Thursday, May 19, 2011

According to Sustainable Business the US still holds an edge in environmental technologies and Wall Street Journal wrote about Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's plan for high-speed rail systems. More in this Infrastructure in the News.

 

National News

Wall Street Journal: LaHood Says High-Speed Rail Is On Track
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday said plans for high-speed rail systems were moving ahead and that he was confident of their long-term prospects.

The Hill: LaHood tells tourism summit rail will roll in U.S.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told attendees at a global tourism summit being hosted in Las Vegas that the Obama administration's high-speed rail initiative was still on track despite rejections of federal money by a trio Republican governors.

MSNBC: White House seeks to boost post-recession travel
The White House on Wednesday sought to reassure travel industry leaders that the United States cares about tourism and hopes to push the industry as the country recovers from a recession that left many without the means to spend as much on vacations and business trips.

Time Magazine: How High Gas Prices Are Changing Consumer Behaviors -- And Why So Little Seems to Change in the Long Run
Most Americans say high gas prices are hurting their families financially, and that they've made some lifestyle changes—altering vacation plans, fewer trips to the supermarket—to compensate. But are we finally reaching the point when the majority of people will make major changes by broadly adopting more fuel-efficient cars and moving to cities to be closer to work?  

Progressive Railroading: Rockefeller, Lautenberg draft bill to drive private transportation investments
S. 936 — which was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — would create various funding tools, such as loans and loan guarantees, to provide financial assistance for eligible projects and encourage private, regional, state and local entities to invest in the projects. 

BNET: How the U.S. Is Turning Into a Banana Republic
One surprise in all this — why isn’t American business more alarmed by the country’s decay? Deteriorating roads, mounting congestion and other problems resulting from outdated infrastructure raises operating costs and reduces productivity.

Infrastructurist: Get Your Smart Meter Radiation Out of My Home
There are lots of strong reasons to embrace the growing installation of “smart” utility meters. Smart meters monitor home electricity and water use in real-time and send this information to back to utility companies. Ideally this exchange will help people control their energy consumption. Down the line, companies could even introduce variable pricing — the utility equivalent of congestion pricing on highways — to reduce use during peak hours.

Transportation Nation: Digging into the Brookings Report: Transit Only Works if it Takes You To Work
The top line — some 70 percent of Americans have access to transit, but only 30 percent can reach their jobs within 90 minutes.   There are several reasons for this, Brookings says, beginning with the fact that  America’s transit systems were primarily laid out on the spoke-and-hub model.   

New York Times: Even Before Mississippi River Flooding Is Done, Its Toll Mounts
The swollen Mississippi River, already spilling over into wide areas of the Mississippi Delta, has dealt the South a heavy economic blow that is seeping into every possible corner of the region’s commercial and agricultural life.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: AASHTO Approves First New Bicycle Routes in 30 Years
In recent months, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has circulated a new roadway design guide that incorporates more bicycle facilities, though still leaving out many designs that are embraced by cities around the world for their improved safety outcomes. Separately, AASHTO recognized that it was putting its foot in its collective mouth last month when it objected to federal guidelines requiring “due accommodation” for cyclists — it retracted that position. The organization is also producing a best-practices guide for states to implement SRTS projects.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Ray LaHood Gets Behind 2 Mile Challenge
On his “Fast Lane” blog this week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave a shout-out to the 2 Mile Challenge, an initiative by the Clif Bar people to encourage people to bike instead of drive. LaHood started by saying that with gas at $4 a gallon, there’s no reason to use a car for the 40 percent of urban trips that are less than two miles, yet 90 percent of the time, that’s what people do.

For Construction Pros: U.S. Transport Spending Falling Far Behind Global Competitors
The United States is falling dramatically behind much of the world in rebuilding and expanding an overloaded and deteriorating transportation network it needs to remain competitive in the global marketplace, according to a new study by the Urban Land Institute.

Sustainable Business: US Still Holds Edge in Environmental Technologies: Dominates Water Innovation Awards
The US still holds an edge in environmental technologies - 31 of the top 50 companies in innovative water management are in the US.

Public Works: AWWA Lends Support To Sustainable Water Infrastructure Act
U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) and U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) and Geoffrey Davis (R-KY) recently introduced the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Act of 2011, which would remove state volume caps for water and wastewater projets. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) issued the following statement:

 

State News

FastLane: Celebrating National Transportation Week in California: one day, many transportation benefits
During the last few months, working families have shouldered the extra burden of expensive gasoline.  President Obama understands that Americans are feeling a great deal of pain at the pump these days. And we will continue doing everything we can to alleviate these burdens now while laying the groundwork for a secure and sustainable energy future.

Washington Post: California's high-speed train project is going off the rails
There's a scandal brewing in California, and we are not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger. We refer to the $43 billion high-speed rail project in that state, to which the Obama administration has pledged more than $3 billion in federal funding, even though study after authoritative study has cast serious doubt on its financial feasibility. The latest such report, issued May 10 by California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), finds that the project’s current governance structure is “too weak” to manage the massive project and that its business plan does not adequately consider debt service costs that could gobble up $1 billion of the state’s budget per year through 2030. 

California High Speed Rail Blog: Washington Post Repeats Zombie Lies
How many times do we have to tell people that the Central Valley segment of high speed rail is NOT a “train to nowhere”? Even though we keep pointing out that the segment connects Bakersfield to Fresno and points northward, even though we keep pointing out that it’s just the start of the full route from SF to LA, even though we point out that every Interstate freeway began with a small segment somewhere, it’s never enough for critics of HSR. They just keep on lying that it’s “in the middle of nowhere” and that it’s just intended to stand alone forever.

Sacramento Business Journal: Scrap high-speed rail plans
Out of 597 votes cast, most surveyed thought plans for high-speed rail should be ended immediately, at 51 percent. Others thought the state should give the existing project full support, at 37 percent. Another 8 percent surveyed said the project should be turned over to Caltrans, and another 4 percent said the state should make other changes, which could be detailed in the comments.

San Francisco Business Times: Calif. bullet train in info deal with Britain
California’s high-speed train planners signed an information sharing deal with the United Kingdom, adding to the list of countries providing free help on the project.

California Planning and Development Report: CA Public Transit Service Tops National Rankings. Sort of.
The study ranks metro areas according to the percent of the working-age population with reasonably convenient access to transit. With 97% coverage, Honolulu took the top spot, with a slew of western cities following it. Cities in the bottom ten, many of which are in the South, had no better than 35% coverage.  

Transportation Nation: New Laws in Central Florida Boost Complete Streets, Bust Gas Gauging
Central Florida lawmakers took action to stop gas gauging and create complete streets last week. Tourist attractions aside, many towns in Central Florida can be pretty inhospitable to pedestrians and cyclists, with roads so busy it’s difficult to ride a bike or even cross the street. Now Winter Park is joining a growing national movement to adopt “complete streets” that accommodate more than just cars. City Commissioners passed a resolution last week that lays out rules for a gradual adoption of complete streets.

Orlando Sentinel: Governor could be warming up to SunRail
Gov. Rick Scott says he still has not made up his mind about the SunRail commuter train, but supporters of the $1.2 billion project suggest he could be warming up to it. 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Second airport study finds no feasible sites
A study by Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport of eight potential sites for a second airport in the metro region found that none are financially feasible. 

Hawaii Reporter: Watchdogs and Ex-Hawaii Officials Aim to Shelve Mass Transit Project
Citizen watchdog groups and former state legislators are raising the red flag on one of the country’s newest and proportionately expansive proposed mass transit systems, which opponents lambaste as a trophy project that will deface the state’s natural beauty without providing any real benefits. 

Civil Beat: Tourism Infrastructure Most Vulnerable to Climate Change in Honolulu
Local scientists and government officials have huddled and determined that transportation assets vital to the Oahu's economic health are among the most susceptible to the impacts of climate change. 

Progressive Railroading: High-speed rail trackwork will affect Amtrak Lincoln Service, Texas Eagle routes
Ninety-six miles of railroad track upgrades, including the installation of 250,000 new ties, will resume Friday as part of the preparation of Amtrak’s high-speed rail service along the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor. 

Baltimore Sun: Harris opposes doubling Bay Bridge toll
With the Bay Bridge as a backdrop, Rep. Andy Harris said Wednesday that Maryland officials have unfairly targeted rural areas of the state for toll increases, and suggested Congress should consider withholding federal transportation money from states unless they demonstrate they will spend it equitably.

The Detroit News: Prepare now to fix roads, drains
Michigan's deteriorating infrastructure was the subject of two recent reports that attracted the usual minimum of attention from officials who'd prefer to keep this problem on the back burner. True, money's short and the solutions are costly, but the reports prove to anyone who cares about Michigan that it's time for the avoidance to end.  

The Times Herald: Local cities are fighting sewage spills
St. Clair County ranks 10th on the list of Michigan's worst water polluters. The county has discharged about 7.7 million gallons of raw or partially treated sewage into the St. Clair River during the first four months of this year. 

Mobilizing the Region: NJ 101.5 Listeners: State Needs Better Maintained Roads
In response, NJDOT Commissioner Jim Simpson disputed TSTC’s categorization of some projects as capacity expansion, such as the I-295/I-76-Route 42 Direct Connection in Camden County. Talking to 101.5, Simpson described the project as one that would fill in a “missing section for 295.”  Sounds like a project that will add new road capacity, just as Tri-State classified it. 

North Jersey: Heading down wrong road on construction
Taxpayers in New Jersey have a reason to be wary of the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s proposed capital program. That’s because the state is heading down a road it cannot afford.

New York: In Christie's Policies, Pain for Commuters
As a standard-bearer of fiscal conservatism, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey won over voters with his aggressive, no-excuses approach to taming budget problems and identifying the parties he held responsible for them. He has sparred with unions, cut spending and sworn off raising taxes, including the state’s low gasoline tax.  

Transportation Nation: Proceedings Start in Anti-Brooklyn Bike Lane Lawsuit
Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes/Seniors for Safety, a group that’s brought suit against the city over Brooklyn’s Prospect Park West bike lane, had their first appearance in court today.  Among the plaintiffs who showed up for the largely procedural hearing were former Deputy Mayor (nder David Dinkins) Norman Steisel, who’s now a private consultant living near the bike lane. 

Mobilizing the Region: Seeking The Best And Worst of NYC Transit Moments
For most New Yorkers, the transit system is essential, and can even be a source of joy. Whether it’s the friendship among a group of commuters and their regular bus driver, street theater in a subway car, or a chance meeting that turns into marriage, many classic “only in New York” moments rely on transit. But the system can also be the cause of deep frustration thanks to delayed trains and buses, or decrepit stations.

Long Island Press: The Future of Long Island Explored In New Report
It’s one of the more provocative proposals floated in The Long Island 2035 Regional Comprehensive Sustainability Plan, a 120-page overview of the issues affecting the future health and vitality of Long Island recently released by the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) as a means of offering potential solutions to many of the Island’s most daunting challenges. 

Oregon Live: Portland's road projects benefit both motorists and cyclists
Money spent on bicycle infrastructure simply does not reflect a decreasing commitment on behalf of the city to people who drive cars. Whether or not they ride a bike, people using our roads will benefit universally from increased investments in bicycle infrastructure. Bike projects make it easier for people who drive to know when and where they can expect to see people on bikes. 

Post and Courier: Executive session for I-526 issue: Limited public discussion leaves multiple questions
When that session ended almost an hour later, council members emerged with a written script of three motions: to reconsider their April 19 decision not to build the I-526 extension; to rescind that decision; and to direct the county attorney to cure the default in the county's agreement with the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank and return to council with options as far as what to do next.

News Virginian: Hanger skeptical about state transportation plan
Sen. Emmett Hanger said Wednesday he is concerned that Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's $4 billion state will saddle Virginia taxpayers and future generations with debt.

The Hill: DC MetroRail expansion to Dulles Airport could affect VA Senate race
One of the nation's most-watched Senate races next year could be affected by what would appear to be a local transportation issue in Northern Virginia, a Washington newspaper posited Wednesday.

Smart Planet: Four ways Washington DC is becoming a bike-friendly city
From 2002 to 2009 D.C. bicycle commuters increased from 2.2 percent to 3.3 percent. And from 2007 to 2010 there was 80 percent increase in bicycle riding. 

Transportation Nation: DDOT Makes Its Director Official
DC mayor Vincent Gray today officially appointed Terry Bellamy the director of the District Department of Transportation. Bellamy, who has been with the agency since 2008, had been acting as DDOT’s interim director since Gabe Klein departed the office a few months ago.   WAMU’s David Shultz reports that Bellamy says his priorities will be roughly the same as his predecessor’s.