218)
- Republican (109)
- Roads (1,120)
- Schools (80)
- Seaports (68)
- Smart Grid (98)
- Smart Growth (442)
- Solid Waste (26)
- Sustainability (765)
- Tax (112)
- Technology (397)
- Telecommunications (46)
- Transit (1,333)
- Urban Planning (979)
- Wastewater (180)
- Water Treatment (165)
Show us your infra!
Show us your infra!
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.
Polls
Polls
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!
Views
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.
Blog
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.
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
Home |
Show Us Your Infra! |
Infra Views |
The Infra Blog |
Infra Polls |
About |
Resources |
Contact |
RSS Feed
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.