BAF IN THE NEWS
Harvard Political Review: Infrastructure or Bust: Facing Reality (Part 1)
http://hpronline.org/united-states/infrastructure-or-bust-facing-reality-part-1/
Even the 2.4% figure is not indicative of reality, though. Kerry O’Hare of the non-profit advocacy group Building America’s Future clarified, in an interview with the HPR, that spending on transportation infrastructure alone is actually 1.7% of GDP and has diminished over the years largely as a result of policy incoherence and political fumbling of the issue in Washington. Despite the visibility of the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act signage along various American highways, for example, only about 8% of the designated $840 billion was explicitly dedicated to infrastructure renovation.
NATIONAL NEWS
Boston Globe: Feds to hold meeting in RI on railway investments
Federal officials will host a public meeting in Rhode Island to craft plans for future passenger rail investments in the Northeast Corridor. The Federal Railroad Administration says the meeting is an opportunity for the public to contribute their thoughts on alternatives for future Northeast Corridor rail service. Wednesday evening's meeting at the Department of Administration building in Providence is the last in a series of public meetings held between Washington and Boston about the so-called Northeast Corridor FUTURE.
The Take Away: Drought Closes Parts of Mississippi River
http://www.thetakeaway.org/2012/aug/22/drought-closes-parts-mississippi-river/
Drought conditions have hit the middle of America hard. But the latest effects weren’t felt on crops or soil. The Mississippi River is more than 12 feet lower than normal for this time of year. It's so difficult for boats to pass through that crews have shut down an 11-mile stretch to restore the depth. Over 100 ships are in line to pass through. These delays aren’t merely an inconvenience, either. They’re costing producers — and eventually consumers — tens of thousands of dollars.
Citiwire: A ‘Freeway-Free’ Future for World Cities?
http://citiwire.net/columns/a-freeway-free-future-for-world-cities/
Imagine cities built for billions of people without a single freeway. No “flyovers.” No elevated roads or canyon-like depressed super-roads. Advanced by American architect-planner Peter Calthorpe and Colombia’s former Bogota Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, the idea caught the imagination of an international forum of city experts and advisers meeting at the Rockefeller Foundation’s conference center in early August.
STATE NEWS
Transportation Nation: PIC: Highway Overpass as War Monument
http://transportationnation.org/2012/08/21/pic-highway-overpass-as-war-monument/
Not often do you see a highway overpass celebrated for its beauty, but this entrance to Fort Benning in Georgia is a local point of pride, as much for transportation planners as the military servicemen stationed at the base. The Georgia State Transportation Board voted to place this photo on the cover of the official state map.
Augusta Chronicle: Officials urged to be flexible on transportation sales tax projects
Three weeks after Augusta-area voters approved a 1-cent sales tax for transportation investment, the Georgia Department of Transportation is already warning local leaders to prepare for funding and scheduling contingencies. Revenue projections, which were calculated before the July 31 referendum, can likely change and construction schedules will depend on the incoming funds, department leaders said Tuesday. Deputy Commissioner Todd Long met with city and county leaders from the 13-county Central Savannah River Area region for the first time since the area passed the tax. Augusta’s region was one of three in the state that passed the tax; nine others voted it down.
Chicago Tribune: CTA's bus rapid transit won't be so rapid
CTA planning manager Joe Iacobucci is the first to acknowledge at the transit agency that "if you ask the average person in Chicago what BRT is, you get a blank look." BRT, or bus rapid transit, is Iacobucci's special project. He hopes to transform those blank looks into satisfied smiles. Yet riders of top-notch BRT service in cities like Bogota, Colombia, and Cleveland might not recognize the CTA's first foray into BRT as "rapid" — because a much-abbreviated form will hits the streets toward the end of the year on the No. 14 Jeffery Express route between the South Side and downtown.
Greater Greater Washington: Through-running isn't so easy for MARC and VRE, part 1
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/15728/through-running-isnt-so-easy-for-marc-and-vre-part-1/
It seems logical: MARC's trains all end at Union Station in the south. VRE's trains all end at Union Station in the north. Union Station has capacity constraints. Why not create one regional rail operator, where all trains continue through the core and out the other end? This idea, often called through-running, comes up often. Unfortunately, several hurdles make it much more complicated and expensive than one would think at first glance. The platform heights and train systems are incompatible between MARC and VRE, the tracks at Union Station don't line up properly, and VRE does not right now have the track space.
Detroit News: LaHood reports progress on regional transit
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with Gov. Rick Snyder and the state Senate Republican leader Tuesday and said progress is being made on the long-stalled regional transit authority. LaHood praised the meeting with Sen. Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, and said he planned to meet with House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, early next month.
Detroit Free Press: Progress made on metro Detroit transit system
An announcement on the creation of a regional transit authority which would also operate a light-rail line in Detroit could be only weeks away, officials gathered in Ann Arbor said today. There have been a series of meetings on both projects, more are scheduled, and progress is being made, said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Gov. Rick Snyder who were in Ann Arbor to mark the launch of a year-long project to study wirelessly connecting vehicles to make roads safer. The two men also met with state Senate Republican leader Randy Richardville on the transit authority legislation.
Fast Lane: Vehicle-to-vehicle technology hits the streets in Ann Arbor safety pilot
Today, we're taking a huge step forward in our understanding of transformative road safety technology. In partnership with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and the community of Ann Arbor, we are launching the largest ever vehicle pilot program that will eventually include 3,000 vehicles actually communicating with other vehicles to help drivers survive crashes or avoid them altogether. Cars talking to cars is the future of automotive safety. Wirelessly connected vehicles will allow us to do more than protect people in a crash or whittle down the number of crashes in America; this Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technology has the potential to prevent or reduce the severity of 80 percent of all crash scenarios involving non-impaired drivers.
New York Times: Blast on 2nd Ave. Subway Project Shatters Windows Above Ground
An intentional underground explosion on the Second Avenue subway project at 72nd Street propelled a thick column of debris and smoke into the air and shattered windows above ground on Tuesday. The authorities said that no injuries had been reported as a result of the blast, around 12:45 p.m., and that work would be suspended. “We were doing a controlled blast,” said Adam Lisberg, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman, “when clearly something went awry and an explosion was felt at street level.”
Transportation Nation: NYC Car Traffic Ticks Up, Biking Continues Rapid Rise
http://transportationnation.org/2012/08/21/nyc-car-traffic-ticks-up-biking-continues-rapid-rise/
It’s a non-leading economic indicator: when the economy slides and unemployment rises, traffic in New York City declines. So make what you will of the fact that, after three years of slow but steady growth, car traffic volumes are just about back to their pre-recession level. That’s according to the Sustainable Streets Index, a grab bag of traffic and transit data published annually by the New York City Department of Transportation.
The Oklahoman: Two Oklahoma national lawmakers address road and bridge group on transportation bill
http://newsok.com/inhofe-lankford-discuss-bill-with-road-bridge-group/article/3703142
At a luncheon focused on infrastructure, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and Rep. James Lankford said the transportation bill passed in June will mean streamlined processes and more local control for Oklahoma. The event Tuesday afternoon was hosted by the lobbyist group TRUST — Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation — at the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors building just northeast of the state Capitol.
The Olympian: Obama speeds up train project
http://www.theolympian.com/2012/08/21/2220215/obama-speeds-up-train-project.html#storylink=cpy
The Obama administration announced Monday that two transportation projects in Washington state, including a controversial rerouting of passenger trains in the South Sound, are among four projects around the country that the president wants sped up this year under his “We Can’t Wait” initiative. For South Sound residents, it means a key federal assessment on the plan to run Amtrak trains through DuPont, Lakewood and South Tacoma will be published in the next month or so and presented in public hearings early this fall, according to state transportation officials.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Road work: Only Corbett's green light can fix transportation
State Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch has seen the road ahead, and it is filled with potholes, weight restrictions, closings and detours, plus more impassable bridges. Mr. Schoch, along with the rest of Pennsylvania, needs help from his boss, Gov. Tom Corbett. Due to cuts at both the federal and state levels, Pennsylvania's 12-year transportation spending plan is nearly 40 percent lower than the one adopted four years ago. The $41.6 billion is down by $26.3 billion, which means new capacity-adding projects will be off the table and progress that the state has made to reduce the number of deteriorating bridges will be reversed.
Virginia Business: State has $14 billion worth of transportation projects underway
Virginia has $14 billion worth of transportation projects under construction or in the procurement process, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Monday. According to his office, many of the improvements were accelerated as a result of the governor’s $4 billion transportation package passed by the General Assembly in early 2011. The projects include road and rail improvements, such as express lanes in Northern Virginia and a new midtown tunnel in Hampton Roads. “The commonwealth has maximized all resources, including significant private sector investment and ingenuity to build better roads that will reduce congestion, create jobs and promote economic development … “ McDonnell said in a statement.