Infrastructure in the News: December 1, 2011

NATIONAL NEWS
 
Transportation Issues Daily: House Postpones Action on Federal Transportation Bill to late January

http://www.transportationissuesdaily.com/house-postpones-action-on-feder...

Representative John Mica, chair of the Transportation Committee, announced Wednesday morning that his committee, and subsequently the full House, would not act on the bill in December as previously announced. It was becoming clear the full House would not have time to debate a transportation bill this year.

Huffington Post: How Tomorrow's Infrastructure Will Be Built

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcelo-giugale/how-tomorrows-infrastruct_...

In the old times -- that's only ten years ago -- a federal minister of planning would sit in his office and single-handedly decide whether a road, port or power-plant would be built, as well as who would build it. Contracts would then be signed behind closed doors, bulldozers would roll in, and taxpayers would foot the bill -- the entire bill. Well, those days are all but gone, and a new way of building infrastructure is taking shape.

Switchboard: Dear America, we need more public transportation

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/dear_america_we_need_more_pu...

According to the American Public Transportation Association’s November  Transit Savings Report, individuals who switch from driving to riding public transportation can save, on average, almost $10,000 annually.   These savings are based on the cost of commuting by public transportation compared to the November 18, 2011 average national gas price ($3.38 per gallon- reported by AAA) and the national unreserved monthly parking rate.

Salon: Are freeways doomed?

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/01/are_freeways_doomed/

The drive to tear down the huge freeways that many blame for the inner-city blight of the ’60s and ’70s is one of the most dramatic signs of the new urban order. Proponents of such efforts have data to show that freeway removal is not at all bizarre, that we can return to human-size streets without causing a gridlock apocalypse. And that may be true. But pulling down these shrines to the automobile also feels like a bold rewriting of America’s 20th-century urban script: Revenge of the Pedestrian. This time it’s personal.

The Atlantic Cities: Can Higher Fares Save Public Transit?

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/11/can-higher-fares-save-p...

Funding public transit is one of the biggest problems facing cities today. Often the trouble is that a few high-cost, low-ridership routes drag down an entire system. That puts policymakers in a tough spot. They might eliminate these unprofitable lines, as has been suggested before, but in doing so they would harm a considerable number of people who rely on that service as their primary mode of transportation.


STATE NEWS

Pilot Online: Norfolk to host McDonnell transportation conference next week

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/norfolk-host-mcdonnell-transportation-co...

Gov. Bob McDonnell used last year's statewide transportation conference in Roanoke to launch his $4 billion road spending plan, much of which was later approved by the General Assembly. This year's conference in Norfolk (Dec. 7-9 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott) will focus on state transportation projects and programs and related initiatives.